Following a series of explosive news reports, the seas of the New World were thrown into utter chaos.
Just a month ago, the public had barely finished digesting the news of Golden Lion Shiki losing his arm to the Navy, when the announcent ca that the Roger Pirates had completed their world voyage. Roger had beco the first person in history to achieve this monuntal feat.
And before the uproar from that news could even die down, the Navy and the World Governnt made another stunning declaration. Roger was officially titled the Pirate King. That single title alone plunged the New World into a frenzy of blood and ambition.
On their way toward Lodestar Island, the Roger Pirates were besieged by wave after wave of pirate crews, both big and small. All of them dread of using Roger as a stepping stone to rise in infamy.
But after Roger's crew decimated several dozen would-be challengers, the number of attackers quickly dropped.
Flies can't harm an elephant, but they're still annoying.
Now that the flies were gone, the Roger Pirates moved far more swiftly across the seas.
June 1st, Age of Sea Circle Calendar 1499.
The sun blazed high in the sky, scorching the region around Lodestar Island. Temperatures exceeded 30 degrees Celsius. The island's vegetation was drying and wilting under the relentless sumr heat.
Following an extended evacuation process, Lodestar Island now had no civilian population. The entire island was occupied solely by the Navy.
Its harbor, once only large enough for fewer than ten warships, had been heavily expanded over the past few days. It could now accommodate nearly thirty warships simultaneously.
Farther out at sea, Navy patrol boats road back and forth, constantly monitoring the surrounding waters.
In the dense forest at the island's center stood a modest cabin.
But this was no ordinary cabin. Built entirely of solid stone, it was a makeshift prison designed specifically to hold mbers of the Roger Pirates.
Tap tap… tap tap…
Faint sounds echoed from the shadows, fingertips drumming lightly against the edge of a table.
In the dim rock-walled room, only a single kerosene lantern in the corner cast a weak glow across the space.
The room was no more than ten square ters. Along one wall stood an iron-barred cell. Inside the cell, Shanks lay on a stone bed with a straw in his mouth, one leg crossed over the other, staring absentmindedly at the ceiling.
In the corner behind him, Buggy sat hugging his knees, dazedly staring through the bars as if lost in thought.
Aside from their prison cell, the room held no other furnishings—just a small wooden table outside the bars. Seated at that table was a red-haired boy with his chin resting on one hand, eyes unfocused as he rhythmically tapped the table with his fingers.
"Hey, Yoriichi, I'm thirsty. Bring so water."
Suddenly, Shanks turned his head and called to the red-haired youth seated outside the cell.
Yoriichi's eyes refocused. He glanced at Shanks, grabbed a nearby kettle and cup, then walked over to the bars. While pouring water, he said,
"Don't drink too much. More water ans more piss."
He placed the cup on the ground in front of the cell, then returned to the table and sat down again.
During Shanks and Buggy's ti in custody, Yoriichi had been personally assigned by Admiral Sengoku as their warden. His job was to keep watch over the two of them.
For most people, it would have been an excruciatingly dull task. But Yoriichi's temperant was naturally calm and composed. He didn't mind the work at all.
In fact, the peace and quiet suited him. During this ti, he had been ditating, relaxing, and training his Haki.
The only problem was that Shanks was an absolute handful. One minute he needed to poop, the next to pee, then to drink water—constantly bossing Yoriichi around like an errand boy.
Yet Yoriichi never lost his temper. At most, he'd throw out a few sarcastic jabs here and there.
"Tch. So what if I piss more? I'm still allowed to pee even if I'm a prisoner, right?"
"Don't worry. I'm not planning to escape anyway. Captain Roger will co for us. We don't need to run."
"If I were you, Yoriichi, I'd think about skipping town. Once Captain Roger gets here, you're not getting away."
"I'll make sure to tell him it was you who captured us. He won't let you off the hook."
Shanks stood by the bars, sipping the water and speaking with a mix of pride and defiance. Yoriichi just stared blankly, unsure how to respond.
Clearly, Shanks had no idea what kind of preparations the Navy had made for the Roger Pirates.
Even for a crew like Roger's, barging into Lodestar Island would be a death sentence.
Yoriichi often wondered how Roger planned to rescue Shanks and Buggy.
Would he really be so reckless as to charge blindly into the Navy's web?
Just as Yoriichi was pondering Roger's next move, a piercing hum suddenly rang in his ears.
WHOOMMM.
The sound was followed imdiately by a low, rumbling thunder from the sky. It wasn't crisp. It was heavy and suffocating, like sumr thunder trapped in dense clouds.
"Thunder? Is it going to rain?"
Shanks looked up at the vent window and grinned. But he didn't see storm clouds. The sky was crystal clear—bright blue and cloudless.
"Huh? No rain?" Shanks muttered with a disappointed sigh.
But Yoriichi was already on his feet.
With his left hand, he grabbed the longsword leaning against the table.
At that mont, a pitch-black slash, a terrifying wave of sword energy—howled past Yoriichi and vanished in an instant.
BOOM.
The mont it passed, a crack appeared in the ceiling of the stone room. Sunlight bead through the fissure, casting light across the floor.
The ground beneath Yoriichi's feet began to shake violently.
A jagged fracture split the earth, slicing clean through the entire stone prison. Yoriichi's gaze followed the crack's path. It wasn't just the floor. The walls and ceiling bore the sa slashes.
As if the entire island had been cleaved in half by a sword.
"A flying slash?!"
Staring at the sudden devastation, Yoriichi shoved the door open and stepped outside. He saw the deep gash stretching across the island's terrain—so deep and long it was impossible to see where it ended. The scent of seawater rushed from the rift, filling his nostrils.
It felt as if all of Lodestar Island had been cut apart.
Yoriichi leapt onto the roof and looked toward the distant sea.
Thousands of ters offshore, in the middle of the ocean, Gol D. Roger stood with one sword in hand, mid-swing.
Before him, the ocean had been split in two by an invisible force. It was only now that the seawater began rushing back to close the massive gap that had never been ant to exist.
"Heh. Just saying hello to the Navy," Roger laughed.
"Shanks, Buggy, I'm here to bring you ho."
As Lodestar Island ca into full view, Roger bead with a radiant smile.
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