Capturing the Supernova "Straw Hat Kid" Monkey D. Luffy for the government to secure the position of Seven Warlords of the Sea.
In reality, he used the identity of Straw Hat Luffy to incite the three major forces of the Marines, Whitebeard Pirates, and the Revolutionary Army to start a war.
Then, he took advantage of the fierce battle between the three parties to attack Impel Down and recruit a large number of death row prisoners from the evil party as his companions.
Afterwards, he led the newly formed pirate group to attack Marineford and killed Monkey D. Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army.
Morgans recounted Rhine's actions throughout the war and gave Rhine the title that should have been given to King Luffy—
"The Fifth Emperor of the Sea is born!"
However, the relevant reports about Ace being the son of the Pirate King were only placed on the third page, mainly because Ace didn't perform too well in this war—not as well as King Luffy in the original story. After all, there were too many great figures involved in this war. But just the status bonus of being Roger's son was attractive enough. Ace's bounty rose directly from 550 million to 1 billion 50 million.
The fourth page reported a major loss for the Marines, mainly focused on Impel Down. There were too many elements of the Summit War for a single report to cover. In the following days, the News of the World under Morgans continued to work overtime, successively reporting many breaking news stories about Red-Haired Shanks' rescue, Jinbei and Hancock betraying the Seven Warlords of the Sea, etc.
Normally, these would be super explosive points that could cause an uproar. However, in the face of major events such as the founding of the Rhine Pirates, the death of Monkey D. Dragon, and the true identity of Ace, these seemed insignificant.
A few days later in the afternoon, a small and medium-sized two-masted sailing ship modeled after the Winter Grama and bearing the logo of the Straw Hat Pirates slowly docked at the Sabaody Archipelago. Luffy, sitting on the bow of the dragon, swallowed with a "gulu." He was about to say goodbye to Shanks, whom he hadn't seen for ten years, and his heart couldn't help beating faster.
Although the Red Hair Pirates and Straw Hat Crew met face to face during the Summit War, except for Nami and Robin, everyone else was knocked out by Weibull. Until leaving the battlefield, Luffy never officially met his idol. Speaking of which, this was the first time Luffy had landed on the island.
"Isn't the Sabaody Archipelago the territory of the Celestial Dragons? The Red Hair, one of the Four Emperors, is waiting for us now?" Robin had a vague sense of something unusual. But now there was no other way to go, only to move forward.
The Straw Hat Crew tried their best to avoid crowded areas, following the direction indicated by the life card, all the way to Area 13. Finally, they stopped in front of a tavern named "Shakky's Ripped-Off BAR."
"Is that so? [Red-Haired] Shanks, one of the Four Emperors, is here?" Nami held her small hand in front of her, trying to suppress the tension in her heart. "Shanks!" Luffy couldn't wait to push the door open. But sadly, it wasn't the Red-Haired Shanks they hadn't seen in a decade, but a man and a woman. Who else could it be but Rayleigh and Shakky?
Seeing the arrival of the Straw Hat Crew, Rayleigh, sitting in front of the bar, put down the newspaper in his hand, smiled lightly, and got up to say hello: "Yo~ It's finally here, Monkey D. Luffy." Immediately, Rayleigh raised his eyes slightly to look at the straw hat on Luffy's head, and the corners of his mouth raised three points again. "It's been a long time since I saw that straw hat."
"Um... may I ask what this is about..." Nami asked with a puzzled face. Rayleigh stepped forward, took the life card from her hand, and explained: "This life card is mine. Shanks said that we would meet again when you grow up to be a pirate in your own right."
Hearing this, Luffy opened his mouth in astonishment, and then lowered his head with a sad expression after a few seconds. Indeed, during the Summit War, his performance was too embarrassing. It was clearly agreed that they would meet again when he should surpass Shanks.
Immediately, Rayleigh looked at the crew of the Straw Hat Pirates behind Luffy and said: "Although I accepted Shanks' commission, my training method is not suitable for all of you." With that, Shakky also came from the wine cabinet, handed out different life cards to Zoro, Sanji, Franky, and others, and explained while smoking a cigarette:
"This is what Shanks asked me to hand over to you. In the next period of time, you will have to separate for a while to practice. These life cards point to the place that Rayleigh thinks is the most suitable for you to grow."
"Separate?" The expression of everyone in the Straw Hat Pirates changed slightly. But it didn't last long, and they calmed down one after another. After experiencing the cruelty of the Summit War, their hearts and minds had grown a lot. They understood that to move on, they had to become stronger.
"In that case, we will meet again after we have become much stronger," Luffy said resolutely to the crew.
"No problem!" "It will never be as embarrassing as this time!" "Please look forward to the stronger me!" All the crew members supported the proposal with smiles on their faces.
Just then, there was a commotion outside the door. They heard the pirates and residents on the street outside discussing: "Hey hey hey! Did you hear that?" "What's the matter? Why are you in such a panic? Could it be that the Celestial Dragons have come to capture slaves again?" "It's scarier than the Celestial Dragons! The ship of the Rhine Pirates has docked!" "What? Is that the same Rhine who killed the Revolutionary Dragon in the Summit War?!"
Hearing the heated discussion of the passing crowd outside, the expressions of the Straw Hat Crew, who had vowed to become stronger just now, changed instantly. The Rhine Pirates. For today's Straw Hat Crew, these words were like a nightmare.
"What happened?" Robin frowned and said in disbelief: "More than half a month has passed since that war. With their strength, they should have entered the New World long ago. Why did they come here?"
"Huh...they went to Amazon Lily a few days ago, intending to transfer the residents there to the New World," Shakky continued, puffing on her cigarette. As the former empress of the island, she knew the situation well. Ever since Hancock decided to join Rhine's crew, her position as a Warlord of the Sea was immediately stripped by the government. Consequently, the island located in the Calm Belt would naturally be surrounded by the Marines. For this reason, Hancock decided to relocate the whole country under Rhine's suggestion, transferring all citizens of Amazon Lily to the New World.
"But even so, they probably don't need to come to this island specially. Do they have other plans?" Shakky murmured to herself. Although she had leading intelligence resources in the underground world, she was not omnipotent. After relocating the entire Amazon Lily, the Rhine Pirates should go to the New World immediately with so many people. Why take a detour to the Sabaody Archipelago?
"No matter what their purpose is, the Thousand Sunny must be with them, right?" Franky suddenly shouted. "Hey! Don't mess around, little robot brother," Rayleigh immediately scolded. "Have you forgotten how scary those people are?" As soon as these words came out, all members of the Straw Hat Pirates fell silent again. More than half of the enthusiasm just now was extinguished in an instant.
"That...that..." Nami suddenly said, "Before we start practicing, can we go and see what they do on this island?" As soon as the words came out, everyone looked at Nami with astonished eyes. "No, no, after all, we're going to fight them someday, aren't we? It never hurts to know more, does it?" Nami's explanation was a little weak, and it felt more like sophistry.
But after she said this, Robin was the first to respond: "I think we can go and see. At least the Thousand Sunny—we will definitely get it back in the future." Sanji nodded, "And Usopp's revenge." The rest of the Straw Hat Pirates also nodded. Seeing the attitude of all the members of the Straw Hat Pirates, Rayleigh was silent for a moment and finally agreed to their request.
"Okay, but you have to assure me that you will never make a move."
Area 1 of the Sabaody Archipelago. One of the emperors of the underground world, the president of the News of the World, "Big News" Morgans, and Rhine walked side by side, followed by the crew of the Rhine Pirates. Morgans smiled cheerfully: "Rhine-kun, is it surprising that you invited me to this kind of place? Is there any deep meaning?"
At this moment, Rhine wore a new suit: a golden coat, a black inner shirt, and a blood-red cloak, looking exactly like Dio Brando from "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure." If there was a difference...it was that Rhine didn't design the pants as open-crotch pants. Although he had confidence in his little brother, he had no interest in showing it off.
"Of course, there is big news for you, my new friend," Rhine said with a smile. After speaking, the two sides walked into the auction venue together. The buyers, who had already sat down, watched the two arrive. Terrified, they quickly shrank to the other side, trying their best to avoid any contact with the Rhine Pirates.
After all, the Rhine Pirates had a group of three-meter-tall, even six-meter-tall monsters. The seats here were really small. So Rhine asked his staff to stand side by side on the back platform and took Hancock and Morgans to find the three most central seats to sit down.
"To tell you the truth, it's probably the first time a royal-level figure like Mr. Rhine has come here," Morgans glanced enviously at Rhine's hand on Hancock's slender waist, and then asked: "Did you know this is the domain of the Celestial Dragons?" Those who participated in the population auction were basically not good people. Noblemen who thought they were superior, disgusting tastes, pirates who wanted to satisfy their perverse desires...but the scariest were the world noble Celestial Dragons! In other words, this island was the territory of the Celestial Dragons!
Hearing Morgans' question, Rhine laughed even more. That's what he's here for!