The next day.
Golden Island set sail, heading back toward Longwater Island—the primary battleground of the New World's Overlord conflict.
(TL: I change Changshui Island to its English name.)
Inside the captain's quarters of the golden spaceship Erebus, Brook sat quietly, staring at the Mythical Zoan Octopus Devil Fruit. He was thinking about whether or not to give it to his subordinates in Wano Country.
Ashura Doji and Hyogoro were both formidable swordsmen and seemed well-suited for David Kyons Eight-Sword Style. They should be able to mimic its power to some extent!
However, their loyalty was still uncertain. The influence of the Kozuki Clan ran deep in their hearts—almost unshakable. If Brook ever clashed with the Kozuki family… who would they stand with?
Seems like Brook needed full control of Wano Country before he could properly strengthen these samurai subordinates.
Next step—identify the future powerhouses!
Brook pulled out a piece of paper and began scribbling. Kaido, one of the future Four Emperors, was already listed. Who else?
Giants?
No good. They had long-standing beef with Charlotte Linlin. It'd have to be one or the other.
As for Morley, the Western Army Commander of the Revolutionary Army… Belo Betty once called him a "ten-meter-tall potato-shaped dwarf giant." Hard to say if he's a true giant, and not reliable enough to invest in now.
Then there were ancient giants like Little Oars and San Juan Wolf. Promising, but still too young—only 20 and 47 respectively. Not adults yet. Still, worth keeping an eye on.
Current Pirates?
The likes of the World Destroyer Byrnndi World, Naguri, and Golden Pirate Woonan… all monsters in their own right. Not exactly easy targets.
Marines of the Future?
Kizaru (Borsalino) should be around six or seven now. Akainu (Sakazuki), about three or four. But Brook only knew they came from the North Blue—no solid leads on their whereabouts. Same with their backgrounds—barely anything beyond names.
He'd have to ask Moore Thomas to investigate, hoping they weren't from some old naval family with deep roots.
Revolutionary Army's Leader, Monkey D. Dragon—same age as Akainu, around three or four. Currently in Foosha Village, East Blue, under Garp's care.
Fujitora? Probably just two or three years old now. Aokiji (Kuzan)? Not even born yet.
But then Brook remembered one absolute game-changer: Dr. Vegapunk.
The birthplace was crystal clear—Karakuri Island on the Grand Line, known as the Future Kingdom of Baldimore, a freezing winter island.
In the original timeline, Vegapunk headed the illegal research team MADS, alongside Queen the Plague, Vinsmoke Judge, and Caesar Clown. They were into weapon research, cloning, and so much more. That is, until Vegapunk discovered the "Blueprint of Life" and got busted by the World Government.
The team broke up—Vegapunk was taken by the government and began working for them. Caesar followed him. Queen and Judge escaped—Queen joined the newly-formed Beasts Pirates and headed to Wano, while Judge returned to the North Blue to continue his bloodline research. He eventually created cyborgs and dominated the region.
Queen and Judge were about four or five years old now, so Vegapunk was likely a few years older, considering he eventually recruited them.
Vegapunk was ridiculously advanced. While still in his hometown, he invented semi-mechanical animal mods and even created a giant heating system to improve island life.
He also worked on gigantification, artificial Devil Fruits, cyborgs, cloning, and more. Caesar, Queen, and Judge would later expand on his work.
This was the genius who figured out how to inlay seastone onto Navy ships, allowing them to cross the Calm Belt and threaten isolated nations like Amazon Lily.
Brook suspected this only happened because Kaido had seized control of Wano, and Doflamingo became the underground broker for seastone. With massive seastone supplies finally accessible, Vegapunk got the materials he needed for research.
Only Wano's craftsmen could refine high-grade seastone. Even the World Government had to buy finished products from Doflamingo.
In the future, once Brook controlled Wano, he couldn't allow seastone to leak out anymore. With Vegapunk's mind, the guy could eventually stumble upon Brook's Devil Fruit recycling method.
In the original timeline, Vegapunk lacked both high-purity seastone and Wano's craftsmen—so he couldn't conduct advanced Devil Fruit research. But now? Brook had him in his sights.
Brook carefully went through all the future powerhouse candidates again. Many of their birthplaces were still unknown—frustrating.
But Vegapunk and Kaido were locked in. Brook would take them by force if necessary—even before the World Government could get their hands on them!
As for the current Navy? Legends like Garp, Sengoku, Tsuru, and Zephyr had joined early and already made their names. No way to steal them now.
Roger's crew was nearly complete too. Bullet and Shanks weren't even born yet!
That left Byrnndi World as a possible recruit. He didn't have Haki, so Brook might overpower him. But Naguri did have Haki—too tricky to convert.
Woonan? That guy just gave up, ran back to the Grand Line and Four Blues, and became a petty thief robbing newbie pirates for gold.
Brook gave one last look at the paper full of future legends… and then burned it.
He'd already wrung out most of the timeline's advantages. Now, it was time to build a new generation—with Charlotte Linlin's help.
In the captain's room, Brook let out his signature chuckle.
"Yohohoohho"
One Vegapunk was worth two Emperors—artificial Devil Fruits, Pacifistas, cyborg animals, synthetic monsters, dragons of all kinds…
Meanwhile, back on Longwater Island, Diger of the Overlord Alliance and Captain Rocks of the Rocks Pirates realized something.
The war was about to take another turn.
With the return of the Hell Pirates, balance would collapse again.
Rocks, scowling, chose to retreat and ended the assault.
David Kyons's army was annihilated. Without them, the Rocks Pirates lost much of their elite power—leaving them helpless against even mid- and low-level enemies.
Even Rocks himself, the so-called Super Overlord, couldn't turn it around.
------------------
Rocks's tyranny meant he was never destined to have allies—only subordinates and enemies. Diger, though domineering as well, had grown more tactful with age.
He knew how to form alliances to stand against the terrifying Rocks. As one of the New World's overlords, he also had ambitions to absorb both the Butcher Pirates and the Hell Pirates.
After Ewald's death, most of the power from his pirate crew was swallowed by old man Diger, who took in several of Ewald's strongest officers. If it weren't for Jack's stupidity, even Teach Angel and Bull might have ended up as part of the Diger Pirates.
Eventually, though, the Hell Pirates took advantage of the situation and forced Diger to hand over Ewald's territory to Brook as a price for his alliance.
But the threat of Rocks was far too great, and with both Saracha and Brook being dangerous figures in their own right, Diger had no choice but to maintain this fragile situation... for now.
But now, it was clearly impossible for the Hell Pirates to swallow up the Siren Pirates' entire territory. Even if Diger gave the green light, there was no way Willank and Saracha would agree.
They fought that war together—why should the Hell Pirates get all the spoils? At the very least, David Kyons's territory had to be split among them.
Just after they'd successfully driven back the Rocks Pirates, the Overlord Alliance already started turning on each other. Saracha was especially hungry. One of their strongest officers had just died—they had to take more islands or it would feel like a waste!
The frost giant Willank was also demanding islands as compensation for his losses, even saying he'd help "convince" Brook to be more reasonable—together with Saracha.
Watching all this, Diger smiled meaningfully. He needed to suppress the Hell Pirates. Those guys were becoming way too powerful. They'd already surpassed both the Ice Demon Pirates and the Butcher Pirates to become the third-strongest pirate group in the New World!
"Captains, let's be patient. I believe Captain Brook will be reasonable enough to hand over the territories for us to divide fairly. After all, his pirate group barely suffered any losses, while we've all taken heavy hits. A little compensation is fair.
Besides, Brook's territory is kinda far from the Pso Island sea zone. So why don't we divide up all of David's territory first, and then Saracha and I can toss a few nearby islands his way in return?"
Diger already had a plan. Isolate the Hell Pirates. Block their growth.
"Yes, yes, exactly! David Kyons's territory and Brook's waters are separated by two groups. It'd be perfect if we split them among us!"
Willank laughed. His waters bordered David Kyons's turf, so naturally, he wanted the lion's share. The Ice Demon Pirates had lost their Overlord Pirate status and had been raided by Rocks and David multiple times—more than a dozen islands stolen. He needed to get it back somehow, even if it was just his own fantasy.
Currently, in the New World:
Rocks held 64 islands,
Diger 42,
Willank 21,
David Kyons 18,
Saracha 19,
and Brook just 13.
Rocks had snatched many islands from both the Diger and Ice Demon Pirates, so now, the Overlord Alliance wanted to take all of David's remaining territory for themselves!
"Hmph. I'll give Brook two islands near his own territory, and I'll be taking seven from David's," Saracha declared coldly, announcing his own cut.
"Alright, then I'll take the five closest to mine!" Willank said after thinking it through. There were 18 islands—he'd grab five and let the others argue over the rest.
"You two... that's not exactly fair," Diger said, acting like the responsible one. "The Hell Pirates put in a lot of effort. Sure, they didn't lose anyone, but if you two keep going like this, it'll be hard for me to keep things under control.
How about this—I'll be the generous one. I'll take the remaining six islands, including Pso Island. Then I'll give Brook three islands as compensation."
He didn't really care about one or two islands.
Pso Island was rich and well-developed—that's what he was after.
What he really wanted to see was if the Hell Pirates would swallow their pride and accept just five remote islands after conquering eighteen.
Just like that, the three captains casually divided up David Kyons's entire territory... while the Hell Pirates were still on their way back.
What would Brook say when he found out?
··
The next day, when Golden Island once again appeared over Longwater Island, the pirates were still in awe—both shocked and envious of the flying palace.
But after the Hell Pirates wiped out David Kyons, their reputation skyrocketed. Pirates became cautious, keeping their distance from Brook's crew, no longer daring to covet the golden island so boldly.
Diger and the other two overlords showed up in person to welcome the Hell Pirates, putting together a celebration banquet—though in truth, it was also a banquet to divide the spoils.
After that fierce battle with David, Brook's crew had grown even stronger. Their speed of growth shocked even the old fox Diger.
He envied their potential—but feared it more. If only his own son had that kind of talent...
"Brook, your Hell Pirates really made a name for themselves this time! Even the newspapers are calling you the next generation of pirate overlords!"
Just a few casual words from Diger, and Brook's whole crew was being praised sky-high. Saracha and Willank sneered silently, more and more unhappy with how the Hell Pirates were being treated—even though they did contribute greatly to defeating Rocks.
But none of that mattered. What really mattered... was how the island spoils would be divided later. Would Brook dare go against the three of them for some land?
"Captain Diger, you flatter us. It was only possible thanks to you. If you hadn't held off that monster Rocks, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to crush the Siren Pirates."
Brook's tone was polite, but the words had a sting. He called him "Captain Diger," and emphasized "held off," making it clear the man's time was fading.
It also implied that while Diger could only barely stop Rocks, Brook's crew had enough strength to wipe out a rival like David Kyons.
"Hah, don't be so humble. In a few more years, you might actually be qualified to face Rocks head-on. Come on, let's eat!"
Diger invited them into the banquet hall, muttering inside, You're not even on the same level as Rocks. And even if I'm old, I'm still way beyond you.
All four pirate crews entered with their own agendas. Throughout the banquet, many pirates toasted the Hell Pirates, even buttering up the Golden Lion Shiki.
They praised his brilliance—how he played David Kyons like a fool, turning weakness into strength and annihilating the Siren Pirates. They were all envious of the Float-Float Fruit's versatility and speed.
But as the feast drew to a close and talk shifted to dividing the spoils, everything changed.
When Shiki heard that the three pirate captains had already carved up the territory beforehand—he snapped.
From the 18 islands they conquered, only five would go to them? And they were all trash islands that Diger and Saracha didn't want?
Compared to the rich, well-developed islands like Pso that David and Calypso had poured resources into, what they were being offered was straight-up garbage.
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