The Blazing Righteous Path

"Interesting!" Ace's face was almost unable to hide his excitement.

He liked this.

He was a child starved of love, a guy who never felt a sense of belonging to a group, an individual completely devoid of collective honor.

But he had always wanted these things.

Aside from brotherhood, Ace lacked everything.

Because he was Roger's son, he lacked a sense of security; because he was Roger's son, he lacked parental love; because he was Roger's son, he never dared to dream of romance. Aside from the brotherhood with Luffy and Sabo, he seemed to have nothing, and craved everything.

So after he was brought onto Whitebeard's ship, he gained a sense of security, paternal love, a sense of belonging to a group, and collective honor.

That's why he was determined to become a member of the Whitebeard Pirates, to become Whitebeard's son. Even the end of his life was a furious counterattack against Akainu's insult to Whitebeard.

If this conviction of his could be channeled into the revolution, he would be the most steadfast flame of revolution.

As Sabo's brother, he should have been this way, but fate's grand design was truly regrettable.

Now, Ace seemed to have found some kind of meaning.

He stood up from the ship's railing and walked forward, joining the ranks.

Since the deck on the left was already full, he had to move to the right, among the captives, and stand tall as the first person.

His figure drew many gazes.

The captain of a pirate crew worth fifty million Belly was somewhat famous, even in the Grand Line.

Not to mention that Iska and the others had specifically come after Ace and his crew.

"Kid, you need to move to the back." Big Cutlass William emerged from the captain's cabin at some point, using his massive body to nudge Ace aside. He then stood in Ace's original position, a brilliant smile on his face.

"Heh heh." Ace chuckled and didn't argue, standing next to Big Cutlass William.

"This troublesome captain," Masked chuckled, cursing softly, then stood up from beside Iska and walked towards Ace.

One by one, the Spade Pirates crew members stood beside Ace, quickly forming a line and moving to the second row.

A collective atmosphere spread throughout the space. No one moved, yet simply standing in place, they seemed to be a single entity. Even separated by masts, by height, by build, by clothing, by status, by gender.

They had cast aside everything about themselves and stood in their own ranks. For all of them, there was only one name.

Revolutionary Army!

Watching this grand spectacle from the highest platform of the rear helm, even the three Empress sisters were moved.

Each of them was a master of Observation Haki. Listening carefully, they could almost hear the same word flickering within the fiery passion of their hearts.

The name might vary, but it all meant the same thing as what they had learned from Leo.

Revolution!

They wanted revolution!

Revolution against the Marines!

Revolution against the World Government!

Revolution against the Celestial Dragons!

Hancock turned her head, her face flushed, and asked her sisters, "Sonia, Mary! Did you see that! He was telling the truth! He didn't lie to me! He's really going to overthrow the World Government! He's really going to kill all the Celestial Dragons!"

Compared to Luffy's blow against the Celestial Dragons.

This move, bringing the Marines into their own ranks and completely dismantling the Celestial Dragons' power and military might, was the true counterattack against the Celestial Dragons!

"Hey, Iska, join us!" Ace suddenly turned his head and called out to Iska, who was still in a daze.

"We promise we will absolutely not attack civilians!"

"Look at how often those scoundrel Marines attack civilians! Iska, join us! If we make a mistake, come and correct us! If we commit a sin, come and judge us!"

"But not in the Marines anymore!" he shouted.

Ace still had feelings for Iska.

"When the Marines commit crimes, no one is ever punished. Is a three-cup toast considered punishment? Are human lives this cheap?"

Ace's shouting did not make Iska firm in her resolve, but instead strengthened the conviction of the hesitant Marines.

This also touched upon the issue of corruption within the Marines with no oversight. Like Colonel Mouse, like CP9's leader Spandam, they were both low-life second-generation Marines. But in the Marines, no matter how poor their character, how vile, they were merely transferred back to headquarters. They could always restart their careers relying on their fathers' influence. On the other hand, upright Marines, if they made a mistake, might be overlooked for promotion for life—unless their strength was so great that Marine Headquarters couldn't ignore them.

They watched as one after another, they stood in the queue behind the Spade Pirates, then turned to look at their former superior with hopeful eyes.

They knew their superior's talent. She had only been assigned to the front lines of the Grand Line as a mere lieutenant junior grade after refusing a suitor from a second-generation family. Now, surely she could abandon the corrupt Marines and join this new, vibrant organization.

Not only them, but other Marines who had already firmly joined the pirate ranks also turned around, looking at her with pleading eyes.

If she didn't join them, they would have to kill her to prevent leaks. They didn't want to do something so cruel, and Ace didn't want that either.

In the end, they might very well, in their extreme conflict, let her go, and this small organization would be crushed by the World Government in its infancy.

Iska, who had long been tempted, sighed softly under everyone's gaze. Leaning on her sword, she slowly stood up, limping as she walked to the very back of the line, slowly straightening her chest.

The air on the entire deck grew thicker. Everyone looked at Leo with burning eyes, expecting him to say something.

Leo paused for a moment. "The path we're taking isn't one of assassination. It's not a path where we assassinate a few Celestial Dragons, assassinate a few World Government officials, destroy a few World Government member nations, and kill a few of their kings, then become complacent."

"The path we're taking is a righteous one."

"We will carefully accumulate our strength, build up our power, boldly assess the enemy's combat strength, infiltrate their inner circles, win over those who share our ideals, and finally, using a righteous and kingly path, we will dismantle the World Government's member nations one by one. We will dismantle the World Government's power in the Four Seas outside the Grand Line, one by one. Finally, concentrating all our strength, we will directly pacify the Celestial Dragons' reliance: the World Navy!"

"This is our path!"

PS: Second update, please vote with recommendation tickets.

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