"The Marines don't have time to worry about East Blue right now."
A sly look crossed Byrnndi World's rough face as he grinned, showing the gaps where several teeth were missing.
"Those Marines let me out and even leaked information about that Cyrus brat on purpose. Isn't it obvious? They want me to go after him."
His words left the short old man staring at him in stunned silence.
The way he looked at World, it was almost as if he were meeting his own younger brother for the first time.
"You thought I was stupid? The Marines thought the same thing, and that's why they let me out. But I'm not going after Cyrus. Not yet."
Byrnndi World looked thoroughly pleased with himself.
"I still wouldn't call you smart."
World's older brother, so old and frail that he needed an IV just to stay on his feet, fixed him with a tired stare.
"That man isn't someone you can pick a fight with just because you feel like it. I've lived through decades on this sea, and I've never seen power like his. Even Rocks from back then couldn't compare.
Because of him alone, the Marines and the World Government can only stand by and watch the Hunter Guild grow stronger by the day."
"Hmph! Once I gather enough men and build that weapon, it won't matter if it's the Marines, the World Government, or Cyrus himself. Nobody will be able to stop me! One shot, and I'll wipe Marine Headquarters off the map!"
Hearing that, the short old man actually relaxed a little.
There he was.
His idiot little brother was back!
Honestly, this familiar, stupid version of him was much easier to deal with.
Still, the "weapon" World kept talking about was really just an oversized cannon.
Then again, with World's power enhancing it a hundredfold, maybe a cannon like that really could destroy all of Marine Headquarters in a single shot.
But then what?
"You stay here and watch. I'm going to grab those Marine brats myself."
The moment World finished speaking, his body shot forward.
He launched himself straight into the air, his speed multiplying fifty times in an instant.
Only someone with Byrnndi World's monster-like body could survive that kind of sudden acceleration.
A normal person would have torn themselves apart before they even moved.
...
High above the sea, Smoker had been keeping watch for more giant cannonballs.
Then his vision blurred, and a towering, muscular figure appeared right in front of him.
"Come here!"
A Haki-coated hand reached straight for Smoker's neck.
"Tempest Kick!"
A cold voice cut in as Rob Lucci appeared at World's side, his kick slamming hard into Byrnndi World's ribs.
"This isn't some ordinary pirate."
After forcing World back with a kick, Lucci kept his eyes locked on him and gave Smoker a sharp warning.
"Byrnndi World."
Smoker recognized the attacker too, and his expression turned grim.
Decades ago, this man's bounty had already passed five hundred million berries.
If the Marines had not recently circulated updated wanted posters for the prisoners released from Impel Down, Smoker might not have recognized a pirate from that old generation.
But there was no doubt about it.
This man was strong!
"We don't mean the kid any harm," Lucci said, glancing at Smoker from the corner of his eye.
After a brief pause, he decided to be direct. "We're taking him somewhere under someone else's orders. Fine. I'll tell you this much. We're bringing him to Sky Island."
"Sky Island?"
Smoker froze for a second, his voice rising despite himself.
Even World, who had been about to attack again, paused.
"You figured it out, didn't you? I can't say anything else. The person who gave us this job isn't someone we can afford to cross."
Lucci had not said the name outright, but at this point, he might as well have.
"The Hunter Guild."
Smoker and Byrnndi World said it almost at the same time, then immediately turned wary eyes on each other.
"Brat, you know how to get to Sky Island?"
World glared at Lucci.
"You'd actually dare go there?"
Lucci looked back at him coldly.
He knew far more than Smoker did.
The order to release pirates from Impel Down had come from inside the World Government. The Marines had carried it out, but CP had been involved as well.
Lucci was still only a trainee agent, but he paid close attention to information like that.
After all, he had ambitions of his own.
"Tell me how to get to Sky Island, brat, and I'll spare your lives."
"Byrnndi World, don't get ahead of yourself."
Before Lucci could answer, Smoker's face darkened.
Did this old bastard think they were helpless prey?
"White Snake!"
Smoker attacked without hesitation.
Lucci frowned beside him. Truthfully, he did not mind telling World how to reach Sky Island.
The Hunter Guild had already started spreading the method anyway.
It simply had not been long enough for the information to reach everyone.
Before long, the route to Sky Island would probably spread across the sea.
But since Smoker had already made his move, Lucci could not just stand there.
Otherwise, he might as well not have come.
Lucci vanished and reappeared at World's side.
"Thirtyfold Speed!" World grinned.
With his ability enhancing him, his massive body moved at a speed that looked completely wrong for his size.
The air cracked open with a violent boom.
Smoker's White Snake was blown apart by the sheer force of World's charge, and even Smoker's smoke-formed body scattered with it.
Lucci's attack missed at the same moment.
...
Explosions kept cracking across the sea, mixed with the heavy crashes of bodies colliding in midair.
Each clash sent shockwaves slamming into the ocean, carving one deep pit after another into the surface before the seawater rushed back in.
Smoker's weakness in a straight-on fight was painfully obvious now.
His Devil Fruit had plenty of uses, but when it came to raw offensive pressure, he was not even troubling Byrnndi World as much as Lucci was.
Not that Lucci was doing much better.
Both of them had plenty of combat experience, but World's ability made him a nightmare to read.
His speed jumped up and down without warning, and the power behind his blows changed just as suddenly.
One strike came slow and heavy, the next blurred in at a speed that threw off all sense of timing.
Adjusting to that in the middle of a fight was far from easy.
"Kid, tell me how to get to Sky Island!"
World had clearly locked onto Lucci, chasing him down with one heavy blow after another while still demanding an answer.
"You're really willing to go there?" Lucci asked, his curiosity finally getting the better of him. "That's the Hunter Guild territory."
"Of course I am! That place has a mountain of Devil Fruits!"
Byrnndi World glared at him like the answer should have been obvious.
He wanted to build a new pirate crew, and if that crew was going to become powerful quickly, Devil Fruits were one of the easiest shortcuts.
The Hunter Guild could offer that many Devil Fruits as prizes for the Hunter Exam.
That meant they had them.
Find Sky Island.
Steal the fruits!
That was the whole plan rattling around inside World's not particularly large brain.
If he could grab even a dozen Devil Fruits, the core of his new crew would be ready.
In this era where the old great pirates were either dead, defeated, hiding, or too old to matter, maybe the crew he built really could climb to the top.
Once he defeated Cyrus and wiped Marine Headquarters off the map, the entire world would be in his hands!
The more World thought about it, the faster he moved.
His speed suddenly spiked to a hundredfold.
Blood beaded across his skin from the strain.
Even with Byrnndi World's monstrous body, accelerating that violently was not something he could do without paying a price.
But the burst was still terrifying. He reached for Lucci's neck, and just as his fingers were about to close around it, a huge fist made of smoke crashed over him from the side.
"Fiftyfold Strength!"
World twisted back and threw a punch.
The shockwave from his fist smashed the white smoke fist apart.
Lucci used that tiny pause to vanish with Soru, putting distance between himself and Byrnndi World.
"We should pull back."
Lucci's face was grim.
Their attacks had hit World more than once, but none of them had done real damage.
World's blows, on the other hand, were dangerous enough that they had to treat every single one carefully.
Even so, Lucci could tell that if they chose to leave, World would not be able to stop them.
"We can't let someone like him run loose in East Blue."
Smoker frowned.
He knew exactly how troublesome Byrnndi World was.
Even with both of them fighting together, their odds of actually beating him were low.
But most of the Marines' main forces had already gone to the New World.
There was no way they could spare enough people to deal with a pirate of this level right now.
And Smoker did not believe for a second that an old monster like World had come to East Blue just to enjoy the scenery.
There was almost no one in East Blue who could stop him.
"I'll tell you how to get to Sky Island."
Lucci was quick enough to understand what Smoker was worried about, so he spoke before the situation could drag on.
"So you're admitting defeat?"
World stopped at once and threw his head back with a loud, smug laugh.
"Sky Island is on the Grand Line, not in East Blue," Lucci said.
"I know that!"
After hearing World's answer, Lucci glanced at Smoker, then suddenly dropped toward the ship below.
World paused for half a beat before chasing after him.
Smoker frowned, but he was not stubborn enough to ignore the opportunity.
If they could lure World out of East Blue and back toward the Grand Line, that was still a win for East Blue.
His smoke stretched downward and gathered on the deck below, forming his body again.
The short, ancient-looking man on the ship stared at the two young men who had landed on deck, especially Smoker in his Marine uniform, and immediately started hopping in place.
"You idiot! You actually let a Marine board the ship!"
"Shut up!"
World froze for a moment, then whipped his head around and roared at him.
At the same time, an old woman walked out of the cabin.
When she saw two unfamiliar people on deck, she looked confused.
"I'll write down the route to Sky Island," Lucci said without wasting time.
Kalifa and Kaku were carrying Luffy with them. By now, they were probably already close to crossing Reverse Mountain.
"Huh? Sky Island?"
The old woman froze, then stared at Byrnndi World like he had completely lost his mind.
"Are you crazy? That's the Hunter Guild's territory!"
"Enough! I know what I'm doing!"
World snapped back at her, glaring.
The old woman instinctively tucked her neck in, only for her old bones to crack loudly.
"The Hunter Exam is offering a lot of Devil Fruits as prizes this time," World said, not bothering to hide his goal.
"I'm going to steal them all."
The deck fell into an awkward silence as everyone stared at him.
Robbing the Hunter Guild was already an insane idea.
Trying to steal the Devil Fruits prepared for the Hunter Exam was even worse!
These days, most pirates wanted nothing more than to avoid the Hunter Guild for the rest of their lives, yet World was planning to walk right up to their territory and rob them.
If that man was drawn out because of this, the result would not be hard to imagine.
Smoker looked at Byrnndi World, and for a moment, there was genuine pity in his eyes.