Sea Circle Calendar, Year 1461 – February.
It had been over a month since they left Elbaf.
Aside from a brief stop at an unknown little island midway, they had spent nearly the entire time at sea.
"We're out of money!"
Sitting at the fishing platform on the Black Pearl, Magnus' expression was unusually grim.
Back in Elbaf, they could eat like giants and take what they needed like giants.
If they were ever truly starving, they could always go hunting in the forest—there was never a shortage of prey in Elbaf's jungles, as long as you had the strength to hunt.
Both Magnus and Ripley were Akuma no Mi (Devil Fruit) users.
That meant no swimming, no diving, no fishing by hand.
And with just rod-and-line fishing?
Let's just say, if they were lucky, they could eat every three days.
Magnus had once had a few million Beri, but he gave it all to Carmelo—
As a deposit to bring Linlin aboard.
As for the bounty from Farrell the Bloodskull half a year ago,
Although Magnus had entrusted two giant pirate hunters to collect the reward,
He had already set sail again before they returned.
"Are you telling me our pirate crew is broke?!"
Ripley's eyes widened in disbelief when she heard Magnus.
In her mind, the White Wolf Pirates should've had enough money to buy entire nations—
There was no way they'd fall to such a pitiful state, right?
Even Farrell the Bloodskull had thought so.
"We did have savings," Magnus sighed,
"But after splitting the pot when the crew disbanded,
what I kept for myself was only enough for a peaceful retirement."
"So now," he said solemnly,
"we've gotta find a way to make money."
"That's easy!" Rocks' eyes sparkled with mischief.
His grin turned wicked.
"Let's just find a few merchant ships and rob—OW!"
He clutched his head and glared.
"Because you're a disgrace."
Magnus gave him a cold smirk.
"Our crew doesn't bully the weak."
"Then what, we rob pirates instead?" Rocks asked, throwing his hands up.
"That's actually… a decent idea."
Magnus didn't deny it.
In the pirate world, pirates plundering other pirates was perfectly natural.
Even if the enemy ship carried nothing of value—
There was always the captain's bounty.
Any pirate crew active in the New World would have a captain worth at least ten million Beri.
"But that's only a short-term fix."
Magnus set aside his fishing rod and stood, arms wide, embracing the sea.
"If you really want to grow rich as a pirate…
you've got to take territory!"
In the New World, a pirate's reputation wasn't just measured by their notoriety.
It was about how many other pirates they could intimidate,
and how many nations they could protect.
Only pirates who owned a domain of their own—
could say they had truly set foot in the New World.
"The old White Wolf Pirates only managed a single fleet,
so expansion wasn't necessary."
"But now… it's different."
In Magnus' eyes blazed a light called ambition.
"I won't be content to curl up in some remote corner of the world.
If time itself didn't stop me, then neither will the sea!"
"I will rule this ocean!"
Right in front of Rocks and Ripley, Magnus made no attempt to hide his ambition.
In the past, he had once dreamed of changing the world.
Because he lacked the strength.
And strength is everything.
Magnus wielded power on the level of an admiral.
He could now confront a Marine assault head-on.
He now had the strength to negotiate with the World Government.
It wasn't enough to make him equal to the Marines or the Government.
But it was enough to mark the first solid step on his own path.
At this point in history, Gol D. Roger hadn't even set sail.
The so-called final island was more symbolic than meaningful.
Magnus once thought he wanted to follow the same path as Roger.
He realized what he wanted to do was actually very similar to what Rocks D. Xebec had once tried.
He used to think Rocks had been a loser in his battle for the Pirate King throne—
Roger and Rocks had never been running the same race.
So how could one call it winning or losing?
If Rocks lost to anyone, it was the World Government.
He lost to his own arrogance,
Magnus was choosing a path closer to Rocks than Roger.
"Maybe someday… we'll be enemies."
Magnus didn't hide the possibility from Rocks.
If he couldn't even stomach the ambition of his own crewmates,
he didn't deserve to be a ruler of the seas.
"Hahaha! You old geezer!
If that day ever comes, I'll make sure to let you live out your retirement!"
tears almost welled up in his eyes.
Who the hell trains their own future enemy?
And yet, Rocks could feel—
Magnus wasn't joking.
If Rocks truly aimed to become a ruler of the sea,
then a clash between them was inevitable.
But even more than that—
Rocks could sense Magnus wasn't trying to suppress his dreams.
Magnus was encouraging him.
Encouraging him to grow stronger—
"When the time comes… I won't hold back!"
"Haha! If you lose, you're gonna be my intern for life!"
The two clinked the mugs beside them.
"Oi! Did you two forget about me?!"
Ripley stood with arms crossed, glaring at the pair who had completely forgotten about fishing.
"Talking about ambition?
My ambition's no smaller than yours!"
"Oh?" Magnus was intrigued.
Even Rocks perked up.
"Hehehe, what I want is—"
FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!
A deafening steam whistle cut her off.
Even Magnus and Rocks frowned.
What appeared before them was a massive armored steamship,
its hull clad in iron plates—
a rare sight even for Magnus, let alone the others.
In a pirate world still dominated by sailing ships,
steam-powered ships were used only by a few technologically advanced nations.
Even the Marine battleships weren't fully equipped with steam boilers yet.
But the most important detail—
Was the flag flying from its mast.
with circles at each tip and at the center.
And beneath it, a line of text:
This was the emblem of the World Government—
And the ship was theirs.
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