Very soon.
While chatting and laughing, the two of them had unknowingly arrived at the harbor.
Two large warships were waiting there, poised to depart, ready at any moment to set sail for the New World.
One of them was plain and unremarkable, a temporary flagship casually chosen by Aokiji, no different from the other standard Marine warships at headquarters.
But the other one… was far more striking.
Its hull was brand-new, the fresh white paint gleaming brightly. Though only slightly larger than the standard warship model, the number of cannon ports on either side had doubled.
Even more eye-catching was the figurehead—an imposing sky-blue eagle with sharp, defiant eyes, wings spread wide as if ready to soar.
The "Thunder Eagle."
That was this warship's name. It had rolled out of the shipyard just a month ago and been delivered to Headquarters only last week. It hadn't participated in a single battle yet.
That's right—
The Thunder Eagle was a warship personally designed and built by the Fishman Tom of Water 7, crafted specifically for Nao.
Half a year earlier—
Tom had solemnly promised Nao that he would build him the strongest warship in the world.
And now, the old master shipwright, true to his reputation as the world's greatest, had fulfilled that promise flawlessly.
According to the Marine's official performance tests, the Thunder Eagle's results were nothing short of astounding.
Beyond its doubled firepower, both the sturdiness of its hull structure and its maximum theoretical speed far outclassed all ships of its class. Without question, it was the strongest warship in the entire Marine.
At the time, any Vice Admirals had looked on with envy. Aokiji in particular couldn't keep his hands off it, touching here and there, his eyes full of envy, practically drooling.
Of course, this was not only thanks to Tom's extraordinary craftsmanship, but also because the entire ship's core framework had been built from none other than the legendary Treasure Tree Adam.
Treasure Tree Adam was one of the strongest trees in the world. It was said that no matter how fierce the war, it would always stand tall and unbroken.
Even a single log from it could fetch a staggering price of 200 million Berries on the black market, often with no supply available at all.
Nao was no stranger to it.
The Oro Jackson, Gol D. Roger's ship, and the Thousand Sunny, Luffy's future ship, were both made from this tree.
Tom himself, of course, couldn't afford to purchase Adam wood. In his letter to Nao, he explained that the wood used to build this warship was the remainder of the very same Adam wood that Roger had once entrusted to him, carefully preserved until now.
From the same Treasure Tree Adam—one part was used to build the strongest pirate ship, and another part, the strongest Marine warship…
Nao found the thought amusing. The first had helped Roger ignite the Great Pirate Era. And if the second, in his own hands, were to bring that era to an end?
Nao and Aokiji each boarded their respective flagships.
"Vice Admiral Nao!"
The moment he stepped onto the deck, countless Marines snapped to attention in unison, saluting him with eyes full of fiery admiration.
A full 1,200 Marines.
These were Nao's direct subordinates, and they were the absolute elites he had chosen from Headquarters.
It was quite funny, actually.
Even before the Thunder Eagle had been delivered, , Fleet Admiral Kong gave Nao the authority to begin forming his own direct unit. The moment the news got out, it triggered an unprecedented and massive wave of applications throughout Marineford.
Because of his increasingly outstanding military achievements in the past two years, Nao's prestige in the Marines had grown. It was safe to say that he had countless fans.
This resulted in over ten times the number of Marine soldiers vying for the slots, which was only about a thousand. The doors of the relevant departments were worn out from all the traffic during those few days…
It would have been fine if it was just the lower ranks. According to Headquarters regulations, every large wartship commanded by a vice admiral would also be assigned a Rear admiral and a Commodore as adjutants.
These two positions were also fiercely contested.
In just a single day, more than thirty applications landed on Fleet Admiral Kong's desk. The old Fleeth Admiral, who had lived nearly a century and seen countless storms, was left staring in a daze for quite a while before regaining his senses.
In the end, he simply handed the final decision over to Nao.
Nao flipped through the thick stack of files that were sent to him and made his decision quickly, confirming the two candidates on the same day.
And those two adjutants were—
"Vice Admiral."
Two tall figures wearing white "Justice" cloaks came over, one on the left and one on the right, and saluted seriously. Nao also nodded at them and chuckled softly.
"Long time no see, Onigumo, Momonga."
"That's right."
Momonga smiled and nodded. "It's been nearly two years already."
Onigumo just grinned with a raspy chuckle. For him it hadn't been so long—barely half a year ago, he had fought alongside Nao in the Sabaody Archipelago.
That's right.
The two adjutants Nao had chosen were none other than these two. One was now a Rear admiral, the other a Commodore—both of whom had only recently been reassigned back to Headquarters at the start of the year.
Nao's reasons for picking them were simple.
First, they were fellow disciples under Zephyr. That bond gave them a natural sense of closeness, and they had known each other long enough to trust one another completely.
Second…
It was, of course, because of their potential.
In the manga's timeline, both Momonga and Onigumo would go on to become renowned, veteran Vice Admirals of Marine Headquarters—second only to the three great admirals in both power and prestige.
Bringing them both under his command not only secured his strongest aides for the future, but also gave Nao a sense of accomplishment.
Momonga and Onigumo, in turn, looked at Nao with complicated emotions.
Their first encounter went back three years. At that time, they had already been among the outstanding young officers of the Marine, while Nao was just an unknown recruit they had met while visiting Zephyr.
Now, in just three years, Nao had risen to become the brightest Vice Admiral in HQ—someone they could only look up to in awe
And now they were serving directly under him, having volunteered themselves, without even the slightest jealousy or resentment. All they felt was respect and admiration for their junior.
The two of them watched as Nao strode to the bow of the ship, raised his hand slightly, and coldly gave the order while staring at the distant sea:
"Since everyone is assembled, then—set sail!"
"Our destination: the New World—Dressrosa Kingdom!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the entire deck echoed with a thundering response.
"Yes, Vice Admiral!"
...
Meanwhile, far away in the Dressrosa Kingdom—
In a bustling coastal city, smoke and ash filled the air. The outer streets lay in ruins, the aftermath of a bitter battle still plain to see.
"At last… we can rest for a moment…"
Inside a temporary palace, King Riku collapsed heavily into a chair, gasping for breath and gritting his teeth as he spoke:
"These damned pirate bastards… endless! Drive one wave away and another comes. Do they really think Dressrosa is easy prey?"
Ever since the turmoil caused by the Road Poneglyph, countless pirate crews from the New World had been howling their way toward Dressrosa.
The coastal situation grew so dire that King Riku was forced to personally lead his palace guard to the frontier towns to defend.
Now, they had fought in blood for three days and nights straight, through more battles than he could count.
"Your Majesty…"
Captain of the guard, Kyros, knelt on one knee, guilt written on his face. "All of this began because of me. Now the kingdom is in crisis, and all they truly want is my head. If we can no longer hold them back, then perhaps—"
"What nonsense, Kyros!"
Before he could finish, King Riku waved him off with a scowl.
"You've done nothing wrong from start to finish! What, should we have stood by and watched that pirate woman Karina burn, kill, and plunder our towns?"
"Trading your head for the kingdom's peace? Hmph! What would the people think of me then? And what would Scarlett think of her father?"
At the mention of the princess who had willingly cast aside her royal title to marry him, Kyros trembled slightly, lips pressed tight, and lifted his head without a word.
"So… don't ever say something that foolish again!"
King Riku let out a booming laugh. "Understand? Fight well, live well! Don't forget, you are the man who won more than four thousand matches in the colosseum!"
When Kyros nodded firmly and stepped aside, King Riku turned to ask:
"Any word from the Marine? Who did they say they would send, and when will they arrive?"
"They said they set sail several days ago," a minister answered softly. "But only that they would send two Vice Admirals. The specific names… have not been disclosed."
"Two Vice Admirals?"
King Riku rubbed his temples. That was certainly formidable power. Under normal circumstances, having them stationed in Dressrosa would have been more than enough.
But now the situation was different. The New World was in chaos, even the Emperors were involved. Somehow, he couldn't feel entirely reassured…
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" Suddenly, a panicked voice rang out as a guard stumbled inside, nearly falling over. "Thirty nautical miles to the north, another large group of pirate ships is approaching!"
"Again?"
King Riku's face tightened. Kyros furrowed his brow and muttered, "It's been barely half an hour since the last assault. Looks like more and more pirates have set their eyes on Dressrosa…"
"No choice. Behind us lies the royal capital—one million of our people."
King Riku leapt down from his throne, weapon gripped tightly, and charged out of the palace with a furious roar:
"No matter how many pirates come, we have to hold them off! Everyone, follow me and charge! Let's defeat these bastard pirates!"
—————
Boom!
A deafening crash shook the sea. Water sprayed high into the air as a monstrous Sea King let out a deathly wail and sank into the depths.
The poor beast must have lost its mind—and had no sense of judgment either. Of all ships to attack, it chose to block Vice Admiral Nao's…
On the warship's deck, the marines clicked their tongues and shook their heads, pitying the massive creature that had met its end.
As the tall figure in a white cloak of justice descended lightly from the sky, bypassing the Sea King's corpse, the warship surged forward again at full speed toward Dressrosa.
"With just a casual punch, he brought down a Sea King over a kilometer long."
On the neighboring ship, Aokiji reclined lazily in a wicker chair, glancing sideways at Nao.
"At that level… I couldn't manage it. Your body really is becoming more and more monstrous…"
Nao only chuckled without answering. Those four months of shut-in training hadn't been wasted. Beyond honing his swordsmanship and Devil Fruit ability, his body itself had grown tougher under the constant hammering of thunder.
In terms of raw stats, his strength had increased by one point—from 34 to 35.
"How much longer until we reach Dressrosa?"
He stretched lazily and casually asked his adjutant, Momonga.
"Not far now. If we maintain this pace, at most six hours—by tonight—we'll arrive."
Momonga answered gravely.
"Good, that's quick enough." Nao nodded lightly, feeling a little relieved.
According to reports from Marine Intelligence Department earlier this morning, Dressrosa's situation was still relatively stable.
The first waves of pirate crews had simply taken advantage of proximity. Their strength was average at best—the highest bounty among them only fifty or sixty million.
King Riku had led his army to repel them all. Not a single town had fallen.
By the time the Marine arrived tonight, the kingdom would be able to rest easy, and Riku's troops could finally sleep soundly for a night.
But just then—
Onigumo suddenly pushed open the cabin door, his face grim.
"Vice Admiral, the situation has changed. Dressrosa may be in real danger."
"Huh?" Nao frowned. "What's going on?"?" Nao frowned. "What's happened?"
"Just now, the front lines sent new intelligence."
Onigumo handed over the document. "An hour ago, three pirate crews—each led by Captains with bounties over one hundred million—suddenly announced an alliance. They've landed at the southeastern coast of Dressrosa and begun a large-scale assault. More than twenty ships in total, over five thousand men."
"King Riku's army may number in the tens of thousands, but they're spread thin across the entire coastline. The city under attack has only three to four thousand defenders."
He hesitated. "The difference in numbers is too great. They may not be able to hold…"
Three hundred-million-class pirates attacking together?
Nao skimmed the report, then exchanged a glance with Aokiji, both their expressions grim.
"King Riku's army won't last six hours," Aokiji said in a low voice. "Looks like we'll have to move ahead of schedule."
"Yes. The later we arrive, the heavier the casualties. We can't afford to delay."
Nao nodded, then turned to his men.
"Kuzan and I will go on ahead. You keep pushing the ships at full speed and catch up as soon as you can."
Momonga and Onigumo both bowed. "Understood, Vice Admiral. Be careful."
"Don't worry."
Six hours was far too long to Moonwalk nonstop across the sea. Aokiji pulled out his bicycle instead, dropped it onto the waves, and froze a long ice road beneath its wheels.
Pedaling rapidly, he shot ahead at several times the speed of the warships, disappearing in a blur.
As for Nao...
The Marines on both ships watched with wide eyes as he used Geppo to launch himself into the air.
The moment his back foot left the deck, the area around his shoulder blades suddenly twisted with light, and a pair of azure blue wings surrounded by lightning grew out and spread open.
Bzzzt!
Under the wide-eyed gazes of countless marines, Nao shot off like a blazing arrow, moving too fast for the naked eye to follow.
In mere moments, he had not only caught up to Aokiji's ice path, but blasted past him with ease—soon vanishing into the distance as nothing more than a speck against the horizon.