One Piece: Rising to Power as a Warlord of the Sea

"Invitation from the Dark World!"

Natsu explained the content of the letter to the members of the Smile Pirates and expressed his desire to join. No one had any objections, not even Hiro, who licked his lips with an excited, almost unsettling grin.

The Dark World is known for engaging in illegal transactions—weaponry, artificial Devil Fruits, human trafficking, mercenaries, and more. Essentially, anything can be bought with enough Berries, even people.

This kind of world had long attracted Hiro, as the resources he needed for his research could likely be obtained there.

Most importantly, aside from medicine, Hiro had become obsessed with studying genetic warriors and intelligent mechanical warriors. To assist him, Natsu had even spent points in the system store to purchase a manual on the construction of intelligent mechas and practical theories about bloodline factors.

As a result, Hiro had thrown himself into feverish research, to the point where even Enel didn't want to be around him, fearing that he might become an unwilling subject of Hiro's experiments.

The Dark World is dominated by six major kings, each controlling different sectors—intelligence, entertainment, transportation, assassination, goods, and usury, all intertwined in a complex web of interests. Doflamingo, the one on the surface running a legitimate business, uses his position as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea to secretly trade arms with Kaido, one of the Four Emperors, and even strike deals with the Navy.

The CP organization handles these deals and operations. The underworld's entertainment sector is controlled by Stussy, the so-called "Dark Emperor," and a member of the World Government's CP0. Most of the red-light districts are her domain, and she's powerful enough to kill the King of Usury, Du Feld, from over a kilometer away using a flying finger gun.

"This time, we don't need too many people. Gin and Hiro, you two come with me. The rest stay on the island to speed up construction and recruit more men!" Natsu said after a brief pause. "The island's development is the most important right now. My goal isn't just this area. I want to build a country, a place that reflects my values and worldview."

Two days later, at Gaburu Island in the New World, the territory of the Dark World, Natsu's ship, the Smile, docked. The island was teeming with various industries, both legal and illegal. The illegal ones were, unsurprisingly, more numerous.

"Is this Gaburu Island? It's filled with pirates!" Hiro said, peering through a telescope, spotting a sea of pirate ships surrounding the island.

"Yeah, I've never seen so many pirates gathered in one place," Gin remarked coldly, his eyes scanning the surroundings, ever ready for battle. He wasn't about to let any riff-raff interfere with their mission.

"Let's go, we're landing!" Natsu said.

As the trio disembarked, they headed toward the location marked on the invitation. It mentioned that a grand auction was being held on the island that day, with weapons, slaves, and even Devil Fruits up for sale. Natsu didn't know exactly what to expect, but he knew he had to be here, to get involved in the Dark World and perhaps gain some level of control over it.

"Hey, stop!" a voice shouted from behind.

A drunken pirate wobbled toward them, eyeing the trio from top to bottom. "Where do you three punks think you're going? You dare come to Gaburu Island with just the three of you? Hand over your Berries and I'll let you live!"

"Get lost!" Gin snapped, his gaze locking onto the pirate, who immediately felt a terrifying pressure, as if facing a nine-headed beast. In an instant, the pirate was paralyzed with fear, nearly fainting.

"Let's go, just a drunk," Natsu said calmly. As a strong person, he knew when to show restraint, and killing unnecessarily wasn't the way to go, especially on their first visit to the island.

The three continued their journey and, after ten minutes, encountered a group of pirates dressed in matching uniforms.

"Captain Natsu, you've finally arrived. The other lords are already at the auction, and you're the last one to arrive!" the leader of the pirates said respectfully.

"Ah, how fortunate," Natsu replied with a slight smile. "Lead the way. I've long been curious about the rulers of the Dark World."

The pirates guided them to the auction hall, a uniquely designed two-story castle. Outside, dozens of guards patrolled, and nearly a hundred pirates stood in line to enter. None dared cause any trouble here.

Without waiting in line, Natsu and his crew entered through a special VIP entrance.

"Why do they get to skip the line?" a pirate grumbled.

"Yeah, why them?" another one added.

The surrounding pirates muttered in dissatisfaction.

"Quiet down!" the head of the guard shouted. His voice echoed, silencing the crowd. "Want VIP access? Sure, but only if your bounty exceeds 300 million Berries!"

Hearing this, the pirates fell silent. No one had an issue with the explanation.

The guard captain then added, "That person is Captain Natsu of the Smile Pirates, the newly appointed Warlord of the Sea, with a bounty of 500 million Berries!"

"Aha, so it's him!"

"Whew, good thing I didn't mess with him! I heard the Smile Pirates are a bunch of ruthless killers."

"I heard that too. And the guy next to him, isn't that Gin? They say he's so cold-blooded that even if enemies beg for their lives, he won't spare them!"

The pirates whispered to one another, spreading rumors about the Smile Pirates' fearsome reputation.

As Natsu stepped into the auction hall, he was met not with a warm welcome, but with a wave of hostile and murderous Conqueror's Haki. He met the gaze of Doflamingo, sitting in the center of the room.

"Heh, a test, huh? Doflamingo," Natsu said, his lips curling into a faint smile.

In response, a far more powerful Conqueror's Haki erupted from Natsu's body, crashing into Doflamingo's. The two Haki clashes sent shockwaves through the room, knocking out nearly two-thirds of the pirates in the hall. The remaining ones, while still conscious, were left reeling with a buzzing in their heads.

The only ones unaffected were the Dark World emperors, Gin, and Hiro.

"I don't like this kind of greeting, Joker," Natsu said, his voice calm despite the tension in the air.

To be continued...

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