Through the combined efforts of the Whitebeard Pirates division commanders led by Ace and Marco—with Ace working tirelessly day and night—the chaos throughout Whitebeard's territory was being rapidly brought under control.
Ace and his fellow commanders sometimes operated independently to defeat enemies one by one, while other times they coordinated their efforts for devastating group assaults.
Wherever they appeared, they crushed anyone who dared challenge them with the overwhelming force of a thunderstorm.
Even when they encountered formidable opponents such as Sweet Commanders from the Big Mom Pirates or All-Stars from the Beast Pirates, Ace and his allies showed no fear whatsoever.
Through their coordinated teamwork and courageous fighting spirit, they successfully drove back wave after wave of invading forces.
Although the unrest in Whitebeard's territory hadn't completely subsided yet, virtually everyone understood it was only a matter of time before order was fully restored.
This realization caused many of the instigators who had orchestrated the riots to quietly flee their original positions by ship, seeking refuge in more distant waters.
By this point, all major factions had come to understand that forcing Whitebeard into direct action wouldn't be nearly as simple as they'd hoped.
Short of the main forces of fellow Four Emperor crews—or the Emperors themselves taking personal action—only legendary figures possessing truly extraordinary strength could hope to provoke such a response.
It was during this turbulent period that Fire Fist Ace's name, backed by his exceptional combat abilities, became permanently etched in the minds of leadership across all major powers. He had proven himself a force they absolutely had to respect and acknowledge.
Not only in the outside world, but even within the Whitebeard Pirates themselves, voices could be heard discussing how this chaotic era had perhaps quietly entered a new age led by the younger generation.
In recent years, young pirates had risen to unprecedented prominence, with Jerry serving as the most striking example, followed closely by Ace, Cavendish, and numerous newly emerged Supernovas who had captured global attention.
The performance of Jerry and his allies during the War of Marineford had caused many pirates and civilians to dramatically overestimate the overall strength of this new generation of seafaring warriors.
Both the World Government and the Marines maintained deliberate silence regarding these increasingly heated discussions and widespread rumors.
Of course, if given the opportunity, they would gladly have torn apart Morgans' beak for continuously adding fuel to these inflammatory speculations.
As for powerhouses like Kaido and Big Mom, they simply sneered at such talk without taking any of these discussions seriously.
They understood that, ultimately, this world operated according to absolute strength alone—without that foundation, everything else was merely empty rhetoric.
The external noise and turmoil didn't create any problems for Jerry, who found himself at the center of this whirlwind of public opinion.
His crew continued their journey exactly as always, moving forward without pause or concern for outside speculation.
After passing through Fishman Island once again, Jerry entered the New World after a considerable absence from those dangerous waters.
"So which direction should we head this time?" Deuce asked the crucial question as they rose from the depths of Fishman Island—located ten thousand meters below the ocean surface—to the sparkling waters above.
Jerry didn't respond immediately. Instead, he turned to Skull with a meaningful look. "How's it going? Any news yet?"
"Captain Jerry, we need some additional time to confirm what you're looking for," Skull replied, rubbing his hands together nervously. He clearly understood the importance of the intelligence Jerry had requested.
Hearing this expected but disappointing answer, Jerry nodded with characteristic calm. "That's fine. Let's wait and see—there's no urgent rush anyway."
He then addressed Deuce directly. "Any direction works for now. We don't have a specific destination in mind at the moment."
"Understood," Deuce acknowledged with a slight nod.
Everyone had overheard the previous conversation between Jerry and Skull, since it related to information Jerry had specifically asked Skull to monitor during one of their dinners while returning from the Calm Belt to the Grand Line.
Although Jerry had only vaguely hinted at his purposes, the entire crew sensed something significant was developing, particularly Cavendish and Skull, who appeared unusually active and excited about the possibilities.
"Since you've left it up to chance, let's randomly choose a direction and move forward," Deuce said, studying the various Log Poses in his collection before pointing toward one of them.
Seeing this selection, Jerry responded thoughtfully, "Hmm... why don't we aim somewhere between those two compass readings? Maybe our next stop will turn out to be Laugh Tale itself."
Deuce rolled his eyes at this characteristically optimistic speculation, but seeing that no one else had any objections, he could only nod with helpless resignation.
Under Jerry's expert control, the Black Nova began moving forward at impressive speed through the unpredictable currents of the New World.
"Wait, why is there an area where lightning falls like rain in the New World?" Brook exclaimed as he observed the bizarre and completely unpredictable weather patterns in the distance. As someone entering the New World for the first time, everything seemed miraculous and terrifying. "I was so startled I got goosebumps all over my body—even though I don't have any skin! Yohohoho!"
He paused mid-observation and murmured to himself with growing excitement, "I think I just got some new creative inspiration. I need to record this right away so I can play it for Laboon when we return, so he can experience the New World through music..."
Seeing Brook become lost in thought while muttering to himself about musical compositions, Cavendish—who was seated across the deck—chose not to disturb the skeleton's creative process.
Instead, he turned to watch Carrot playing enthusiastically with Kotatsu, along with the other crew members who were calmly pursuing their individual activities, and took a leisurely sip of his afternoon tea.
"Hey! Is this really how you people navigate the New World?" Carina asked with obvious exasperation, raising her hand to cover her forehead as she addressed Jerry, Deuce, and the others. "Now I understand exactly how you managed to offend both Kaido and Big Mom in the past!"
Jerry reclined lazily in his comfortable chair and responded with complete nonchalance, "Actually, you've got that wrong. When we pulled similar stunts before, we only managed to offend Whitebeard at most. That's why Ace and the others had to 'sell themselves' to pay the price and accept a new father figure..."
Deuce coughed twice and quickly interrupted, "Ahem! Jerry, stop talking nonsense! That situation was completely different!"
"Oh, hahaha! But it was you, Boss Deuce, who lost his temper first this time, wasn't it?" Skull shook his head with obvious glee at his crewmate's discomfort. "So you're really going to claim you didn't provoke Big Mom? You even managed to anger Kaido too!"
"Pfft!" Deuce immediately spat out a mouthful of juice in indignation. "Skull, if you can't speak properly, then just say less! What do you mean 'provoke'? Get out of here with that interpretation!"
Jerry twisted his mouth into a mischievous grin and added fuel to the fire. "Actually, he's not wrong at all. When we were at Punk Hazard, you were genuinely impressive in your fury."
"That was righteous anger! Could you please use more accurate terminology?" Deuce protested through gritted teeth.
The incident in question dated back two days earlier. Under Jerry's surprised observation, their randomly chosen course had led them directly to Punk Hazard—an island that had not yet been transformed into the world of ice and fire it would later become.
Jerry had been genuinely shocked to realize that the route he'd casually indicated had actually brought them to what had originally been an official government research facility and prison complex.
However, the island had been abandoned following a devastating poison gas outbreak and explosion caused by Caesar Clown—a former member of the World Government's scientific division—more than two years prior.
Caesar had subsequently snuck back to establish this location as his secret base, where he conducted horrific research into weapons of mass destruction, artificial Devil Fruits, and human gigantification experiments.
Behind these studies lurked the shadowy figures of Doflamingo, Kaido, and Big Mom, all of whom had vested interests in Caesar's twisted work.
After the crew landed on the island, they inevitably encountered Caesar and learned about his ongoing projects.
When Deuce discovered that the research materials for human gigantification consisted of large numbers of young children who had been abducted from surrounding islands—and understood the devastating impact this research was having on their small bodies—his expression immediately darkened and he flew into an absolutely murderous rage.
The outcome was predictably swift and decisive. Although Caesar attempted to invoke the names of his powerful backers for protection, he was still killed on the spot by Cavendish and the others, who had volunteered to eliminate this threat to innocent children.
Afterward, Skull contacted nearby Revolutionary Army members to help transport the rescued children to proper medical facilities before arranging their safe return to their home islands.
It was precisely because of this humanitarian intervention that the Black Star Pirates had once again provoked Kaido's wrath and aroused Big Mom's fury, despite having only recently returned to the New World after their extended absence.
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