Time flew by. In the relatively peaceful environment that Brook had created, seven years quietly passed in the pirate world.
April 1483, Sea Calendar. (Thirty-nine years before the canon)
The Roger Pirates arrived at Water Star Island following the recording pointer, only to discover that this was not the legendary final island. Yet they had already traveled to nearly every island in the New World that the pointer could lead them to.
Only then did Roger realize that the red historical text they had seen at God Valley had been the true key to reaching the final island.
This left them with only one option:
They had to ask Brook for help.
After all, they knew Brook was also collecting historical texts, and he possessed the ability to interpret them.
Brook must have clues about the final island.
"If we really have no other choice, then we can only ask them."
Rayleigh had no choice but to agree. They had already returned several Devil Fruits to Brook to repay their debts, yet in the end, they still needed Brook.
"The New World hasn't been calm lately. It looks like the Hell Pirates are finally preparing to strike the Rocks Pirates. Hard to believe Brook endured it for so many years!"
Gaban adjusted his sunglasses, restless.
If the two overlords clashed, the navy would certainly try to seize the chance to reenter the New World.
If that happened, the chaos from ten years ago would return: the era where overlords and quasi-overlords killed each other every year.
He still remembered the massive war thirteen years ago, when Brook had just risen. The battles between Teach Ewald, David Kyons, and Saracha, along with the Diger Pirates, Ice Demon Pirates, and Rocks Pirates, had turned the New World into a slaughterhouse.
In only three years, three quasi-overlords died, two overlord crews were destroyed, and over one hundred thousand pirates fell. It wasn't until ten years ago that the two-overlord structure appeared.
If the Hell Pirates declared war on the Rocks Pirates now, an earth-shattering conflict would erupt again. The navy would never ignore that opportunity.
"I never thought Brook actually had the ambition to dominate the New World."
Spencer sighed. But it was true that the world had enjoyed an unprecedented decade of peace thanks to Brook's presence.
"You can't blame Brook," Roger said with a laugh. "He has Pluton, he decoded several historical texts, and he must know a lot of the World Government's secrets. I can sense his fear toward them."
The more Roger learned about the void century, the more powerless he felt before the World Government.
Yet Brook's existence proved that another major force capable of resisting the World Government still existed.
If possible, Roger would rather persuade Brook and Rocks to form a partnership again.
But Brook's power had already grown too dominant, and Rocks was far too arrogant. An alliance now was impossible.
If he had to choose a side, he would still prefer to side with Brook, who followed some form of order.
After all, the prosperity of Brook's territory was seen by all, while Rocks' territory had fallen into chaos and become a paradise for vicious criminals.
"Hahaha! Let's head back. We can only ask Brook for help!"
Roger laughed. Though wary of Brook, he trusted Brook's character.
Besides, their strength was now close to its peak. Roger believed he was no weaker than Rocks or Brook. Rayleigh and Gaban were not far behind.
Rayleigh was now thirty-nine, Roger thirty-eight—both in their prime.
"Then let's head to Doragonzi Island. We haven't returned to that pirate holy island for years!"
Gaban grinned.
"Let's go!"
··
New World, Sky Island, Ballon Island.
More than a year earlier, Stussy finally gave birth after ten years of pregnancy. Her daughter was named Katifah, inheriting half of Stussy's blonde hair, half of Brook's black hair, and the Ice Witch physique.
After Linlin gave birth to quadruplets, Brook realized her power was growing too slowly. He told her to stop having children and focus on raising the seven she already had.
Linlin's talent surpassed even Redfield, Newgate, Kaido, and the others. Under Brook's strict training, she stopped giving birth and focused entirely on strength.
She eventually surpassed Shiki.
Her power was now on par with Newgate and Redfield.
If this continued, she might surpass both.
Even Brook was stunned by Linlin's mutant-level talent.
The Linlin who couldn't keep giving birth… turned out to be terrifying.
In the future, she would be able to fight an Elder alone, and perhaps even defeat two.
Brook had designated her as his hidden weapon.
This year marked the end of the ten-year contract between Brook and Rocks.
Because of this, Shiki grew increasingly active. He was the most eager to attack the Rocks Pirates. After all, his Flying Pirates had once been dismantled by Rocks, and he had held that grudge for years.
Meanwhile, the new generation had become too powerful. Some were already closing in on Shiki's own strength, pushing him to take bold action.
Fisher Tiger, now twenty-one; Kaido and Kozuki Oden at twenty; and Borsalino at nineteen—these four could only be described as terrifying.
Fisher Tiger dominated the sea itself, destroying ships with ease.
Any enemy who couldn't fly would be dragged into the ocean and killed.
Kaido and Kozuki Oden with the Yamata no Orochi, the twin stars of the mythical beasts, could even push Shiki into a difficult fight when working together.
Borsalino kept his promise. He surpassed Redfield in speed and became the fastest man in the Hell Pirates.
But after Borsalino's flash abilities were exposed, the three Celestial Dragons who traded Devil Fruits with Brook suddenly lost contact.
It seemed Imu had erased them, and their three pure gold rings were taken.
Why three?
Because Brook retrieved a Logia Ice Fruit afterward—confirming the three traitor Celestial Dragons had vanished.
Brook nearly coughed blood at the loss.
If he had known this would happen, he never would've sent Borsalino on early missions. Those CP spies really were everywhere.
In the end… Brook realized he had accidentally betrayed those three Celestial Dragons himself.
And with their disappearance, the entire secret trading channel was gone.
He deserved it.
-----------
Inside the Eighteen Hell Islands and the Beast Island,
Brook personally brought a group of second-generation children to train. Hades, Osiris, and Kanna, now almost ten years old, were all Mythical Beast-type ability users, and their strength had already become quite impressive.
There were also the eight-year-olds: Satan, Anubis, Mephisto, Hela, and Shana.
The third son, Satan, had eaten the Paramecia Weather Fruit.
The fourth son, Anubis, had eaten the Mythical Beast Three-Headed Cerberus Fruit.
The fifth son, Mephisto, had eaten the Logia Earth Fruit.
The second daughter, Hela, had eaten the Mythical Beast Phoenix Fruit.
The third daughter, Shana, who possessed a gentler personality, chose the Mythical Beast Tanuki Fruit. She preferred drawing and summoning various characters and creatures.
Fourteen-year-old Morgans, eight-year-old Abel, and seven-year-old adopted daughter Otohime also joined the training camp.
The only one Brook felt slightly sorry for was Marco. In this era, there was no natural position for him to shine yet. Even so, he could still choose from several usable fruits, such as the Speed Fruit, the Cloud Fruit, or the Barrier Fruit.
With the Hell Pirates' powerful intelligence network, locating certain children was not easy, especially those with confirmed origins.
Jesus Burgess (eight years old) from Hiruba Village in the East Blue, and Jinbe (seven years old) from Fish-Man Island had already joined Brook's youth training team.
After years of searching, the ones found in the last one or two years included Ben Beckman (eleven), Vista (eight) from the North Blue, Moria (eleven) from the West Blue, Kuzan (ten) from the South Blue, and Marco (six) from the Grand Line.
Still being searched for across the Grand Line were eight-year-old Magellan, seven-year-old Crocodile, six-year-old Bullet, and five-year-old Shiloh.
There was absolutely no information on Hawkeye Dracule Mihawk. No one could determine where in the sea he was born.
Bartholomew Kuma and Ivankov were both royal descendants, so they were left untouched for now.
Many future figures, like Joz, were still too young to identify. Marshall D. Teach had been born for about a year, while Buggy and Red-Haired Shanks were set to be born within the year.
··
Brook had been personally training these children for the past two years—especially his own biological children—who were nearly able to awaken Conqueror's Haki at age ten.
They possessed excellent talent and inherited the powerful physiques of Brook and Charlotte Linlin, fully capable of awakening Conqueror's Haki.
Many powerful figures in the future had awakened it at that same age: Katakuri, Doflamingo, Ace... so Brook expected nothing less.
He trained his children alongside these future famous pirates. It helped them bond and also helped them clearly recognize where their current strength stood.
Ben Beckman and Jesus Burgess preferred sniper rifles, so Brook placed them under sniper Hiruba. Fish-Man Jinbe also trained frequently with Fisher Tiger.
Morgans, Abel, Vista, Gekko Moria, Kuzan, and Marco trained directly under Brook in swordsmanship and physical combat, while also sparring against Brook's children.
"Hehehe~, Lord Brook, can we also go witness the war with the Rocks Pirates this time?"
Moria asked in his sharp, eager voice.
Kaido and Tiger had already become apprentices of the Hell Pirates and continued to train relentlessly. Hearing Moria, even Hades and the others perked up. They didn't want to be greenhouse flowers—they'd heard Kaido and Kozuki Oden brag about going out to sea at a young age.
Unlike those two, they'd been locked into constant training on Beast Island, practicing endlessly.
Now that the unification war of the New World seemed imminent, they wanted to witness it even from afar—perhaps from Uncle Shiki's flying battleship.
"Wow, you little brats want to go to the battlefield without even mastering the basics? But I admire the guts! Today, I'll let you fight the New World Overlord and a Navy Admiral!"
Brook laughed boldly. With a wave of his right hand, a Gate of the Underworld opened. The temperature dropped sharply, and ghost generals materialized—solid, lifelike, and terrifying.
"I know him! That's the previous New World Overlord, Diger Sparrow!"
"That's former Feet Admiral Kukulkan! The captain's Seven Star Demon Sword ate his devil fruit!"
"Those are the former navy admirals, the Coss Davo and Hoss! Hades ate the Coss Davo Admiral's Demon Sheep Horn Fruit!"
"Hoss's Double-Winged Unicorn Holy Horse Fruit is with that giant warrior of the Rocks Pirates! It would be great if we got it back!"
"Is that the Knight of God, Gabriel? Third Prince Satan got the Weather Fruit from him!"
One by one, the children grew excited. Their father and Lord Brook's collection of spoils truly matched the prestige of the number one pirate crew in the world.
"Even if I can't let you onto the battlefield yet, I can let you fight these bigwigs! If that's not enough, I'll call Abel's father, Shadow Demon Abefu, to spar with you alongside these zombies!
Or, you can go to the Island of Life and Death and ask Lily Carnation to create some leaf warriors for you to fight.
If you can impress me, I'll grant special permission to watch the battlefield. If not, you stay here and watch Uncle Thomas and Uncle Antonio's live broadcast!"
Brook felt their arrogance rising too quickly. Morgans, on the other hand, wasn't arrogant—just incredibly lazy—so he needed extra beating.
"Pah!"
Brook snapped his fingers. The ghost generals' aura instantly turned chilling and murderous. They attacked without hesitation, not sparing even Kanna, Hela, or Shana.
"Yohoo! Enjoy your baptism!"
Brook sat atop the somersault cloud Hera, floating in the sky as he observed his apprentices' real combat performance. They kept shouting about keeping up with Kaido and Kozuki Oden—now they would prove it.
Suddenly, Brook frowned. Morgans had rolled his eyes white and dropped, pretending to faint. He lay flat with his butt sticking up—because ghost generals avoided attacking the unconscious.
"Morgans! You're the oldest, and also the most cowardly and laziest!"
Without hesitation, Brook assigned a ghost general to give this fat bird special treatment. If he dared fake death, he'd be dragged across the entire sky island a hundred times.
<><><><><>
[P@treon Christmas Discount: 20% OFF]
[Check Out My Patreon For +40 Advance Chapters On All My Fanfics!]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]
[Every 100 Power Stones = +1 Bonus Chapter]
[Join Our Discord Community For Updates & Events]
[https://discord.gg/MntqcdpRZ9]