One Piece: Starting at the War of the Best

"Well, even if I can't join, I don't mind having another uncle."

Katie's sudden words stunned everyone. What was she talking about, asking for another uncle? It's not like Whitebeard could just become her uncle…

Wait. Why not? Actually, it was entirely possible—especially since Katie was the one who suggested it herself. The meaning couldn't be clearer: she wanted to draw closer to them!

"Hahaha! How about I be your uncle then?" Of course, if others could figure it out, Whitebeard had already thought the same.

"Then I'll gladly accept it, Uncle Newgate," Katie replied with a smile.

"Good!" Whitebeard's booming voice drew everyone's attention, and then he added:

"Raise your cups! Let's welcome Katie into our family!"

Even if it was just an "uncle-nephew" bond, it was family all the same. With those words, Whitebeard had declared Katie one of their own.

"Cheers!"

The previously subdued atmosphere exploded again. Even though Katie didn't officially join their crew, no one was surprised.

After all, with her strength, she didn't need to join anyone. If she wanted, she could build her own pirate crew—and that crew would be terrifying, possibly the strongest force below the Yonko.

But now, by acknowledging Whitebeard as her uncle, Katie had essentially forged an alliance with him. And having such a powerful ally was nothing but good news.

"Boss Katie, this one's for you!"

One by one, everyone came forward to toast Katie.

Seeing the long line of people waiting to drink with her, Katie felt a headache coming on. They were going to drink her to death at this rate!

But she didn't back down. With Whitebeard as her ally, she was gaining plenty, so she drank with everyone without refusing a single toast.

By the time one round was over, Katie felt the world spinning.

"Hahaha! Katie, your alcohol tolerance isn't that great, huh?"

"Th-That's impossible! I… I can drink!" Katie slurred, refusing to admit defeat.

"Fire! I need fire!"

In the next moment, Katie burst into blue flames. The azure fire burned around her intensely, and streams of alcohol-laced vapor rose from her body.

When the flames died down, Katie's complexion was perfectly normal—no sign of drunkenness at all.

"How's that? Impressed?" Katie smirked. Using the high heat of her flames, she had burned away the remaining alcohol in her system.

Faced with her provocation, Whitebeard's proud crew refused to admit defeat. They might not match her strength, but when it came to drinking, they wouldn't back down.

Two or three hours later, Katie once again burned the alcohol from her system—but this time, every single challenger lay passed out on the floor.

"Ace, if you've got something to ask, just say it," Katie said, glancing at Ace, who had been hesitating for a while. She already had a good idea of what Ace wanted to ask.

"I'm sure I ate the Flame-Flame Fruit… so why do you have the same ability as me?"

Katie wasn't surprised. She'd expected Ace to ask this. If someone else suddenly had her supposedly unique power, she'd want an explanation too.

She also noticed that everyone who was still conscious—Whitebeard, Rayleigh, and Barrett included—was staring at her with curiosity. Even those veterans wanted to know.

Fortunately, Katie had already prepared her answer.

"Because I'm a Copy-Copy Fruit user. By paying a certain price, I can duplicate another person's ability. As for the price… that's something I can't reveal."

She couldn't expose the existence of the system or the fact that she was a transmigrator, so she blamed everything on the mysterious nature of Devil Fruits.

In this world, Devil Fruits were the most incomprehensible thing. Even the official encyclopedias didn't have records of every fruit. No one questioned Katie's explanation.

"Copy-Copy Fruit? That's… one incredible ability."

The others didn't press her further. Whether they believed it or not, they had to admit how powerful it was.

Many people regretted never finding a fruit that matched them, but this ability solved that problem perfectly. Some even wondered if Katie could copy more than one fruit at a time—but deep down, they instinctively thought that was impossible. Otherwise, it would simply be too broken.

"That blue flame of yours—what's the deal with it? Is it from awakening or something else?" Ace asked.

Having experienced the Paramount War firsthand, Ace knew how much Katie's flames had helped. Without him, countless members of Whitebeard's crew would have died. He didn't care if Katie shared her ability—he was simply grateful.

"I don't know if it's awakening, but it's definitely a deeper level of development. When it comes to fire, there are only two things that truly matter."

Katie paused for a moment before continuing:

"First is temperature. Fire's essence lies in heat. The higher the temperature, the greater its destructive power.

"Take Akainu's Magma Fruit. He can control temperature too, but magma caps out at five to six thousand degrees. Fire, on the other hand, if developed to its limit, could exceed ten thousand. I can tell you've hit a bottleneck with your flames, Ace. Focus on that—you'll break through."

"And the second is range. How much fire can you control? If one day you can manipulate all the flames in the world, even if the temperature isn't extreme, that control alone could destroy everything. But that would require a monstrously powerful body to sustain it. Even Kaido couldn't handle that."

Ace fell silent, deep in thought. It was as if a window had been opened before him. He felt like he was just one push away from a breakthrough.

"Thanks… I think I know what I need to do."

"No problem. We're family. No need for thanks."

"Alright, enough talk. Let's continue the banquet! Everything else can wait!"

Whitebeard laughed. Seeing Ace so enlightened filled him with joy. If Ace could truly break through, he would become a force that could stand on his own—even if Whitebeard himself could no longer wield his weapon.