"!!!"
Wapol's once-joyful face twisted in shock, his eyes bulging as if they were about to pop out of their sockets.
Out on the sea, the warship that had been perfectly fine just moments ago suddenly erupted in a massive explosion. Flames soared high into the sky, and within less than a minute, the entire vessel had disintegrated and sunk beneath the waves, leaving not even a trace behind.
"Th-this... what's going on... Chess... Kuromarimo..."
Wapol instinctively called out to his two subordinates. But when no one answered, he froze—remembering they had been on that very ship.
That meant...
"Eh!!!"
Just then, one of the Drum Kingdom soldiers, who had been watching the sea through binoculars, screamed in terror.
"There's a ship—no, wait, someone's on the water... what the hell is that thing?!"
"You idiot! What nonsense are you spouting?!"
Furious, Wapol shoved the soldier aside and peered through the binoculars himself.
What he saw left him completely dumbfounded.
Out on the ocean, right where the warship had exploded, a half-human, half-boat creature with crimson skin was hurtling toward the Drum Kingdom at an incredible speed.
Its upper body was that of a towering, muscular man with golden wavy hair flowing down his back. He wore a black military uniform and had headphones over his ears. But his lower half was a small, one-person boat, with two wooden wheels spinning rapidly on either side of the hull, propelling it forward at astonishing speed.
It was clear this half-human, half-boat abomination was the one that had destroyed the warship.
But...
"What in the world is that monster..."
As Wapol shouted in panic, the creature seemed to notice their presence. A menacing grin spread across its face.
Then, right before their eyes, a surge of purple energy separated the man from the boat. A gigantic, burly figure now stood on the vessel.
At that moment, one of the soldiers finally recognized him—and his face went pale with fear.
"Run... run for your lives..."
"It's the monster with a 1.8 billion Belly bounty... the Demon Heir, Douglas Bullet..."
"...Why... why would a monster like him be here..."
The soldier's terrified voice echoed through the entire base.
The surrounding soldiers froze, then slowly turned pale as the reality sank in.
"One point eight billion Belly..."
Some of them might never have heard of Douglas Bullet's name, but that bounty alone was enough to crush any thought of resistance.
In a panic, the soldiers began to flee, shouting in terror as they ran for their lives.
Wapol finally understood the situation.
"One point eight billion Belly... that's even more terrifying than the Sky Pirates..."
He turned to run, but before he could take a step, a massive shadow loomed over him—blocking his path completely.
It felt like slamming into a wall of solid iron. His body flew backward from the impact.
"Bastard... who..."
Wapol never finished his sentence.
A massive hand clamped around his neck like a steel vice, crushing his throat and cutting off his breath. A towering shadow loomed over him, swallowing his entire body in darkness.
Only then did Wapol realize something was terribly wrong. He slowly lifted his head, and the moment his eyes met the figure before him, his nerves almost shattered.
"D-Demon..."
The one gripping his neck was none other than the man he had just seen on the sea—Douglas Bullet.
A crazed grin spread across Bullet's face. His eyes gleamed with a crimson light, radiating a suffocating aura of despair. He bared his teeth in excitement as he spoke.
"Hey, did I hear that right? You mentioned the Sky Pirates, didn't you?"
Wapol tried to answer instinctively, but the iron grip around his throat left him unable to make a sound.
Bullet's grin widened, his excitement growing.
"So it's true..."
With a sickening crack, Bullet tossed Wapol's limp, lifeless body aside as though it were nothing and turned toward the distance.
"Finally found you... Sky Pirates."
Enel eyed the man before him warily. The pressure radiating from this madman was even heavier than that of the Yellow Monkey. He frowned slightly and spoke calmly.
"Come with me. My captain is waiting for you."
...
"Are you sure about this!?"
Inside Drum Island's castle, Flare looked nervously at Yemu, who was lying in bed stuffing food into his mouth nonstop.
The surgery had long since ended. Both Yemu and Tiger were quickly recovering their strength through food, and everything seemed to be progressing smoothly.
But just a few minutes ago, Enel had suddenly appeared with shocking news.
An "old acquaintance" of Yemu and Enel had been spotted in the waters near the Drum Kingdom.
Through their conversation, everyone learned who this "acquaintance" was.
Douglas Bullet—former member of the Roger Pirates, known as the "Demon's Heir," the successor to the "Demon," with a bounty twice that of Yemu's: 1.8 billion Belly. His power was monstrous, like that of a true beast.
And according to Enel's surveillance, this man had come specifically for the Sky Pirates.
That was far from good news, especially with Yemu still in a weakened state.
Yet instead of fear, Yemu's response was to tell Enel to invite the man over personally.
Everyone in the room tensed up immediately.
"Of course it matters. But since he's already found us, running away won't be that simple."
"Run away!?"
Those two words instantly drew everyone's attention.
Erik, who was tending to his sister, didn't know Yemu's personality well, but Tiger and Flare did. Their captain was the kind of man whose courage reached the heavens. Even when facing Admiral Sengoku, he had never once spoken of retreat. But now...
"Is that guy really that strong?"
"Yeah."
Yemu nodded. In the movie, Douglas Bullet had still ended up getting beaten by the protagonist—but that was after fighting hundreds of people at once.
In that battle, Bullet's enemies included not only the post–time skip Straw Hat crew and the Eleven Supernovas but also the Shichibukai, the Navy, the Revolutionary Army, and other pirates.
Even though he ultimately lost, the fact that one man could reach such overwhelming strength said everything about how terrifying he was.
And while the current Douglas Bullet wasn't yet as absurdly powerful as his future self, reports already described him as a man who could fight the Pirate King's right hand, Silvers Rayleigh, to a standstill.
A monster like that—how could anyone not tremble at the thought...
"But that's exactly what makes it exciting, isn't it..."