Another year passed.
The appearance of the "Pirate King" Roger did not immediately trigger a global riot as the World Government had feared.
On the contrary, after experiencing the initial madness, the sea instead fell into an eerie calm.
After the Roger Pirates reached Laugh Tale, they mysteriously disbanded. All crew members vanished without a trace. Roger himself never appeared in the public eye again.
The title of "Pirate King" seemed like a burst of extremely brilliant fireworks. After blooming, it completely disappeared, leaving only embers.
The Marines' global manhunt lasted for over a year, but they couldn't even find a trace of Roger.
The wanted posters on the sea gradually gathered dust. People also began to forget the name.
New great pirates emerged one after another, and the slaughter in the New World grew more intense.
Everything seemed to have returned to its original track.
But Tatsuki knew that this was just the calm before the storm. The real flashpoint had not yet appeared.
...
Punk Hazard, Governor's Mansion, Intelligence Center.
Stussy was in a crisp OL uniform, her voluptuous figure perfectly outlined. She placed a document marked as top secret on Tatsuki's desk.
Her gaze was respectful and professional as she said, "Master, the latest intelligence has been confirmed."
Tatsuki picked up the document and flipped it open casually.
There was only one short line of words on it, but it was enough to set the whole world on fire.
"Roger is suspected of suffering from an incurable disease with little time left to live. He is currently hiding in the South Blue."
Tatsuki held that thin piece of intelligence between his fingertips, his expression showing not a hint of a ripple. But in his heart, a monstrous wave had already surged.
He had waited for three whole years. What he was waiting for was this very lever to move the entire era.
'System.'
With a thought, a blue light screen expanded across his retina.
[Host: Tatsuki]
[Physique: 90]
[Skills: Storm-Storm Fruit (Unawakened), Advanced Conqueror's Haki, Peak Great Swordsman, Top-tier Rokushiki...]
[Violation Points: 824,500]
Looking at that string of burning numbers, Tatsuki didn't hesitate for a moment.
This was his entire fortune, painstakingly accumulated over three years through a series of unscrupulous operations like Redfield's "passionate donations," Stussy's "account optimization," and the "exploitation of free labor" from the three Future Admirals.
It was all for this very moment!
'System, exchange for the awakening of the Storm-Storm Fruit.'
[Ding! Detected Host's application for Logia: Storm-Storm Fruit awakening. Requires 600,000 Violation Points. Confirm?]
'Confirm.'
The corners of Tatsuki's lips curled into an extremely pleased arc.
Money only has meaning when it is spent and transformed into true power.
[Exchange confirmed! Devil Fruit awakening process initiated...]
[Linking to World Core... Analyzing Atmospheric Laws... Reconstructing ability sequence...]
Just as the system's cold notification voice faded, a grand will that defied verbal description instantly pierced through Tatsuki's soul.
Buzz!
In that instant, Tatsuki felt as if he had disappeared. His consciousness was stretched infinitely, drifting out of the Governor's Mansion and soaring ten thousand meters into the sky.
His consciousness became the first morning breeze blowing through Foosha Village in the East Blue, the hiss of scorching air in the Alabasta desert, the bitter blizzard over the North Blue's permafrost ice port, and the unpredictable magnetic storms of the Grand Line.
He heard the flow of every cloud, the condensation of every drop of rain, and the gestation of every bolt of lightning deep within the cloud layers.
He felt the entire planet's atmospheric circulation system—that vast, omnipresent power covering the globe was no longer an external tool but had become an extension of his body, his breath, and his pulse.
Wind, rain, thunder, lightning, clouds, mist, air pressure... these forces that he once needed to actively control had now become a part of his instinct.
He was the storm!
He was the natural disaster!
Above the Punk Hazard Governor's Mansion, the winds and clouds suddenly changed.
One second it was cloudless for countless miles, and the next, lead-heavy dark clouds were born from the void, gathering at a speed that defied natural laws, as if a pair of giant hands had forcibly dragged the entire sky down.
The entire island instantly plunged into an apocalyptic darkness.
Boom!
A thunder dragon roared as it tore through the sky. Its blinding light illuminated countless terrified faces on the training ground below, turning them deathly pale.
"What... what is that?!"
Sakazuki, who was undergoing extreme weight training, suddenly looked up. The hard ground beneath his feet was being crushed into powder by an invisible, terrifying air pressure.
"Ara... you're kidding, right..."
The air temperature around Kuzan plummeted, and countless ice crystals condensed out of thin air, only to be crushed to pieces by that overbearing pressure in the next second.
"How scary..."
Borsalino stood with his hands in his pockets, looking up at the rolling thunderclouds in the sky, his tone carrying an unprecedented level of wariness.
This power made even these three monsters feel a tremor from the depths of their souls.
Inside the Governor's Mansion.
Tatsuki slowly opened his eyes. In the depths of his eyes, it was as if thunder and storms were being born and extinguished.
He raised his right hand toward the window and lightly snapped his fingers.
Snap.
In an instant, the dark clouds, thunder, and wild winds covering the entire island were wiped away as if by an invisible giant hand. The sky returned to its clear state once more, and warm sunlight spilled over the land again.
"Is this... awakening?"
Tatsuki spread his palm, and a miniature storm swirled in his hand. Within it, lightning and vacuum interlaced, emitting an aura capable of annihilating all things.
'Six hundred thousand, well worth the price.'
Tatsuki satisfiedly closed the system panel and stood up from the sofa. He walked to the massive floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the steel fortress below that had already become his private kingdom.
It was time to go meet the king who started an era.
And then... personally present the most magnificent funeral for him and his era.