Chapter 61: The Outbreak of Conflict

Seeing that Enel was determined to join, Marco stepped forward and frowned.

"Enel, I don’t care why you want to join, but if you ever do anything that betrays the Whitebeard Pirates, I’ll personally kill you."

Ace thought of Thatch. His expression turned cold, and his tone became noticeably hostile.

"Enel, I hope you won’t regret the decision you made today."

Seeing how emotional everyone was, Ron thought for a moment before stepping forward.

His gaze swept across the crowd before finally settling on Enel.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly said, "Enel, if you want to join the Whitebeard Pirates, that’s fine. But with so many Division Commanders opposing you, I’m sure you understand the situation."

Enel was baffled.

These people had attacked him the moment they met, beaten him up, and even taken his blood.

Now he had adopted the mindset of if you can’t beat them, join them, and that still wasn’t enough?

He was filled with confusion and disbelief.

Ron continued,

"Since Pops has agreed to let you join the crew, here’s what we’ve decided after considering everything. You’ll serve as an apprentice pirate within the crew first. After two and a half years, you’ll become a full member."

Two and a half years?

Apprentice?

Enel silently calculated in his head.

Although he wasn’t entirely satisfied with the arrangement, he knew this wasn’t the time to be picky. As long as he could join this powerful crew, everything else could wait.

"...Fine. I accept."

He agreed without hesitation.

Apprentice or official crew member—it didn’t matter. Once he was aboard, he could take things one step at a time.

More than anything, he simply wanted to travel with these monsters and see the world beyond the skies.

A week later, as the gold of Skypiea was gradually harvested, more and more crew members sought out Ron, hoping to replicate or enchant their abilities.

Some succeeded.

Others failed.

In particular, most of those attempting to obtain a second ability ended up unsuccessful.

During this period, the overall strength of the Whitebeard Pirates was rapidly increasing.

Influenced by Pops—Edward Newgate himself—most of the crew chose to replicate the powers of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit (Gura Gura no Mi).

Although the success rate for replicating Devil Fruit abilities had reached one hundred percent, there was one unfortunate limitation.

Whitebeard’s Devil Fruit power didn’t come with any specific techniques that could be directly taught to others.

For Whitebeard, even an ordinary punch was powerful enough to rival another person’s ultimate move.

His basic attacks were ultimate moves.

Because of that, he had never needed any additional special techniques to enhance his combat power.

As a result, the crew members who successfully replicated the Tremor-Tremor Fruit’s abilities had to figure out for themselves how to properly develop and utilize that power.

Of course, they could also seek guidance from Division Commander Jozu.

For a time, Jozu’s residence became exceptionally busy.

As one of the few people in the crew who truly understood the essence of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, he was more than willing to help the newly created "quake users" learn to control their abilities.

From morning until night, groups of crew members gathered around him, eager to become stronger and move one step closer to Pops’ level as they listened to his advice on how to better wield the Tremor-Tremor Fruit’s power.

"Brother, what kind of move is that? Why are your fingers vibrating nonstop?"

"Hehehe, I call it—Vibrating Little Devil!"

"...You used Pops’ power for that? I’ll give you a thirty-nine-meter head start."

"AHHH! Jozu, no! Please don’t!"

"..."

Meanwhile, Ron’s mission progress continued to rise steadily, though he was still some distance away from completing one hundred successful replications.

Inside the laboratory,

Ron looked at the number displayed on the system mission panel and sighed.

[39/100]

"Still too slow. Looks like it’s time to head down below and make some money."

Just then—

Bang!

The door was suddenly thrown open, shattering the room’s silence.

Conis rushed inside in a panic.

Her face was filled with anxiety and fear, and a trace of panic flickered in her eyes.

"Vice Captain Ron , this is bad! Something major has happened!"

Ron stood up from his chair and frowned.

"What? Did outsiders attack the island?"

Though his tone remained calm, there was a hint of vigilance in his eyes.

"No, no!"

Conis hurriedly shook her head.

"The Shandians have arrived. It looks like... it looks like a fight is about to break out!"

"The Shandians?"

Ron repeated the name and immediately understood the seriousness of the situation.

He had always known that the conflict between the Skypieans and the Shandians was irreconcilable. Sooner or later, it was bound to erupt.

He just hadn’t expected it to happen this soon.

It seemed both sides had been competing behind the scenes for days, and today they had finally reached their limit.

"Let’s go take a look."

Ron made the decision immediately and strode toward the door.

As someone who knew the full history of the situation, he had to personally handle this sudden conflict.

Conis nervously followed behind him as they left the room together.

Outside, in the plaza,

The Shandians had gathered together, their spears pointed directly at the Skypieans across from them.

The two sides stood on the brink of war.

The atmosphere was thick with tension and unease, as though a single spark could ignite the impending conflict.

The cause of the situation was actually quite simple.

During an exploration expedition, the Shandians had been the first to discover a location containing a large quantity of gold.

However, before they could begin extensive mining operations, a group of Skypieans arrived later and forcibly took control of the valuable resources.

Ordinarily, the Shandians—who had long been known for their ability to coexist peacefully—would never have chosen such a large-scale violent response, even in the face of such unfair treatment.

After all, those glittering chunks of metal had little practical value in their eyes and were hardly worth fighting over.

But things were different now.

They had discovered that gold could be exchanged with Ron’s people for something far more precious:

Soil.

That discovery had elevated the value of gold in the eyes of the Shandians to a level even beyond their own lives.

As a result, the situation continued to escalate until it finally reached the point where neither side was willing to back down—

Even if it meant war.

"Vice Captain Ron is here!"

Someone suddenly shouted.

The voice echoed through the plaza.

The single sentence seemed to act as a signal.

A visible commotion immediately swept through the crowd.

Both sides appeared shaken by the announcement. Almost instinctively, they stepped backward and opened up a wide path.

Ron remained expressionless.

With steady and unwavering steps, he walked toward the open space between the two tribes.

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