With orders issued one after another, nearly every Marine warship docked at New Marineford Harbor mobilized at once, setting sail toward the waters at the entrance to the New World.
In a sea like the New World—where the weather shifted without warning and no one could predict what disaster might strike the next second—such a deployment was no different from placing the lives of Marine soldiers on the edge of a blade.
Yet even in the face of such blatantly unreasonable orders from the World Government, Akainu, newly appointed as Fleet Admiral, could only comply obediently. He had no room to resist.
The New World, long silent, began to boil once more.
…
…
Before long.
New World, at the bow of a Marine warship tasked with establishing formations in the New World.
Smoker, draped in a Marine commodore's coat, clenched three cigars between his teeth. Murky smoke surged endlessly around the hull like flowing water, mingling with the violent sea currents to help stabilize the ship.
"Commodore Smoker."
At that moment, a light, crisp voice suddenly sounded from behind him.
A fair-skinned female swordswoman wearing square-framed glasses stepped forward.
Tashigi—who had been promoted alongside Smoker and now held the rank of major—held a detailed report on the current operation. Her face was filled with disbelief.
"What is it, Tashigi?" Smoker asked, turning his head with a similarly complex expression.
Tashigi pressed her lips together, uncertain how to begin. She raised the documents in her hands, took a deep breath, and slowly said,
"Commodore Smoker… Headquarters has identified all the criminals involved in the attack on the Holy Land · Mary Geoise…"
"Huh? Was it the Revolutionary Army?!" Smoker blurted out.
Because the incident had happened so suddenly, Smoker—still new to his rank—hadn't received detailed intelligence before setting sail.
Instinctively, he assumed the masterminds were the Revolutionary Army.
After all, in this world, only they constantly preached slogans like 'all men are born equal' and 'liberation of slaves'.
However, upon hearing his guess, a strange look flashed through Tashigi's eyes once more.
"It wasn't the Revolutionary Army, but…"
She paused, then sighed.
"…You should see it for yourself, Commodore Smoker."
Already too shocked to know what to say, Tashigi handed the documents directly to Smoker, her expression complicated.
"Hm?" Smoker glanced at her curiously, then took the thick stack of papers.
What greeted him was a long list of pirate bounty posters.
The faces on the list were not unfamiliar to him.
They were the rising rookie pirates who had made names for themselves in the first half of the Grand Line.
But the next second, when several particularly familiar faces entered his view, the old smoker's expression instantly twisted.
Rustle—rustle—
Smoker flipped through the pages rapidly. With each page turned, the authoritative look in his eyes faded, replaced by complete shock.
"Th-This… how is this possible?!" he shouted, disbelief written all over his face.
Tashigi, hearing this, mirrored his shock with a gentler gaze.
Her hand subconsciously rested on Yubashiri at her waist, her thoughts drifting back to that man in Loguetown—the one who had handed Yubashiri to her before effortlessly defeating her.
"When I first saw it, I was shocked too," she said softly. "But the report states that this intelligence came directly from the Five Elders of the World Government, so…"
"It shouldn't be wrong."
"The Five Elders…" Smoker muttered.
Tss—
A chill ran through him, and the documents in his hands suddenly felt far heavier.
"Without realizing it… they've already grown to this level?" he murmured.
His gaze shifted, meeting Tashigi's eyes.
Seeing her hesitate, clearly wanting to say something but unsure whether she should, Smoker spoke up immediately.
"If you have something to say, just say it."
"Ah—well…" Tashigi faltered for a moment, then lifted her brows and asked cautiously,"Mr. Smoker… you and the Straw Hat crew could be considered… friends, right?"
"They took all the slaves away from the Holy Land. What do you think they're planning to do?"
"Friends?!" Smoker raised an eyebrow and instinctively snapped back, "I don't have pirate friends."
But a contemplative look soon crossed his eyes.
"Still… from what I know of the Straw Hat crew, they probably didn't have any grand plan when they took those slaves."
"They likely just couldn't stand the Celestial Dragons and wanted to free them."
After all, it wasn't the first time they'd done something like that.
"I see." With no outsiders around, Tashigi nodded, finding it perfectly reasonable. "That does sound like their style."
Recently, incidents involving the Celestial Dragons had been happening frequently. As a result, those once-distant figures had become a common topic among the Marines.
Over time, Tashigi had learned quite a bit about their habits.
To be honest, if not for her duty as a Marine—where obeying orders was paramount—she wanted no part in this operation.
Judging from the laid-back atmosphere on their ship… neither Smoker, the commanding officer, nor Tashigi, his second-in-command, had any real desire to hunt down these "criminals."
"That's enough. Don't overthink it."
At that moment, Smoker suddenly tossed the documents back to Tashigi and turned his gaze toward the raging sea ahead.
"Overthinking means nothing for people as weak as us."
"Instead of dwelling on this, we should focus on strengthening ourselves."
"By the way… how's your Armament Haki training coming along?"
"Uh… well…" Tashigi stiffened and awkwardly turned away.
"Oh! Right! The New World seas are so chaotic—I should go check whether the ship's route has any issues!"
She suddenly raised a finger and bolted straight toward the cabin.
It wasn't that she disliked training or improving her strength.
Ever since Smoker had disappeared and then returned to the Marines, he'd gone completely mad with training—day after day, nonstop, like a true training fanatic.
With Marine resources and intelligence, in just a few short months, Smoker had mastered both types of Haki and even gained a solid grasp of the Six Powers.
Coupled with the strength he'd gained from the Straw Hat crew, which he'd privately mentioned to Tashigi…
His current power was more than enough to crush pirates with bounties in the hundreds of millions—easily Vice Admiral–level combat strength.
If not for his short service time, lack of merits, and the lingering suspicion of having been captured by pirates, his rank would never have increased by only one step.
And once Smoker grew stronger, his expectations for his subordinates skyrocketed as well.
Tashigi and the others suffered terribly. Even after increasing their training intensity fivefold, Smoker was still dissatisfied.
Over time, Smoker had become a full-fledged training demon in their eyes.
Any mention of training was enough to make his subordinates pale reflexively.
"She ran off again…"
Watching Tashigi's retreating back, Smoker frowned and muttered under his breath.
"Seriously… no discipline at all. No wonder the seas are getting more and more chaotic."
Having seen the Straw Hat crew's training methods, Smoker didn't think his demands were excessive.
Five times the normal training load?
He'd increased his own routine to twenty times—and still couldn't even see the Straw Hats' shadows anymore.
With that thought, Smoker glanced again at a bounty poster Tashigi had dropped on the deck.
On it was Luffy's wide, laughing grin.
Staring at that familiar face, Smoker couldn't help but let the corner of his mouth lift slightly as he looked toward the Red Line.
"It's been a long time, you bastards…"
…
…
"There's actually a glowing light source in the sea! This is amazing!"
Beneath the Red Line, more than nine thousand meters below the Holy Land · Mary Geoise, deep on the ocean floor…
A fleet of pirate ships swam freely through the depths, sometimes forming a V-shape, sometimes a straight line.
On the Going Merry, the Luffy–Usopp–Chopper trio pressed their faces hard against the thick coating, staring in awe at the island below—an enormous landmass wrapped in a gigantic soap bubble, their eyes sparkling.
"Be careful! If you puncture the coating, it won't just be one ship dying!" Nami snapped, rapping each of them on the head with her knuckles and sending them recoiling while clutching their foreheads.
"Don't worry, Nami," Franky said with a loud laugh as he walked over."The coating won't break that easily."
"Even if Luffy punched it right now, it wouldn't be affected at all."
"Still…" Franky's tone shifted as he glanced at Usopp thoughtfully.
"We're suddenly bringing this many people to Fish-Man Island. Is that really okay?"
"The relationship between fish-men and humans isn't exactly great, right?"
"Relax," Red said as he stepped forward with a smile."We have a reason Fish-Man Island can't refuse."
"And among the slaves we rescued, there were quite a few fish-men and merfolk."
"We're arriving as benefactors."
"Using goodwill for leverage might be a bit immoral, but hey—we're pirates. It doesn't really matter."
Zoro, who had been training on the deck, stood up and wiped the sweat from his brow, then cast an expectant glance toward Fish-Man Island below.
According to their original plan…
They would likely live on this deep-sea island for quite a long time.
And when they returned to the surface—
That would be the moment they pointed their blades at the summit and launched a full assault toward the highest seat!
"The world's greatest swordsman, huh?" Zoro muttered.
Now that he had awakened his Steel-type and finally set foot on the right path, he licked his lips with an excited grin.
"Nami-swan~ Robin-swan~ I made orange egg tarts for afternoon tea~!"
Sanji's floating voice suddenly echoed from the cabin.
The next second, a pitch-black flash appeared on deck. Sanji stood there holding two plates of egg tarts, rich with sweet-and-sour aroma, presenting them smoothly to Nami.
"Egg tarts?!" Luffy's nose shot up instantly. Drawn by the scent, he followed it all the way over—only to be shoved aside by Sanji.
"These are my heartfelt tarts for Nami-swan and Robin-swan! Yours are in the kitchen—go get them yourselves!"
"Tch~ what's wrong with eating just one? Sanji, you cheapskate!"
"Yeah! Cheapskate Sanji!"
Luffy and Usopp made faces at him together.
Then they immediately hoisted Chopper up by the arms and dashed excitedly toward the cabin.
Inside the second-floor reading room, Robin—who had been organizing the Poneglyphs—removed her glasses and leaned out the window with a gentle smile.
"Thank you, Sanji~"
Soon, the Going Merry was filled with the Straw Hat crew's usual lively banter, light and carefree—
Nothing like a group that had just committed an act shocking enough to shake the entire world.
But…
Just because the Straw Hat Pirates were at ease didn't mean everyone else was.
At the same time.
On the ships trailing behind the Going Merry.
The pirates who had just learned what their captains had done stood there with mouths agape, wide enough to fit ten fingers.
They believed their captains were destined for great deeds—but this had come far too suddenly, nearly stopping their hearts.
Still, with things already set in motion, they had no choice.
As crews of Supernovas, their spirit far surpassed that of ordinary pirate crews.
Though worried about the voyage ahead, they weren't about to lose their nerve entirely.
Especially since their captains had said…
Because the operation had been such a success, the Straw Hat crew's vice-captain was willing to grant each pirate crew new power as thanks for their support.
Judging by the deep smile on their captains' faces, that power was definitely not something simple.
And when that magnificent, mysterious island finally appeared before them all, a single thought leapt into everyone's minds—
New World, here we come!!!
…
…
"Wow~ so this is Fish-Man Island?!"
At the main entrance to Fish-Man Island.
Having just finished afternoon tea, the Straw Hat crew stood before a massive gate, lining up for inspection by the island's guards.
With intelligence provided in advance by Red—and no incidents along the way—the Going Merry led the Supernova fleet directly to Fish-Man Island's main entrance, preparing to enter via official channels.
After all, Fish-Man Island was still under the protection of the Whitebeard Pirates.
And their relationship with Whitebeard's crew ran deep.
Red had already contacted them in Luffy's name…
They would be stationed on Fish-Man Island for a long time, training in preparation for new challenges.
And incidentally—
Red also wanted to speedrun Pokémon Legends: Arceus as quickly as possible to unlock access to the next game world!
As for which world that would be, he'd already decided—
The one that granted the power of Dynamax—
Pokémon Sword/Shield!!!
(End of Chapter)