Magnus's Ambition!

Marineford Calendar Year 1461, February.

New World.

It had been over a month since they left Elbaf. For most of that month, they had been at sea, with only one stop at an unknown small island in the middle.

The reason.

"We're out of money!"

Sitting on the fishing platform of the Black Pearl, Magnus's expression was incredibly heavy.

In Elbaf, they could eat like Giants and hunt in the forests if they were hungry. Elbaf's jungles were never lacking in prey, as long as one had the ability to hunt them.

But once they set sail, problems arose.

Magnus and Ripley were both Devil Fruit users, so they couldn't go into the water to catch fish. Relying solely on fishing, it was impossible to fill their stomachs, let alone avoid going hungry for three days out of nine.

Magnus originally had several million Belly, but he gave all that money to Carmel as a deposit to get Linlin on board.

As for the bounty he collected half a year ago for Bloody Skull Farrell's head, Magnus had asked two Giant pirate hunters to collect it. However, before they could return, Magnus had already set sail again.

"Our pirate crew is actually short on money?"

Hearing Magnus's words, Ripley's eyes widened in disbelief.

In her opinion, the White Wolf Pirates, if not possessing enough money to buy several countries, would never have fallen to the point of lacking funds!

Bloody Skull Farrell thought the same way.

"Before the crew disbanded, there was indeed some savings. But after distributing all the money, my share was only enough for an old man to live out his remaining years in peace."

Magnus was full of helplessness.

"So, we need to find a way to make money now."

"That's simple!"

Upon hearing Magnus's words, Rocks' eyes lit up, and an evil smile spread across his face.

"Let's just find a couple of merchant ships and rob them. Ouch!"

Rocks clutched his head and glared at Magnus, "Why did you hit me?"

"Because it's shameful!"

Magnus looked at Rocks and sneered, "Our crew has no habit of bullying the weak."

"Then what should we do?" Rocks spread his hands, "If we don't rob merchant ships, should we rob pirates?"

"That's also an option."

Magnus did not deny it. It was only natural for pirates to prey on each other. Even if that pirate crew had nothing valuable on board.

What about the captain's head?

Any pirate captain active in the New World, no matter how low their bounty, would be worth over ten million Belly.

"However, this is just a temporary solution."

Magnus put down his fishing rod, spread his arms, and embraced the sea.

"For pirates to get rich, of course, they need to seize territory!"

In the New World, a pirate's fame depended on how many pirates they could intimidate and how many countries they could protect.

And by possessing one's own "territory," a pirate crew could truly establish a foothold in the New World.

"The White Wolf Pirates of the past only needed to manage a crew, so there was no need to grow stronger. But now it's different."

In Magnus's eyes, there was a surging light called "ambition."

"My path will not stop at just occupying a corner. If time has not stopped me, then this sea cannot either!"

"I want to dominate this ocean!"

In front of Rocks and Ripley, Magnus did not hide his ambition.

In the past, he had fantasized about changing the world, but he had failed. His lack of strength had forced him to stagnate.

Now, it was different.

With Admiral-level combat power, Magnus truly possessed the ability to directly confront Marine encirclement and had the capital to negotiate with the World Government.

Admittedly.

This level of strength was not enough to truly be on par with the World Government and the Marines, but it meant that Magnus had taken a solid step on his own path.

Laugh Tale?

Who cared about that?

In this era, when the future Pirate King Roger had not yet set sail, the so-called final island was merely a symbol with more symbolic than practical meaning.

Initially, Magnus thought he wanted to follow a path like the Pirate King Roger.

But now it seemed.

What he wanted to do was no different from Rocks in the future!

"Sorry, Rocks."

Before, he thought Rocks was a loser who competed with Roger for the Pirate King title. That was wrong. The two were never on the same track from beginning to end, so how could there be victory or defeat?

If anyone lost, the future Rocks lost to the World Government, lost to his own arrogance, not to Roger.

And now, the path he wanted to take was similar to Rocks'.

"Perhaps in the future, we'll become enemies!"

Magnus had no intention of deceiving Rocks. If he didn't have the capacity to accommodate the ambitions of his subordinates, then he wouldn't be fit to be a ruler of the seas.

Hearing Magnus's words, Rocks laughed.

"Hahaha, old man, if that day ever comes, I'll definitely spare your life and let you live out your old age in peace."

Rocks just kept laughing, almost to the point of tears.

Who would personally nurture their enemy?

But Rocks could tell that Magnus wasn't joking.

If he still wanted to become the ruler of the seas, then he would inevitably clash with Magnus in the future, and they would ultimately become enemies.

He could also tell that Magnus had no intention of suppressing him.

Magnus was looking forward to it.

Looking forward to him getting stronger, looking forward to him challenging himself.

"I won't go easy on you then!"

"Haha, if you lose, you'll just have to be my intern for life!"

Magnus and Rocks gently clinked their wine glasses, which they had placed aside.

Then, a resentful voice was heard.

"Hey, did you guys forget about me?"

Ripley looked at the father and son who had completely forgotten about fishing, her face full of dissatisfaction. "If we're talking about ambition, my ambition isn't any less than yours!"

"Oh?"

Hearing Ripley say that, Magnus's interest was immediately piqued, and even Rocks couldn't help but perk up his ears.

"Hehe, that is..."

Woooooo—

The sudden blast of a ship's horn drowned out Ripley's voice. Not only did Ripley pout, but even Magnus and Rocks couldn't help but frown.

Because what appeared before them was a massive steamship, with a large portion of its hull armored with iron. Not only Rocks and Ripley, but even Magnus rarely saw such a ship on the sea.

In a pirate world where sailing ships were still mainstream, steamships were generally only possessed by a few technologically advanced nations.

Even the Marine warships weren't fully equipped with the steam boilers unique to steamships.

But all three could see the flag flying on the ship.

The symbol on the flag was cross-shaped, with circles at the four vertices and the center. Below the cross was a line of text.

[WORLD GOVT.]

This was the flag representing the World Government, the symbol of the World Government!