Recruit Luffy at the start and build the strongest navy.

Somewhere in the New World, a distinctive red ship is sailing.

It was the flagship of the Red-Haired Pirates, a Yonko-level pirate crew, and on board...

"Whitebeard..."

Redhead sat there, holding the newspaper that had just been published that day. He stared at the contents of the newspaper with a wistful look in his eyes, his thoughts drifting into the distance.

He vaguely remembered the first time he met Whitebeard.

At that time, Whitebeard was already a world-renowned pirate, while he and Buggy were just two greenhorns. Even so, the two of them dared to approach Whitebeard and even boasted that they would take his head.

Looking back now, I realize I was indeed a bit too presumptuous.

And as expected, the result of their challenge to Whitebeard was that they were beaten down.

If Whitebeard hadn't been uninterested in taking their lives, their graves would be overgrown with weeds by now.

Whitebeard, a legendary strongman who once fought against his captain, the Pirate King Roger, and later fought against him.

They've become powerful from the last era to this one.

This is definitely a strong person worthy of his respect!

If it weren't for the war at Impel Down, Whitebeard would never have died now.

Thinking about this, the redhead couldn't help but feel glad he had made that decision.

Every time he thinks back, he is incredibly grateful that he didn't get involved in the Impel Down war, otherwise who knows what he would be like now.

It would be bad if someone lost an arm or a leg.

In that sense, it's fortunate that Kyle taught him a lesson early on, otherwise he might have actually gotten involved.

On the other side of Shanks, the other members of the Red-Haired Pirates looked at the newspaper with varying expressions.

Ben Beckman, puffing on a cigarette, exhaled wisps of smoke and spoke softly:

"I never expected that Whitebeard would die. That was quite a surprise!"

"Another top-tier powerhouse on the high seas has been eliminated, and the world's格局 (geju, a term referring to the overall situation or landscape) is about to undergo significant changes!"

"The tides of time will push forward everyone, whether they want to compete or not. Sometimes, living in this era, many things are unavoidable!"

"Hey! Beckman, is it really necessary to speak so formally?"

Yasopp, standing to the side, pursed his lips and spoke.

However, Beckman merely glanced at him indifferently and then uttered a single sentence.

"You know nothing!!"

"Play with that piece of junk gun properly before you talk!"

"Oh, mine's a broken gun, but your two aren't?"

Yasopp also curled his lip, looking utterly disdainful.

"Alright, both of you, stop talking!"

"Let's go, let's set off!!"

The redhead suddenly spoke, and at the same time slowly stood up.

"Set off?"

"Where to, boss?"

Lucky Roux, who was eating meat nearby, asked instinctively.

"Of course, we're going to mourn Whitebeard!"

"After all, I've known Whitebeard for a long time, so I'll go see him off on his final journey!"

The redhead gazed at the distant sea, his eyes flickering slightly, and spoke in a voice only he could hear:

"The Whitebeard has fallen, so who... can become the next emperor?"

……

-

Red-Haired Shanks received news of Whitebeard's death, and Big Mom, being another emperor, naturally received the same message.

Inside the cake castle, the older woman kept stuffing cake into her mouth while asking a figure below:

"That old man with the white beard is dead?!"

"Yes, Mom!!"

The woman continued eating, but paused for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"Mama... Mama..."

"Good riddance!! That old bastard is finally dead!!!"

"This way, I have one less competitor!"

The woman's tone was filled with excitement and agitation. She then looked down at Perospero and began to speak:

"With Whitebeard dead, the remaining remnants are nothing to fear!"

"Go! I'm starting a new round of conquest for our pirate crew, taking over most of Whitebeard's territory! We'll become the strongest Yonko-level pirate crew!!"

In the battle of Impel Down, the Big Mom Pirates suffered heavy losses.

Although none of the high-end combatants died, almost all of the mid- and low-end combatants perished, with only a very small number surviving.

After that, the Big Mom Pirates began to expand rapidly.

Previously, their pirate crew had requirements for recruiting members; they wouldn't recruit pirate crews that weren't strong enough.

But after that, anyone who was a pirate was welcome, and even those who weren't pirates were welcome to join.

Even a dog that's somewhat useful will be included by the Big Mom Pirates.

Under this strategy, the Big Mom Pirates recovered their strength in an extremely fast way, and their numbers returned to pre-war levels in a short period of time, or even exceeded them.

But this only refers to the number of people.

In terms of overall combat strength, it is still much weaker than before.

After all, most of the people recruited now are low-level combatants, just a bunch of small fry, with only a few having decent strength.

If such pirates were placed in the Impel Down battlefield, they would be instantly killed, unable to withstand even Kyle's first round of attacks.

So even though they have a lot of people, they are completely useless when they encounter top-level experts.

But now Big Mom doesn't care about that anymore. The Big Mom Pirates have suffered such a heavy blow that she has no choice but to resort to this method. Otherwise, it's unknown how long it will take to recover.

After all, it took her decades to build up to the scale she had before the war.

Should we ask her to spend decades building this business now?

Are you kidding me? Does she even have the lifespan to survive?

Although she didn't want to admit it, the fact was that she was already an old woman, no longer the beautiful young woman she once was. How many more years did she have left to maintain her youth?

So what she has to do is to start anew in the limited time she has left and head towards becoming the Pirate King!

Now that Whitebeard is dead, the Whitebeard Pirates' influence has been greatly reduced, which presents her with an excellent opportunity.

An opportunity to expand territory on a massive scale once again!

-

In other parts of the world, a small number of pirates, upon hearing the news of Whitebeard's death, were not immediately alarmed by the impending upheaval in the world.

Instead, they were incredibly excited, rubbing their hands together in anticipation.

These pirates all share one characteristic: they are all quite strong and have a certain reputation at sea.

The old king has passed away, and the new king has been crowned!

A turbulent world is dangerous for weak pirates, but it presents them with opportunities.

An opportunity to become the Pirate King!

In an instant, countless pirates sprang into action, heading towards their respective goals!

……