Cover Story – East Blue Arc, Part 1:
"To Eat or Not to Eat?"
A tangerine lay peeled beside her. Every time she popped a slice into her mouth, the chestnut-haired girl would mumble again: "Eat it? Or not?" Before she knew it, she had devoured the entire fruit—and was still undecided. She turned her gaze toward the spiral-patterned fruit on the windowsill and frowned in distress…
...
WHOOSH!
A surge of sword energy swept through the luxury estate like a hurricane, reducing it to rubble in an instant.
More than a dozen black-suited bodyguards were launched into the air with screams of terror. They dropped across the courtyard, some dead, others moaning in agony.
At the heart of the chaos, Vito, who had just turned to flee, was grabbed by a powerful hand at the back of his neck—
—and slammed viciously into the ground.
BAM!
A devastating punch followed, crashing into his chest.
CRACK!
The sound of bones shattering echoed through the yard. The marble floor fractured beneath him, forming a crater several meters wide.
In its center, Vito lay sputtering blood, his entire bones feeling as if it had been pulverized. He couldn't even lift himself off the ground.
All he could do was lie there, eyes wide, and watch the towering figure walk slowly toward him.
"Y-You… you dare kill me?!"
Faced with imminent death, Vito began crawling backward, propped on one elbow, gnashing his teeth in desperation.
"Don't say I didn't warn you, kid! We Corleones are allies of the Beasts Pirates! If you lay a hand on me, Lord Kaido's wrath will come crashing down—and you can't handle that!"
Of course, it was an empty threat. Just waving a borrowed tiger's flag.
Sure, the Corleones had only recently made contact with the Beasts Pirates. Vito himself hadn't even met Kaido in person. But when you're staring death in the face, any name drop was fair game.
Nao, however, didn't dignify it with a reply.
Grabbing Vito by the collar, he completely ignored the man's snarled threats and curses—dragging him across the floor like a dead dog.
Then, with a flick of the wrist, he threw Vito to the ground right at Robin's feet.
All this had happened in mere seconds.
Other than a few maids who screamed and scattered in panic, the entire estate was purged in an instant—cleared out by Nao's overwhelming force.
The black-haired girl stood frozen, her mouth slightly open in shock and awe.
Only now was she starting to come back to her senses.
"…"
Robin looked down at the battered, humiliated Vito, then looked back up at Nao, dazed and confused.
"My men have already landed. The island-wide assault is underway," Nao said calmly, ruffling Robin's hair.
"I won't be staying long—I need to get back and command the operation."
He smiled faintly.
"Every debt has its debtor. This guy's yours now. Do whatever you want with him. Once your family is safe, get off this island as soon as you can."
"If you're still here come sunrise and one of my subordinates catches you, don't expect me to pull strings for you again. Got it?"
With that, he shrugged off his white suit jacket and draped it over Robin's shoulders.
Before she could react, he gave a casual wave and turned to walk away into the night.
"…"
Robin swallowed the words that had nearly made it to her lips.
She stood there motionless, the oversized jacket engulfing her small frame, watching that tall figure slowly vanish into the darkness.
The northern wind was especially biting that night, yet wrapped in his jacket, Robin no longer felt cold.
The dried tear stains on her cheeks stung against the chill. When she wiped them away, her skin smarted—
—and somehow, new tears started to fall again, no matter how hard she tried to hold them back.
They streamed down uncontrollably, like floodwaters breaching a dam.
"…Thank you!"
She suddenly bolted through the estate gates and stopped, bowing deeply toward the distant figure.
Her voice cracked into sobs.
"Th-Thank you! Thank you so much, Mr. Nao!!"
The man's steps paused slightly—but he didn't turn around.
Instead, he raised two fingers to his temple and gave a silent salute, before striding onward, fading into the shadows of the blackened night.
...
The West Blue First Marine Branch had dispatched three warships in total.
Over a thousand personnel—all elite, handpicked for this mission.
Add to that the element of surprise from a nighttime assault, and the Corleone Family, leaderless and panicked, had no way to mount an organized defense.
Thus—
With Nao joining the front lines shortly after capturing Vito, it took less than an hour for the Marines to seize control of over half of Rhodes Island.
The remaining remnants of the criminal family could only rely on the complex terrain of the streets and alleys, fighting and retreating, falling back in disarray.
Blazing flames lit up half the night sky. As the controlled area gradually expanded, the dark reality hidden beneath Rhodes Island's prosperous facade slowly came to light.
Massive prison cells packed with slaves.
Lavish dens of intoxicated vice and flesh.
Underground arenas dripping with blood and cruelty…
Scene after scene of depravity, enough to make the stomach turn.
Even Nao—no stranger to violence—found some of it hard to look at.
He'd heard the rumors before: that the West Blue's criminal underworld was worse than pirates, indulging in every form of cruelty imaginable.
Now that he'd set foot here personally…
The truth was far worse than the stories.
Good thing I trusted my gut, Nao thought as he shook his head.
On a whim, he'd altered his route—delaying his escort mission to purge the West Blue underworld first.
Turned out that was absolutely the right call.
As for Robin?
That had been an accident.
She'd only been rescued because Nao had chosen to strike at the Corleones directly, aiming to cut the head off the snake. He'd stumbled on her by chance.
BOOM!
Just then, a deafening blast snapped him out of his thoughts.
He looked up instinctively—
Two streets away, a luxury hotel's entire wall had just exploded outward.
Several Marines were blown through the air, screaming as they crashed to the ground.
From inside came a thunderous, enraged bellow:
"GET LOST! Which brain-dead punks thought it was a good idea to wake me up?!"
The roar was so loud it rattled windows.
Nao's brows furrowed.
Without hesitation, he launched himself skyward using Geppo (Moonwalk), soaring several hundred meters across the rooftops before landing in the street opposite the destroyed hotel.
THUD!
Just then, a towering figure—easily eight or nine meters tall, built like a prehistoric brute—stepped through the smoke and dust, glaring around with bloodshot eyes.
Behind him followed a crowd of equally savage, tribal-looking warriors, all brawny and armed to the teeth.
"First it's cannons, then gunfire—can't a man get some damn sleep around here?! …Huh?"
Dugalio's eyes were red, clearly rudely awakened.
He spotted Nao instantly, gaze locking on the justice cloak and epaulets flapping in the night wind.
Then he glanced down at the Marines lying in the street.
He instantly understood the situation.
"Tch. I knew those West Blue pigs were worthless. Can't believe they let the Marines raid their turf…"
"What a bunch of trash."
He spat, his bloodshot gaze falling back on Nao's face, his expression sinister, as he spoke chillingly:
"Rear Admiral, huh? A rare find in this backwater."
He cracked his knuckles.
"So you're the one in charge tonight, huh, kid?"