Great Pirate Era! A Frenzy of Growing Power

They encountered a Marine warship blockade upon setting sail, but the blockade was not strong enough.

Led by Moria, the pirate ship smashed through the encirclement and sailed away, leaving behind his "Hehishishishi" laughter and the wild laughter of the other pirates.

Several other pirate ships broke through the blockade alongside them.

Meanwhile, Loguetown rang nonstop with cries of battle and gunfire.

This chaos seemed to herald the coming Great Pirate Era.

Marine Headquarters.

"Still haven't found him?"

Sengoku frowned in thought as he looked at the photographs sent over by the fax Den Den Mushi in his hand.

Garp leaned over for a look, then rubbed his chin.

"That's enough. It's not him!"

Garp shook his head. The smell of alcohol poured from his mouth, making Sengoku frown deeply.

"What? You don't believe me? Tsuru, take a look!"

Seeing Sengoku's expression, Garp immediately glared at him.

The dejected air he had worn after Roger's execution had already vanished without a trace.

At his words, Vice Admiral Tsuru took the pictures Sengoku handed over and examined them one by one.

They showed corpses photographed from every angle, as well as sword marks left on the walls.

Vice Admiral Tsuru frowned slightly.

Her reaction made Sengoku curious.

"Well?"

"It truly doesn't look like it. Pirate King Roger was incredibly powerful, and both you and I know it. Every move he made carried immense force, because he had cultivated his Haki to its very limit."

After placing the pictures on the table, Vice Admiral Tsuru lightly tapped a finger against them.

"See? Even Tsuru could tell. You, the so-called brilliant strategist, couldn't. I'd say you're just stupid!"

As Garp spoke, he even picked his nose with his pinky.

Veins bulged across Sengoku's forehead.

That guy's earlier expression, as if his entire family had died, had been speechless enough. His usual personality was even more maddening.

Vice Admiral Tsuru glanced at Garp without saying anything, then turned back to Sengoku.

"Roger's sword strike was a Flying Slash infused with Conqueror's Haki. Anyone capable of unleashing that strike naturally possesses extraordinary mastery over Conqueror's Haki."

"You mean someone with that kind of strength wouldn't use such a slash against some small-time pirate?"

Sengoku nodded slightly.

"That is one reason. But more importantly, its power was far too weak."

At Sengoku's words, Garp broke into a wide grin.

After the battle at God Valley, he had begun pursuing Roger, and the two had fought countless times.

If there was anyone in this world most familiar with Roger's strength, it had to be him.

"If someone could infuse Conqueror's Haki into a blade and unleash that slash, Loguetown would probably have been split apart by now."

Noticing Sengoku's hostile gaze, Garp added that last sentence.

Sengoku's expression stiffened.

"If someone could truly unleash that strike, then they could also control its power."

Tsuru shook her head, then changed the subject.

"But this isn't what we need to focus on now. After Roger's final words before his execution, you can both guess what will happen next."

At those words, both Sengoku and Garp turned grave.

Of course they knew. Their earlier discussion had merely been a way to ease their minds before facing the real issue.

"He's already dead, yet he still had to cause such enormous trouble."

Only after a long silence did Sengoku speak in a low voice. Then he rose to his feet.

"Let's go, Garp. You can't miss this meeting."

Garp's expression froze, but he did not refuse. The three of them left together.

The situation the Marines would face next would be even more severe.

A year was enough for many things to happen.

The impact of Pirate King Roger's execution had not faded. Instead, it had grown increasingly intense.

The number of pirates setting sail had exploded.

The entire sea seemed to be filled with pirate ships.

Beneath low, heavy thunderclouds and amid towering, violent waves, a colossal ship resembling a small island cleaved through the waves crashing toward it.

"Hehishishishi."

Gecko Moria's familiar, strange laughter rang out from the bow.

Still not yet bloated, his body was lean and powerful. Wielding the sharp blade in his hand, he sent out Flying Slashes that split the incoming waves apart.

Lin Ye stood straight on the deck, utterly unaffected by the ship's violent rocking.

He looked toward Gecko Moria at the bow and raised a hand to wipe the rainwater from his face.

Pirates were pirates, after all.

The current Gecko Moria was far stronger than he would be when he encountered Straw Hat in the future.

Moria was at the peak of his power now. Even in the New World, he would find few opponents.

Many claimed that before Moria encountered Kaido, he had been a bold and powerful hero of the seas.

But after traveling with him all this way, Lin Ye had learned that pirates were pirates, after all.

Moria had done every single thing pirates were supposed to do.

Over the past year, they had fought dozens of battles, large and small. Some involved raiding islands, while others were clashes with other pirate crews.

Lin Ye had also established a persona for himself: someone who did not attack the weak and had a somewhat rigid personality.

Over the past year, Lin Ye had grown a great deal taller.

He could not compare to Moria, but at only eleven years old, he was already nearly one meter eighty tall.

[Lin Ye]

[Eleven years and one month old]

[Abilities: Trait Pickup, Shatter Traits]

[Conqueror's Haki: Level 6]

[Armament Haki: Level 6]

[Observation Haki: Level 6]

[Divine Departure: Level 7]

[Voice of All Things: Level 3]

[Strong Physique: Level 3]

[Calm: Level 3]

...

...

[Blank Traits: 3]

There had been enough battles, and enough deaths, so Lin Ye's gains had naturally been enormous.

Whenever they encountered another pirate crew in battle, Lin Ye had never shown mercy.

His swordsmanship had also been honed greatly.

However, his focus had always been on the three types of Haki and Divine Departure.

Apart from truly useless traits, he had kept everything else. Some useful ones had even been raised by one or two levels.

They had also improved his own strength considerably.

More importantly, though, these were spare sources of energy for Lin Ye. Traits whose levels had been raised could also be shattered, and after being shattered, the Blank Traits spent on them would be returned directly.

That was why Lin Ye could afford to spend Blank Traits on these traits.

Naturally, that was not all he had gained.

What interested Lin Ye even more was abilities.

Ever since boarding the ship, Lin Ye had been considering whether he should eat a Devil Fruit in the future.

However, after picking up the ability—or rather, the ability-developed technique—from a Devil Fruit user Moria had killed, Lin Ye changed his mind.

That person had likely eaten a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit related to strength.

The manifested ability Lin Ye picked up was [Mighty Arms].

It could multiply the strength of his arms several times over.

And that was only its effect at Level 1.

After reaching Level 3, activating the ability could increase his strength more than tenfold.

However, it also placed a greater burden on his body.

That was why he had raised Strong Physique to Level 3.

Of course, to Lin Ye, its significance was not merely an increase in strength. It meant that abilities could be manifested by themselves and picked up.

If killing a Logia user could make their ability drop, then if he improved that ability, could he obtain the Devil Fruit's full power?