"Move, move, move~"
"Once this crate is loaded, this ship can set sail first!"
"Be careful! This entire shipment is gunpowder! If it explodes, we're all done for!!!"
"Make way, make way! The expensive medicines Boss Chopper specifically requested have arrived! A few of you come help unload them!"
"..."
"..."
Southern Pokémon Sea, at the port of an island that had already been renamed Abra Island.
Cargo ships were docked along the coastline one after another, rocking constantly with the rise and fall of the waves. Because they were anchored so densely, minor bumps and scrapes would occasionally occur.
"Captain, this is Abra Island's monthly report. Shachi asked me to give it to you for review. He and Penguin still have to deal with the special alloy that was just transported from Snorlax Island."
"That's being rushed for the shipment Boss Usopp personally requested yesterday, so the two of them won't be able to come over for a while."
At the center of the island, inside a castle-like building resembling a mountain of chocolate—
A mink with white bear fur held a report respectfully and handed it to Trafalgar Law.
Hearing the white bear's report, Law's brow immediately creased slightly.
"Boss Usopp?"
"It hasn't even been that long, and you've already adapted to your new identity, Bepo?!"
Hearing his usually obedient and well-behaved subordinate calling someone else "Boss," Law turned his head at once, his expression complicated as he looked at the white bear before him.
And Bepo, upon hearing this, visibly blushed.
"Sorry, Captain!!!"
Bepo suddenly bent forward into a bow that exceeded ninety degrees and apologized with practiced fluency.
Seeing this, Law let out a helpless sigh.
"There's no need to go that far."
"After all… you're not the only one who's fallen into this situation."
"Even I… don't know what I should do anymore."
After sighing, Law still dutifully accepted the report from Bepo and sat down at his desk to review it.
Ever since learning of Donquixote Doflamingo's death and the destruction of the Donquixote Family, Law had remained in a constant state of confusion.
From the very beginning, he had always believed that his alliance with the Straw Hat Pirates would one day come to an end.
But judging from the current situation, he seemed to be sinking deeper and deeper.
Even his subordinates now appeared to take pride in being members of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet.
After all, they served under one of the Four Emperors—and not just any Emperor!
The Straw Hat Pirates were a Yonko crew capable of confronting the World Government head-on, with even their combatants able to kill a Marine Fleet Admiral!!!
Although the Straw Hat Pirates had only recently become one of the Four Emperors…
Within today's underworld, their prestige had already faintly surpassed that of the other three Emperor crews.
After all, the other three Emperors did not possess a record of directly clashing with the World Government.
Of course, the reason the Straw Hat Pirates had not yet become a class entirely of their own was because the shadows of the Whitebeard Pirates and the Beasts Pirates had also been present in that war.
Thus, opinions in the underworld remained divided. Many people still found it hard to believe that a pirate crew barely active for over a year could possess such terrifying strength.
However, this had little impact on the booming Pokémon Sea.
Especially for the members of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet!
In this sea, everyone could find something they wanted to do, something aligned with their interests.
Particularly after personal terminals increased in production and gradually became distributed to grassroots personnel, everyone could learn about the characteristics and information of the various islands within the Pokémon Sea through their personal terminals…
Including but not limited to job recruitment, job hunting, housing rentals, secondhand trading, and more.
Under Red's modernized governing philosophy, the Pokémon Sea was gradually becoming a sacred land where people could live and work in peace and prosperity.
Although there were still many shortcomings, compared to the miserable fate of the world, it was already enough to be considered a utopia in the eyes of ordinary civilians.
However…
Just as this peaceful atmosphere filled the entire sea, a group of uninvited guests quietly descended upon these waters.
And coincidentally… their landing point happened to be the northern, undeveloped barren coast of Abra Island, which was governed by Law.
Swish—
Accompanied by rising clouds of black flames, four pitch-black pentagram magic circles suddenly appeared.
Immediately afterward, the four gigantic beasts transformed by the Five Elders slowly emerged from the magic circles, bringing an aura of evil into this sea.
"Hm?!"
The four Five Elders who had just descended looked at the desolate scenery before them. The ferocious expressions on their monstrous faces suddenly froze.
They immediately withdrew the imposing aura they had prepared.
Saint Nusjuro, sheathing his blade, raised his head and asked toward the shadow hidden within the darkness of the sky:
"Mirabelagon, why are we here?!"
"This is the former Chocolate Island, now called Abra Island!"
"It is one of the outermost islands of the Pokémon Sea!"
"Outermost island?!"
"Why would we descend here?!"
Saint Mars, transformed into Itsumade, frowned and immediately voiced his dissatisfaction.
Their objective in this operation was to heavily damage the Straw Hat Pirates.
Landing in the outermost waters meant that even if they wreaked havoc here, it would not cause severe losses to the Straw Hat crew. Worse, it might alert them prematurely.
In Saint Mars's and the others' eyes, this was undoubtedly a mistaken landing location.
For a moment, all four Five Elders raised their heads and looked toward the person who had summoned them.
Meanwhile, in midair—
Upon hearing Saint Mars's question, Mirabelagon's face instantly revealed an expression of irritation.
After becoming one of the Five Elders, her figure had grown noticeably taller, and her armor had also changed in form.
Her originally somewhat bulky armor now clung tightly to her body like a form-fitting suit, accentuating her tall and graceful figure with striking curves.
At each joint and along her shoulders and neck were decorations resembling crow feathers, emitting a gleaming metallic luster.
Cold. Severe. Overflowing with killing intent.
These were the truest descriptions of Mirabelagon now.
Since becoming the newest Five Elder, she seemed like an entirely different person, her temperament undergoing a complete reversal.
"Why didn't we just appear directly at Whole Cake Island?"
Mirabelagon slightly curled her lips.
"No wonder Lord Imu calls you all trash."
"I originally thought you had merely grown complacent from sitting in high positions for too long, losing your ability to think."
"But now it seems… you truly have no brains at all!!!"
"What did you say?!"
"Is this how you speak to your seniors?!"
The massive boar-like monster stomped forward, its snout snorting angrily as it breathed heavily.
Seeing Mirabelagon, who not long ago had knelt before them, now behaving like this, Saint Warcury immediately intended to teach this insolent junior a lesson.
But at that moment—
Swish!!!
A slash like a frigid crescent moon appeared out of thin air, instantly severing the giant boar's head, the cut surface gleaming smoothly.
In midair, Mirabelagon slowly withdrew her Black Blade · Night Moon, looking at the boar's head rolling across the ground, her expression growing even more disdainful.
"Seniors?"
"Get one thing straight… if your seniority actually meant anything, I wouldn't exist in the first place!"
"And furthermore, I am the supreme commander personally appointed by Lord Imu for this operation…"
"If anyone has objections to my decisions, you can save them for after the mission and report them to Lord Imu personally."
"For now… every one of you will obey my orders!!!"
"You…"
Mirabelagon's forceful and disrespectful attitude caused the remaining Five Elders' eyes to blaze with fury.
Yet that fury lasted only a few seconds. Ultimately, including Saint Warcury—who regenerated his head—all of them lowered their heads and accepted reality.
At least Mirabelagon had spoken one truth…
After consecutive failures in war and the bizarre death of Saint Saturn, Lord Imu had indeed grown extremely disappointed in them.
Otherwise, he would never have allowed someone who had just become a Five Elder to command them.
Unless Mirabelagon committed an obvious mistake, they had no choice but to follow her orders.
"Mm… It seems you've all recognized the situation."
Seeing the four Five Elders lower their proud heads, Mirabelagon nodded with satisfaction, as if acknowledging they were finally teachable.
Beings who had once been completely unreachable to her had now fallen to such a state.
At that moment, Mirabelagon deeply experienced the intoxicating charm of power.
At the same time, she also understood the principle of balancing authority with favor.
Seeing the four Five Elders abandon their senior airs, Mirabelagon did not continue humiliating them. Instead, she began answering their question:
"Abra Island, though one of the outermost islands of the Pokémon Sea, is the window through which the Pokémon Sea interacts with the outside world."
"If we destroy the port here, it will absolutely hinder the Straw Hat Pirates' operations in the short term and drastically reduce their authority within the black market."
"Once their credibility drops, those hot-headed followers who rushed to join the Straw Hat Pirates will naturally wake up."
"So… this is why I chose this place as the first strike target against the Straw Hat Pirates!"
"And furthermore…"
Mirabelagon slowly turned around, staring directly at the four of them.
"Have you forgotten how Saint Saturn died?!"
"Although there is no evidence, when I fought Red on Elegia, I never saw him release the power capable of breaking dimensional space."
"In other words, Saint Saturn's death very likely had no direct relation to Red."
"Instead, it was Whole Cake Island—or something on Whole Cake Island—that was the direct cause of Saint Saturn's death!"
"Moreover… although Straw Hat and the Trainer are not there, the strength of Roronoa Zoro and Black Leg Sanji is equally formidable."
"Combined with the other senior officers of the Straw Hat Pirates, even if we attacked Whole Cake Island, we would likely be stalled by them."
"In the end, aside from destroying a few buildings, we would gain nothing—and might even trigger unforeseen dangers."
"This…"
Listening to Mirabelagon's well-structured analysis, Saint Warcury was left speechless.
The four Five Elders exchanged glances and ultimately remained silent, yet their actions showed acceptance of Mirabelagon's decision.
Though still unwilling to submit completely, at that moment, they seemed to understand why Lord Imu had appointed Mirabelagon as supreme commander.
Indeed…
Young minds really do work better.
...
...
Meanwhile.
After finishing reviewing the monthly report, Law and Bepo arrived at the island port of Abra Island together, preparing to inspect whether the special metals Usopp had specifically requested met the required standards.
"Honestly… I've completely become a subordinate of the Straw Hat crew, haven't I?"
Under the scorching sun, Law sighed as he arrived in front of a container.
Though he said that, he still diligently performed his duties, leading the members of the Heart Pirates in conducting careful inspections.
But at that moment, a dark figure suddenly appeared high above the port.
Without a word, it casually swung its hand and released a massive slash.
BOOM!!!!!
Crash—Crash—Crash…
A terrifying explosion instantly echoed across the busy harbor.
Immediately afterward, seawater rained down from the sky like a curtain of rain, spraying over the coastline like a massive fountain.
"What!?"
Law, who had been working attentively, suddenly changed expression and hurriedly looked toward the direction of the disturbance.
Then he saw—
Dozens of cargo ships had been sliced clean in half by a single gigantic slash.
Every ship split into two, slowly sinking beneath the sea.
Countless goods and sailors, affected by the sudden attack, fell into the water.
For a moment, the entire port suffered massive casualties and devastating losses.
"Damn it!"
"Bepo, use the personal terminal and request reinforcements immediately!!!"
"ROOM!!!"
Seeing this scene, Law wasted no time and unleashed his Devil Fruit ability to the greatest extent possible.
With the benefits he had gained after joining the Straw Hat Pirates, although he was still some distance from awakening his Devil Fruit ability, his strength had already reached the level he possessed when he first arrived in Wano Country.
A massive ROOM space instantly enveloped nearly half the harbor.
"Scalpel~"
With a gentle wave of Law's finger, his Devil Fruit ability activated together with the Psychic-type move Psychic.
Psychic lifted cargo, ships, and sailors out of the seawater.
Freed from the ocean's influence, Law's Devil Fruit ability easily transported them to safe locations.
Moments later, under Law's ability, the harbor's losses were reduced to a minimum.
He immediately took two bottles of Super Potion from his pocket and drank them in large gulps, restoring his stamina completely.
Only then did he look toward the sky, glaring at the dark figure responsible for everything, and shouted:
"Who are you?!"
"How dare you cause trouble in Straw Hat territory!!!?"
(End of Chapter)