...
During the two years that Luffy spent diligently training under Rayleigh on Amazon Lily, the outside world never ceased its upheavals. The entire globe remained in a state of intense turmoil and reorganization.
Among the most eye-catching events was the rise of Blackbeard Teach.
He allied with Coby (a combination in itself full of dramatic irony), defeated the powerful pirate Wang Zhi who had dominated that sea region, and successfully seized Beehive Island from him.
This island held extraordinary significance—it had once been the main base of the Rocks Pirates, carrying the ambitions and traces of the previous era.
Using this as his foundation, Teach's influence expanded like a rolling snowball. His pirate crew grew at astonishing speed, employing both terror and cunning to rapidly establish a firm foothold in the New World…
Not long after, Blackbeard formed a new standoff pattern with veteran Emperors like Red-Haired Shanks, Big Mom, and Kaido.
After assessing his threat level, Marine Headquarters issued him an astonishing bounty of 3,996,000,000 berries—practically an official coronation!
It formally confirmed his new status as one of the "Four Emperors"!
[God Valley Perspective]
"I never would have thought…"
Watching his former headquarters, Beehive Island, fall into Teach's hands on the light curtain, Rocks's brows furrowed tightly. His expression was dark and unreadable.
"In the end, the one who occupied Beehive Island… was actually that guy Wang Zhi…"
Wang Zhi had not followed him to God Valley. This meant that in the future, this man had already left the Rocks Pirates—or even… An ominous premonition surged in Rocks's heart.
If Beehive Island ultimately ended up in Wang Zhi's hands, did that mean that the impending God Valley battle—or at some point afterward…
He, Rocks D. Xebec… had already been defeated, or even died?
Otherwise, with his personality, there was no way he would ever allow his core territory to fall into anyone else's hands—even a former subordinate's.
This speculation made Rocks's face grow even more grim.
…
The pirate world was in constant upheaval, but dark undercurrents were also surging within the Marines, erupting into a profound internal crisis.
The core of the issue remained the succession of the Fleet Admiral position.
The soon-to-retire Sengoku strongly recommended "Aokiji" Kuzan—deeply beloved by the rank-and-file Marines, holder of "Lazy Justice," yet upright and principled.
However—as always—the higher-ups of the World Government, along with a significant portion of hawkish officers within the Marines…
They favored the hardline "Akainu" Sakazuki, who advocated "Absolute Justice" and had displayed iron-blooded resolve during the Summit War.
"Kuzan? Sakazuki? Who are these people? The future me… actually became Fleet Admiral?"
In his prime, without the braided beard yet, Sengoku stared at the light curtain—seeing his older, more composed self alongside two unfamiliar yet immensely powerful Marine Admirals. His eyes were filled with bewilderment and confusion.
This was the first time he had glimpsed his future self, but at this moment he had no recollection whatsoever of the titles "Aokiji" or "Akainu."
Zephyr and Tsuru felt equally unfamiliar.
Though in the future Zephyr would become "Black Arm" Zephyr—the chief instructor who trained numerous elite Marines including Borsalino, Kuzan, and Sakazuki…
Right now he had a happy family, full confidence in the Marines' future, and had not yet endured the tragedy that would change everything. He had also not yet begun systematically grooming those future admirals.
Vice Admiral Tsuru was still young at this time and likewise knew nothing of these future high-ranking Marine names.
The light curtain revealed the fierce internal struggle that decided the future direction of the Marines: Despite Sengoku's strenuous recommendation of Aokiji before stepping down, the World Government's upper echelons' preference ultimately prevailed.
Aokiji could not accept Sakazuki's extreme approach—sometimes willing to sacrifice anything to achieve the goal—and refused to accept the outcome of Sakazuki becoming Fleet Admiral.
Their differences were irreconcilable. The conflict fully exploded.
In the end, these two Admirals—who represented the pinnacle of Marine combat power yet held diametrically opposed philosophies—chose the most direct and brutal way to settle the dispute!
On the New World island called Punk Hazard, they engaged in a life-or-death duel that lasted ten full days and nights!
[Scene Transition: Punk Hazard Island, before the permanent ice-fire divide]
"I never thought… that in this lifetime I would actually have a day when I settle things with you—someone from the same generation—like this."
(This is Aokiji's original line; translations may vary.)
Sakazuki stood on scorched earth, his body wreathed in searing steam hot enough to melt rock. His eyes were sharp, burning with surging battle intent.
Yet within that battle intent, there was no pure murderous desire to kill his opponent.
He acknowledged Aokiji's strength and understood his importance to the Marines—but the position of Fleet Admiral and the concept of justice allowed no compromise.
"I do not acknowledge… your version of justice."
Kuzan's voice still carried its habitual laziness, but the determination within it was beyond question.
He stood on ground frozen solid, his exhaled breath forming white frost.
No matter how lazy he usually was, on matters of principle regarding the future path of the Marines, he would never yield even half a step.
"Then let strength decide!"
"Exactly what I wanted!"
No more words. In the next instant!
"Dai Funka!!"
"Ice Age!!!"
The crimson molten fist collided head-on with the extreme-cold frost breath!
Utmost heat and utmost cold clashed madly, eroding, exploding!
One half of Punk Hazard's sky was dyed dark red, the other half frosted white!
Molten lava surged, incinerating everything in its path.
Freezing cold raged, encasing all it touched in ice…
The full-powered clash between two top-tier Logia users turned the entire island into an elemental hell.
Their battle was not only a contest of personal strength—it was a violent collision of the very ideals of "justice" each upheld.
The fight lasted a full ten days. The island's terrain was completely transformed.
In the end, Aokiji's ice could not fully freeze Sakazuki's ferocious lava that seemed to erupt from the depths of the earth.
Kuzan paid a heavy price: he lost his left leg below the knee, suffered severe burns across the right half of his body, and was nearly covered in wounds.
Sakazuki was not unscathed either—his entire body bore traces of frostbite; not a single patch of skin remained intact. This victory came at tremendous cost.
Yet when the outcome was decided and Aokiji lay gravely wounded on the ground, Akainu did not step forward to deliver a fatal blow.
He stood amid the ruins and the tragic battlefield where ice and fire intertwined, looked at his former colleague, and ultimately turned to leave.
Perhaps in his heart, purging internal dissent and completely destroying one of the Marines' top combat assets were two matters that required weighing.
This earth-shaking duel permanently altered Punk Hazard's geography and climate.
From then on, the island was forever split into two extremes: one half eternally burning with inextinguishable flames—the scorching, unbearable "Fire Island";
The other half eternally buried under thick ice and snow—the bone-chilling "Ice Island."
The island itself became an eternal monument to that clash of ideals.
Afterward, the victorious Sakazuki naturally ascended to the position of new Fleet Admiral, taking command of Marine Headquarters and ushering in an even more iron-fisted rule along with harsher crackdowns on pirates.
The defeated Aokiji, whose ideals clashed irreconcilably, became disheartened. Unwilling to serve under Akainu, he resolutely resigned from his position as Admiral and vanished from public view.
About a year after the duel ended, on another remote island's tavern…
Having shed his Admiral title and dressed in civilian clothes, former Admiral Kuzan sat alone drowning his sorrows in alcohol, using liquor to numb the pain of the past and the uncertainty of the future.
By a twist of fate (or perhaps inevitability), he crossed paths with some members of the Blackbeard Pirates who had also arrived on the island.
Conflict was unavoidable.
Even having lost a leg and bearing heavy injuries, the former Admiral's strength was still not to be underestimated.
When members of the Blackbeard Pirates—including the massive warship "San Juan Evil Wolf"—tried to provoke him, Kuzan casually released a burst of cold air that instantly froze them into several enormous ice sculptures.
However, when Blackbeard Teach himself arrived upon hearing the news, the situation subtly shifted.
Teach did not immediately attack. Instead, unexpectedly, he chose "reconciliation."
He ordered his subordinates to thaw his comrades. Kuzan had not actually gone for the kill either. Later, Blackbeard even invited Kuzan to drink together.
At the drinking table, Teach displayed a cunning and insight completely at odds with his rough exterior.
They spoke about history concealed by the World Government, about the secrets of the "Poneglyphs," about the truth of this world and its possibilities.
Teach's ambition was not mere destruction—it seemed to also include a desire to uncover historical truths!
In the end, after an intense internal struggle, Kuzan accepted Teach's invitation and made a decision that stunned the entire world.
He agreed to join the Blackbeard Pirates and became the captain of their tenth ship!
One of the former pinnacle combat powers of the Marines—"Aokiji" Kuzan—had joined the Emperor Blackbeard's forces!
Once this news spread, it was bound to trigger a "tsunami" far more violent than the change in Fleet Admiral.
...
[Timeline may have some discrepancies. If anything is incorrect, treat it as the author's personal setting or as belonging to a parallel world!]