Finding a Random Pirate Crew for Practice

In the North Blue, at the Donquixote Family's Secret Base.

"Young master, the doctor said you can't train anymore today."

Trebol came in carrying medicine and saw Doflamingo staring at Marine intelligence on the table, with Ron's photo printed at the top.

Several months had passed since the battle on Minion Island, but the long scar on Doflamingo's chest remained, aching whenever the weather turned cold and rainy.

His broken right arm had healed, but it would never be as nimble as before.

Gladius had it worse. He had lost both arms and could only perform simple movements with custom-made Mechanical Prostheses.

Pica and Jora had returned to the family one after the other, but no one dared mention that day's crushing defeat in front of the young master.

"Fuffuffuffu..."

Doflamingo stared at his palm.

His String-String Fruit had awakened.

That power, which he had thought would let him turn the tables, had failed to so much as touch the hem of Ron's clothes when he actually faced him.

"As I am now, I'm no match for him."

Trebol froze. "Behehehe, Doffy, are we still going to settle the score with him someday?"

"Of course."

Doflamingo tapped his fingertips on the chart of the New World on the table.

"But with just the people we have, we'll never beat that monster."

His finger traced one sea route after another. "I'm going to make it so those guys in the New World can't get around me, whether they're buying guns, buying intelligence, or shipping cargo."

"Once they realize they can't do without me, it'll be too late for them to turn on me."

Trebol's eyes lit up. "You mean..."

"Starting today, the family's main forces are moving into the Underworld."

That night, a special Den Den Mushi suddenly rang.

"Shurorororo! I hear you've had a rough time lately!"

"Caesar, if you called just to laugh at me, I'm hanging up."

"Don't be so hasty! I've been working on some great research lately!!"

Caesar Clown talked a mile a minute on the other end of the line, spittle flying as he discussed the Lineage Factor research on Punk Hazard, the mutations of ability users, and his ideas for Artificial Devil Fruits, growing more excited as he went.

"That old fool Vegapunk always thinks I'm no good. Just wait and see!"

Hearing his ideas for Artificial Devil Fruits, Doflamingo cut him off. "I'll provide the money, the materials, and the channels for experiments."

"Just tell me whether you can mass-produce ability users."

The other end of the line went quiet for a moment.

"Shurorororo! You've got quite an appetite! The research is still in its early stages. Success is a long way off."

"What I'm buying is the future."

Doflamingo's gaze swept over the territory of the Beasts Pirates on the chart.

"Kaido in the New World dreams of having an army of Zoan users that grows bigger the more it fights."

"This is just what he wants."

"You want to sell them to the Beasts Pirates?!"

"What's the rush? If you can't show them something real, who's going to believe you?"

He picked up a weapons price list beside him.

"First, have the Underworld brokers deliver this batch of weapons. Once the name JOKER has a firm place on their purchasing list, we can talk about the rest."

After hanging up, Doflamingo pressed his palm against the table.

The wood grain slowly warped, turning into a bundle of fine white threads.

But as he looked at those threads, he remembered the Black Greatsword that had shattered an entire sea of threads with a single slash in the snow.

"Ron..."

"One day, I'll make you understand that there's more than one kind of power."

Meanwhile, in an underground cell in the Germa Kingdom.

Sanji held an old book with curling pages, reading it over and over.

The book described All Blue, a sea where fish and shrimp from all four seas gathered, a place every chef dreamed of visiting.

The child, whom Judge had deemed a failure and locked up for six months, learned for the first time that he had something he wanted to pursue.

Most people outside thought he was dead.

Amid the chaos of Germa 66's attack on the Corgia Kingdom in the East Blue, Reiju secretly unlocked his cell.

"Hurry, Sanji."

Sanji hurriedly found the key, removed the iron mask he had worn for six months, and ran after Reiju.

On his way out, Judge stopped him but made no move to capture him.

"Get lost. And don't ever say you're a member of the Vinsmoke family again."

Sanji gritted his teeth and didn't look back.

Reiju took him aboard the Orbit, which was docked at the port.

As the sails rose, the little apprentice chef hugged the cookbook tightly to his chest and gazed at the unfamiliar sea, his eyes shining brightly.

Marineford, Ron's private training room.

"ROOM!"

A blue field steadily enveloped the entire training room. Several blocks of wood swapped places in the air one after another, landing precisely on the marked spots.

Law withdrew his power and wiped the sweat from his brow.

With continued treatment and the aid of his fruit's power, his Amber Lead Syndrome had gradually stabilized.

He had gone from spilling water all over someone's face just by moving a block of wood to steadily controlling the objects in an entire room.

Of course, he was still a long way from performing complex operations on patients.

Ron finished looking through his medical course records and nodded. "Not bad. You're getting better and better."

"Master, when can I go on a mission with you?"

"You want to go out?"

"Yes! I can't spend my whole life practicing on wooden dummies!"

Ron rubbed his chin. "True. You can't become a combat medic if all you know how to do is hit wooden dummies."

He got up and headed for the office area. "Pack your things."

"Where are we going?"

"The New World."

"Really?!"

Half an hour later, Rosinante's roar shook the hallway.

"What?! You're taking Law to the New World—?!"

"Brother, calm down."

"He's only thirteen! He hasn't fully recovered yet!!"

"It's not like I'm sending him to fight a major pirate one-on-one."

"Besides, when I was thirteen, I was already cutting down pirates in the New World with Pops, you know?"

Rosinante pressed a hand to his forehead. "Don't compare everyone to yourself!"

Ron handed him the fleet plan. "We'll take a medical team and follow safe routes known to headquarters. He can start by dealing with small-scale conflicts and learning how to save people from the military doctors."

"If we run into anyone really dangerous, I'll handle it."

Only after reading the plan did Rosinante reluctantly nod. Before leaving, he grabbed Law and repeatedly warned him, "Whatever you do, don't recklessly throw yourself into things like your master!"

"Got it, Corazon!"

Ron wasn't pleased. "Brother, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't you know yourself?!"

The weather at sea in the New World could change in an instant.

The sky had been clear that morning, but by afternoon, dark clouds loomed overhead, and hail pounded against the deck.

A Sea King bigger than a warship had surfaced moments ago, only to sink back into the water in the blink of an eye.

Ron's Independent Fleet sailed along its route, the warships holding their formation steadily amid the towering waves.

Law held onto the railing and stared at the lightning in the distance without blinking.

"Master, so this is the New World?"

"Yeah. Powerful people are everywhere, and the weather doesn't play fair either."

"Then who are we going to practice on first?"

Ron spread out the sea chart. "We'll start with some guys whose bounties are in the tens or low hundreds of millions. You'll stay with the medical team. No charging in on your own."

"Understood!"

Vergo walked past carrying the duty roster. When he saw Law holding a medical kit, he couldn't help giving him a second look.

"Rear Admiral, is the trainee taking part in actual combat too?"

Ron replied solemnly, "You've been aboard long enough to know that saving lives is more important than taking credit."

"Understood."

Law muttered, "Master, I can use ROOM, you know."

"Even if you can use ROOM, you still have to learn how to bandage wounds first. Patients aren't going to lie there waiting while you work out your moves."

Law could only hold the medical kit tighter.

As they spoke, a shout suddenly came from the lookout tower.

"Rear Admiral! Large pirate ship spotted dead ahead!"

Ron lazily looked up. "A large pirate ship? Perfect. What's their bounty?"

"N-no, it's not an ordinary pirate ship! There's a white whale on the bow—!!"

At those words, the smile vanished from Ron's face.

Law hurriedly raised his spyglass.

The sea mist slowly dispersed, and an enormous White Whale Figurehead Battleship emerged.

A huge pirate flag flew in the wind, the skull with its crescent-shaped mustache standing out on its surface.

The Moby Dick

"Master! That ship looks amazing!"

Law hadn't realized what he was looking at yet, but he was already excited. "How about we practice on them?"

Ron was silent for two seconds before slowly pushing Law's spyglass down.

"Disciple, you've got guts."

"Huh?"

"You want to challenge the World's Strongest Man in your first real battle?"

"...Huh?!"

Law slowly looked up at Ron's serious expression, and his face went pale.

From the distant deck, a booming laugh carried on the sea breeze, drowning out the sound of the waves.

"Gurararara—!"

A towering figure stood in the middle of the ship, a massive naginata beside him.

Whitebeard (age 61)

Edward Newgate raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the warships opposite him.

"I was wondering which Marines these were. Turns out it's that monster brat who's been making waves lately~"

Ron drew Zhenyuan from the door, the corners of his mouth slowly rising.

"Whitebeard, huh..."

"Looks like this trip to the New World won't be too boring."