Yamato Joins

"Flame Emperor!"

"Black Star!"

The attacks, with both sides' Fruit powers unleashed to their fullest, nearly destroyed the uninhabited island entirely. Flame Emperor and Black Star ground against each other, temporarily reaching a stalemate.

"Ace is going to lose."

Marco watched Ace and Rune and let out a soft sigh. After encountering Kizaru, Rune had grown stronger again.

Or perhaps...

Had he never used his full strength before?

Marco did not know, but having someone willing to knock some sense into Ace was ultimately a good thing. Otherwise, with Ace's reckless nature, who knew how much trouble he would cause the Whitebeard Pirates in the future.

And Rune had saved Ace's younger brother, reunited Ace with his brother Luffy, and rescued him from Onigashima.

Naturally, he was the most suitable person to knock some sense into him.

The thunderous roar faded away. The island had already been ravaged into a complete mess by the aftermath of their battle. Rune stood where he was, looking at Ace, who had collapsed from exhaustion.

He walked over to Ace and held out a hand.

"From now on, think about how the rest of us feel before you do anything."

Rune pulled him up from the ground. "You can't choose who your biological father is, but... you can choose your family.

"You were captured by Kaido. Do you know how worried Pops and the brothers were about you?"

A lecture after victory often carried more weight. Seeing Rune's look of frustration, Ace lowered his head guiltily.

He really had viewed the world too simply.

"I know you want to liberate Wano Country. You want to defeat Kaido and avenge Oden. But to do all that, you need enough strength."

Rune looked at Ace and sighed softly. "Don't be so reckless in the future."

Ace fell silent, then nodded heavily. After getting thoroughly beaten up by Rune, he had finally realized his mistake.

Aboard the Moby Dick, Pops watched Rune pull Ace up and say those words.

A strange glimmer appeared in his eyes.

When Rune returned to the Thousand Sunny, he saw the eager light in Yamato's eyes and could not help rubbing his forehead.

"Next time. I'm not in the mood today."

"Alright."

Yamato was naturally straightforward and did not ask Rune too many questions. After watching Rune's battle with Ace, she had acknowledged his strength.

She longed to fight a powerful opponent like Rune.

However, Rune felt that he probably could not defeat Yamato for the time being.

After all, Ace relied more on his Fruit power, and Rune's Dark-Dark Fruit could greatly weaken him. Rune's Three Types of Haki were also stronger than Ace's, so naturally, he could win however they fought.

But Yamato...

Although she had also eaten a powerful Fruit, Yamato's Fruit mainly enhanced her state and made her physical abilities even stronger.

Yamato's most commonly used attack was the same as Kaido's: "Thunder Bagua."

Of course, people sometimes mocked her for not being worthy of calling it Thunder Bagua, saying it should be called Thunder Fourgua instead. But in truth, the power of Yamato's attack was not much weaker than Kaido's own.

"Oh, right. I still haven't asked which squad you want to join. Do you want to join Ace's Second Division?"

Rune came out of the captain's cabin again and looked at Yamato. After hesitating for a moment, Yamato looked back at him.

"I'll join your squad, then. Once I beat you, I can become a division commander too, right?"

Yamato's words made Rune burst out laughing. Among the Whitebeard Pirates' current commanders, probably not one could defeat Yamato with certainty.

The only ones evenly matched with Yamato were Marco, Jozu, and Vista. Because of the compatibility between their Fruit powers, Rune would not find it easy to defeat Yamato. As for Ace... with his Fruit power, he would not gain any advantage against Yamato either.

Having never left Wano Country, Yamato had no accurate understanding of her own strength.

"If you're willing, you can become the Whitebeard Pirates' Eighteenth Division Commander right now. I'll speak to Pops. He'll definitely agree."

Rune smiled faintly. "But then you'd have to find your own ship and recruit your own crew."

"Then I'll follow you."

Yamato smiled slightly. "After I've seen the grandeur of this sea, I'll think about all that later."

"Ha ha, alright."

Rune was somewhat surprised that Yamato was willing to join his crew. He had thought she would join the Second Division, Ace's division.

But from the looks of it, Yamato seemed to regard Ace only as a friend. It was not as though she absolutely had to follow him.

Yamato cared more about the stronger Rune.

Unfortunately, Yamato was not a powerful person who had not eaten a Fruit. Otherwise, he could have kicked Tashigi out. Tashigi's strength was still too much of a burden in Rune's squad.

"Oh, right."

Rune found Yamato again. "This ship is the Thousand Sunny. It belongs to Luffy and the others. We're only staying here temporarily. In a year and a half, when Luffy reunites with his companions, we'll have to find a new ship."

"Got it."

Yamato did not pay much attention to it. To her, any ship was the same, as long as she had somewhere to live.

The conflict between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Beast Pirates came to an end. The two sides never truly fought, and when Kaido learned that Ace had returned to the Whitebeard Pirates, he understood that both Ace and Yamato had gone to Whitebeard.

It had nothing to do with the Marines.

But that did not matter anymore.

Not long after the incident ended, Kaido received an anonymous letter.

The letter did not contain much, only a few brief sentences, but it made Kaido reveal a somewhat awkward smile.

"Call back all the Flying Six. There's no need to keep looking for Yamato."

Kaido casually crushed the letter, but left behind a burning Vivre Card.

"Finally finished dealing with all the aftermath. I can finally rest for a while."

Rune lay back in his chair. He did not know what Kaido's expression would be when he received the letter, but with Yamato's Vivre Card inside it, Kaido should not trouble him again in the future.

"When are you going to duel me?"

Yamato found Rune again. She had wanted to fight him these past few days, but Rune had always found one excuse or another to put her off.

He could not help it. Rune felt that fighting Yamato right now was a little risky. If he lost, would that not be embarrassing for a division commander?

"In a few days, in a few days. Let me rest a little."

Rune closed his eyes. "The next time we dock, I'll fight you."

Having received an answer, Yamato stopped pestering Rune and ran off to eat with Bonney.

Rune looked at the few people aboard his ship and could not help shaking his head.

There were several foodies on this ship.

Still, that was not bad. Foodies like them generally did not have any bad intentions.

Rune lay in his chair, thinking about where he should recruit companions next. There was also someone who seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth, and that person had been on Rune's mind.

Blackbeard Teach... he couldn't really have drowned in the sea, could he?