At the very top of Marineford, at the shattered gates, a strange sight appeared.
Amid the wreckage of battered Marine warships, a peculiar heavy ship slowly began to float.
The flying ship soared above the clouds. Its tail suddenly flashed with a streak of blue-white light, and the vessel shot rapidly toward the distant sky.
This was the ship Enel had completed after fully joining the Blackbeard Pirates, built using the designs of the former ship.
A pirate ship capable of flight through the harnessing of electrical power.
After the ship departed, Marineford lay bathed in blood red, including the deepest levels of Eternal Hell.
Corpses and blood covered the floors, and death hung thick in the air.
Warm blood flowed gently through the cracks in the stone floor, a silent testament to the horrific events that had unfolded here not long ago.
=======
The next morning.
The Going Merry flying near the coast gradually slowed its speed.
The ship gently docked at Marineford's large harbor.
"Cough… cough…"
Merry, in the control room, pulled down her microphone, her small face close to it, and in her sweet voice, greeted:
"Good morning, members of the Starry Sky Pirates!"
"You have arrived at Marineford Station aboard the Golden Merry. Please take your weapons and battle gear and disembark through the starboard door at the front of the ship."
"Please watch out for any sudden appearances of Marines or gunfire as you leave the ship."
"Thank you!"
At that moment, Merry's voice echoed in everyone's minds, as if coming from the skies above.
======
In the training room.
Clang!
Zoro's sword struck Sanji's leg bone.
Sparks flew off the blade, a metallic shimmer of Haki.
Thud!
After a single exchange, the two stepped back, sighing to ease their tension.
Then, instantly, they raised their heads again, eyes burning with determination as they stared at one another.
"All right, all right…"
Luffy clapped his hands, breaking their standoff.
"Training's over! The Going Merry has arrived at Marineford!"
"Let's hurry and go greet our new crewmate!"
"Okay!"
"Okay!"
Zoro and Sanji responded in unison, yet their eyes remained locked on each other, as if held by an invisible magnet.
======
Meanwhile…
"What… what's going on!?"
The Starry Sky Pirates on the Going Merry's deck looked around in stunned silence at the ruins surrounding them. Broken wood floated on the sea, along with the corpses of Marines.
Several large warships were wrecked and piled up in the harbor.
One of the twin gates was missing, while the other had snapped horizontally in the middle. Another minor impact would split it in two.
Usopp whispered to himself:
"Could it be… we've already been here!?"
"Maybe someone's ability altered our memories? Or manipulated time?"
"Then we came again, and that's why it looks like this!?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Usopp…"
Nami immediately refuted:
"There's no such ability! Something must have gone terribly wrong in Marineford!"
======
Yet…
Luffy, equally stunned, suddenly paused at their discussion.
Turning around, he waved to cut off Nami's next words and addressed the two:
"You know, Nami… what Usopp just mentioned—there actually are two Devil Fruits that match those abilities!"
Unbelievable…
Usopp's intuition had once again proven uncanny, catching truths others could easily miss.
"Wh… what!?"
Everyone's attention snapped from the ruins to Luffy's revelation.
Such abilities were beyond comprehension.
Luffy frowned slightly, as if considering something else, but he pushed his doubts aside and continued:
"There really are two special Paramecia-type Devil Fruits called the Memo-Memo Fruit and the Time-Time Fruit."
Sanji chimed in:
"That's right. I've seen the Memo-Memo Fruit in the Devil Fruit encyclopedia. Its user can easily erase or alter someone's memories. A powerful fruit, even if not directly useful in combat."
Luffy nodded.
Sanji then added, frowning:
"But Luffy, the Time-Time Fruit… I've never seen any info about it in the encyclopedia."
"It exists," Luffy confirmed immediately.
"Though it's called the Time-Time Fruit, its actual ability isn't as flashy as the name suggests."
"It only lets the user send themselves or others into the future. It can't change the past or alter the current situation."
"For many, its usefulness isn't even as great as the Memo-Memo Fruit. The Time-Time Fruit is strategic, not combative."
"Ah… I see."
Usopp nodded thoughtfully. Of course. In a world this big, strange things happen all the time.
"By the way, Sanji, what were you doing before? You could even see the Devil Fruit encyclopedia. You must have been some high-ranking noble, right?"
Usopp asked, curiosity piqued. He was no longer a naive kid and had learned that the encyclopedia wasn't something just anyone could access.
"Uh… well…"
Sanji paused mid-drag on his cigarette. His head tilted slightly downward, shadowing his golden bangs. A faint haze covered his eyes, masking his thoughts and memories.
Realizing he might have asked too much, Usopp quickly laughed it off:
"Ah, I was just joking! Don't worry about it, haha…"
The atmosphere grew slightly awkward.
Zoro leaned on his sword and interjected:
"He's just a stinky cook. What noble background could he have?"
"Maybe as a kid he spied on some noble ladies and saw… everything!"
"Huh!?"
Sanji, irritated, removed the cigarette butt and glared at Zoro:
"You green-haired fool! You want to fight!?"
"Come on! I've been itching to see you eating dirt after Luffy interrupted our match! I'm so angry I don't know what to cook! How about kelp? The color looks new, but who knows how awful it tastes!"
…Classic Zoro and Sanji.
Arguments like this were routine on the Going Merry, and the crew barely even reacted.
======
Meanwhile, Robin, frowning at the sea of corpses, approached Luffy calmly.
"Luffy, do you remember that ancient journal?"
"Of course," Luffy replied, meeting her gaze with a serious expression.
Robin nodded slightly.
"You noticed too. Even briefly, it mentioned three things we are familiar with."
"You mean the String-String Fruit, SlashSlash Fruit, and Thorn-Thorn Fruit… the abilities that appeared in enemies from the sky, used to kill Celestials?"
"Exactly," Robin continued, her tone serious.
"The journal also mentions that the Celestials gained certain powers by killing their enemies… and it was considered normal for them."
Luffy was no longer vague:
"So you're saying… ancient people could obtain Devil Fruits by killing enemies from beyond the planet or even from other planes of existence?"
"And the Time-Time Fruit user might actually be someone who can truly traverse time! Same for the other Devil Fruits…"
"Other planes of existence!?"
Robin froze again at the unexpected phrase.
Luffy had only recently realized the world wasn't entirely as it seemed.
It was as if people could only see what certain forces wanted them to see.
The Yonko were strong, yes—but even their power had limits.
At Marineford, the Marine seemed to deploy every resource, yet Whitebeard's forces nearly clashed to the last man.
Yet even then, two titans, Sengoku and Garp, didn't actively participate. Two figures comparable to Whitebeard himself, and the Marine didn't move them.
Add in the CP organizations serving the World Government, the Five Elders, and the mysterious Imu…
How could so many independent nations exist on the seas, ignoring the World Government?
Sometimes Luffy suspected that the chaotic balance of the world might be orchestrated by certain powers…
Before he could answer Robin's question about "other planes," Koby suddenly shouted:
"Everyone! Look!"
"Someone is coming out of Marineford!"
=============
Completed version available on P@treon(.)com/Veltoria