Chapter 31: Whitebeard's Growth In Influence
[ Third Person POV ]
Moby Dick
While Boris and Stussy were out on their assignment from Whitebeard. The main fleet didn't just laze about. They wasted no time immediately going to islands and lay their flag there as their territory. Whitebeard had split the four ships into different directions, after all at this point of time, it was better to divide and conquer. As such, Whitebeard had to organise the pirate groups on each ship so as to maximize their versitility, along with their offensive capabilities as well. The Whitebeard Jolly Roger billowed high on top of the masts of the four ships as all the members had gathered together to hear what Whitebeard had to say.
Whitebeard stood tall infront of his children, his naginata rested its butt on the ships deck as he started to address his pirate crew. "My sons! It is time for the seas to know our name! You will split into four groups and claim our territory! Remember not to antagonize them, after all, they are our family as well!" The Whitebeard pirates roared in acknowledgement, with how they had been gathering pirate crews as they had sailed. It was safe to say that the Whitebeard Pirates had grown to a fleet of over 1,500 individuals. It had reached a point where they could no longer fit into the Moby Dick. Whitebeard knew it would soon be time to split his forces into different divisions, just like how Rocks did with his crew.
Whitebeard assigned three different people in charge of the ship. They were the same people who were in charge when they were sailing to the New World. The only difference this time would be that Atmos, Blenheim and Rakuyo would be having second-in-commands to help them as they sailed the seas. Their second-in-commands would be Epioda, Whitey Bay and Andre, Whitebeard wanted the three of them to get experience so that they could be future subordinate pirates in the future.
As for the main ship in which Whitebeard himself resided. He appointed the young Marco as head of the ship. They boy had not only garnered the favor of the ships crew, but he also had shown potential in the eyes of Whitebeard himself. As a result, Whitebeard decided to put the young boy as head of the ship. Of course, he had a lot of help with him which included advice from Whitebeard himself.
Time had flown by and the Whitebeard Pirates made staggering progress while claiming territory. It also helped that Boris wasn't idle either. Soon after Whitebeard had sent him on his first expedition, he called reporting that the assignment had been complited. Unfortunately, he was too far from Whitebeard's ship for him to fly back. As a result, Whitebeard just kept sending Boris to patrol the newly founded territory. WhiteBeard wasn't the only Rocks member to get to the New World after all.
Charollette Lin Lin laid claim to Tottoland and had raided the islands nearby. However, she was so focused on having kids that she wasn't really bothering anyone. However, Shiki was a different case, he had met Roger at some point of time and tried to invite him to his newly formed Golden Lion Pirates. Roger had refused, and Shiki took offense; starting a feud between the Golden Lion Pirates and The Roger Pirates. Kaido had dissapeared as soon as the Rocks Pirates had disbanded, however, it wouldn't be long until he'd start causing commotion.
As for the other members of the Rocks Pirates. It seemed that they either retired or simply refused to go to the New World like Whitebeard and the others did. Soneone like Gloriosa decided to go back to Kuja island, whereas John formed his own crew and started hoarding riches. Ochoku remained in West Blue and decided to declare himself as ruler of Hachinosu, Rock's base of Operation. However, nobody really knew what happened to Silver Axe; Streusen's status was also unknown.
Whitebeard was currently the only pirate who was actively claiming territory. Moreover, with Boris' patrol's across the territory. The name of Whitebeard had started to become a constant topic of conversation everywhere. Spurring fear from other islands, and drawing respect from the citizens who lived within Whitebeard's Territory.
Days turned to months as months turned into years, and Whitebeard had finally stopped expanding his territory. Boris was still out patrolling during this time, so he hadn't made it back to the ship in a long time. Marco had slowly grown into quite the exceptional young man among the WhiteBeard Pirates, he wasn't the only one who was growing in power, other prominent members also began standing out from the rest of the crew as well. Slowly claiming their positions as leaders within the pirate crew. They were namely: Jozu, Thatch, Blamenco, Namur, Curiel, Kingdew, Haruta, Speed Jiru and Fosa.
Whitebeard wasn't stupid, he knew that if this kept up. He would be forced to settle at an island so that he could direct his subordinates from there. He didn't want to stay at one Island for the rest of his life, so he decided to call all his crew members, who had grown from 1,600 to 11,500 members to a meeting. He even got a den den moshi transmission to Boris, who was still out patrolling his territories and enforcing order. It was finally time to establish some form of scale of authority within the WhiteBeard Pirates.
When he called Boris' transponder snail, instead of getting Boris, Stussy had picked up instead. Whitebeard's opinion of Stussy wasn't favorable, but since Boris was ready to take responsibility for her, he never said anything about her; she became his daughter, and now she was family. He briefly told Stussy to bring Boris back to the ship, and also told her where they would be docking for the meantime. Stussy acknowledged his command and hung up after promising him that she and Boris would show up. The transponder snail ended the transmission and Whitebeard sat back on his huge chair as he let out a soft sigh. He couldn't help but smile at the growth of his family, the pirates within the Moby Dick stared at WhiteBeard's relaxed face and smiled.
In time, they had come to treat WhiteBeard as if he was their actual father. They made it their priority to make sure that he was comfortable whenever he was resting. Well, Marco did anyway, he had slowly took on Boris' job and always kept an eye on the four ships whenever they would be sailing together for a period of time. It was a peaceful and enjoyable time for the crew as they continued on with their voyage.