Jean Bart, who had just finished eating the Devil Fruit, immediately transformed into a massive gorilla. He beat his chest and let out a loud roar toward the sky. His height increased until he reached 10 meters tall. A terrifying power radiated from his body. It was clear to everyone watching that his strength had more than doubled.
Before this, Jean Bart was already strong enough to fight against a Pacifista. After joining the crew, he had improved through medicinal baths, training in the Six Powers, and awakening his Haki. Now, with the power of an Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit, his strength had officially reached the level of a core member of the Straw Hat crew. While Ancient Zoan fruits are not as rare as Mythical Zoan types, they are still much stronger than regular ones.
Law looked at his subordinate and felt very satisfied. He did not think that spending 100,000,000 Berry was a waste of money. Instead, he felt it was a great bargain. The other crew members also realized that Law had made a profit. However, they made sure not to tell Nami. Nami had already tried to trick her own partner, and if she knew the real value of an Ancient Zoan fruit was much higher than 100,000,000 Berry, she might have charged Law even more.
Luffy walked over and put his arm around Law's shoulder with a wide grin. "Tra-guy, it is great that your friend has become so strong!"
Law allowed himself a rare smile. "Yes, having a strong crew makes me feel much safer. I should follow your example and find more powerful fruits for my crew."
Luffy never treated Law and his men as a subordinate group. In Luffy's heart, the entire Heart Pirates were members of the Straw Hat crew. He did not care about who was in charge of which ship. Law understood this well. Although he still led the Heart Pirates, he had joined the Straw Hats in his spirit. This was why he did not mind being close to Luffy. The Heart Pirates had been following the Straw Hats since the Alabasta Arc and had never left their side. Compared to the people who joined at Dressrosa without permission, Law was a true ally.
To test Jean Bart's new strength, the crew decided to let him handle the hunting alone. His performance made everyone's jaws drop in surprise. The big man threw a single piece of wood into the sea and stood on it like bait. He seemed to have a natural talent for taunting enemies. As soon as he drifted out, four or five giant Sea Kings attacked him.
Jean Bart did not hesitate. He did not even transform into his gorilla form. Using only his bare fists, he punched the Sea Kings one by one. He even crushed the head of one monster with a single blow. The entire fight lasted less than 5 minutes. It was a display of pure violence. Law was even more pleased with his decision. Luffy was also happy because the Sea Kings were large enough to provide many meals for him.
Later, Law began to talk with Carl about Devil Fruits. They discussed which fruits would be best for Bepo, Shachi, Penguin, and Jean Bart. Law even asked Carl if the Revolutionary Army could help find specific fruits. Carl agreed to help. He felt that Nami had been a bit too greedy with Law, so he wanted to look out for him. They decided on the types of fruits they needed and planned to let the Revolutionary Army handle the search.
Two days passed quickly. The Straw Hats crossed the Calm Belt and reached the North Blue. They sailed openly without trying to hide. News of the Straw Hats appearing in the North Blue spread immediately. It caused a massive stir among all the different factions in the area. The Marines were not surprised because they had expected this move. However, the Germa 66 organization was terrified. They knew exactly why the Straw Hats were looking for them.
On a giant snail ship, the five members of the Vinsmoke family sat in a meeting room. Everyone was frowning, and their expressions were very grim. The head of the family, Judge, had eyes filled with both fear and anger.
The fourth son, Yonji, spoke up with a look of annoyance. "Father, these Straw Hats are too arrogant. They are trying to scare us. Don't they know we are the rulers of the North Blue? This isn't the New World!"
"Yonji, you are the one being arrogant," the eldest daughter, Reiju, corrected him. "That man is the Fifth Emperor of the Sea."
Yonji immediately became quiet. Even though he liked to act tough, he was truly afraid of facing one of the Four Emperors. If Germa 66 was strong enough to ignore an Emperor, they would have conquered the Grand Line a long time ago instead of staying in the North Blue.
The second son, Niji, asked his father a question. "Father, it seems my failure of a brother knows about our deal with the Big Mom Pirates. He also knows we threatened the restaurant on the sea. That must be why he came here to teach us a lesson. He is one of the Five Emperors now. How should we deal with this?"
The eldest son, Ichiji, spoke coldly. "What choice do we have? We must contact the Big Mom Pirates. We are no match for the Straw Hats alone."
No matter how prideful the Vinsmoke children were, they had to admit the truth. They were scared of the Straw Hats. Judge was also panicking. He did not expect that his "useless" son, Sanji, would refuse to be manipulated. Instead of following orders, Sanji had brought the Straw Hats all the way from the New World to the North Blue in just a few days. The speed of their arrival was terrifying.
The Straw Hats were sailing openly to send a message. They wanted Germa to know that if they wanted to destroy the kingdom, they could do it at any time. Judge felt trapped. He thought he could use his connections with two different Emperor groups to his advantage, but now he had only made the Straw Hats angry. The Baratie restaurant in the East Blue was no longer a useful hostage. Instead, the entire Germa Kingdom was in danger of being wiped out.
Judge quickly gave out orders. "Ichiji, contact the Big Mom Pirates right now and ask them for help! Niji, Yonji, go and prepare our soldiers for a battle. We must be ready for an attack at any moment."
Then, Judge turned to his daughter. "Reiju, you and that failure... I mean, you and Sanji were always close. You will go to the Straw Hats. You must find a way to persuade them to stop. If you have to, you can give your body to Straw Hat Luffy. Do whatever it takes to calm their anger."
Reiju went still for a moment. She felt a deep sadness in her heart, but she nodded anyway. Just like her three brothers, she was merely a tool for her father. She had no freedom. Her father would sacrifice her body or even her life without a second thought if it helped his goals. This was the tragedy of being a Vinsmoke.
She thought about Sanji and felt he was very lucky. He had escaped this family and found a very powerful group to protect him. Reiju was truly happy for her brother. Since she had not seen him in a long time, she looked forward to the meeting.
Meanwhile, the Straw Hats continued to sail through the North Blue. Every merchant ship and pirate crew that saw them quickly moved out of the way. They showed great respect to the Emperor's crew. Along the way, the Straw Hats stopped a few unknown ships simply to ask for directions to the Germa Kingdom.
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