"WHAT!? Ace has already become an Emperor of the Sea!?"
Luffy's eyes bulged to their absolute limits as he roared across the dining table, his voice loud enough to crack his vocal cords.
"So you guys truly were blind to the data," Kenshin noted helplessly, casting a long glance at the utterly dumbfounded Straw Hat crew before systematically breaking down the logs detailing the absolute elimination of Blackbeard and the total collapse of the Blackbeard Pirates.
Hearing that Blackbeard was permanently offline and his sovereign crew entirely wiped from the grid, a complex wave of heavy reflection washed over the group.
"Ace has already scaled his power metrics to this tier...?"
Yet, harbor fear toward the grueling trials of the future was an algorithm completely absent from Luffy's core coding. His lips instantly curled back into a magnificent, wide-mouthed grin. "Shihihihi... But the man destined to claim the mantle of the King of the Pirates is ME!"
"Ahahaha...!" Kenshin, Locke, and the others burst into a synchronized fit of laughter at his unyielding resolve.
"By the way, is Drake truly functioning within acceptable parameters? A full forty-eight-hour timeline has elapsed since he entered low-power mode, yet his system still shows zero indicators of re-awakening," Nami interjected, poking at her food with a highly anxious expression.
"He's fine... this is merely a recurring, systemic glitch in his architecture," Kenshin replied. Remembering the precise spectacle Drake had put on two days prior, his jaw twitched uncontrollably.
As it turned out, to celebrate Sanji's successful extraction and Jinbe's official alignment with the crew, the Straw Hat Pirates had hosted a high-intensity banquet across the decks of the Thousand Sunny.
And it was during this exact social gathering that Drake had casually thrown back two tiny cups of high-grade sake. Within seconds, his internal processors experienced total failure, his cognitive identity evaporated, and his physical frame plummeted straight onto the wood...
Two full rotations of the calendar had passed since that microsecond, yet the spatial captain remained locked in absolute, motionless silence.
If Chopper hadn't run a comprehensive diagnostic sweep—verifying that the underlying medical anomaly was purely a textbook state of extreme alcohol toxicity—the crew would have calculated that his vital systems had sustained structural failure.
To possess an apex tier of lethality that could match an Emperor blow for blow, yet possess an internal tolerance threshold that collapsed after a mere two cups...
Staring toward Drake's resting quarters, the collective perception of the crew underwent a profound, comedic shift. To witness an entity commanding such terrifying, world-altering raw power get systematically deleted by a minor beverage...
Under the suspicious, amused glares of the crew, Kenshin silently logged a blood oath within his internal database: If I ever permit this idiot to interface with fermented liquids again, my name isn't Dragon Kenshin!
At this exact juncture, the Thousand Sunny breached the volatile, churning current grids of the inner sea.
Wano Country was a single spatial step away from their bow!
Wano Country, Kuri Highway
"WHAT!? You're claiming Ace has officially claimed a throne among the Yonko!?" Zoro's composure fractured completely as he barked at the one-armed fortune-teller.
"Furthermore... his vanguard has already established a presence within Wano Country!?"
Forcibly re-stabilizing his pulse metrics, Zoro stroked his jaw, his sharp eye methodically evaluating Hawkins' battered form. After a brief pause, he proposed a strategic trade: "Let's re-calibrate the equation like this: I will grant your system a clean release vector, and in exchange, you download the precise geographic coordinates of Ace's position into my map tracks."
Zoro's internal logic ran a rapid simulation: if he could successfully align a newly minted Emperor like Ace with their current coalition parameters, the absolute weight of their military leverage would scale exponentially.
The baseline probability of success for their upcoming raid against Orochi and Kaido would reach an unprecedented high.
Mmm... I need to ensure Ace doesn't launch a premature, uncoordinated offensive across the sector... Zoro calculated. If his unit moves too early, it could permanently compromise the stealth blueprints compiled by Kin'emon and the others.
Weighing all variables, Zoro determined that his highest-priority task was to locate Ace and establish communication protocols.
"He occupies that exact bearing. If you maintain a linear trajectory, you will intersect an abandoned ghost settlement; his unit is anchored there. Based on my historical records, the original designation assigned to those coordinates was... Amigasa Village," Hawkins reported, extending his remaining hand to point toward the dense foliage he had just fled.
"Splendid. As per the parameters of our trade, I am permitting you to exit the grid." Having delivered the data line, Zoro smoothly turned on his heel to depart, casting a highly irritated, tragic glance at the fine layer of sand particles lining the mouth of his sake gourd.
"Tch... what an absolute waste of half a jug of high-grade alcohol."
Spitting a loose strand of local wild grass between his teeth, he took a leisurely, relaxed stride toward the bearing Hawkins had indicated.
Staring at Zoro's silhouette as it slowly faded into the brush, Hawkins' internal processing units fluctuated with dark, unreadable algorithms. His biological left arm had been cleanly separated from his frame, yet his systems flagged an absolute zero percent probability of success if he attempted to launch a retaliatory strike.
Zoro's baseline raw power metrics far eclipsed his own.
Furthermore, cross-referencing Zoro's affiliation with the Straw Hat Pirates against his blood brother's status as the Fire Emperor, attempting to reclaim the limb carried zero utility. The arm was gone, and that was an immutable mathematical reality.
What else could he possibly execute under these restrictions?
"Since your coalition is craving a direct clash... I shall gladly facilitate the processing of your data," Hawkins muttered, a wave of profound, incandescent venom flashing through his eyes. He accelerated his pace, driving his mount through a frantic sprint toward the local administrative town.
Since Ace had explicitly commanded him to deliver an imperial warning to the high command, he would fulfill the instruction down to the last decimal. Once Kaido's catastrophic parameters clashed against the Fire Emperor's thermal output, predicting which entity would be permanently deleted from the world's ledger was an open variable.
Yet, as the Pirate Hunter marched forward to locate Ace's coordinates, his internal navigational software experienced a severe calculation error, and his trajectory slowly drifted far off-course...
Onigashima Sector
Inside the command fortress of the Beast Pirates, Kaido listened to the real-time telemetry delivered by Hawkins' report, the veins across his forehead bulging as his features twisted into an expression of raw, volatile fury.
With a thunderous roar, he violently smashed his heavy drinking table into pulverized shards, his physical mass expanding radically as his structure shifted into a gargantuan Azure Dragon that vaulted straight through the fortress roof into the sky.
"FIRE EMPEROR ACE! LET US VERIFY THE EXTENT OF YOUR UNEARNED DURABILITY! WORORORORORORO...!!"
The colossal, planet-shaking cadence of Kaido's voice boomed across the New World architecture, slicing straight through the cloud layers. The massive, serpentine frame of the Azure Dragon cut across the marine grid like a prehistoric leviathan rising from the depths, the sky over the territory instantaneously turning pitch-black as catastrophic storm cells materialized around his mass.
Wano Country, Kuri - Bakura Town Perimeter
Meanwhile, Ace's vanguard unit had already evacuated the ruins of Amigasa Village. Their transit parameters had been forced to adapt because his diagnostic scans revealed that both Tama and her guardian, Hitetsu, had been operating under an extreme caloric deficit for several consecutive rotations of the calendar.
The moment that data point processed in his brain, Ace's features had hardened into a dangerously dark expression.
Under the current regime, enduring severe, chronic starvation had effectively become a standardized lifestyle parameter for the citizens of Wano. During his initial deployment to these shores years ago, the ecological statistics had returned the exact same bleak outlook. Yet, every single time his thoughts tracked a young child like Tama being forced to sustain her vital signs without access to a basic bowl of rice, a profound sense of raw fury twisted his instincts.
This was the core motivation behind his unyielding obsession with rewriting Wano's societal equations.
For an elite veteran who had already executed a full operational transit through these sectors in the past, locating the primary agricultural distribution nodes required zero complex calculations.
Within a highly limited timeframe, his unit materialized right outside the reinforced checkpoints of a prominent settlement: Bakura Town.
This sector functioned as the absolute agricultural and provisions backbone for the regional governance of the Beast Pirates. Ace's strategic intent for entering this hot zone held zero complex political variables: he was explicitly here to systematically appropriate enough high-grade provisions to let Tama and her guardian enjoy a pristine, maximum-calorie feast.
Furthermore, he held zero intention of dragging out the timeline of this campaign. His blueprint dictated that he would initiate a direct, high-intensity offensive against Kaido within the current solar cycle.
Otherwise, his choice to let Hawkins exit the sector alive with a warning would have carried a severe strategic deficit by prematurely alerting the enemy command structure.
At this stage on the board, those defensive anxieties carried zero weight within Ace's calculations. His logic was anchored by an absolute, unwavering confidence in his own raw power metrics.
Complex tactical maneuvers were entirely redundant: once Kaido's primary life signs were permanently deleted from the ledger, every single structural bottleneck crushing this nation would naturally resolve itself.
Under the absolute, wide-range scanning of Bell's Observation Haki, every single macro-movement and micro-expression of the personnel occupying Bakura Town was being systematically logged and processed in real-time.
Just as the vanguard was preparing to stroll through the primary gates as if entering a completely unmanned sector, Bell's physical form suddenly paused. He dropped his voice to a low, analytical whisper: "We have a live signature directly ahead."
Ace and the surrounding Drake officers instantly ground their momentum to a halt. Filtering out the background noise of the town, their auditory processors captured the faint, rhythmic cadence of fluid shifting from behind the adjacent stone corner.
"Bell, break down the parameters. What exact asset is charting that vector?" Locke asked, his hand dropping casually toward his side.
"The signature indicates an individual actively indulging in high-grade alcohol, however..." Bell paused, a thoroughly puzzled expression flashing across his face before he continued, "If my data cross-referencing is correct... this asset is simultaneously executing an unauthorized extraction of local provisions. In simpler terms, he's a common food thief."
Hearing the diagnostic readout, the vanguard fighters exchanged a series of highly amused, knowing glances.
As they adjusted their coordinates to close the distance, the raucous sound of someone boisterously throwing back massive gulps of sake grew increasingly clear. The exact microsecond their boots cleared the blind spot of the turn, a sharp, authoritative bark rent the air.
"WHO GOES THERE!?"
SHING!
Simultaneously, a brilliant, air-shattering flash of cold steel sliced through the dust, charting a lethal intercept vector aimed straight at Bell's throat.
Before the high-velocity blade could make contact with Bell's perimeter, a solid wooden staff smoothly materialized within the trajectory, intercepting the exact point of kinetic impact with flawless precision.
CLANG!!
Emerging from the settling grit was a lone warrior. His left hand casually cradled a massive porcelain sake jug, continuously funneling the liquid down his throat, while his right hand maintained a iron-clad grip on a long katana. His choice of attire and unyielding posture mapped perfectly to the profile of a legendary, wandering masterless samurai.
The man lowered the jug, blinking a hazy eye at the vanguard. "Who the hell are you guys supposed to be?"
Ace stared at the distinct, green-haired silhouette standing before him, his cognitive tracks running a rapid file verification before he spoke with a hint of hesitation: "...Zoro?"
"Huh?" Zoro snapped his gaze toward the speaker. The exact microsecond his eye processed those unmistakable freckles and the burning majesty of his aura, his brain stalled for a fraction of a second before a massive grin exploded across his face. "ACE!"
"I was literally just mapping out a route to locate your coordinates! It turns out that fortune-telling bastard Hawkins didn't feed me corrupted data after all, ahahaha...! Wait, hold on, I've got an exceptionally vital piece of operational intelligence to download into your system!" Without wasting a single millisecond, Zoro scrambled across the sand to plant himself directly in front of Ace, dragging the Emperor by his shoulder toward an isolated corner to initiate a private briefing.
Standing back in the middle of the street, Bell, Locke, and Ann remained entirely frozen in place, their expressions a masterclass in pure, unadulterated bewilderment.
What exact game are the fates playing at right now?
We chart a course to a fortified enemy agricultural base to misappropriate some basic rice... and we somehow stumble straight into an active asset from our own global database?