Because of that, the Marines began a major recruitment drive across the Four Seas, gath it only meant that no major incidents occurred.
There were still countless pirates emerging one after another, choosing to set sail because of their dreams, One Piece, and all sorts of other reasons.
Time always slipped away quietly before anyone realized it. Very quickly, seven years passed, and in the blink of an eye, the year became 1517.
During these seven years, nothing major happened in the New World.
Whitebeard continued taking in sons. Roy trained toward Super Saiyan 4. As for Charlotte Linlin, she and Red-Hair maintained a strange, almost alliance-like tacit understanding.
Though the two had no verbal or written agreement, both of them understood perfectly well that under the pressure of the Thunder Emperor and Whitebeard, if they wanted to continue expanding properly in the New World, they could only help each other.
Aside from giving birth to children, Big Mom also officially appointed several of her now-grown Sweet Commanders and divided the Totto Land that had shrunk quite a bit compared to the original version among a number of ministers.
Other than that, there were no other plot developments.
After seeing the New World grow calm and peaceful, the World Government gradually turned its attention toward the Revolutionary Army, which had begun developing and expanding during the years of turmoil at sea.
Over these past few years, with the Thunder God Pirates drawing most of the World Government's attention and with support from people like Laffitte, Dragon's momentum could be said to have been extremely good.
On top of that, Kuma would occasionally pass Dragon some of the revolutionary ideas he had received from Roy, allowing Dragon to recruit even more like-minded companions.
As a result, compared to the original version, the Revolutionary Army became even stronger.
By the time the World Government officially paid attention to it, they were shocked to discover that the Revolutionary Army had already grown into a truly massive force.
And so, under the fury of the Five Elders, the Marines' proposal to have Garp temporarily fill the vacant Admiral position left by Zephyr was directly rejected.
Garp was more than happy about that.
As for the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the Marines and the World Government had already selected and appointed some candidates.
The Desert Crocodile, Crocodile; Gecko Moria; the treasure maniac Mad Treasure; the legendary pirate and pillar of the Happo Navy, leader Chinjao; the Okama King Emporio Ivankov; and, after only her first voyage, the most beautiful woman in the world, with an enormous bounty of eighty million Beli: the Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock.
After a series of evaluations, fully weighing their respective reputations and strength, these six were chosen.
Among them, Crocodile, Moria, and Hancock became Warlords as usual.
However, because Mihawk, Jinbe, and Kuma had joined the Thunder God Pirates, and Doflamingo had been killed by Roy, naturally, other candidates had to fill the empty seats.
The treasure maniac Mad Treasure was a Chain-Chain Fruit user. He also had quite a few strong subordinates under him and was a man with an obsessive interest in treasure.
In order to obtain information about treasure more effectively and comprehensively, he accepted recruitment and became one of the Seven Warlords.
As for his strength, it was acceptable, though only barely. He was at most suited to the first half of the Grand Line.
In the original version, during his struggle with Luffy over the Pure Gold, he repeatedly used chains to heavily injure Luffy.
But that was when Luffy had not used his full strength at all. In the end, Luffy did not even activate Fourth Gear and only used Second Gear to send him flying.
As for the Okama King Emporio Ivankov, with no way to join the Revolutionary Army anymore, Dragon could only send Ivankov to the World Government as an undercover agent.
Speaking of which, Dragon really did not know how to use people.
In the original version, he sent Kuma, who was best suited for logistics and medical support, to become an undercover Warlord, while Ivankov went to Impel Down to wait for an opportunity.
But Ivankov's medical skill was extremely advanced. He was the strongest Okama King in history, someone who had once revived people that doctors had declared incurable, and even nations on the brink of death, leaving behind the "Legend of Relief."
Moreover, Ivankov himself possessed the Horm-Horm Fruit and was a human engineer capable of remodeling people from the inside.
It could be said that, together with Kuma, the two were a perfect match in terms of medical treatment and support.
And yet someone like that was sent to Impel Down, and now he had been made an undercover Warlord...
As for Chinjao, although he had a deep grudge against Garp, at the request of the king of the Kano Country, he also became one of the Seven Warlords.
The Seven Warlords had now decided on six candidates, and the World Government was considering who should be given the final position.
At that time, in East Blue, Foosha Village.
"Do your best, Ace!"
"Make a name for yourself out on the sea!"
"You're the pride of Foosha Village!"
All the villagers smiled as they encouraged Ace.
"I definitely will!"
The grown-up Ace answered, then looked at Luffy, who was sitting at the very front, and smiled.
"I'll be taking the first step, Luffy!"
"Just wait, Ace! Sooner or later, I'll set sail too! And I'll definitely become the Pirate King!"
"What are you talking about? The one who's going to become the Pirate King is definitely me!"
In the year 1517 of the Sea Circle Calendar, Ace, the posthumous son of the Pirate King Roger, formed the Spade Pirates and officially set sail!
Several months later.
Marine Headquarters, the Fleet Admiral's office.
"Report, Fleet Admiral! Fire Fist Ace, captain of the Spade Pirates, has refused the invitation to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and he defeated Vice Admiral Draw, who had gone to confer the Warlord position upon him!"
An intelligence officer hurried into the office.
"Is that so?"
Sengoku stopped writing and looked at the bounty poster placed beside his desk.
"Originally, I was thinking that if the other party refused recruitment into the Seven Warlords, Vice Admiral Draw would capture him on the spot. But this is truly unexpected."
"I remember that Vice Admiral Draw is quite skilled in physical techniques and Haki, and his mastery of the Marine Six Powers is also very good. Otherwise, he would not have been sent on this mission."
"It seems the other party does not rely entirely on the power of his Logia Devil Fruit either. Has he also mastered decent physical techniques or Haki? Honestly, the sea is about to become restless again. Is it another D.?"
(End of Chapter)
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