Several months after the Great Cataclysm.
Grand Line, Gorok Island.
The people who had just survived the aftermath of the catastrophe hadn't even had time to celebrate before several ships appeared on the distant sea.
Their hulls gleamed with a cold metallic shine. No pirate flags flew above them, yet each bow was shaped like a sharp trident that sent chills down the spine.
Some sharp-eyed Marine soldiers immediately rushed off to seek reinforcements, while others stayed behind to organize the civilians and prepare defenses.
The ships slowly reached shore. One after another, vicious-looking men carrying long blades leaped onto the beach and charged toward the defending civilians and Marine soldiers.
No one knew where these people had come from, nor did anyone know what they wanted. A fierce battle immediately erupted along the coastline.
The fighting outside did not affect the people aboard the largest ship. The dense gunfire beyond sounded almost like the rhythm of music.
Inside an extravagant captain's cabin, a man dressed in a suit listened to the rhythmic sounds while swaying his body. He placed a hat upon his head, danced toward the door, and with a graceful spin produced a cane in his hand before stepping out onto the deck.
Snap!
A crisp finger snap echoed across the ship.
A dragon formed entirely from smoke burst from the flagship and charged toward the shore.
Boom!!!
In an instant, it swept up countless people and hurled them into the air.
The Marine branch commander directing the defense suddenly shrank his pupils as he stared at the smoke dragon in disbelief. That ability was...?!
Snap!
Another sharp snap rang out.
Snap!
Like a rhythm accompanying a drumbeat.
Snap!
One smoke dragon after another surged onto the coast. The enormous dragons of smoke swept civilians and resisting Marines together, while those trapped within the smoke struggled desperately as they slowly suffocated…
A man dressed in a suit swayed his body as he appeared at the front of the deck. The vicious thugs below were long accustomed to their boss's strange dancing.
Only after the performance ended did the man in the black suit bow gracefully. It was as if the battlefield ahead, already piled high with corpses, were a grand stage prepared solely for him.
The man slowly straightened. The cane in his hand rose toward his lips, and the moment he spoke, loudspeakers on every ship amplified his voice.
"Now then~ Let's begin! Turn everything into our slaves! Seize this opportunity!! Become the richest people in the world!!! Release the beasts inside your hearts! Loot everything!!!"
As the man shouted, the fierce thugs below answered with fanatical cheers.
"WOOO!!!!"
They charged toward the island like madmen. Several chains hung from every man's waist.
Those were slave-catching chains...
Tesoro lowered his cane microphone and narrowed his eyes. Standing at the front of the deck, he spread his arms wide, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.
"Power, wealth, strength, ability... How intoxicating... So intoxicating that... I've almost forgotten you... Stella..."
Because the Donquixote Family had fallen much earlier than in the original timeline, Tesoro never obtained the Gol-Gol Fruit.
Though his ruthless methods had allowed him to become the leader of a powerful criminal organization, an ordinary human body could only take him so far.
More than ten years had slipped by. He had forgotten nearly everything from his past. Only his obsession with power, wealth, strength, and influence remained.
Then, several months ago, he had accidentally obtained a Logia-type Devil Fruit. Just as he had hypnotized his followers, the beast hidden within his own heart had finally been unleashed...
* * *
South Blue, Bali Island.
This was a Revolutionary Army branch base. Back then, it had not been included on the World Government's attack list. As a result, the entire island remained completely under Revolutionary Army control.
On a cliff by the shore, a woman dressed in shorts and a leather jacket stood gazing at the gloomy sky.
The faint smell of sulfur irritated her nose, and the pink-haired woman frowned slightly as she stared into the distance, lost in thought.
Just then, a loud shout interrupted her.
"Big Sis Bonney!!!!"
Bonney snapped out of her daze and looked at the person running toward her. Her expression remained calm, though tinged with annoyance.
"What now?"
The young Revolutionary Army soldier scratched his head and grinned. "It's time to eat."
Bonney waved her hand impatiently. "Yeah, yeah. I know."
She turned and started walking back toward the island while the young soldier scratched his head again. He had no idea what had upset Big Sis Bonney this time.
Still, ever since she had arrived, life on the island had become much better.
Just before stepping down from the cliff, Bonney stopped and turned around to look at the sea once more. But there was still nothing there...
Then she turned and left.
After being brought back here, Dragon had hidden her at this Revolutionary Army base. At first, hatred had clouded her judgment. She caused trouble every day and constantly tried to leave the island.
But after the disaster several months ago severed all contact with the outside world, she suddenly realized something: she had nothing left.
The idiot who used to swing that steel pipe around since childhood had vanished without a trace. The man who stopped her from seeking revenge and hid her on this island had also disappeared.
The only communication remaining in the world were the repeated broadcasts from Marine Headquarters.
Every day, Bonney would come to the shore and wait.
She couldn't imagine what kind of catastrophe it had been. Even an organization as powerful as the Marines had been unable to maintain order. Could those members of the Revolutionary Army really have survived something like that…?
Several months earlier, after that earth-shattering explosion echoed across the entire world, endless hurricanes and tsunamis arrived. Bonney watched as the people who had tolerated all her reckless behavior disappeared one after another in the disaster.
It felt as if she had grown up overnight. Then over the past several months, she had led the people through the catastrophe while using the knowledge and experience she had accumulated since childhood to steadily improve life on the island. Eventually, she earned everyone's recognition.
At some point, someone mentioned the title she had used during her days with the Bonney Pirates. From then on, the nickname "Big Sis Bonney" spread throughout the island.
Yet her expression gradually became colder and colder. Most of the time, people couldn't read any emotion from her face. Only the occasional flash of irritation showed that she still had feelings.
It was just that...
Bonney took two steps before stopping once again. Unable to resist, she turned back toward the sea.
"When are you all coming back…?"
* * *
Grand Line, Sphinx.
It was a small and unremarkable island. Aside from the ruins of a few towns, there seemed to be nothing here.
But that was only the appearance. The island's residents lived within a massive valley at its center, with the entrance hidden behind a waterfall that allowed people to travel in and out while remaining concealed.
As a result, many troubles were kept away, and combined with the fact that the outside was little more than ruins, the island was rarely disturbed.
"Marco, my knees are aching!"
"Marco, can you help me with this question?"
"Marco, look at my shoulder for me!"
"Marco..."
People young and old gathered around the man called Marco, speaking over one another.
Smiling, Marco patiently calmed everyone down. "One at a time, everyone. Tell me in order."
After lining everyone up, the flames of regeneration ignited in his hands as he began treating those suffering from illnesses and aches.
No one would have guessed that this impoverished place, unable to pay the Heavenly Tribute and regarded by the world as nothing more than a deserted island, was actually the hometown of the legendary pirate Whitebeard.
After the Battle of Sgri, Marco had become the sole surviving member of the Whitebeard Pirates. Before his death, Whitebeard entrusted him to Roger, but even though Marco had grown much stronger, Roger's terminal illness remained beyond his ability to cure.
After sailing around the world alongside Roger, the famed Roger Pirates eventually disbanded. Then remembering Whitebeard's final request, Marco returned to this island and chose a life of seclusion. As a doctor, he protected Whitebeard's final legacy, his homeland.
More than twenty years had passed. The young man had become a handsome middle-aged man. He had long since forgotten his days as a pirate and only wished to continue protecting this place.
But the earth-shattering disaster several months ago had shattered that peaceful life.
Rumble!
The ground trembled lightly.
Marco withdrew the hand resting on an elderly man's back as the regenerative flames faded away. Glancing into the distance, he muttered, "It's happening again."
Turning toward the elderly people and children around him, he said, "Everyone, find somewhere safe to hide."
With a light leap, he rose into the air. In an instant, his body transformed into a phoenix engulfed in blue flames as he flew out of the valley.
The children below gazed upward with admiration.
"Wow! Big Brother Marco's magic is back!"
"What a beautiful bird!!!"
"I want to transform too!!!"
"..."
* * *
Outside the island, Marco hovered in the sky in his phoenix form.
Looking at the massive wave approaching from afar, he immediately understood. The earthquake that had just struck the island had been a warning sign of tsunami.
A trace of frustration appeared on his face as his brows furrowed tightly. "Seriously... how many months has it been now? They just keep coming one after another. What kind of disaster happened out there? Even the Marines can't stop it."
Though he had lived in isolation for many years, he still understood the strength of the Marines.
Setting everything else aside, the fact that they had fought four major forces at once during the New World War and still held the advantage said enough. Yet even a force like that had publicly admitted it could no longer maintain order.
That was difficult to imagine.
What Marco didn't know was that while Sphinx was merely a small island in the Grand Line, it was actually closer to the center of the explosion than many islands in the Four Blues. Because of that, the aftershocks reached it more frequently and with greater intensity.
Despite his complaints, Marco never stopped moving. The phoenix's claws came together as blue flames surged and blazed around them.
A powerful beam-like shockwave shot toward the incoming tsunami.
"Phoenix Brand!!!"
BOOM!!!!
The wave, which stood dozens of meters high, was split apart down the middle as its center exploded. Mist filled the sky while seawater scattered everywhere, and a disaster capable of destroying the entire valley was neutralized just like that.
But Marco didn't leave.
After all, a tsunami's waves didn't come in just one surge…
* * *
New World.
An island floating not far from Egghead Island.
This was the Marine Surveillance Department.
Several months had passed since it was connected to Egghead's monitoring systems. Little by little, everything happening throughout the world was being revealed on this seemingly insignificant island.
Nearly ten thousand personnel worked simultaneously, screening and monitoring information. The countless islands displayed across the three-dimensional world map were rapidly analyzed as information was gathered and targets were narrowed down.
All of this happened while the rest of the world remained completely unaware.
They had no idea that the Den Den Mushi left forgotten in corners and unused for years were quietly leaking their conspiracies and ambitions.
On this day, the head of the department reported a piece of information to Carlo.
The news immediately caused his eyebrows to rise.
"A Revolutionary Army branch established a nation?"
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