Fame, sometimes, is just that troublesome.
Suddenly, it's as if the whole world is your enemy.
And so it is.
On a certain sea route, not long after leaving the previous resort island, Kong Tai and his crew encountered another pirate ship.
Like all other pirates, instead of fleeing upon seeing their ship, this crew became as if injected with chicken blood, turning their direction head-on towards them.
Then, as expected, they were sunk by Alo's guns.
In the first half of the Grand Line, clueless pirates like these are everywhere. These individuals will only learn to fear after entering the New World and undergoing the baptism of true powerhouses.
Ignoring the nameless pirate group engulfed in flames, and also ignoring the screams and the countless pirates jumping into the water.
The Freedom sailed past them, heading rapidly towards the front, facing the rising sun.
Destination: "The Sabaody Archipelago."
The Sabaody Archipelago, the first half of the Grand Line, the final island of Paradise.
Beyond that lies the New World, a realm of vying powers and the reign of the Four Emperors.
In that sea area, the Marines and the World Government no longer hold their overwhelming advantage. The chaos there far, far surpasses that of Paradise.
Innumerable pirates, driven by fame and fortune, sifted through the turbulent seas, converging in that area to contend for the highest throne unique to pirates.
However, decades have passed, giving rise to the Four Emperors in the New World, yet no true Pirate King who could command the seas has emerged.
Who will be the next?
We shall wait and see.
...
Fish-Man Island.
The sole passage for pirates traveling between the New World and Paradise.
The island lies ten thousand meters beneath the deep sea, the antithesis of Sky Island.
Despite their geographical extremes, the commonality is that both are among the most beautiful places in the Pirate King's world.
Above them lies the Red Line, traversing the entire Grand Line and encircling the globe.
And directly above Fish-Man Island stands the headquarters of the world's strongest force at this time: "The Holy Land, Mary Geoise."
This is the base of the World Government, the office of its supreme leader, the Five Elders, and the residence of the Celestial Dragons.
Also known as "Pangu City."
This is also the second route for traveling between the New World and Paradise.
However, to pass through here, one must first abandon their pirate ship; this condition alone makes it impassable for pirates.
Furthermore, there are many checkpoints above.
Therefore, only nobles, large merchant ships, Marines, and citizens of World Government member states pass through here.
Of course, the Seven Warlords can also pass through here.
Returning to Fish-Man Island.
At this moment, Fish-Man Island is enveloped by a massive, double-layered, semi-spherical bubble shield. At the exit facing Paradise.
"Ace, are you really going to challenge that guy to a one-on-one fight?"
The speaker was a whale shark fish-man.
He had eyebrows and sideburns like a gale, his hairstyle was a chonmage, and he sported a short, thick black beard on his chin. There was a lightning-bolt-like scar near the corner of his left eye. He was large in build, with two large tusks on his lower jaw. A sun emblem, representing the "Sun Pirates," was tattooed on the center of his chest, and he wore a patterned yukata and geta.
He was none other than the current Seven Warlord, "Knight of the Sea," Jinbe, the captain of the Sun Pirates and the boss of Fish-Man District.
"Hahaha!! Jinbe, I'm not going to take his head, I'm just going to spar with him."
Opposite Jinbe stood a man with his upper body bare, a tattoo on his left arm reading "AsCe," with the 's' crossed out.
On his head, he wore an orange straw hat, adorned with "smiley" and "sad" badges on the brim. The end of the hat cord was tied with a skull tag.
Around his neck, he wore a red necklace resembling prayer beads.
The man, propping up the brim of his straw hat with his index finger, looked up at Jinbe and chuckled, "That guy's from my hometown in the East Blue too. Since there's nothing much going on in the New World right now, and I'm bored, I just want to see how this fellow villager can have such a high bounty."
"Hahahahaha!!"
The man was none other than the second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, the man with the epithet "Fire Fist," "Portgas D. Ace."
Bounty: "550 million Berries."
Jinbe looked at the laughing Ace and shrugged helplessly, "Although I don't know why that Silver Hair's bounty has exploded so much, his crew must have done something that gave the World Government a headache, so you should be careful!"
"Even if it's just a spar, no one knows who they really are."
"Alright, I know."
Ace lowered his hand, placed it on Jinbe's shoulder, and leaned towards him, "Jinbe, since when have you become so naggy?"
"Am I being naggy?"
Jinbe glanced at Ace, "I'm concerned about a friend. If something happens to you in Paradise, the Whitebeard Pirates won't stand by idly; you need to understand that."
Ace's expression instantly turned serious when Whitebeard was mentioned. He removed his hand, a hint of seriousness in his eyes.
"Don't worry! I'm just going to take a look, it's just a spar, nothing will happen."
He took a step forward, looking at the coated mini-sailboat before him. Ace's tone regained its cheerfulness, "Jinbe, I'll be going ahead! If I'm lucky, I might even run into Silver Hair's crew up there."
"Alright!"
Jinbe looked at Ace and nodded to the merman guard beside him.
Then he looked back at Ace, "Then, I wish you good luck."
"Haha!! I'm definitely lucky!"
Saying this, Ace turned, gave Jinbe a slight smile, and then turned to board the sailboat.
Whether going to the sea surface or descending into the deep sea, all ships must be coated with a transparent film.
This film is applied by specialized coaters, and there are many such individuals on both the islands above and Fish-Man Island below.
It's strange, but the material of this film is unknown. It looks thin, yet it can withstand the pressure of ten thousand meters of deep sea. It's truly miraculous.
The guard opened the first gate, allowing Ace's ship to enter the connecting passage between the two layers of Fish-Man Island's shield.
Then the first gate was closed, and the outermost gate was opened, allowing seawater to flood the tunnel, so the ship inside could leave.
Sliding out of the tunnel and riding the upward sea current, Ace's ship gradually disappeared from Jinbe's sight.
Retracting his gaze, Jinbe nodded to the guard beside him and turned to walk towards Fish-Man District in the distance.
Although he was a little worried about Ace, he couldn't leave Fish-Man Island for too long, and coupled with Ace's insistence, he didn't go with him.
In the Great Pirate Era, countless pirates poured into the Grand Line, and countless more passed through Fish-Man Island to reach the New World.
As one of the only two passages between the New World and Paradise, Fish-Man Island occupies a very special geographical position. Moreover, the World Nobles, the Celestial Dragons, are very fond of fish-man slaves, which leads to an immense number of pirates and traffickers arriving here every year.
When he first joined the Seven Warlords, it was to use the power of the Marines and the World Government to protect Fish-Man Island.
However, due to the long-standing animosity between fish-men and humans, the Marines could only provide protection from the outside and could not enter Fish-Man Island.
While this blocked some pirates and traffickers, it couldn't stop the truly vicious pirates driven by profit.
If it weren't for Whitebeard later declaring this his territory, the countless pirates of this Great Pirate Era would have likely devoured Fish-Man Island in an instant, turning it into a paradise for traffickers and a hell for fish-men and mermaids.
Thus, he was immensely grateful to Whitebeard.
Last year, he met Ace. They fought for five days and five nights to protect Whitebeard. In the subsequent days, Ace challenged Whitebeard and, after failing, became the second division commander of Whitebeard. They then became friends, which is why he cared so much for Ace.
"I hope everything will be alright!"