One piece: Establishing a Pirate Family

Chapter 492: The Three Emperors (Part 2)

Over the past three years, Moria had rallied more than ten thousand pirates and had begun launching attacks against the Three Emperors.

He had already chosen his target—

The Rockefeller Pirates.

Fueled by boundless confidence, Moria boldly set his sights on the most formidable pirate crew in the New World—known as an iron fortress: the Rockefeller Pirates.

Among the five emerging pirate crews, the Moria Pirates were the closest to reaching the status of an Emperor.

Countless people hailed Moria as the man most likely to become the Fourth Emperor.

The other four pirate groups lagged behind significantly.

None were in any position to challenge the Emperors.

Most of them were just failures—pirates who had attempted to challenge the Three Emperors and been beaten back, forced to survive in the unstable "peace zones" between the Emperors' territories.

These groups mainly bullied fresh arrivals to the New World.

This setup was partly intentional on the Emperors' part.

After all, who wanted to be pestered every day by clueless bumpkins from the Four Blues or Paradise who had never seen the true scale of war?

—

The First Half of the New World

Within the territory of the Rockefeller Pirates

"Uwaaah… so sleepy. I'm taking a nap."

Caesar, standing aboard a large ship and gazing out over the endless sea, yawned.

Surrounding him were crew members of the Rockefeller Pirates.

As the First Division Commander, Caesar had been ordered to patrol this part of the sea.

Ever since Charlotte imposed tariffs across the New World, smuggling had become rampant. Some merchants needed a firm warning.

Originally, these enforcement duties were handled by his sister, Esdeath.

And she had enjoyed them.

But no one had expected that Esdeath would get into a violent conflict with Katakuri of the Big Mom Pirates over the sovereignty of an island.

The two had been clashing every few days.

At first, this skirmish alarmed many forces in the New World.

They thought a full-scale war between the Rockefeller Pirates and Big Mom Pirates was about to erupt.

Even Whitebeard had started to pay attention.

He had seen the pattern clearly.

If the Rockefeller Pirates truly eliminated the Big Mom Pirates, the next target would inevitably be the Whitebeard Pirates.

Although their prestige had slightly waned in recent years, and the title of the world's strongest pirate crew had shifted to the Rockefeller Pirates…

Whitebeard himself still firmly held the title of Strongest Man in the World.

The destructive power of the Gura Gura no Mi (Tremor-Tremor Fruit) was second to none.

No one truly believed that Charlotte, head of the Rockefeller Pirates, could defeat Edward Newgate.

Whitebeard wasn't afraid of war.

But when he considered the strength of his children—compared to Charlotte's increasingly formidable offspring—he had to admit a chilling reality:

Aside from Marco, Jozu, and Vista, the Whitebeard Pirates had no other truly standout commanders.

In the event of war, Whitebeard himself could hold off Charlotte.

Marco, Jozu, and Vista could likely hold back Esdeath, Caesar, and Tesla.

But what about Barrett?

Who would stop him?

And the Rockefeller Pirates didn't only have Barrett.

They also had the Red Count, who spent his days fishing with Charlotte on his island.

Who could guarantee that he wouldn't jump in if a real war broke out?

And aside from the three most famous children, Charlotte had several lesser-known but rising children who were becoming noteworthy in their own right.

Even if they weren't as legendary as their older siblings, they were all skilled fighters.

Whitebeard had to face the bitter truth:

If war truly broke out, he might be the one to lose.

And even if he won, the cost would be the total ruin of the Whitebeard Pirates.

From that point on, Whitebeard suppressed all internal talk of war with the Rockefeller or Big Mom Pirates.

Many of his "sons" grumbled and protested, but he remained firm.

He even made deliberate efforts to maintain friendly relations with the Big Mom Pirates, offering gestures of goodwill.

Big Mom herself was too obsessed with cake to notice much…

But her children, especially Katakuri, quickly realized what was going on.

They conveyed the situation discreetly.

And so, the Three Emperors maintained a tense but stable balance.

No one dared to make the first move.

The Big Mom and Whitebeard Pirates had seemingly aligned against the Rockefeller Pirates.

Of course, Charlotte wasn't blind.

He saw what was happening—but the situation was already what it was.

So he simply let things be, instructing his subordinates not to stir up trouble.

Unfortunately, this command meant nothing to his more rebellious children.

Led by Esdeath, a number of them had entered full-blown rebellious mode.

They constantly urged for war—especially against the Big Mom Pirates.

A quick glance at a New World map would reveal the reason.

The Big Mom Pirates' territory sat dangerously close to the heart of the Rockefeller Pirates' domain.

A dagger to the throat.

Esdeath and her faction regularly ran provocations along the border.

Charlotte could only sigh.

His children were increasingly difficult to control.

He had once believed that Caesar was his only problem child.

But the truth had proven more troubling—Esdeath was the real wildcard.

As a child, she was sweet and adorable. As a teen, cold and ruthless. Now, as an adult—she had become dangerously aggressive.

It gave Charlotte a headache.

At least Caesar, while lazy, never caused trouble. In that regard, Charlotte could actually trust him.

Ironically, Charlotte now found himself suffering from the same burdens Whitebeard had years ago—trouble caused by his own crew's fame and power.

He could only hope he could still rein in his children.

"Commander! A smuggling ship spotted ahead!"

The lookout of the First Division shouted, pointing toward the faint outline of a ship.

Caesar, having just settled in for a nap, lifted his blindfold lazily and looked up.

"Do they fly any colors?"

He asked, sounding half asleep.

The lookout focused his telescope, squinting.

As the ship got closer, his face turned pale.

"Commander! It's the Moria Pirates—Gecko Moria himself!"

His alarm wasn't unjustified.

Recently, aside from the Rockefeller Pirates themselves, the Moria Pirates had drawn the most attention.

The entire Rockefeller Pirates crew treated them as a rising threat.

Aside from Charlotte himself, most crew members already considered Moria a true enemy.

Unlike other pirate crews who blundered into the New World with empty bravado, shouting about taking heads—

Only to sink to the bottom of the sea—

The Moria Pirates had moved strategically.

Though they had suffered a setback at the hands of the Navy upon entering the New World, they had rebounded quickly.

They absorbed neighboring crews and rapidly expanded their influence.

---

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