Starting with two Kamui, they raised the flag of rebellion in One Piece.

Both positions are on ships, and both offer annual salaries in the tens of millions.

However, unlike Li Mingyuan, Nami will not receive the same benefits as the crew members on the ship. Just like this time, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision. No matter what happens in the future, Nami will always only have a fixed ten million Berries.

Even though they were all members of the same ship, there were these differences in treatment. Nami suddenly felt a little sad when she thought about this.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it. You're just a temporary crew member we hired."

"However, if you want, you can apply to become a full-fledged crew member, and you will also be eligible for future crew bonuses."

In response to Nami's reaction, Li Mingyuan replied casually, "So? Want to join my group now?"

"Well..."

"Let me think about it some more."

They said it felt a bit sour.

But when it came to discussing whether to officially join Li Mingyuan's group, Nami just laughed it off.

"Compared to this, I've been observing the situation through binoculars the whole time, and it's quite something over there."

She blinked and changed the subject, asking, "That pirate named Ace, just who is he?"

"I've never seen such a spectacular scene in the East China Sea."

Recalling what she had just witnessed, Nami couldn't help but marvel, "Is this guy really human like us? How can a person be hit by a bullet and emerge unharmed?"

"Oh?"

Hearing Nami's words, Li Mingyuan didn't mind her avoiding the topic.

He also put aside the previous topic, but turned to look in the direction of the dense forest, raising his eyebrows slightly.

"Has the battle already begun, Ace and the other side?"

Li Mingyuan said with slight surprise, "That's strange."

"Right? Although I'm not usually interested in pirates, given Ace's personality, it's hard to imagine him taking the initiative. Who knows, the treasure of the great golden pirate Unan might actually be discovered."

Nami said excitedly, "Mountains of gold! If we could get our hands on it, we could probably never spend it all in our lifetime."

"That's not what I meant."

Li Mingyuan shook his head, his expression slightly strange.

Although Ace doesn't seem like a typical pirate, he will take the initiative to fight when he encounters an opponent he's interested in.

In the original story, he first defeated Hanafuzha, the Lizard King and father of the Flying Six Ulti, one of the original Seven Warlords of the Sea, and then marched towards the second half of the Grand Line, intending to challenge the Four Emperors.

What surprised him now was not Ace's intervention, but rather—why had the explosions on the opposite hilltop not stopped even after Ace had made his move?

For a normal small-time pirate, let alone being able to fight Ace, it would be very difficult for them to even avoid being instantly killed.

In the dense forest.

The ruins of the old castle of the former Golden Pirate King, Uran.

While Li Mingyuan was still resolving the issue with Karina, with a roar from the golden lion-headed Edrag, the once towering castle was quickly razed to the ground, leaving not even a trace of its ruins.

"Nothing? Why is it still nothing!?"

Edrag stared angrily at what was in front of him, his expression ferocious.

He thought that bombing the castle would reveal gold, and even suspected that there might be some undiscovered basement or something similar, so he used a sonic cannon to dig three feet into the ground to search for it.

But in the end, even though he had done everything he could, he still gained nothing.

Edrag stood on the dusty open ground with a gloomy face, seemingly lost in thought, his expression constantly shifting, his breathing alternating between rapid and steady.

Just as Edrag had come up empty-handed, and the other pirate crew members who remained nearby were also extremely disappointed,

"Wait? What's that?"

Suddenly, one of the pirate henchmen seemed to have seen something and said instinctively.

Upon hearing his subordinate's voice, before Edrag could react, the hired Native American-dressed swordsman turned around sharply, his face showing alertness, and faced the edge of the smoke-filled arena.

"Who goes there?!"

Amidst a clamor of shouts, the Indian swordsman Golas's expression turned ferocious and tense.

"What? I came here thinking there would be something interesting, but there's nothing here at all."

Crouching on a nearby tree, Ace pulled his hat down. When he saw that someone had spotted him, he smiled and slightly raised his head to reveal his face beneath the brim of his hat.

"My name is Portgas D. Ace, which, in short, means I'm a pirate just like you."

"Your arrival was somewhat unexpected. Please take care of me from now on."

Ace smiled as he faced the group of pirates before him.

As soon as he finished speaking, almost the next second...

"shot!!"

With a roar, the surrounding pirate henchmen simultaneously drew their guns and pulled the triggers at Ace.

In an instant, bullets rained down on Ace like a storm.

Not only was Ace's body pierced by bullets, but under the powerful firepower, even the tree branches around him were blown to pieces, with wood chips flying everywhere.

"Hmph, some nobody here, trying to steal our gold?"

Seeing this, the pirate henchmen couldn't help but laugh mockingly, "We've probably killed hundreds, if not thousands, of these idiots on our way to find the treasure map!"

Although Ace introduced himself without revealing his purpose for being there, almost all the pirates present tacitly agreed that this fellow pirate who had come to Golden Island was there to steal their gold.

They didn't hesitate at all when dealing with this kind of guy; they opened fire to kill him on the spot.

A few seconds later.

Even the pirates who were just in case and were about to finish off Ace stopped firing, and the pirates all breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as they all turned around at the same time, intending to check on the situation with their leader, Edrag.

"This welcoming ceremony is quite lively indeed."

Behind the crowd, where no sound should have been heard, a man's soft laughter rang out once again.

"But if that's the case, then things will be simple from here on out. You shouldn't mind if I fight back, right?"

With a chill running down their spines, the pirate henchmen instantly turned around again, looking incredulously in the direction they had just been.

At this moment, the mysterious man did not even change his posture, still squatting on the tree. However, where there should have been bloody holes on his body, there were now strangely small flames burning on them.

Ace stretched out his two hands and slowly aimed them at the pirates in the arena.

"Musketeers!"

Ace let out a deep shout.

Suddenly, small flames burst forth from his index fingers, shooting out like bullets.

Caught off guard, the pirate henchmen present were immediately hit by bullets!

"Ugh—"

"This guy, like Lord Edrag, is a Devil Fruit user!?"

"What?! This can't be...! Ah!!"

The screams and cries of agony echoed across the ruins, becoming the sole dominant melody of the place.

the other side.

Hearing the commotion behind him, Edrag's expression became even more terrifying.

But even though he knew his men were under attack, Edrag remained standing still, staring at the hillside that had been leveled.

Because at that very moment.

"How lucky! I never expected to run into other people here together."

A man wearing a green turban and carrying three knives at his waist walked out of the smoke opposite him.

That man's name was Nonoroya Zoro.

Zoro stared at Edrag and grinned. He slowly bit the hilt of a knife, while simultaneously drawing a knife from each hand.

"Originally, I planned to wait until you were exhausted after bombing this castle before making my move, but it seems that you are not the only one eyeing this island. Just accept it as your bad luck."

"Are you planning to break the contract?"

Edrag was all muscle, his hair was wild and unruly, and he had a mouthful of fangs.

"Don't forget, it's because I spared your two underlings that you're still alive!"

Edrag roared, "If I hadn't been merciful, you would be dead by now!!"

"Oh? I don't remember ever needing your mercy to survive."

Upon hearing this, Zoro narrowed his eyes and sneered, "Do you think I'm some kind of fool? If you were confident you could take me down, you would have done it long ago."

"From the very beginning, it was just a matter of each of us looking for an opportunity. I helped you find the treasure map with those two guys, but what about you? When exactly do you plan to fulfill your promise?"

Hearing this, I knew the other person had made up their mind, and there was no point in saying anything more.

"Pirate hunter, I gave you a chance, but you chose to die."

"In that case, let's settle the aftermath of that battle here!"

Edrag raised his hand, revealing his ten sharp claws.

He opened his mouth wide, roaring like a lion, and said angrily, "I'll take out all my anger at not finding the gold on you!"

Each has their own goals, and there is no room for retreat.

The war is about to start.

Just then, as both sides were focused and about to engage in battle...

Unbeknownst to anyone, the swordsman dressed as an Indian had quietly retreated to the edge of the battlefield while Ace was distracted by the pirate minions, leaving behind a corner that had been bombed into ruins.

As for Joseph and Johnny, who were supposed to hold off the swordsman Golas, they were already stunned by Ace's battle. On the battlefield amidst the chaos of war, they couldn't even show their faces, let alone notice the pirates fleeing in all directions.

In this sense, although Ace's arrival helped Joseph and Johnny, who were otherwise on the verge of death, achieve their goal, it also caused the situation to spiral completely out of control.

Zoro's initial plan has already failed.

"Drink it!!"

On the ruins, Zoro, who was confronting Edrag, suddenly heard a roar from behind.

"What?!"

Startled, Zoro turned around in time and used his sword to block the sudden attack.

But the same applies.

Edrag seized upon the slight opening he made in that instant.

"Die, you pirate hunter!"

Edrag roared in fury.

A blinding light instantly condensed in Edrag's mouth, which he then spat out towards Zoro.

The laser-like sonic cannon instantly turned everything in its path to ashes, rapidly approaching Zoro.

Zoro's pupils suddenly contracted, and the image reflected in his eyes showed the sonic cannon growing larger and larger every second.

"Damn it! Taking that hit head-on is no joke!"

At that moment, Zoro could only grit his teeth and bite the hilt of the sword in his mouth even harder.

His eyes grew increasingly sharp.

These past few days, he wasn't just watching Edrag explore the Golden Island; he was also trying to figure out Edrag's abilities. He already knew that Edrag could use sound attacks.

In that case, his knife might still have a chance to cut through this 'laser cannon'!

"Demon Slayer!!"

Zoro roared.

With a sudden burst of power from all his muscles, Zoro deflected the swordsman Golas's blade, turned around, crossed his swords in both hands, and charged fiercely towards the laser cannon.

hum-

In an instant, the sharp blades of the three knives blocked the bombardment of the laser cannon.

The entire earth trembled violently, and a sharp buzzing sound echoed all around.

"If that's all you've got, you won't be able to deflect a laser cannon! Pirate Hunter!"

Edrag burst into a strange laugh, and the second laser cannon in his mouth began to condense, aiming at Zoro.

Yes.

This laser cannon can not only be fired instantly, but can even be fired indefinitely.

"Haa...!!"

Seeing that the enemy was about to escalate their attack, Zoro roared and, with a burst of energy, successfully deflected the first laser cannon shot.

The surrounding ground cracked and split from the aftershocks of the attack, and the terrifying sonic boom caused nearby trees to collapse one after another.

There was no time to catch one's breath.

Zoro gripped his three swords again, ready to stop Edrag's endless laser barrage.

"Second Brother! Watch out behind you!!"

Unfortunately, before Zoro could even muster his strength, he heard Joseph and Johnny's exclamations.

At this point, Zoro finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"You bastard, don't you have any pride as a swordsman?!"

Turning around to parry the swordsman Golas's strike again, Zoro shouted angrily, "You listen to that kind of guy just for money! You have swordsmanship skills, what's the point of going to this?!"

"It doesn't matter, as long as there's gold, I'll obey him."

Swordsman Golas stared intently at Zoro, his expression nonchalant, and said in a sharp voice, "If this is all you want to say, then this will be your last words!"

It's impossible to ignore a master like Golas, who is a rare sight in the East Blue, but Zoro knows very well that if things continue like this, he won't be able to deal with the double attack from Golas and that lion-headed guy.