Changing...

Jin An stood on the deck, his gaze fixed on the boundless sea. The view before him remained as vast and profound as it had been countless times before, as though this ocean carried endless secrets.

The sea breeze brushed across his face, carrying the scent of salt and a slight chill.

The sea was still rough, and clouds on the horizon glimmered faintly in the morning light, as though nothing had changed.

Those Marines had always kept a safe distance from them.

But Jin An knew that what he and the Rebel Army sought was to change this sea, to change this fate that had long been set in stone.

"This sea is still as calm as it was before."

Jin An's gaze grew firmer, and the corners of his lips curled up slightly.

"But we don't want it to stay this way forever."

He was no longer the carefree young man who had once thought only of personal grudges.

After countless battles and brushes with death, he had clearly realized that this sea—this entire world—could not simply remain as it was.

If things continued like this, the conflicts between pirates and the various powers would eventually become an endless bloody vortex.

And he, Jin An, absolutely did not want this turmoil to become even more endless.

Blackbeard, Imu, and even those former enemies had all made Jin An deeply realize that this great game involving the Marines, the World Government, and the Rebel Army still held many unsolved mysteries.

Though the smoke of war had dispersed, the undercurrents hidden beneath the sea's surface still surged.

Steady footsteps sounded behind him.

"What are you thinking about?"

The voice behind him broke Jin An from his thoughts.

Whitebeard's laughter echoed in his mind, yet his gaze never left the vast