As everyone knows, for pirates who wish to enter the New World, Fish-Man Island is an almost indispensable stop.
And on this day—
Fish-Man Island vanished from the sea, and the pirates gathered at the Sabaody Archipelago were the first to notice the anomaly.
Losing the magnetic point of Fish-Man Island meant it would become extremely difficult to find that "giant hole" in the deep ocean.
No one wanted to test their luck in the dark, bottomless sea.
When Fish-Man Island still existed, the survival rate was only about 10%.
Now that it was gone, the survival rate was practically zero.
Falling down there was basically the same as dying.
---xXx---
Lawless Zone, inside a tavern
Blackbeard and his crew were eating and drinking heartily.
Suddenly, Lafitte rushed in and said solemnly,
"Captain Teach… there's bad news."
"What happened? Is a Marine Admiral here?"
The only bad thing Blackbeard could imagine was the arrival of an Admiral.
Other than that, nothing really counted as bad news.
"No. There's a problem with the magnetic point of Fish-Man Island!"
Lafitte placed the Log Pose he had taken onto the table.
"What's the problem? Isn't the white needle pointing downward? Fish-Man Island is down there!"
"Look carefully! The red needle points toward the magnetic force!"
"Huh? The red one is tilted toward the sky? Is Fish-Man Island in the sky?"
Everyone was stunned.
Blackbeard asked in disbelief,
"What the hell is going on?"
"I don't know yet. About three hours ago, all Log Poses pointing to Fish-Man Island underwent the same change!"
Lafitte said with a grave expression,
"Although it's hard to believe, judging by the movement of the Log Pose, Fish-Man Island has risen into the sky!"
"What should we do?" someone asked.
"What should we do? That's not the only problem. Look closely—the needle is still shaking in all directions! This shows that Fish-Man Island's magnetic force is weakening, and the needle is being captured by the magnetic pull of other islands. That means Fish-Man Island is moving farther and farther away from us…"
As the navigator, Lafitte was fully aware of the implications of this change.
If things continued at this pace, by tomorrow morning the needle's magnetic direction would completely change!
"Without a pointer, how are we supposed to get to the New World?" Shiryu frowned.
"We can't just force our way through the Red Line and pass through the Holy Land, Mariejois. That'd be no different from suicide."
"Zehahahaha… This really is a troublesome situation!" Blackbeard laughed.
Without the magnetic guidance of Fish-Man Island, the New World and Paradise would be completely cut off for pirates.
Those in the New World wouldn't be able to return, and those in Paradise wouldn't be able to advance.
"Could this be the work of the World Government?" someone speculated.
"Is your head full of shit? Fish-Man Island didn't disappear—it left its original location and moved away from us."
"Then who the hell did this?!"
"Someone capable of doing something like this… Zehahahahaha, there's only one man!"
Blackbeard suddenly thought of Straw Hat Luffy.
One of his three abilities was the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi.
"Straw Hat Luffy!!"
Everyone was furious. That bastard had taken Fish-Man Island—what were they supposed to do now?
At that moment, someone said coldly,
"The only option right now is to go through the Red Line."
"That's true! But… I have an even better idea!"
Blackbeard grinned, revealing a row of broken teeth.
"The World Government is still looking for new Shichibukai. With our combat power, we can take the title and pass through the government channel."
After Whitebeard's death, the New World had fallen into extreme chaos, and the World Government was in desperate need of new fighting forces.
Opportunities like this didn't come often.
Seeing this, Lafitte pondered for a moment.
"Then let me go to Marineford."
---xXx---
Dressrosa
Corrida Colosseum
This place was completely under the control of the Donquixote Family. Even if Doflamingo lost his position as king, the arena itself still belonged to him.
And beneath the arena lay his factory.
"It's all thanks to you, Joker! Otherwise, who knows what would have happened to me!"
Caesar, who had regained his freedom, drank red wine in high spirits.
Doflamingo, however, didn't look pleased.
"There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world. I'm very disappointed in you, Caesar. Hand over all the technology for producing SAD!"
"He's right. If you provoke enemies you can't handle next time, it's better to let us keep the technology safe."
Trebol let out a strange laugh.
He only had one arm now.
"I didn't provoke him…!"
Caesar immediately became furious. He had only kidnapped a few children—what was wrong with that?
It was only natural for the strong to dominate the weak!
The Straw Hats were the strange ones!
"No matter what you say, Caesar. Because of you, I lost two very capable subordinates!" Doflamingo sneered.
"I also lost my position as king of Dressrosa. I've suffered a great deal, and the root of all of it is you."
Faced with this threat, Caesar broke out in a cold sweat.
"I… I understand. I'll give you the SAD manufacturing technology."
---
Night
Fish-Man Island was still filled with a joyful atmosphere.
Both the Sunny and the Merry were docked at the port of Fish-Man Island.
Naturally, the Straw Hat crew didn't stay on the ship. They were free to roam the island and take part in grand banquets.
Nami and the girls went to the plaza with Shirahoshi, where everything was now free and the festivities were in full swing.
As for Sugar, given the danger of her ability, Vivi personally brought her to her side and took responsibility for supervising her.
Goldenweek was happy to have a girl "around the same age."
She handed Sugar her favorite lollipop.
"For you!"
She wanted to make friends.
Sugar, whose mental age was actually around twenty, accepted the gift with a neutral expression, then handed her basket of grapes to Goldenweek.
"Try mine too."
Since everyone had been handed over to the Straw Hats, she could only try to get along with them all.
As a hostage, her status was the lowest.
The women enjoyed themselves at the banquet.
---
(End of the chapter)