New World, Dressrosa, offshore.
Under the gloomy rain, a dilapidated pirate ship was drifting with difficulty in the wind.
The deck reeked of thick blood. Only a handful of men remained on board, each of them wounded, struggling to heave the corpses of their crewmates into the sea.
At the bow stood a one-armed, purple-haired woman wearing a captain's hat. She stared back toward the kingdom of Dressrosa, her face dark and vicious.
"Captain Karina, the bodies are all taken care of."
Seeing her stand motionless for so long, an officer stepped up and spoke softly in consolation:
"Running into that guy this time was just bad luck for us. It's natural we lost more men than usual. Don't take it too hard, Captain. At worst, we'll just gather more crew and get revenge on that bastard later."
"Yeah, Captain," the few other survivors added in support.
"Not take it to heart? Let those useless fools die, fine—but I lost an arm!"
Karina finally turned around, eyes still cold and venomous. Gritting her teeth, she spat, "That bastard… just wait. This isn't over…"
Just a few hours ago, she had set her sights on a prosperous coastal town in Dressrosa, planning to raid it with her crew.
At first, everything went smoothly. The town's guards were no match for pirates and were quickly forced into retreat.
But by sheer misfortune, the kingdom's army commander, Kyros, happened to be honeymooning on the coast with his new bride.
He drew his blade on the spot and, after a bloody fight, nearly single-handedly crushed the entire Karina Pirates.
Karina herself had most of her arm cut off. If she hadn't managed to escape with the help of her Devil Fruit ability, she would have probably died there today.
She was filled with deep hatred for Kyros, who had ruined her plans, but the difference in their strength was too great. Even if she was full of thoughts of revenge, she had no chance at all.
Rumble!
The sound of thunder suddenly intensified in the sky. The rain suddenly became heavier, and the sea fog was hazy. Her vision was completely blurred.
"Where to now, Captain?"
One bald officer lowered his voice. "If I recall, there's a small kingdom about two hundred nautical miles north, famous for its doctors. Maybe we can grab a few there, see if your arm can be reattached…"
"Whatever. Go there then."
Karina waved her hand irritably, too frustrated to care.
The dilapidated pirate ship turned in the heavy rain.
After an unknown amount of time, a muffled sound suddenly came from the bow. It seemed to have hit something. The entire pirate ship shook violently and was forced to stop.
Did we hit a reef?
Karina's mood got even worse. She came to the bow with a gloomy face. "What's going on? Is the bottom of the ship taking on water?"
"No, not at all."
Several pirates were leaning over the rail, peering down into the waves. One officer turned his head back, his face twisted in shock. "Captain, y-you'd better… better come take a look at this…"
Karina frowned and walked over. When she looked down carefully, she instantly gasped and showed the same shocked and surprised expression as her subordinates.
What was blocking the pirate ship was a giant, grayish-white horn. Only a small part of the top was exposed above the sea.
When they looked down through the sea, they could vaguely see the corpse of a massive Sea King that resembled a snake. In its winding snake body, it was holding a huge, egg-shaped stone.
"I wonder how this big guy died…"
The crew muttered among themselves. Even in the New World, Sea Kings of this size were rare sights.
"It was holding onto it even when it died." Someone chuckled. "Could this stupid snake have mistaken this huge rock for its own egg?"
"It probably lost its own egg when it was hatching and went crazy, so it's been carrying this rock around."
"Wait a sec… that giant egg…" The bald officer suddenly noticed something, eyes widening. "Looks like it's glowing inside?"
The others were startled. They all squinted and tried their best to see. Although their vision was dim, it really did seem like a faint glow was coming from the center of this giant egg.
"It looks like it's empty inside." Karina became interested. She raised her eyebrows. "Let's go in and take a look?"
"Uh…"
The others instantly grew hesitant. The bald officer stammered, "Captain, maybe… maybe we shouldn't. If there's no air in there, we'll just—"
"What are you afraid of?" Karina sneered. "If something's wrong, I can always take you out."
With that, the others fell silent.
They watched as their captain stared intently at the giant egg in front of her. Then, she waved her right arm and opened a door that emitted a faint blue light out of thin air.
The Door-Door Fruit.
This was Karina's Devil Fruit ability and also the key to her and her few officers successfully escaping from Kyros.
The pirates followed Karina into the door fearfully. Behind the door was a dark and damp stone tunnel. It was narrow at first, just wide enough for a person to pass through. After dozens of meters of winding turns, it suddenly opened up.
Light came in. When they stepped out of the tunnel and saw the scene in front of them, everyone, including Karina, couldn't help but open their mouths and fall into a state of shock.
In the very center was an enormous giant tree. Under the canopy of this tree, there was a dazzling and beautiful city carved with layers of peaks, ornate eaves, and painted rafters…
This was a magnificent and spectacular "City in an Egg".
However, what was at odds with this beautiful scenery were the corpses on the streets, under the waterfalls, and in the forests… Everywhere they looked, there were corpses. A thick smell of blood wafted over, making them feel sick to their stomachs.
The corpses were all of the same race. Their appearance wasn't much different from humans, but their ears were pointed, their faces were beautiful, and their bodies were mostly only about one meter tall.
Their bodies were all mangled. Judging from the wounds, it seemed that they had all died from a prolonged period of violent impacts and jolts…
"There must be at least five or six thousand of them…"
As the pirates walked the broken streets, their scalps prickled and mouths went dry. "All dead. Not a single survivor."
Karina pressed her lips together, saying nothing, though an absurd thought flickered through her mind.
—Could this isolated race, which lived in this "Utopia", have been killed by that large Sea King?
She had no way of knowing, nor did she care. Compared to the mystery, what mattered far more was the wealth that might be hidden within the city.
At her command, the pirates scattered eagerly, looting for treasure. But to their frustration, they found little.
Moments later, a sudden cry rang out:
"Captain, over here!"
Karina hurried over. She followed her subordinate's pointing finger—and froze. For an instant her mind went blank, then roared like an explosion.
At the base of the immense tree stood three towering stone tablets. The ones on either side were a dull bluish-gray. But the one in the center was entirely red.
"T-this is…" Her breath quickened, coming ragged and shallow. "The Road Poneglyph… the guide to ONE PIECE!"
It was said that around thirty Poneglyphs remained in the world.
Among them were four Road Poneglyphs and nine Information Poneglyphs.
The Road Poneglyphs were carved from solid red stone. When the four were brought together, they could be used to chart a course to the legendary final island—
Raftel!
Every Poneglyph was unimaginably rare. Yet here, before their eyes, there were three at once!
Karina had only intended to strip this extinct race of their heritage, sell it all off for money. Who could have imagined that beneath the great tree, such a prize would be hidden?
…
"This is the situation."
In the top-floor conference room of Marine Headquarters, Brandnew stood before the whiteboard screen, hands clasped behind his back, reporting with a solemn face:
"Three Poneglyphs in total—including one Road Poneglyph—were discovered by the Karina Pirates, purely by accident."
"And Karina is a shrewd woman. She knows she has no ability to hold onto such monuments long-term, nor could she ever gather the other three Road Poneglyphs to find Raftel."
"So she simply spread the word—planning to sell all three for a high price?"
Nao put down his crossed legs and raised his eyebrows slightly as he asked.
His seat was now on Fleet Admiral Kong's left side, in the second spot. Sengoku and Tsuru were sitting in the first spots on the left and right sides, respectively.
The other Vice Admirals, including Aokiji, were all in the outer seats.
"Yes, Vice Admiral Nao."
Brandnew nodded respectfully toward him. "Through the underworld channels, she's demanding 500 million berries for each stone, and a sky-high 1.5 billion berries for the Road Poneglyph."
"Too low," Kuzan chuckled, folding his arms as he leaned back lazily. "Her vision's still too small."
"She couldn't handle more even if she asked," Kong rumbled from the head of the table, finishing the thought for him.
"In addition, she's declared that anyone wanting to buy all three stones at once must also bring her the head of Dressrosa's army captain, Kyros. And if they can annihilate Dressrosa entirely, she'll even give them half off."
"Kyros' head?"
"...And she wants a whole kingdom destroyed?"
Many of the high-ranking officers gasped, faces darkening. Even Nao's eyelid twitched.
This woman's grudge ran deep—her vengeance truly was ruthless.
"For three Poneglyphs to appear at once—the news is far too explosive."
Tsuru sipped her tea and spoke lightly: "The Marine and World Government heard about it relatively early, but even so, there was no time to suppress the rumors. The entire New World is in an uproar now. Turmoil is unavoidable."
"Indeed."
Brandnew spread out a sea chart and pointed at it gravely.
"As Vice Admiral Tsuru said, all factions have set their sights on these three Poneglyphs. The Whitebeard Pirates have already dispatched scouts. The Big Mom Pirates and the Beasts Pirates are also on the move."
All three Emperors making moves at once…
The Marine officers exchanged uneasy glances, the air in the room growing heavy.
"And besides them, other pirate crews and underworld powers are also preparing to strike a deal with Karina," Brandnew continued. "The situation in Dressrosa has grown dangerously unstable. King Riku has mobilized the entire kingdom's forces to fortify defenses and has urgently appealed to the World Government for aid."
"The Emperors shouldn't go as far as attacking Dressrosa, right?" Kuzan frowned. "That would mean bowing to Karina's harsh terms—and it'd be a huge loss of face."
"That's right." Tsuru nodded. "According to intelligence, the Emperors are focusing mainly on hunting the Karina Pirates down. It's obvious they intend to seize the stones outright, not negotiate."
"But the other forces… may not act that way."
Fleet Admiral Kong spoke in a deep voice:
"Regardless, Dressrosa is a member nation of the World Government. Their call for aid is justified. The Marine must dispatch troops."
"First, to protect the kingdom's safety. Second, to keep a close watch on the movements of those Emperors and be prepared for the unpredictable chaos to come."
His sharp gaze swept across the room, expression solemn.
"For such a heavy task, only if we send sufficient weight—enough power—will this old man feel at ease."
At those words, the Vice Admirals present understood immediately: they weren't qualified to command this operation. Among everyone here, only a select few truly had the strength to shoulder it…
For a moment—
Thirty percent of eyes turned to Kuzan, while the remaining seventy percent fell squarely on Nao.
Kuzan rubbed his nose. He was actually quite interested in going along, but given that Nao had been cooped up at HQ for over four months, and had just broken through in strength…
He decided to speak up and let Fleet Admiral Kong give the opportunity to Nao.
"So then—"
But before he could, Kong had already spoken, voice heavy:
"Nao. Kuzan. This mission will be handled by the two of you—together."
"Eh?"
Kuzan froze, exchanging a surprised look with Nao, who was equally taken aback.
...
On the tree-lined avenue leading to the harbor—
"Didn't expect Fleet Admiral Kong to send the two of us out at once," Kuzan said, arms folded behind his head as he gazed up at the sky. "And the cause of this major incident is a woman with the Door-Door Fruit. Tch… fate like this… makes me nostalgic."
Nao chuckled softly. Of course he knew what Kuzan meant.
Three years ago, when they first met, their enemy had also included a Door-Door Fruit user. That guy's name was, what, Big Black Hat Ron?
Anyway, he'd died during the breakout caused by Shiki's assault on Impel Down. And because of that, Karina had become the one to leverage the fruit's power, slipping between factions and naming her price.
"Well, this is the biggest incident to hit the New World since the start of the year."
Nao shrugged.
Though in his opinion, sending out two top-tier fighters at once was a bit of overkill. After all, their mission was only to secure Dressrosa and monitor the Emperors' movements.
As for the contest over the Road Poneglyph?
He was honestly interested in joining that chaos, but Fleet Admiral Kong hadn't authorized it.
From the hints the old man dropped after the meeting, the World Government preferred to sit back and let the tigers fight. They didn't want the Marine directly involved—only CP-0's covert unit had been dispatched.
They would try to see if, while the dogs tore at each other, they could quietly track down Karina's crew and seize the Poneglyphs with minimal cost.