"Of course it's Whitebeard, why, do you have an interest in these matters too, old man?"
The conversation between Tiger and Mikhail caught Ace's attention. The earlier events hadn't taught him much of a lesson, and he continued to see Whitebeard as his imagined foe.
After the battle between Whitebeard and Kaidou concluded, the debate over who was truly the strongest — the strongest creature or the strongest man — became a hot topic across the Sea.
The matter was never resolved, but everyone knew one thing: as time passed, Kaidou would be the ultimate victor.
They didn't know the details, but Kaidou was younger, and he had more time — that was his greatest asset.
For Ace, the desire to challenge Whitebeard was even somewhat related to Roger.
Toward that father he never met, Ace didn't hold any particular fondness, and so he wanted to challenge Whitebeard, who belonged to the same era as Roger, when Kaidou was just an intern with no reputation.
Only a very few people knew the reason, only a few knew that his biological father was Roger, and it wasn't exactly a source of pride, at least on Fishman Island. Roger's reputation there was just average.
Although Neptune had peaceful exchanges with him and Tom had built ships for him, many Fishman Island residents disliked this Pirate King, feeling grateful for Whitebeard's protection and the development brought by the Hundred Beasts while disliking Roger for starting the Great Pirate Era.
Over the past few centuries, aside from the period of the previous Mermaid Princess, Fishman Island never experienced long-lasting stability, but after the start of the Great Pirate Era, the island became even more turbulent.
Many fishmen and mermaids believed that without Roger, Fishman Island would have been much more stable, and even if there were pirates, it would not have developed into such an incessant situation.
"Not really interested, that's just your own business."
Tiger, unlike Jinbe, didn't feel the need to intervene, even though Ace wanted to challenge Whitebeard. And if Ace wanted to challenge Kaidou, he wouldn't have stopped him either.
Unlike Sasaki, who revered Kaidou and joined the Hundred Beasts purely out of admiration, Tiger was just a believer of the Arceus Sect, and as long as Ace didn't say anything strange or make any special moves, Tiger wouldn't interfere.
"If you proceed smoothly, the future should go quite nicely for you."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Oh, nothing, just that you seem to have a talent for mining."
"?"
Hearing this, Ace fell into confusion again. He didn't quite understand the New World as people here seemed to value talent in mining, but Tiger didn't linger and instead picked up his notebook and walked aside.
Ace didn't pay attention to this nonsensical comment, as he didn't plan to earn funds this way in the future either.
After some delay, the Black Spade Pirates completed their initial capital accumulation through mining, regained their starting funds, and waited patiently for other pirate crews.
These were the New World's losers who, before retreating to the First Half of the Grand Line, wanted one last heist, only to run into Ace's group. After their ship was taken, they inherited the mining work.
On this point, the pacifist Otohime learned the Hundred Beasts' reformation policy — mining, until the person truly repented.
If no repentance comes, well, several hundred years of mining might earn them freedom again.
As for judging true repentance, Otohime had her unique methods.
...
"Hey, Brother Tai, just let them go like that?"
"No need to intervene, there are too many of these hotheads, you can't manage them all — it's the same for both the Hundred Beasts and Whitebeard's side."
Watching the departing Black Spade Pirates, Jinbe was slightly hesitant, somewhat inclined to step in and stop them, but ultimately listened to Tiger's advice — whether they could reach their destination was a different issue.
Tiger's status among the Fishman Race was akin to a legendary hero of the Giant Race, exerting extraordinary influence; his suggestions were often implemented effortlessly.
"No need to worry, that kid is a Super Rookie too, though he'll likely be recruited. But with that character… Jinbe, do you think he'll end up mining for Hundred Beasts or being taken by Whitebeard?"
"Maybe become a son-in-law of Big Mom? She might take a liking to him."
"Haha, now that'd be interesting, but unlikely. Right, Jinbe, I'll leave it to you here, I'm planning to go touring soon, the Nun has already invited me."
Earlier in casual conversations, Ace and the others didn't hide their intentions, bluntly stating that their targets for challenge were those top-tier powerhouses. From Tiger's perspective, there was no way Ace could succeed; it was just a matter of seeing where he would stumble.
The New World wasn't short of ambitious people, but more so it was littered with the bodies of them; countless corpses buried in the perilous sea.
If Ace really acted on his plans to challenge powerful foes, being able to walk away from one opponent was considered miraculous luck. Presently, the New World had never seen a hero who survived after simultaneously offending two Sea Emperors.
The past feats of lone warriors had become extinct, those who caused trouble in Whitebeard's territory, offended a cadre of the Hundred Beasts, and then stole food from Big Mom — truly an unrepeatable legacy.
But now, this record stood a chance of being broken, with Red Hair Shanks ascending to the Four Emperors, providing another target to challenge — perhaps in the future, even a stronger hero would be born.
"Understood, I will protect this place."
...
Tiger intended to observe how the Nun spread faith, while the Nun hoped for more powerful people among the missionaries to deal with heretics. Thus, a special missionary event began.
Before that, however, a strange birthday celebration was ongoing on Ghost Island, for quite an aged birthday celebrant.
Pop! Pop!
Several paper fireworks were opened, showering Asie with streamers. As a researcher with little combat prowess, few attended Asie's 250th birthday party, mainly the cadres' family members.
Though few in number, the guests' ages added up to an absurd total.
75-year-old Nightin, 250-year-old Asie, 201-year-old Olga, all firmly belonged to the long-lived demographic.
"Hey dad, aren't you going to take action? Even Nightin is here for your birthday."
"That's a senior, shouldn't you address her with a title?"
"Let's talk about outcomes later, and really, don't you think she should be calling me great-great-grandpa?"
"..."
Olga's comment left Asie speechless; the father and daughter often ignored the nearly 200 years they spent in a Sea King's belly, but occasionally, Olga would bring it up again, making them practically unrivaled in generational hierarchy.
"Alright, kidding aside, do your best, dad. I believe in you."