In a small town on an island in the Sea of Beasts.
"Blackbeard, Marshall D. Teach?! Ah? That annoying guy I met on Gaya Island."
In a tavern, Luffy, Zoro, Franky, and Robin ordered a table full of food.
Luffy stuffed the meat into his mouth while looking at Blackbeard's photo in the newspaper in surprise.
"Ah~ that guy..." Zoro also said thoughtfully:
"He is an ambitious man!"
He still remembers when Blackbeard sat on the street, ignored everyone's ridicule, and talked about his dream with pride!
"Speaking of which, I also saw him at Naval Headquarters." Zoro recalled.
"Ah, is he there too?" Luffy tilted his head in confusion and thought for a long time but still had no impression.
"At that time, like Doflamingo, he was one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!" Robin explained seriously to the three of them.
"Seven Warlords of the Sea!"
"That guy is so powerful."
Robin picked up the newspaper, looked at them seriously, and said slowly.
"However, not long ago, he was no longer warlord, but..."
"Emperor of the sea!"
The three people's eyes widened in surprise; they looked at Robin and then looked at the newspaper carefully.
"That guy turned out to be an Emperor?! The same Emperors as Kaishu?" Luffy was so surprised that he put down the meat in his hands.
"Not bad, and..." Robin looked at Luffy, hesitant to speak.
"Huh?" Zoro noticed Robin's strangeness and asked doubtfully: "And what, Robin?"
Robin faced Luffy's doubtful gaze; she slowly pointed to the bottom of the newspaper and said, "He is an Emperor who defeated the Whitebeard Pirates and reached the top!"
"The Whitebeard Pirates… that's it!" Zoro's expression condensed.
"Yes, it's Luffy's brother, the pirate group where Fire Fist Ace belongs!" Robin looked at Zoro's eyes and nodded slowly.
"Ace!" Luffy's expression changed, and he exclaimed: "How is he?!"
"I don't know..." Robin shook her head: "In the newspaper, it only said that Marco escaped with the surviving crew members. As for Ace..."
"Luffy, don't worry, your brother will be fine." Franky comforted.
"Why are there no specific battle conditions and casualties in the newspaper?" Zoro frowned and asked in confusion.
"This... maybe it's because no one else knows about it except the two parties in the battle."
Luffy picked up the meat with bones and wolfed it down, seeming to vent his worries.
"By the way, Luffy, don't you have the Vivre Cards Ace gave you?"
Zoro suddenly thought of a Vivre Cards that Ace had left behind.
"...?"
"Yes! Luffy, take a look at Ace's Vivre Cards. It can reflect his vitality and position."
Luffy took off his straw hat and took out a Vivre Cards placed in the gap of the straw hat.
He saw that the Vivre Cards, which was originally the size of a square card, was burning, and only half of it was left.
"This is!" Luffy's pupils dilated, and worry flashed in his eyes.
"The Vivre Cards is burning, which means that Ace's current situation is not very good..."
Robin said with a solemn face, but seeing Luffy's worried look, she immediately said:
"However, the Vivre Cards is still there, which proves that Ace is still alive; maybe he is just injured."
"Is that so?" Luffy asked with concern.
"Luffy, don't worry, everything will be okay."
"Don't worry, Luffy!"
Seeing Zoro and the others comforting him, Luffy let go of his worries slightly and showed a bright smile again: "That's great! Hehe..."
Knowing that Ace's life was not in danger, Luffy returned to his previous look and started stuffing food into his mouth with both hands.
As for Blackbeard becoming Emperor of the Sea and defeating the Whitebeard Pirates, he didn't care.
That's Ace's adventure, and he won't interfere.
"Let's leave early after dinner. It's not very safe here yet." Robin reminded everyone while looking at them.
"Robin, shall we sleep on the sea again at night?" Franky complained softly.
During this time, they sailed the boat on the sea to rest and never stayed on an island for too long.
They generally leave after replenishing supplies or having a meal.
"After all, we are still in the territory of Beasts Pirates, so we should be careful."
Zoro is quite aware of the crisis.
After all, Franky has never seen the horror of Beasts Pirates!
"Ah, don't worry, I will protect you." Luffy bit the chicken leg and said vaguely.
"Ah~ so full!"
In the streets, Luffy patted his bulging belly with a happy face and walked towards the port with a smile.
Zoro and others followed behind him and were chatting happily.
"Yeah??"
Luffy looked at the sky with a cute look on his face, then he turned to his friends and said:
"Everyone, hurry back to the Sunny; it looks like it's going to rain soon."
The three of them looked up and saw that the sky was covered with dark clouds.
It looked like heavy rain was coming, and the residents on the street were walking a little faster.
"Hurry! It's going to rain heavily."
The Straw Hat Crew also started running immediately.
After all, they were still carrying the purchased supplies, and they couldn't let them get wet.
"Click—"
"Luffy, be careful!"
A bolt of lightning suddenly fell from the sky.
Zoro's expression changed, and he shouted loudly because the direction of the falling lightning was right in front of Luffy!
"Boom--"
The violent lightning blasted a huge crater, and black smoke was rising.
"Huh, what a close call." Luffy touched his forehead happily, then turned around with a smile and said: "I almost got hit."
"The weather in New World really changes at a moment's notice, and there are even thunderstorms."
Seeing that Luffy was okay, Franky put on a strange posture and smiled.
Zoro also breathed a sigh of relief, but only Robin looked sad.
"We'd better leave quickly!"
After observing for a while and not seeing that terrifying figure, Robin's heart slowly relaxed, and then she urged them.
"Robin, where do you want to go?"
"Crack—"
"Boom!!"
Several bolts of lightning suddenly fell on the Straw Hat Crew.
A cold and bone-chilling voice sounded from the lightning, and blood immediately drained from Robin's face.
Her eyes were filled with fear, and her body fell limply to the ground.