Chapter 144 - The End

Shiki who was outside of Pangaea Castle and fighting Kong managed to win after a hard-fought battle. While he was sitting outside waiting for everyone to finish their fights, two figures came crashing out of Pangaea Castle.

It was the unconscious Imu and Ashen who landed on top of her. Without hesitating or showing mercy he proceeded to stab her in the heart, immediately ending her life.

Shiki proceeded to approach him with a smile while smoking a large cigar he just lighted up "Jihahaha! Man, this such an epic closure to our grand plan, the World Government and the Celestial Dragons are no more, its only pirates just like it should have been"

"Man, what an amazing feeling, I've been imagining this moment for so many years…finally, I did" Ashen said while taking a deep breath, enjoying the moment. "*Exhale*…I probably wouldn't have done it without everyone's help, it proves that having strong allies and a loyal crew is very important"

"That's why Xebec lost, no one was truly loyal to him and there was no sense of comradery among the crew. You've changed my mind on that regard" Shiki responded.

A few minutes later the rest of the crew showed, they were all beaten up and injured but for the looks of it victorious. From Ashen's fight with Saturn he already concluded that the Four Elders would lose he wasn't worried about that at all. They couldn't have possibly won against all of these top tier fighters.

"Ashen we did it! How about that big party I mentioned before?!" Yamato asked Ashen, she was very energetic for someone who just finished fighting.

"Alright, we're going to have the biggest party ever up here in Mary Geoise!" Ashen declared.

"YEAH!!!"

"You look like you could use this…" Calvin threw a bottle of sake to Ashen "Those damn geezers were stronger than they looked"

"Surprising right? Though I still don't understand why Saturn was using a walking cane with the motherfucker can move faster than 99% of the people in this world…these nobles are all weird, even Imu was an arrogant bitch with a god complex…*Gulp*-*Gulp*…Blahhh!!...the sake feels better after a hard-fought battle!" Ashen said while taking another sip from the bottle.

"So, should we call you the King of the World know?" Enel said with grin before he took out an apple from his pocket and started eating it.

"Ah--…wait a second…" Ashen turned back and walked to Imu's body. He proceeded to take the crown from her and put on top of h "Now I look like a king"

"Pfffft…This crown looks ridiculous on you" Everyone started laughing even Ashen himself, the crown was ridiculously long and didn't suit him at all.

"Lol, I should make a new custom one"

"I fulfilled my part of the deal demon, don't forget about yours" Mihawk who was calm the entire conversation finally spoke before he turned back and walked away.

"You're leaving already?" Ashen asked him.

"There is nothing for me here anymore"

"There is actually, how are you planning to have duels with me? Goi up and down to the Red Line sounds a pain, I'm gonna need strong sparring partners in order to not lose my touch, so I'm gonna let you live here in the Domain of the Gods—well that's the old name I'm planning to change it. Anyway, it's gonna be calm so no need to worry"

"I'll think about it"

"You do that"

"…"

Half a day later, the Revolutionary Army lead by Dragon finally showed up in Mary Geoise, they were late since Ashen, and the rest already defeated the World Government.

There was an all-out war against them which ended with Ashen winning and executing the higher-ranking members of the Revolutionary Army and setting an example with them that anyone who challenges the new authority will share the same fate.

Ashen would go on to announce his existence to whole world and the events that happened in Mary Geoise today, from freeing the slaves to crucifying the World Nobles to Ashen defeating the previous ruler of the world Imu and taking her place.

The news would shake the world with a lot of people happy about the Celestial Dragons death but at the same time worried and some directly opposing the idea of a pirate ruling the world, most people were fearing another repeat of the World Government but a lot worse.

But anyone who raised his voice against the new order was quickly silenced. The News Morgan and all the news agency around the world were forced to work for the new government. And any news that sought to tarnish the reputation of Ashen or oppose his newly established order was met with severe punishment.

In Mary Geoise, Pangaea was rebuilt and Ashen occupied the Empty Throne as the King of the World, and all of the higher-ranking crewmembers of the Ashen Pirates and the Golden Lion Pirates settled in the Domain of Gods where the World Nobles used to live.

Ashen would go on to establish an authoritarian government with himself as the Absolute Monarch, possessing unrestricted and centralized authority over the state and its people.

The first thing he needed is an organized army, so the Marines were no more and were replaced with a new force, the 'War Navy' with Calvin occupying the position of Fleet Admiral and conscription started.

And just like Imu stated, the world was plunged into chaos shortly after that, most of the countries refused to be part of the new regime and rebelled, and a lot of people didn't accept the fact that a pirate would rule the world.

But Ashen didn't let them have their own way and used all of his forces including the Ancient Weapons Pluton and Uranus to subdue them and he established puppet governments to make it easy to control them. He also limited their military power and built Navy bases at each of the affiliated countries islands.

The flag and the name of the government were also changed. The new name is the 'Flame Imperium', the background of the flag is now striking red representing the intense power of fire, and at the center at the center of the flag, there is a dominant golden emblem, depicting a stylized representation of flames. This fiery symbol embodies Ashen's unique power that will ultimately become the rallying point for the nation's unity and strength, on the top left corner of the flag, there is a golden crown, signifying the king's authority and the Flame Imperium's monarchy and finally at the bottom is a bold slogan that says 'One Flame, One Nation' emphasizing the importance of unity and loyalty to the nation and its ruler.

Using propaganda, educational systems, and other means of social control to emphasize the importance of a national identity and loyalty to the monarchy and the state.

Ashen promoted unity and nationalism as key pillars of his rule, things like racial inequality were no more so the Fish Man were finally able to go up to land. To him the only thing that mattered is the value each person was going to add to the country.

Ashen didn't push for technological advancement of the entire world and the only two places on earth that would be futuristic is Mary Geoise and the Island where York's lab was built in.

He also made an offer to Germa Kingdom granting them control over North Blue in exchange for their absolute loyalty to him. It was better this way than to waste manpower to keep control over the sea. Judge accepted the offer with delight and made an Oath of allegiance to Ashen as well as offering him his daughter Vinsmoke Reiju as a wife.

Ashen would accept her as his wife and would ultimately have multiple children with her. His children would inherit Reiju's genes but without the side effect of losing emotions. Ashen would also marry multiple other women after that.

His relationship with his brother Julius improved and the two visited their homeland in Cozia island in East Blue.

Everyone thought that Ashen would force Law to use his Ope Ope no Mi to do 'Perennial Youth Operation' but it turned out the opposite. Ashen didn't fancy eternal life, he knew that there weren't any challenges or anything exciting after this, just a long boring life of him ruling over the world and since he was just 40, he'd at least rule for another 50 years considering the life span of humans in this world and that was enough for him, he also hoped that maybe he would be reincarnated again after his death and have another grand adventure. He also wasn't someone to betray his allies since Law was a great help in the final war.

In the end Ashen fulfilled his ultimate goal, and he also became the strongest pirate not only in the world but in the history.

The following years would mark a long period of relative peace, and the number of pirates would drastically decrease as the new Navy under the lead of Calvin was much more efficient. Calvin would occupy the position as a Fleet Admiral for a few years until the new government became stable before he resigns and decide to spend the rest of his days with his daughter.

Enel and Urouge would go back to Sky Islands and persuade the sky people to become a part of the new government. Enel would ultimately become the God of all the sky people and achieve his dream of going to space and finding the Endless Varse after building the flying Ark Maxim.

Yamato went back to Wano and started living there, though she would occasionally go back and visit Ashen and the rest in Mary Geoise.

Ian got a new mechanical arm replacing his missing one, he also took over his family business back in Nishi Land in Paradise and became the new Patriarch of the Inaki Family aka a mob boss.

Moria, Diana and Yamamoto became a part of the Royal Guards, the Demon's Knights or what used to be called the Holy Knights, while Amber became the Royal Chef and Ashen's personal cook.

Franky became a part of York's scientific team along with Queen while Ken went back to East Blue to reunite with his sons and grandsons, and Rob Lucci who was imprisoned in Hachinosu was freed from his imprisonment in the condition of working as a CP agent for the new government.

Mihawk would also settle in Mary Geoise and would regularly duel with Ashen. These duels would be one of the few things that Ashen enjoys.

Kid decided to continue roaming the sea as a pirate and getting stronger in the hope of one day he could defeat the King of Pirates, on the other hand law decided to retire from piracy since he achieved his goal and found out the history of the world and he lived a normal life after that. Unlike Imu, Ashen didn't care to hunt down the people of D. specifically, but he simply took care of any person that was deemed dangerous or had the potential to become strong or a threat to his rule.

As for Shiki Ashen knew he is an ambitious man no less than himself, so in order to prevent any unwanted conflict in the future, he offered him a duel—a chance to become the King of the World if he won. Shiki already knew that he wasn't strong enough to defeat Ashen one on one at his old age, but his pride didn't let him back down and the two of them fought.

Shiki and Ashen became close friends throughout the years and respected each other's strength, so it wasn't a duel to the death. Ashen would ultimately the be winner in their fight and Shiki would accept his defeat and his respected friend as the King of the World.

Shiki would be given the second highest position after Ashen and become the governor of East Blue, South Blue and West Blue.

10 years later…Mary Geoise…

Ashen, Shiki and Calvin were drinking sake together while chatting about the good old days.

"I still remember the day I rescued you from that inhabited island in East Blue, you looked like a caveman" Calvin said with a smile, memories from their adventures flowed into his mind.

"Hahaha!...I didn't need rescue I needed a ride, remember how I saved you from those pirates?" Ashen said feeling nostalgic about the past "It all started from there…"

Shiki chuckled, raising his cup in agreement "Ah, the old days of piracy. We were like a wild storm, sweeping through the seas and leaving chaos in our wake. But now, here we are in Mary Geoise, the so-called Domain of the Gods." He took a sip of sake, his golden eyes glinting mischievously "Funny how things change, huh?"

Ashen nodded, a serious expression crossing his face. "Indeed. From humble beginnings to becoming the king of the world, it's been quite a journey"

Shiki smirked, his sharp features accentuating his enigmatic demeanor "I would have never admitted this before, but…it's no surprise that you would end up ruling the world. After all, you've always been one step ahead of everyone else."

Ashen laughed, a touch of pride in his voice "You're not so bad yourself, Shiki. Your ambition and strength have always been something to admire"

Calvin grinned, raising his cup in a toast "To the King of the World!"

Ashen's rule would span for more than a half century before he caught a terminal disease. He would choose to let go instead of curing himself since he was old enough and he would disappear a few months before his death, deciding to travel the world one last time undercover.

After his death a rare phenomenon happened, a part of his soul merged with the soul of the Mera Mera no Mi making the fruit evolve into a Mythical Zoan fruit.

While Nika was the Warrior of Liberation Ashen became known as the Warrior of Domination and the fruit became the embodiment of Ashen's will, ambitions and personality…

…and thus, Ashen's adventure in the One Piece world finally came to an end…

…from a nobody to the King of the World.

[One Piece: Becoming the Strongest Pirate…]

[…Fin]

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This would mark the end of this story. I'd like to thank anyone who supported this book along the way and sticked around until this point.

I think this was the perfect time to end the book while it's still at its peak, dragging the ending further is just going make people lose interest in the story and there is honestly nothing left that is interesting enough to write about after this.

This was my first work of fiction I have ever written, it was challenging since English is not my first language. I made a lot of mistakes at the early chapters like introducing a lot of OC's giving Ashen the Rokushiki very early and all that but I did my best to improve all the bad points later.

I'll be taking a break after this then I would pick up my other fan fic "One Piece: Reborn as Eustass Kid Twin Brother". It has 11 chapters right now, you can go check it out if you're interested.

I might also start another fan fic, maybe even an original book. You can leave your suggestions and ideas if you have anything interesting.

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-BONUS CLIP-

Year ????

Hundreds of years after Ashen's death…

A black haired muscular young man was lying on the ground drowning in his own blood with many injuries. He's one of Ashen's descendants who was inspired by his ancestor's adventure and decided to leave Mary Geoise and go out into the sea and travel the world, he also accidentally ate a certain devil fruit.

On the opposite side of him is an infamous pirate.

"Is he finally dead?..."

The young man slowly moved his fingers before he started feeling intense pain all across his body and he unconsciously released strong waves of Conqueror's Haki.

His body suddenly started transforming into its Mythical Zoan form, his hair became a mass blueish-purple flames and his eyebrows curled, and blue fire surged from them, his eyes pupils became ice blue, and his clothes turned black as blue flames formed a "mane" down his back and arms, and a stream of floating fire wrapped around his shoulders, the trademark of Zoan Awakening.

"Xahahaha! I feel different somehow…"

[Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Ashen (Demon of The Sea) – Awakened Form]

"…like I could burn the entire world with my flames!!"