One Piece Solar Rift Conqueror!

The ocean lay before them, a seemingly infinite flat sheet of dark blue waves churning beneath a sky smeared with gentle streaks of gold. The Solar Rift Pirates forged ahead, their new ship cutting through the water with ease as the crew adapted to being men on the run.

On the deck, Kael, Jorin, and Drayce bent over their captured bounty sheets from an incoming merchant ship, reading their own freshly printed bounties.

"65 million berries… oh," Solian muttered to himself, examining his own poster. His own face, still fairly enigmatic to the rest of the world, had been nicely done in the sketch. "It's sort of surreal."

Kael grinned, slapping his own 48 million bounty against his chest. "Hell yeah! Looks like I'm officially dangerous now."

Jorin, with his bounty raised to 42 million, remained composed but couldn't hide the small smirk forming on his lips. "A step forward, but we'll need to keep getting stronger. Bounties like these will bring bounty hunters and ambitious Marines our way."

Drayce, whose price was lowest of 38 million, only nodded. "It was inevitable." He stated quite matter-of-factly, with a whiff of exhilaration beneath the tone. He'd never imagined advancing in notoriety so suddenly.

Solian crossed his arms, gazing out to the horizon. "We'll be heading for the next major island, but we must be cautious. We're carrying a fortune in stolen Marine credits, and there will be people who'll be trying to take it from us."

Jorin adjusted the ship's heading. "The island before us is Valtros—renowned for black markets, mercenaries, and gun merchants. It'll be the perfect location to resupply and hire muscle."

Kael yawned. "You're saying we can resupply and have some underlings? That's okay with me."

A Storm on the Horizon

The peaceful sailing was short-lived. Late in the day, dark clouds swept in, and the wind howled across the deck of the vessel. The waves agitated, and the sky boomed as a storm swept in from the east.

"Shit, we don't have time for this," Solian snarled as the first raindrops struck his face.

Jorin held the wheel more firmly. "Steady! This storm is going to be bad!"

The ship bucked and rolled as massive waves crashed against its side. Water sprayed across the deck, knocking Kael off his feet to the edge before he grabbed the railing.

"This is insane!" Kael shouted over the wind. "We need to get through this as fast as possible!"

Solian knew he could use his Solar Rift Fruit and open small portals and deflect wind streams, but with how unstable the weather was, it was too risky to mess with without risking damaging the ship.

So he shouted back at Drayce. "Can you use your ability to try and stabilize us?"

Drayce nodded, activating his Gale Drift Fruit. Soft energy glowed around his body as he manipulated the air pressure around the sails so that the vessel could travel more smoothly through the rough seas.

They rode it out for hours, coming together to bring their ship back afloat. Their first real test as a crew, and when the winds finally did subside and the sun reappeared from behind its cover of cloud, they stood victorious though shaken.

"Ah, that was hell," Kael cried, falling to the deck.

Jorin wiped his forehead with his sleeve. "We made it. That's all that matters."

Solian smiled, looking in the direction of the newly-formed island on the horizon. "Time to get busy."