The moment she heard about the giants, Charlotte Linlin perked up immediately. She'd always wanted to clear up the misunderstandings and bad blood between her and the giants of Elbaf.
"Awesome, Brook! When do we head to Elbaf? I still remember the way—I can lead us there!"
Elbaf wasn't hidden behind natural barriers like Wano Country; its location was practically public knowledge. Linlin's parents had ditched her there via a merchant ship, after all.
"Let's stabilize things here first," Brook replied. "We need to plant our flags across Vesper's old territory and claim it officially!"
Brook wanted to lock down the turf before anything else. If other pirates tried to muscle in later, he'd have every right to crush them—especially those pesky supernovas and big-name crews stepping out of line.
"Right, let's get moving!"
Linlin was itching to wrap this up and head to Elbaf to sort out her issues.
For the next month, the Rocks Pirates and Hell Pirates focused on consolidating their territories. The massive shake-up in the New World finally settled, with borders drawn and the dual-overlord setup solidified.
Rocks' ruthless approach—crushing and slaughtering defiant big-shots—drove even more supernovas and veteran pirates into Brook's domain.
Once Golden Lion Shiki's flying fleet was up and running, the battles across their vast holdings never stopped. Shiki threw himself into it, relishing the hunt as he chased down troublemakers.
Every day, he led his crew—Scarlet the Hammerhead Shark, the beast Kaido, a horde of human mimics, and a bunch of bounty-head pirates—on sweeping raids.
Redfield and Newgate, meanwhile, took a samurai squad aboard the golden airship, hunting for power-ups by targeting strong supernovas and heavy hitters.
As for Brook, he sailed the Golden Island with Linlin, Stussy, and the rest of his crew. Powered by the Qilin Lion's wind abilities, they swept through enemies, harvesting souls along the way.
Shakky, armed with mission details and memory seahorses, slipped back to the Grand Line. She joined the Kuja Pirates and quickly rose to top cadre, taking control of the crew and Amazon Lily.
When the time was right, she'd relocate the whole ship and island to the New World, bolstering Brook's empire.
Rocks' high-pressure crackdown fueled his crew's rise through constant battles. Ochoku, Silver Axe, and John saw the biggest bounty spikes.
Great Swordsman Ochoku, wielding the Supreme Great Sword, sliced through several major pirate crews. His bounty skyrocketed to 1.05 billion Belly. Silver Axe hit 800 million, John 700 million.
The other veterans climbed too: Skal at 1.19 billion, Grimm Vane at 890 million, Giantess Warrior Jennifer at 770 million, Miss Buckin at 330 million.
Under them, the Karnz Brothers, Ibadonbo, and other supernova crews submitted. Any crew with a bounty over 500 million got disbanded by Rocks and folded into his ranks as officers.
Once Rocks' territory was pacified, the overflow of pirates flooded into Brook's lands. The Hell Pirates' bounties kept climbing, cementing them as true rivals to the Rocks Pirates.
Red Count Redfield: 1.1 billion Belly. Whitebeard Newgate: 1.06 billion. Golden Lion Shiki: 1.05 billion. Linlin: 1.008 billion.
The Hell Pirates were a force to reckon with—when they showed up, even Rocks' officers stepped aside. No wonder they were called the most balanced ironclad crew.
If Brook could take on Rocks one-on-one, the Hell Pirates might actually beat the Rocks Pirates. But Brook was still a step behind—he'd need one or two strong souls to back him up against the powerhouse that was Rocks.
Still, the Hell Pirates' crew was in a rapid growth phase. In ten years, their top fighters could average 2-3 billion Belly each.
Vesper's remnants, with mid-range bounties, reformed under the old Vesper Pirates flag. They launched hit-and-run attacks on Hell Pirates' turf, clashing with Shiki and Redfield in guerrilla warfare.
But against the Hell Pirates' superior intel network, they nearly got surrounded multiple times. Brook led a three-pronged assault, shattering the new Vesper Pirates once again!
Shirokiri and the others fled into allied kingdoms to escape, but they lost their flagship to Shiki.
The ships were wrecked by Redfield and Newgate, reducing Shirokiri and Salem to a ragtag band of a few dozen survivors.
The new Vesper Pirates' fleet was obliterated by the Hell Pirates, yielding Brook and Linlin a haul of souls and solidifying Hell Pirates' dominance over Vesper's former domain.
...
Two months later, the Golden Island soared through the skies, propelled by the Qilin Lion's acceleration.
"Boss Brook, Redfield's golden airship just drove off Naguri. Shiki's flying fleet crushed Chinjao the Drill's Happo Navy—Chinjao's remnants fled back to the New World's front half.
Our target this time, World Destroyer Byrnndi World, is resting on the island ahead. Word is they just raided a Celestial Dragon convoy after getting chased by Rocks himself for two weeks. Heavy losses on their side."
Intel officer Antonio stood before Brook, who loomed like a Nether Emperor. Ever since Brook rushed to Zawa Island and saw Vesper's corpse, he'd grown even more terrifying.
Especially during the encirclement of Shirokiri's new Vesper Pirates—the scene was nightmarish. Ghosts howled for hundreds of meters around, with intelligent spectral ghost generals that made even Linlin's Homies tremble.
"Yeah, Mortomas mentioned that Celestial Dragon convoy had a Devil Fruit. Wonder if World's crew ate it—supposedly the Cube-Cube Fruit?"
Brook nurtured his Shichiseiken with soul energy, fostering its consciousness and tempering it with Armament Haki. Now a dark green demon blade, it rivaled any true black blade.
This demon Shichiseiken could probably qualify as a Supreme Great Sword by now?
It was a sentient, ominous blade—Brook figured even Stussy would get controlled if she touched it. It could easily dominate fodder pirates, and even Redfield might struggle to wield it without resistance!
"The intel points to that, but we can't confirm it's the Cube-Cube Fruit yet!"
Rookie Antonio couldn't even look straight at the Shichiseiken—it was too eerie, too evil, like some abyssal monster eyeing him hungrily.
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+300 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg