[Cover Story: The Three Admirals Arc - 'Don't Feel Wronged, It Can't Be Helped, This is the Fastest Way']
A figure wrapped in crackling lightning streaks across the sea, carrying a certain scruffy-haired fellow in his arms. That fellow looks constipated and utterly unwilling, clutching his beloved little bicycle tightly against his chest as its tires drag across the water, leaving behind a long frozen trail…...
...
Dressrosa, coastal town.
The battle had reached its peak. Smoke filled the air, buildings lay in ruins, and the royal guards desperately used their knowledge of the terrain to block the pirates storming ashore.
The situation was grim.
Beyond the crushing disadvantage in numbers, the lack of high-end combat power was proving fatal for the kingdom's army.
As commander, Kyros's strength was undeniable.
In the original original timeline, even after losing a leg, he would personally defeat Diamante—one of the Donquixote Family's top four executives and wielder of the Flutter-Flutter Fruit.
Now, unleashing his might, Kyros relied on his exquisite swordsmanship to repel multiple pirate officers on his own. He even managed to hold off the strongest of the three captains—whose bounty exceeded 100 million—barely keeping him occupied.
But this was already his limit, and it was nowhere near enough.
The other two pirate captains, both with nine-figure bounties, Kyros could not intercept. No one else in the kingdom's army possessed comparable strength.
As a result, he could only watch helplessly as the two captains led their men, grinning savagely, tearing apart the defenders' formation and forcing King Riku's forces into steady retreat.
This can't go on…
Seeing the casualties mounting, Kyros clenched his teeth, determination flashing in his eyes. Gripping his longsword with both hands, he poured every ounce of strength into a downward slash at the short, fat captain before him!
"Thunder… Destructive Slash!"
Buzz
As the blade descended, the whistling air cracked like lightning and thunder, its momentum terrifying.
The short, stocky captain raised his brows in surprise.
His name was "Golden Gong" Jamille, bounty: 199,900,000 Berries. He was the leader who had organized this pirate alliance—and without question, its strongest fighter.
"Heh, heh, didn't expect you to have some bite after all."
Jamille grinned, tossing aside the giant axe he'd been wielding, and instead pulled from his back a pair of massive golden gongs, gripping them tightly.
"Guess I've played around long enough. Time to get serious…"
Clang!
The gongs slammed together, releasing a wave of invisible force. Mid-charge, Kyros suddenly felt his sword wrenched away by a strange, irresistible pull.
Caught off guard, his blade flew from his hands, spinning through the air before splashing into a nearby stream.
What kind of bizarre power is this?
Kyros's face fell. So he's a Devil Fruit user? Up until now, Jamille had fought him blow for blow with just his body and an axe—without ever revealing his real strength.
No time to dwell on it. His gaze locked onto the giant golden gongs, and his instincts screamed: Whatever his power is, it's bound to those weapons. Break them—or take them—and there's still a chance to win!
"Oh?"
Seeing Kyros abruptly change direction and rush him faster, Jamille saw through his intent at once. He sneered, "Still dreaming, huh…"
Clang!
With a flash of malice in his eyes, he slammed the gongs together again.
The metallic crash boomed louder than before, like rolling thunder, shaking the air violently.
And in the midst of the vibrating waves of sound, a thick blue arc of lightning coalesced, slashing straight down from above toward Kyros.
Bzzzzt!
Kyros hadn't guarded against the strike from above. He took the hit head-on, groaned, and collapsed to the ground. His hair stood on end, every strand bristling, and the skin above his shoulders was charred and burned in wide swathes.
What a terrifying monster…
His consciousness began to fade, the world around him seeming to drift further and further away.
Is this the end? Kyros's eyes dulled, but faintly he could still hear—the distant jeers of pirates, the agonized cries of his comrades…
No. I absolutely cannot fall here!
Behind him was his homeland, his people—the tens of thousands of citizens of Dressrosa!
"Stand… up!"
Clenching his teeth, Kyros forced every ounce of strength into his body, slowly pushing himself upright inch by inch. Dark, almost blackened blood dripped steadily from the wounds that covered him.
This guy's willpower… it was incredible. Even many of the pirates nearby had their eyes drawn to him.
"Oh?"
Jamille narrowed his eyes, licked his lips, and sneered. "Got guts. You're a real man… But unfortunately, in front of me, this is as far as you go!"
"Your head—and the Road Poneglyph—today, both will belong to me, Lord Jamille!"
He raised the golden gongs again, ready to slam them together and finish Kyros.
But just as the two gongs clashed—
RUMBLE!
The clear, sunny sky suddenly darkened. Thunderclouds rolled overhead, and deafening rumbles shook the earth.
"Damn, impressive, brother!"
Another pirate captain, tall and gaunt, happened to be passing by. He flinched at the sight, then clicked his tongue in awe. "Not even a year since I last saw you, and your Devil Fruit ability have already reached this level?"
But as soon as he said it, something felt wrong.
Jamille was frozen too, staring upward with a look of shock.
It wasn't him?
The tall captain's heart sank. Before he could process the danger, his eyes went wide in horror as a blinding bolt of lightning split the heavens and came crashing straight down toward Jamille!
CRACK!
The world itself seemed to vanish in that instant. The bright light made the tall captain subconsciously close his eyes. He could clearly smell a pungent, charred scent entering his nostrils…
When the searing light finally faded, he opened his eyes in panic—only to see no trace of Jamille.
All that remained was a pile of unrecognizable charred remains on the ground, the only proof of what had just transpired in that instant.
The strongest fighter of the alliance, the man with the highest bounty—Jamille—had been annihilated in a single strike?
Who… who could have done this?
Swallowing hard, the tall pirate captain raised his head, staring uneasily at the thunderclouds slowly dissipating above.
And he wasn't alone.
That bolt of lightning, spanning sky and earth, had blinded everyone on the battlefield. For a moment, both sides—kingdom soldiers and pirates—temporarily stopped fighting and looked up at the sky.
Is there a person in the thundercloud?
All could see it: amid the crackling lightning, a shadowy figure was slowly descending from the clouds.
At the same time, a cold, emotionless voice rolled through heaven and earth:
"To brazenly attack a member nation of the World Government… You pirates are truly reckless."
And then, in the very next instant—
The thunderclouds dispersed, the sky cleared, and all those below finally saw him clearly: a figure clad in the white cloak of Justice, with vast, azure wings of lightning spread wide upon his back…
For a moment—
Both sides of the temporarily halted battle showed two completely different reactions.
King Riku, Kyros, and the rest were stunned at first, but then their faces lit up with unrestrained joy. It turned out that among the Marine Vice Admirals that Marine Headquarters had sent to be stationed in Dressrosa, this person was one of them?
As for the pirates…
Countless eyes went wide. It was as if thunder exploded directly in their skulls. From the inside out, every cell, every hair on their bodies quivered in terror.
"Th-that's…"
"Hey, am I seeing things…?"
"That guy… that guy…"
Finally, someone screamed, teeth chattering and face pale with despair:
"It's Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Natsuya Nao!!!"
Buzz!
That one shout was like a bomb tossed into a calm lake—the entire battlefield erupted in chaos.
The pirates were scared out of their wits. No one knew who had started it, but they suddenly turned around and ran frantically toward the harbor.
In an instant, countless others followed suit. Some dropped their weapons, others abandoned stolen loot—none of it mattered. All they could think of was one thing:
Run! Run as far as you can!
—Who wasn't afraid of the name Natsuya Nao?
This man… ever since Sea Circle Calendar Year 1501, in just over three years, had built a terrifying reputation—piling up the heads of infamous pirates and war records that shook the world!
In Paradise, perhaps there were still some hot-headed rookies, bold Supernovas who didn't believe in the weight of his name.
But here in the New World? These were all seasoned veterans, who had survived on these seas for years. They naturally knew very well who they could mess with and who they had to escape from as far as possible the moment they ran into them!
"…Ara?"
Nao landed lightly upon a rocky outcrop, the thunderous wings folding back into his body. He looked down at the pirates scattering in chaos, one brow arched.
"Five or six thousand people running away all at once—now that is a sight I haven't seen before…"
"What a pity."
He shook his head slightly, murmuring to himself. "Since I'm already here, how could I possibly let you all leave?"
In that instant, the clear sky darkened again. Thunderclouds boiled, lightning split the heavens. The pirates noticed the change above them, panic twisting their faces. They clenched their teeth and sprinted even faster in their desperate bid for life.
But it was already far too late.
"Ten Thousand Thunders…" Nao stretched out his right arm. From his fingertip, he gently swept down toward the pale-faced pirates below.
"…Heavenly Pull!"
BOOM!
RUMBLE!
It was as if the end of the world had arrived. The dark thunderclouds suddenly rolled violently. Countless large bolts of lightning continuously struck down from the clouds, almost completely illuminating the entire gloomy sky!
Each strike wasn't quite as overwhelming as the one that had instantly killed Jamille—but still far beyond what these pirates could withstand.
The thunderstorm's fury exploded in full. Under this Ten Thousand Thunders: Heavenly Pull, whether it was nameless fodder, officers with bounties of tens of millions, or even the two captains with bounties exceeding a hundred million—
It made no difference. In just an instant, they were all annihilated before they could even scream.
"Shit, run!"
"This is suicide! Turn the ships around!"
Out on the waters beyond the port, several pirate ships drifted. They weren't part of the three-captain alliance, but had come hoping to profit off the chaos, to seize the Road Poneglyph at the right moment.
But after witnessing that storm—pirates turned to ash by lightning in the blink of an eye—how could they possibly sit still any longer?
The pirates panicked, frantically turning their ships around, desperate to escape this thunderous hell before that Marine powerhouse noticed them.
However—
Just as they had barely managed to turn, not even a hundred meters out, they suddenly realized there was now a figure blocking their path on the sea.
A man was leisurely riding a bicycle across the waves.
Their gazes met. The man braked with one foot, lifted his head with a slight smile, revealing a set of neat white teeth:
"And where do you all think you're going?"
Before his words even faded, without any visible movement, an extreme and bone-chilling cold burst from beneath the bicycle's wheels, racing across the sea's surface at terrifying speed.
In an instant, the waters outside the harbor—and the dozens of pirate ships upon them—were all frozen into a vast field of ice…
-------------
A few minutes later.
Nao and Aokiji met at the entrance of the town. Their gazes first slid past each other, looking at the distant scenes behind.
On one side—
The ground was covered with countless charred corpses, unrecognizable in form.
On the other side—
A forest of frozen figures, pirates of every expression imaginable, locked forever into unmoving ice sculptures.
"…Ara la. Not a single one left alive, huh? That's just like you."
Aokiji scratched his head and sighed. "You really worked fast. By the time I got here, the feast was already over. Nothing left but soup for me."
"And whose fault is that?"
Nao shot him a sideways glance. "You could've come down with me and landed directly on the island. But no—you insisted on being dropped ten kilometers away, just so you could pedal your little bike the rest of the way."
Aokiji's eye twitched. Did he really have a choice?
If he hadn't gotten off early, would he really let King Riku and tens of thousands of Dressrosa citizens watch Nao carry him—while he carried his bicycle—dangling down from the sky?
How humiliating would that be…
He was, after all, a dignified Vice Admiral of Headquarters. He had to save some face, right?