Moonlight pooled across the battered deck of the Moby Dick as two once-rival crews—Whitebeard's veterans and Big Mom's stragglers—ringed a crackling bonfire.
Katakuri stood on one side, Marco on the other, Gunnar between them like a living bridge of scar tissue and resolve.
"We can't keep calling ourselves the Whitebeard Pirates," Gunnar rumbled. "Half the faces here never sailed under Pops."
Smoothie folded her arms. "And none of us want the Charlotte name haunting every island we visit."
A hush. Only the pop of burning driftwood filled the gap. Then Iris, still learning to walk, toddled forward, fell, scraped her knee…and three different commanders rushed to help her.
Gunnar watched the scene and smiled. "Family," he said quietly, "by blood, and by choice."
Marco's brows rose. "Bloodline… Pirates?"
The word clicked. Heads nodded. Katakuri tasted the future with Observation Haki and found no bitterness.
"The Bloodline Pirates," he confirmed.
Cheers erupted. Thatch sent Izou sprinting for paint. By dawn a new jolly-roger flew: Whitebeard's crescent-moustache set before two crossed candy canes—legacy and lineage fused.
***
World Economic Journal — Special Edition
Published Globally. Delivered by News Coos Across Every Sea.
The world held its breath as the special-edition newspaper hit the decks, porches, and palace doors of every nation—from the quiet azure blues of East Blue to the hellish tides of the New World. Even the sky itself seemed heavier that day.
In bold, furious ink, a new headline redefined the scales of power:
THE FOUR EMPERORS OF THE SEA HAVE BEEN DECIDED!A NEW ERA IS HERE!
Across the front page, four monstrous bounties burned like war banners. Four worlds. Four storms. Four unshakable pillars of piracy.
KAIDO – "The Strongest Creature Alive"
Captain of the Beasts Pirates
WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE
BOUNTY: 4,611,100,000 BERRIES
"Death has cheated me for the last time. If the world wants a monster, I'll give them a goddamn storm."-Kaido
His reputation is legend—invincible skin, unstoppable might. Entire fleets vanish trying to capture him. This is not a man. He is a force of extinction.
"RED-HAIRED" SHANKS – The Sovereign of the Calm Sea
Captain of the Red Hair Pirates
WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE
BOUNTY: 4,048,900,000 BERRIES
Tranquil as a whisper. Violent as a tempest.
"You don't need chaos to be a king. You just need to be the calm everyone fears to disturb."-Shanks
He ended the Paramount War with a walk. Not a blade drawn. Authority so absolute that even Admirals pause. The sea obeys him… and so does history.
MARSHALL D. TEACH – "Blackbeard" The Abyss of Greed
Captain of the Blackbeard Pirates
WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE
BOUNTY: 3,996,000,000 BERRIES
Two Devil Fruits. Infinite ambition. One gaping black hole of cruelty.
"Zehaaha! I told ya, the crown's already mine. Now it's time to crush the world that ignored me!"-Blackbeard
His newly-expanded crew includes monsters who were once legends. Empires tremble when his ship creakes into view.
EDWARD GUNNAR – "Whitebeard's Heart and Charlotte's Soul"
Captain of the Bloodline Pirates
WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE
BOUNTY: 3,765,432,100 BERRIES
Born of Whitebeard's blood, raised through fire and death.
Tall and broad with red and White hair braided with shark teeth—has already cleaved through admirals and Warlords alike.
"I don't carry my father's name. I carry his will—and if the world wants another war… I'll finish what they started."-Gunnar
With Katakuri at his right and Marco at his left, and Son of Pirate King, at his front, his crew is a hybrid of legends: remnants of Whitebeard, Roger and Big Mom united in a terrifying new bloodline. Where he walks, families are reclaimed—and enemies buried.
"THE BALANCE HAS BEEN BROKEN. THE NEXT ERA HAS BEGUN."— BIG NEWS MORGANS
Reactions Around the World
Marine HQ:
Fleet Admiral Sakazuki incinerated three copies of the paper with his bare hand.
"We should've nuked Marineford when we had the chance."
Revolutionary Army - Dragon:
Silent—for now—but vector maps are redrawn overnight.
Pirate Crews Worldwide:
Some cry. Some kneel. A few smile. But all acknowledge—the sea no longer belongs to the old names.
Final Note from Morgans
"This is no longer the age of inherited will. No. This is the age where monsters rule, and their bloodlines will shape the tides. One Piece might still be out there, but reaching it now? You'll have to survive a sea ruled by gods."
WANTED POSTERS — FULL DISPLAY
KAIDO
WANTED – DEAD OR ALIVE
4,611,100,000 Berries
"Execute him, Kill him. It won't be enough."
SHANKS
WANTED – DEAD OR ALIVE
4,048,900,000 Berries
"If he raises a glass in peace, drink. If he draws his sword—run."
MARSHALL D. TEACH
WANTED – DEAD OR ALIVE
3,996,000,000 Berries
"The abyss has learned to smile."
EDWARD GUNNAR
WANTED – DEAD OR ALIVE
3,000,000,000 Berries
"A heart full of fire. A name the world will burn to remember."
THE EMPERORS HAVE RISEN.
WHO CAN STAND AGAINST THEM?
***
The usual bustling corridors of Marine Headquarters near the Fleet Admiral's office were eerily silent. Vice-Admirals, normally barking orders or striding with purpose, now scuttled past the imposing, magma-scarred door, their faces pale. A familiar, oppressive pressure, like the air before a volcanic eruption, radiated from within. The scent of ozone and something akin to superheated rock hung heavy.
Inside, Fleet Admiral Sakazuki's fist, already wreathed in molten rock and hissing steam, hovered over his desk. The mahogany surface beneath was blackened in patches, a testament to previous outbursts. The door opened with a sigh, and former Fleet Admiral Sengoku entered, the crinkle of a rice-cracker bag a ridiculously mundane sound in the simmering tension.
With a guttural snarl, he slammed a crumpled newspaper onto the desk. The pages didn't just hit; they hissed, edges curling and browning instantly from the ambient heat of his rage.
"Four Emperors? Hmph! More like four open cysts on the face of justice! Parasites, the lot of them! And look at this one—this brat!" His magma-coated finger jabbed at a prominent picture.
"Edward Gunnar! He scoops up Whitebeard's pathetic moustache emblem, scavenges Big Mom's remnants, and has that damn fire-fist Ace at his side, and the world press crowns him an Emperor overnight!"
He selected a rice cracker with deliberate slowness, taking a bite. Crumbs, like defiant snowflakes, drifted down onto the scorched mahogany, a stark contrast to the Fleet Admiral's volcanic fury.
"Power abhors a vacuum, Sakazuki. We shattered Whitebeard's dominion, created a power imbalance at Marineford, and let Teach slip through the cracks. Did you truly expect the seas to remain neat and tidy after such a cataclysm?"
"Neat?" His voice was a low, magmatic rumble. "I want it sterilised."
He flicked a droplet of lava from his fingertip. It arced through the air, burning a perfectly circular, smoking hole straight through Gunnar's bounty poster on the newspaper.
"One war at Marineford should have cauterised that entire family line for good. Instead… 'Bloodline Pirates'?" He spat the name as if it were ash in his mouth. "Tch! Romantic rubbish for common criminals."
"Romantic or not," Sengoku observed, his tone deceptively mild, "they've managed to unify significant portions of two crews we spent decades carefully maneuvering to keep at each other's throats. That, Sakazuki, makes them dangerous in ways even Whitebeard, in his prime, perhaps wasn't."
"Then we erase the danger—permanently!" His eyes, like volcanic vents, glowed with ferocious intent.
His eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly behind his tinted glasses. The levity was gone from his voice, replaced by a steely warning.
"Just be certain you're not merely forging the next generation's unwavering motivation, Sakazuki. This 'Absolute Justice' of yours is beginning to look distressingly like 'Absolute Arson.' Fire begets fire, after all."
Sakazuki didn't answer. The magma veins crawling up his forearm pulsed with an inner light, casting flickering, demonic shadows on the wall. The office air thickened further with the faint, acrid smell of brimstone and the unyielding weight of his stubborn pride.
***
Sunrise bled across the horizon, painting the calm sea in hues of tangerine and rose. The newly designed Jolly Roger—Whitebeard's iconic crescent moustache now set defiantly above two crossed, crimson-striped candy canes—snapped sharply in the morning breeze, a bold declaration against the brightening sky. The air smelled of salt, woodsmoke from breakfast fires, and the faintest, lingering scent of mochi from Katakuri's early meal.
Portgas D. Ace sat cross-legged on a thick coil of rope, a discarded newspaper spread across his lap. His freckled face, usually animated, was uncharacteristically still as he stared at the headline.
Beside him, Edward Gunnar stood, arms folded across his broad chest, his expression as unreadable as the deep ocean. The only sound for a moment was the rhythmic creak of the ship and the distant cries of gulls.
Ace just stared at the bold print:
A NEW EMPEROR RISES!
'WHITEBEARD'S HEART' EDWARD GUNNAR – EMPEROR OF THE SEA
BOUNTY: 3,000,000,000 BERRIES
Slowly, his freckles creased around a wide, incredulous grin that threatened to split his face.
"Yoi— ah, sorry, force of habit. That's Marco's line."
He gave the newspaper a resounding smack. "Look at you, Gunnar! 'Emperor of the Sea.' Pops must've laughed himself hoarse, then probably demanded more sake to celebrate!"
Gunnar finally let out a chuckle, a low rumble that vibrated through the deck planks. "He'd have clapped us both on the back and told us to watch each other's backs, now more than ever."
Ace's smile softened, a genuine warmth replacing the initial shock. He rose, dusting off his shorts, and delivered a light, affectionate punch to Gunnar's bicep.
"You crazy bastard. You kept us alive at Marineford. You took the wheel when Pops… when he fell. And now, the whole damn world finally sees the man I saw the moment you lifted that bisento, roaring like a storm."
Ace smoothly removed his signature orange hat, his dark eyes gleaming with a fierce, unwavering light.
"Captain—no," he corrected himself, a new gravity in his voice, "Emperor. Listen up. I'm still chasing that horizon, always will be. But this time… this time my dream's gotten a whole lot bigger."
He jabbed a thumb towards his own chest, a spark of flame briefly igniting at his fingertip.
"I, Portgas D. Ace, swear on the will of my old man, Whitebeard, and on the fire that burns within my soul—"
He extended his fist, palm up, towards Gunnar. Flames, bright and hot yet somehow controlled, licked harmlessly over Gunnar's own calloused, battle-scarred knuckles as their hands met in a powerful grip.
"—I'll burn a path clear through the entire New World for you. I'll make you King of the Pirates, Gunnar!"
Gunnar's throat worked once, a flicker of raw emotion crossing his features before he regained his composure. His voice was husky when he finally answered, his grip tightening on Ace's.
Ace's smirk returned, full of fiery confidence. "You'd better hurry up and find that One Piece before I personally do. Otherwise, I'll just have to sit my ass on that empty throne and keep it warm until you finally catch up!"
They broke their grip, not with a simple release, but by clasping forearms.
Around them, the mingled crews of former Whitebeard and Charlotte pirates, now the Bloodline Pirates, let out a ragged, joyous cheer. Tankards clanged, shouts of encouragement rose, and more than a few weather-beaten faces were suspiciously wiped with rough hands.
Gunnar turned, looking out over the endless, glittering expanse of the sea, the new flag billowing proudly behind him like a promise.
"Alright then," he murmured, the sound almost lost in the celebratory noise, his shoulders squaring as if visibly accepting the immense weight of legacy, leadership, and the audacious promise just made. "Let's give the sea a sunrise it won't forget."
Ace, laughing, threw his hat high into the air. It spun against the bright sky, and as it reached its apex, he snapped his fingers, sending a controlled burst of flame erupting around it like a personal firework, a vibrant orange explosion against the pale blue.
And somewhere far, far away, across every current and whispering wind of the Grand Line and the New World, four names echoed with the weight of undisputed power—Kaido, Shanks, Teach… Gunnar.
But on the deck of an old whale-ship, bathed in the light of a new dawn, two brothers had quietly, fiercely, vowed to surpass them all.