Super Card System

Early in the morning, the first ray of sunlight rose from the horizon, and the fresh sea breeze began to flow, signaling that today would be a good day.

A news bird flew over the sea. As it passed a large white ship, it noticed someone on the deck below waving at it.

The news bird flapped its wings, turned downward, and approached the ship’s rail.

A tall man handed it a 100-Berry coin. The news bird took the coin with its long beak and then pulled a newspaper out of its shoulder bag, handing it to the man. After the transaction, it flapped its wings and flew away.

“Haven’t bought a newspaper myself in a long time…” the tall man muttered to himself, then sat down heavily in a massive chair on the deck, carefully holding the newspaper that was too small for his large hands.

“Gurararara!” After reading the headline on the front page, the tall man burst out laughing.

A man with a pineapple-shaped head emerged from the ship’s cabin, yawning and rubbing his sleepy eyes. He smiled and asked, “Oyaji, what’s got you so happy?”

Whitebeard, Edward Newgate, glanced at Marco and laughed as he handed him the newspaper. “Here, take a look yourself. That brat Ian really knows how to cause a stir!”

Marco took the newspaper and started reading. But as soon as he saw the headline, his drowsiness vanished, and his eyes widened in surprise. “The Great Heist of the Golden City!?”

“Exactly! Gurararara!” Whitebeard roared with laughter. “That kid, along with that brat Aokiji, actually managed to steal the entire 500 billion Berries reserve from the Golden City!”

As they spoke, the members of the Whitebeard Pirates on the Moby Dick began to emerge from the ship’s cabin one by one, surrounding Marco with curious expressions, urging him to read the newspaper aloud.

“Wait, Perospero and Katakuri too? When did that brat Ian start getting involved with the Big Mom Pirates?” Marco read on, his surprise growing. “Even the revolutionary, Dragon, showed up? What a huge commotion!”

“Hey, wasn’t the New Edd War just over two months ago?” Flower Sword Vista said, twirling his stylish mustache. “That guy really can’t stay idle, can he?”

“Is Tesoro an idiot?” Diamond Jozu said, crossing his arms in confusion. “He knows to pay tribute to our Whitebeard Pirates, but didn’t think to do the same for the Dragon Hunter Pirates? And ended up provoking Ian to make a move?”

“Who knows!” Marco shrugged. “Maybe because Ian is no longer a Warlord of the Sea, and hasn’t yet become an Emperor, Tesoro figured he didn’t need to bother?”

“I have a feeling that Ian might have been after Tesoro’s money all along!” Vista, the Flower Sword, suggested. “Don’t forget about his Devil Fruit ability…”

“Heh, who cares!” Whitebeard waved his hand dismissively. “Ian is part of our family. Whatever he does, we’ll support him. Tesoro was a fool—if he got robbed, then so be it. It just means the Whitebeard Pirates will get a little less tribute each year. No big deal!”

Marco and the others exchanged smiles and nodded in agreement. “The old man is right,” Marco said. “But it seems like the World Government allowed this news to come out and even highlighted the amount stolen from the Golden City. They probably want to paint a target on Ian’s back.”

“Yeah, 500 billion Berries!” Namur, the fish-man, nodded. “Now everyone knows that Ian and his Dragon Hunter Pirates are sitting on a huge fortune—enough to buy a whole country!” Ｒ�Nôv(el)B\\jnn

“So what if they know Ian has money? Do they really think they can take it from him?” Diamond Jozu snorted. “If no one could take that money from Tesoro, it’s even less likely they can take it from Ian! Who would dare target him now? The World Government must be delusional if they think this will cause trouble for Ian.”

“What I’m more concerned about is the Big Mom Pirates,” Marco said thoughtfully. “Dad, what do you think about Perospero and Katakuri being with Ian? I remember Ace mentioned that back in Dressrosa, Ian took a lot of Perospero’s lifespan. They should be enemies, right?”

Whitebeard frowned, unable to make sense of it at first. Then, suddenly, his expression turned strange, and he said, “I wonder… could Big Mom be trying to marry off one of her daughters to Ian? You all know how she is…”

Marco and the others exchanged glances and then suddenly burst into laughter, clutching their stomachs.

“Hahaha! Dad, that might actually be possible!”

“Yeah, yeah! If that’s the case, things are going to get really interesting!”

“Who do you think Big Mom would marry off to Ian?”

“Quick, someone go check how many of Big Mom’s daughters are still single and available!”

“No matter how many there are, aren’t Big Mom’s daughters usually… a bit unusual in appearance?”

“Exactly! With Ian’s taste, I wonder if he’d run for the hills the moment he sees his bride?”

“Hahahaha…”

The entire Whitebeard Pirates crew burst into laughter at Whitebeard’s guess. Though they were joking around, deep down, everyone felt that this scenario was unlikely. After all, Whitebeard had once roared out loud in front of the whole world, and everyone on the seas knew how deep the relationship between Ian and the Whitebeard Pirates ran. The Big Mom Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates had never really gotten along, so if Big Mom wanted to marry off her daughter to Ian, it would be like forging a family alliance with the Whitebeard Pirates—which seemed impossible!

So, they all treated Whitebeard’s guess as nothing more than a joke.

What they didn’t know, however, was that Whitebeard’s guess might actually turn out to be true…

After a bout of laughter, the captain of the Seventh Division, Rakuyo, suddenly said, “I wonder if Ace and Izo have reached Wano Country yet. If they were here, they’d probably be laughing until their stomachs hurt too!”

At the mention of Ace and Izo, the group fell silent.

Just recently, the Whitebeard Pirates received information that there had been a significant upheaval in Wano Country, possibly even a rebellion!

The specifics of the situation were unclear. Wano Country had always adhered to a policy of isolation, rarely interacting with the outside world. It was difficult for ordinary people to know what was happening in this country, but the Whitebeard Pirates were an exception. The head of the Kozuki family, Kozuki Oden, had once sailed on the Pirate King Roger’s ship and had accompanied Roger to Raftel. Given Whitebeard’s relationship with Roger—both rivals and friends—it was natural that Whitebeard also knew Oden. (T/N: just play along XD)

The Kozuki family had originally been the daimyo of Kuri in Wano Country, essentially the lords of that region. Because of Whitebeard and Roger’s relationship, both had been invited by Kozuki Oden and had once set foot on Wano Country. So, while the people of Wano Country were generally xenophobic, they made an exception for the Whitebeard Pirates.

After Ace joined the Whitebeard Pirates, he had gone to Kuri in Wano Country on behalf of the crew. It was there that he met Izo, whom he later brought back with him. Izo eventually joined the Whitebeard Pirates and became the captain of the Sixteenth Division.

Izo’s hometown was Wano Country, so when he heard about the upheaval there, he became deeply concerned and wanted to return to check on things. Ace, who was close to Izo, volunteered to accompany him. The two had been gone for nearly a week.

“Oyaji!” Marco asked, “Kaido has always had his sights set on Wano Country. Ever since he appeared, it seems he’s been gathering pirates to invade Wano, which has made the people of Wano despise pirates. Do you think this latest upheaval in Wano might have been instigated by him?”

“It’s definitely him, without a doubt!” Whitebeard snorted. “The worst incident back then was when this guy gathered more than a hundred thousand pirates to attack Wano, but they were utterly defeated by the samurai of Wano… He must have realized that ordinary pirates are no match for the samurai of Wano, so he came up with the idea of creating an army of Devil Fruit users. But later, because of that brat Ian’s interference, Doflamingo and Kaido’s artificial Devil Fruit trade was disrupted, so that plan likely fell through…”

“Indeed!” Flower Sword Vista nodded, stroking his mustache. “Wano is renowned for its samurai, with thousands upon thousands of them. Most of these samurai can be compared to master swordsmen, and there are even a fair number of great swordsmen. Such a force couldn’t possibly be defeated by ordinary pirates, no matter how many they are. I once heard that during the attack by those hundred thousand pirates, there was a swordsman named Hyougoro.’ To protect his family, he single-handedly killed seven thousand pirates. It’s just…”

Vista clicked his tongue and shook his head. “It’s a shame that the swordsman Hyougoro died later. Otherwise, I would have loved to exchange swordsmanship techniques with him…”

“Even though there’s an upheaval, it’s difficult for us, the Whitebeard Pirates, to intervene!” Whitebeard sighed. “Although the Kozuki family has a good relationship with us, they’re only one of the daimyos, not the Shogun. They’re just regional lords. While we can guess that the upheaval is likely related to Kaido, if the Whitebeard Pirates get involved, things will become even harder to control. So for now, we’ll have to let Ace and Izo go back and take a look first.”

“Speaking of which, why is Kaido so fixated on dealing with Wano Country?” Marco asked, puzzled. “Do you know the reason behind this, Pops?”

“I’m not too sure either,” Whitebeard shook his head. “But there’s a rumor that Kaido once mentioned something while drunk. He supposedly has an irreconcilable grudge against Wano—a grudge over the killing of a friend! Who knows if it’s true…”

“A grudge over the killing of a friend?” Marco and the others looked at each other, surprised. That madman Kaido had a friend? Who on earth could have been brave enough to be his friend!?

“In any case, we’ll wait for news,” Whitebeard said, taking a big swig from his barrel of sake. After wiping the alcohol from the corner of his mouth, he added, “Ace and Izo can assess the situation themselves. If they determine that the Whitebeard Pirates need to step in, then we won’t hesitate. If Kaido has friends, does he think I, Whitebeard, don’t?”

The crew chuckled, knowing that Pops had plenty of friends. Not to mention, even Neptune, the king of Fish-Man Island deep beneath the sea, was one of Whitebeard’s friends!

At that moment, Marco suddenly remembered something and said, “By the way, Pops, should we inform Ian about this? If I recall correctly, his crew’s vice-captain, Uncle Fujitora, is also from Wano Country…”

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