This world…
It's been a long time since any pirate dared to say they'd become Pirate King, hasn't it?
Ever since the Great Pirate Era began, pirates have appeared under all sorts of banners, countless ones burning, killing, plundering, and carving out territories to rule, yet a Pirate King has never once appeared.
Up in the sky.
Dark clouds gathered, thunder rumbled, rain came pouring down.
Fortunately the Straw Hat Pirates had already heard the news that their captain was about to be executed; Zoro and Sanji, the two strongest fighters, charged this way without a thought for anything else!
However, the Buggy Pirates blocked their path, firmly refusing to let them approach the execution platform, and Clown Buggy, realizing the trouble, moved to execute the Straw Hat on the spot!
"..."
Straw Hat Luffy's expression gradually grew serious.
The sixteen-year-old captain saw that his comrades couldn't make it in time to save him; his gaze slowly calmed, and he suddenly spoke: "Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, Nami…"
"Huh?"
Zoro and Sanji both froze for a moment.
"Sorry, I'm gonna die now!"
Straw Hat Luffy's mouth suddenly split into a wide grin, as if he'd accepted his fate, quietly waiting for the blade at his neck to fall!
Atop a tower.
A group of Navy soldiers lay in ambush there.
Navy Colonel Smoker held a telescope, quietly observing Straw Hat Luffy, who was about to be executed. With a cigar still clamped in his mouth, he casually ordered, "The moment the Straw Hat's head hits the ground, we move in and surround the Buggy Pirates immediately…"
"A-la-la-la…"
A tall figure with a sleep mask on his head appeared atop the tower, still rubbing his eyes like he'd just rolled out of bed, mumbling as he spoke: "You probably won't get to see that guy's head hit the ground."
"Hm?"
Smoker looked in some surprise at the tall man who'd appeared.
This guy Aokiji…
Why did he suddenly feel like getting up?
Wasn't the plan to leave the job of capturing Buggy to him?
"Thunderstorms sure are noisy…"
Aokiji rubbed his forehead and said carelessly, "In a bit, just let the Straw Hat go. You just go help with capturing Buggy…"
"Hm?"
Smoker immediately felt displeased with Aokiji.
"We're not gonna catch him this time anyway."
Aokiji muttered again, sounding rather indifferent as he said, "Right now there's a guy more troublesome than Buggy and the Straw Hat who's already shown up…"
With this kind of abnormal weather…
Someone bound to appear whom even the World Government considers dangerous!
Smoker's attitude was rock-solid; cigar in his mouth, he said, "Even so, I can't allow a pirate to just walk out of my jurisdiction!"
After speaking, Smoker raised his telescope again and looked toward the execution platform. He saw Clown Buggy brandishing a blade, about to chop off Luffy's head, and that smile visible beneath the brim of that straw hat.
It was a…
Smile that calmly accepted its own death.
Smoker's heart clenched; he suddenly recalled the scene he'd witnessed before the Pirate King's execution. In this moment, the Straw Hat looked just like that dead Pirate King…
"This guy!"
Smoker's face suddenly changed!
"If you don't step in, then I'm going to…"
Aokiji rubbed his forehead, slightly vexed, still muttering, "After all, watching the Straw Hat die here would be a bit of a disservice to Mr. Garp…"
On the execution platform.
Buggy swung the executioner's blade down!
Everyone present saw that Straw Hat's smile in the instant before death!
Dracule Mihawk, who had been watching from the sidelines, in that moment seemed to see time roll back; it was as if he'd returned to more than twenty years ago, to the scene where he personally witnessed the Pirate King's execution!
"He really looks like him…"
Senju Tobirama's brows knit slightly, as if he saw the shadow of a blond kid in Luffy's figure. "He can even accept death so calmly…"
This was an exceptionally outstanding person!
Senju Tobirama had seen plenty of people face death calmly; he himself was one of them. But only he understood what goes through the mind of someone who can accept death so serenely.
"I can't accept it."
Orochimaru couldn't help but let a mocking smile curl at the corner of his mouth.
"Only eternity is art."
Red Sand Sasori also refused to accept death; he spoke calmly, "Once he dies here, I'll turn this brat into a Human Puppet…"
Rumble!
A bolt of lightning suddenly crashed down!
The scaffold of the execution platform suddenly burst into a strange flame that ignited in the next instant. Rivets popped loose one by one, and the scaffold collapsed in an instant!
In the curtain of rain.
A straw hat flew high into the air!
Just as the straw hat was about to hit the ground, a figure in a red vest caught it and lazily settled it back on his head.
"Knew I'd still be alive…"
Straw Hat Luffy pressed down on his hat, a trace of lucky joy in his eyes.
"Move in now!"
"We can't let these pirates get away from here!"
Ignoring Aokiji's opinion, Smoker, shock written all over his face, gave a deep-voiced order: "Above all, we can't let the Straw Hat leave Log Town—he's more dangerous than any pirate!"
The next instant!
Groups of Navy soldiers swarmed in from all directions, surrounding the square!
Smoker's figure leapt out from the tower window, lunging through the air toward the Straw Hat Pirates and the Buggy Pirates!
"What a pain…"
Aokiji sat down on the tower's window ledge, shaking his head as he spoke, almost like talking to himself: "What are you doing here, anyway?"