"Magnificent, Chief! We're almost there!" Vinsmoke Judge exclaimed, his voice trembling with excitement.
He stared at the data on the screen, his eyes wide behind his helmet.
He had immediately clicked with the genius leading this project. Their minds worked in perfect harmony.
The man he called "Chief" was Dr. Vegapunk.
Under Vegapunk's leadership, they had formed the organization known as MADS.
The name MADS stood for "Madness." It was a fitting name.
The group was a secret gathering of the world's most brilliant, yet completely unhinged, scientists.
The members were legendary in the underworld.
There was Vinsmoke Judge, the future King of the Germa Kingdom.
There was Queen, a heavy-set man who would later become a "Disaster" for the Beasts Pirates.
And there was the wildly evil young scientist, Caesar Clown.
Together, they flagrantly ignored the laws of the World Government.
They were obsessed with researching everything "forbidden"—deadly weapons, artificial life, and the mysteries of Devil Fruits.
After months of guessing and testing, they had reached a terrifying conclusion: the human body contained a unique, hidden code.
All the MADS members agreed that if they could decipher this substance, they could completely redesign biological life.
They could play God.
"We will call it the Lineage Factor," Vegapunk announced.
Judge nodded enthusiastically. "The blueprint of life itself."
However, not everyone in the lab was celebrating.
In a dark corner, away from Vegapunk and Judge, Queen and the young Caesar Clown were huddled together.
They were whispering, their faces twisted with jealousy.
Queen, a rotund man with a long ponytail, chewed on his cigar angrily.
Caesar, younger and leaner, floated nearby with a sulky expression.
Both of them were prodigies in the field of viruses and bacteria.
They were convinced that no one in the world was smarter than them. Yet, here they were, being overshadowed.
The team of Vegapunk and Judge, who were a few years older than them, was getting all the attention.
They were on the verge of uncovering the truth about the Lineage Factor, while Queen and Caesar were stuck.
"It's the money," Queen grumbled. "That's the only reason."
MADS was not a charity.
It wasn't supported by a rich king or the Government yet. Their funding came entirely from Vegapunk's side business of selling weapons for wars.
Recently, Queen and Caesar's research had hit a wall.
Because of this, their budget had been cut in half
. Most of the money was being redirected to Vegapunk and Judge's "Lineage Factor" project.
For Queen and Caesar, the lack of money wasn't the main issue.
It was their pride.
No genius wants to admit they are inferior.
Watching their peers achieve breakthrough after breakthrough was painful. They could not stand to see their own experiments lagging behind.
"We need test subjects," Caesar hissed, a cruel glint in his eyes. "If we had more humans to test on, we would be ahead of them."
Queen nodded. "Exactly. We need to take matters into our own hands."
In fact, over a month ago, the two of them had secretly built a new type of ship.
It was a vessel capable of crossing the Calm Belt—the stretch of ocean infested with giant Sea Kings that separated the Blues from the Grand Line.
They had long forgotten the rules set by Vegapunk about laying low.
Their arrogance led them to extend their reach toward the innocent civilians of the North Blue.
Chaniaral Island was the nearest island to their hidden lab.
Because they had come from the direction of the Calm Belt, neither the Marines nor the Salisbury Family knew where they were hiding.
In the eyes of the world, the Calm Belt was impossible to cross unless you were strong enough to swim through it.
No one had ever heard of a ship that could sail through it freely without being eaten.
"We need to hurry," Queen said, checking his watch. "The Chief says they will extract the Lineage Factor within a week. If they finish before us, we will look like fools."
Queen's chubby face turned red with rage.
He refused to be the loser!
"Let's go, Caesar," Queen ordered.
"Shurorororo..." Caesar laughed his distinctive, creepy laugh. "Yes! As long as we have enough people, we will break through. Science demands sacrifice!"
The young Caesar Clown wore a sickly, obsessed smile.
In his eyes, human lives held no value. They were just meat for his experiments.
Quietly, under the cover of night, Queen and Caesar loaded supplies onto their paddle-wheel ship.
Caesar took the helm, steering them into the dark waters, while Queen shoveled coal into the engine.
They were heading back to Chaniaral Island for one last harvest.
....
The next morning, the sun rose peacefully over Chaniaral Island.
In the most luxurious room of the Salisbury Family's base, Raleigh lay in a spacious, soft bed.
He opened one eye, his eyelids feeling heavy.
Through the window, he could see the sky was a perfect azure blue.
There wasn't a single cloud. The morning sun was warm but not yet hot—the perfect weather for sleeping in.
Ding-dong.
"Raleigh-sama, it is time to get up for breakfast," a maid called out softly from the hallway.
Raleigh groaned into his pillow. "Mmm, understood."
He really didn't want to move.
The bed was too comfortable.
If it weren't for the mission to investigate the abducted civilians, Raleigh would have happily slept until noon.
With a sigh, he threw the covers off.
As he rose from the bed, his physique was revealed in the morning light.
Though he could be lazy, his body was a weapon.
It was a body built for combat, bursting with strength.
He walked to the wardrobe and casually threw on a loose shirt and trousers.
He opened the door, running a hand through his messy hair.
"You're finally up, Raleigh."
Standing in the hallway was Gion.
Unlike him, she had been awake for hours.
She was wearing form-fitting workout clothes, and a fine layer of sweat glistened on her forehead.
"Go to the dining room first," Raleigh yawned. "I need to take a quick shower."
"Lazy as always," Gion teased him, though she smiled.
Raleigh nodded, admiring her diligence. He wished he had half her motivation in the mornings.
After washing up, he arrived at the dining room.
The table was set with a lavish breakfast, but Raleigh went straight for the pot of coffee.
He poured himself a cup of black coffee and took small sips, letting the bitterness wake him up.
Lying on the table was the latest issue of the World Economic News Paper.
Raleigh picked it up with one hand, flipping through the pages while drinking his coffee.
The headlines were bold and shocking.
[GOL D. ROGER APPEARS AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE GRAND LINE!! SEEMS TO BE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE!!]
[THE GREAT PIRATE 'GOLDEN LION' SHIKI NOW COMMANDS EIGHT MASSIVE SHIPS! WILL HE BE THE ONE TO UNIFY THE NEW WORLD?!]
[WHITEBEARD EDWARD NEWGATE APPEARS ON A DESTROYED ISLAND, STAYS FOR THREE DAYS!!]
Raleigh's eyes scanned the text quickly.
He became so absorbed in the news that he froze, forgetting to put down his coffee cup.
"It's getting more and more lively," he muttered to himself. "The Great Pirate Era... it is about to begin."
To anyone else, these were just news updates.
But Raleigh knew what they meant.
He knew the future.
He knew that Gol D. Roger was at the entrance of the Grand Line for a specific reason: he was dying.
He was looking for a doctor.
'He's looking for Crocus,' Raleigh thought.
Raleigh knew Roger would succeed.
He would recruit Crocus from the Twin Capes. With Crocus's medical skills, Roger would be able to suppress the pain of his incurable disease for just long enough.
In the days to come, Roger would defeat countless enemies.
He would conquer the sea, reach the final island, Laugh Tale, and become the Pirate King.
And the Golden Lion?
Raleigh looked at the picture of the flying pirate ships.
Shiki was expanding his fleet rapidly. Raleigh knew that in the coming year—Sea Calendar 1497—Shiki and Roger would clash.
It would be a battle between two world-class powers in the New World.
History would call it the Edd War.
'A storm is coming,' Raleigh thought.
After that battle, the invincible Golden Lion would be severely wounded, a piece of a steering wheel permanently lodged in his head.
Roger, however, would continue his march toward destiny.
"Raleigh, what are you looking at so intensely?"
Gion walked into the dining room, interrupting his thoughts.
She had showered and changed into her Marine uniform, her hair still damp.
Raleigh snapped back to reality. He closed the newspaper and folded it away.
He picked up his cold black coffee and drank the rest in one large gulp.
"Nothing much," Raleigh said, putting on his usual relaxed smile. "Just reading about some pirates who can't let the world rest in peace."
He stood up.
"Come on. We have some kidnappers to catch."