The Sabaody Archipelago was a geographical marvel. It wasn't an island in the traditional sense, but a massive, ancient forest of Yarukiman Mangroves growing directly out of the ocean floor. Their colossal exposed roots created seventy-nine distinct groves connected by wooden bridges. Massive, iridescent soap bubbles secreted by the trees floated lazily into the bright sky, catching the sunlight and giving the entire landscape the appearance of a sunlit, eternal carnival.
To the naked eye, it was breathtaking.
To Rear Admiral Light Yagami, standing on the bow of his docked warship in Grove 66, it was the most repulsive place on the planet.
Light wore a pristine new coat, draped immaculately over his shoulders. Beneath his crisp white shirt, his torso and left arm were tightly bound in heavy medical gauze. The clash with Bartholomew Kuma had torn his muscles to the absolute breaking point. However, with his Life Force stamina maxed at Level 5 and his mastery of Life Return, his cellular regeneration was operating at a terrifying, superhuman speed. What would normally take a man six months to heal was knitting itself back together in a matter of days.
"Wow," Bonney muttered, hopping up onto the wooden railing to poke at a floating bubble until it popped with a wet smack. "It looks like a giant amusement park. Are there restaurants on those trees? Because I am starving. Fighting giant bear-men really empties the tank."
"Groves 30 through 49 contain the tourist attractions, shopping malls, and commercial dining districts," Captain T-Bone reported, reading diligently from a thick Marine logistical handbook. His skeletal face was pale but strictly professional. "Our base of operations is located here, in the Naval and Government Groves, spanning 60 through 69."
T-Bone paused, his brow furrowing as he read the next section of the manual. "However, Rear Admiral... Groves 1 through 29 are entirely lawless. The local garrison officially classifies them as 'No-Go' zones. They are heavily populated by human auction houses, kidnapping syndicates, and pirate crews preparing to dive to Fish-Man Island."
Light didn't reply. He stepped off the wooden deck, walking down the gangplank, and set his polished boots onto the thick, mossy root of the mangrove.
"I am going to take a preliminary assessment of our new jurisdiction," Light said softly.
He closed his eyes. He inhaled the sweet, resin-scented air. And then, he dropped the mental barriers holding back his Level 2 Observation Haki, letting his awareness flood the entire archipelago.
It hit him like a physical blow.
Light actually staggered, his boots scraping against the bark. He had to clench his jaw so tightly his teeth ground together to stop himself from physically recoiling.
Filth.
It wasn't just a few isolated pockets of Bad Karma like he had experienced in the South Blue. The entire island was drowning in it. As his Haki swept over the lawless zones, his mental interface was instantly blinded by a suffocating, overlapping sea of millions of Red Karma points. He felt the cold, terrifying despair of hundreds of slaves locked in iron collars beneath the auction houses. He felt the sadistic, greedy joy of the kidnapping syndicates counting their freshly acquired Beli. He felt the arrogant, bloated auras of rookie pirate crews drinking in the taverns, bragging about the civilians they had slaughtered on their journey through Paradise.
But that wasn't what made Light's stomach turn. That was simply the nature of criminals.
What disgusted Light to his very core was when he swept his Haki over the Marine Groves.
He pinpointed the aura of the local Base Commander, a Marine Commodore sitting in an opulent office less than a mile away.
[ Commodore Vane — Marine Base Commander ]
[ Green: 4,200 / Red: 85,000 ]
Hovering above the Commodore's head was a Red Karma value of eighty-five thousand. And sitting directly across from that Commodore, sipping high-quality tea, was the aura of a notorious human trafficker from Grove 1. Their intents were entirely relaxed, cordial, and familiar.
The Marines stationed on Sabaody weren't failing to police the island. They were actively managing the slaughterhouse.
Light slowly opened his eyes. The pleasant, golden-boy smile that had defined his entire Marine career was completely gone. His dark eyes were bottomless, perfectly sterile voids.
I see it now, Light analyzed, his mind operating with a cold, ruthless clarity. Climbing the ranks to Fleet Admiral is an error. I thought I could excise the cancer from within. But the World Government isn't suffering from an infection. It is the infection. The laws they write protect the insects who buy and sell human lives. The system cannot be hijacked or reformed. The tree is diseased to its very roots.
"Rear Admiral?" First Lieutenant Haas asked nervously, stepping halfway down the gangplank. "Are you unwell? Your wounds—"
"I am perfectly well, Lieutenant," Light said. He turned around, the flawless, reassuring smile snapping back onto his face like a porcelain mask. "In fact, my vision has never been clearer."
Light looked back at the towering mangroves. He didn't just see an island anymore. He saw a treasury. There were tens of millions of Karma Points on this archipelago, waiting to be harvested. Enough to push his Haki into the realm of the absolute.
But he couldn't just start slaughtering blindly. He needed a plan. He needed to manipulate the optics so that when the hammer finally fell, the fear would ripple across the entire planet.
"We begin today," Light announced to his crew, his voice ringing with crisp authority. "Lieutenant Haas, deploy the men. We are going to overtly sweep the commercial districts. Any pirate with a bounty over ten million Beli is to be engaged on sight."
"What about the lawless zones, sir?" Haas asked. "Groves 1 through 29?"
"We leave them be. For now," Light commanded gently. "We must present ourselves as diligent, law-abiding Marines to the local garrison. We will build their trust."
And while they sleep, Light thought, his pleasant smile never wavering, I will map every single corrupt artery on this island, and I will sever them all.
The two-week plan had officially begun.