Loguetown Central Square.
A sea of people.
Dense. Dark. Restlessly alive.
Then—
the noise died.
At the edge of the square, beneath the old locust tree's shade,
the man stepped forward.
He made no unnecessary movements.
One hand in his pocket.
The other holding an inconspicuous black puppy.
He simply walked out of the shadows.
The crowd reacted like a disturbed shoal of fish.
People stumbled backward.
Others scrambled away in panic.
Within seconds, a five-meter vacuum formed around him.
No one spoke.
No one dared meet his eyes.
(Why are you all moving aside? I'm just trying to find an exit… You're making me more conspicuous! And Pochi, stop shaking — it's making me nervous too…)
King's sharply defined face showed no emotion.
His eyes drifted toward the distant execution platform.
On the Execution Platform
Buggy the Clown stopped laughing.
His red costume now looked absurd.
His hand trembled violently around the execution blade.
Cold sweat streaked through layers of clown makeup.
Buggy had seen legends.
He had witnessed the presence of the Pirate King.
He had felt the pressure of monsters who ruled the seas.
But this—
This silent pressure pressing down on his nerves—
This was different.
"That… that monster… where did he come from…"
Buggy's teeth rattled.
That indifferent gaze…
As if Buggy did not exist.
As if he could be erased at any moment.
(That red-nosed guy's makeup is melting… disgusting. And that straw-hat kid is still smiling? Is this some kind of street performance? This place is too weird. I should leave…)
Bound at the execution frame,
Monkey D. Luffy laughed.
Even with a blade at his throat.
"Hehehe! Guess I'm gonna die!"
"Sorry, guys!"
That carefree laughter shattered the suffocating silence.
And shattered Buggy's last thread of composure.
Fear twisted into hysteria.
"SHUT UP!! DIE, STRAW HAT!!"
The blade rose.
"No!! Luffy!!" Nami cried.
Roronoa Zoro and Sanji forced forward through the crowd—
too far away.
Too late.
Then—
THUMP—
A deep, suffocating vibration rolled across the square.
Not thunder.
Not drums.
A heartbeat.
(He's really going to be beheaded… I can't watch this…)
King's fear spiked.
Adrenaline surged.
The Emperor Engine roared.
THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP—
Heavy.
Oppressive.
Relentless.
The vibration pressed against chests and skulls alike.
Even the clouds above seemed to churn.
The already heavy sky darkened.
Cumulonimbus clouds thickened overhead.
Green lightning flickered within them.
The air pressure dropped sharply.
Marine Base Rooftop
Smoker's cigars slipped from his mouth.
"Colonel… is that Conqueror's Haki?" Tashigi whispered.
"No… it's not."
Smoker's voice was hoarse.
"That sound… that pressure…"
"It's him."
"That man's Emperor Engine…"
Below—
King frowned slightly.
Annoyed by the tension.
Annoyed by the impending violence.
Lightning split the sky.
BOOM—!!!
A massive bolt crashed onto the execution platform.
Wood exploded.
The platform shattered.
Buggy was blasted away before he could scream.
Smoke and debris filled the square.
Rain began to fall.
From the wreckage,
Luffy crawled out.
Unharmed.
He picked up his straw hat, placed it back on his head.
"Huh? I'm alive?"
"Lucky! Hehehe!"
Luck?
No one believed that.
Thousands of stiff necks turned.
All eyes fixed on the man beneath the tree.
King stood motionless.
Arms folded.
Expression unreadable.
He watched the dissipating lightning as if it were irrelevant.
"Woof."
Pochi whimpered softly.
As if mocking the world's confusion.
"It was him…"
Someone in the crowd whispered.
"That lightning…"
"He didn't even move…"
"He just stood there… and the heavens answered…"
Fear spread like wildfire.
Rooftop
Smoker tried to light a cigar.
The lighter clicked uselessly.
He stopped and dropped it.
"…I understand now."
Tashigi swallowed. "Understand what?"
"He's testing."
Smoker stared at King's back.
"A monster of his level has long surpassed justice and evil."
"He didn't come to watch."
"He came to observe."
"To see whether that straw-hat boy is worthy of stepping onto this sea."
Smoker's voice lowered.
"When that boy smiled in the face of death…"
"…he passed."
Smoker felt a chill along his spine.
What kind of realm was this?
Using heaven and earth as instruments.
Using lightning as judgment.
"That straw-hat boy…"
He exhaled slowly.
"…is the one King acknowledged."