A refreshing breeze whipped up the waves, crashing over the fine grains of pure white sand on the beach.
At the island's center, tall walls enclosed everything, their spotless white surfaces reflecting crystal-clear light.
"Huh? What's going on?"
Little Sakura snapped her eyes open, finding herself buried in the sand. The mix of seawater and grains was sapping her body heat fast.
Pushing against the beach, she hauled herself up. Everything around her was a blinding white—the ocean, sand, bushes, trees, even the wild animals. It was like the whole world had been stripped of color.
"So white... Where the heck am I? And where'd everyone else go?"
Walking alone along the shore, Little Sakura yelled their names a few times, but the beach was dead silent except for the endless crash of waves.
Her last memory: The Leviathan carrying her and two Revolutionary Army guys over the currents. So why was she dumped here on the sand now?
"What a headache. Guess I'll scout deeper in."
After pacing the beach a few laps and finding no sign of the others, Little Sakura headed inland.
Past the sand was a forest—all one color: white. It was eerily quiet.
Then, a massive white boar spotted the intruder. Greed flashed in its eyes as it bared sharp fangs, drool dripping from its jaws.
"Oh ho? Wanna eat me?"
Observation Haki flickered like a rainbow in her emerald eyes. Little Sakura sidestepped, glaring at the boar from the corner of her vision.
Buzz—!
An invisible wave of Conqueror's Haki rippled out, freezing the already colorless world even more.
The beast, mid-charge with fangs out, shuddered hard.
Then it tucked its claws and teeth, dropping submissively to the ground in front of Little Sakura, bowing in surrender.
"Hee hee hee, perfect timing!"
Eyeing the huge boar, a grin spread across Little Sakura's face.
The boar froze at her devilish smile, shaking its head vigorously.
Moments later, the quiet forest shattered with someone's whoop.
"Woo-hoo! Charge, Boar Number One! Hahaha!"
Several giant trees toppled, tumbling in the wind. Through the dust cloud, the pig-riding girl barreled through everything, the massive boar plowing ahead.
The whole white forest erupted in chaos from the ruckus. Creatures big and small scattered from the boar's rampage, finally waking the overlord deep in the woods!
BOOM!!!
The ground shook violently, buckling like a rug with massive folds.
Under churning white earth and stone, a gigantic outline raised a claw and slammed it down toward the source of the noise. The sharp talons carved a deep ravine through the barren land.
Then Little Sakura saw blazing light chasing her from behind, engulfing everything in an instant.
"What the—?"
She flipped off the boar, heaving her ride out of harm's way. Then she slapped her hands on the ground. Ice walls shot up, forming a thick protective shell.
The explosion boomed again, flames and fire flooding the forest.
From the skyrocketing black smoke, a figure burst through the curtain, trailing ash as she flew backward.
Using the blast to launch herself, Little Sakura finally got a full view of the monster.
"A dragon?"
She gasped.
Towering over a hundred meters tall, covered in pure white scales, with vertical crimson pupils, twin horns on its head, and wings on its back—a dragon. "This is the ability user hurting the Revolutionary soldiers? No, the vibe's off."
In her Observation Haki, the dragon didn't have the fluctuations of a Devil Fruit user.
Plus, those mad crimson eyes held zero human intelligence. It felt way more like a wild beast than a person.
"This place is too weird. Fantasy creatures exist here?!"
Tumbling mid-air a few times, Little Sakura landed on a tree's canopy.
Chakra surged to her feet, but the slight delay in conduction made her wobble. She amped it up just in time to steady herself.
Roar!
The dragon clearly wasn't letting the troublemaker go. It dug its limbs into the ground, lowered its head, and opened its massive maw. Dark energy gathered again.
"Hey, greedy lizard. You got your one free shot to vent—want a second?"
Little Sakura gripped the air, slowly drawing out a massive storm sword.
Scorching heat poured into the blade, boiling chakra igniting in her muscles. The giants' royal strength roared to life—the legendary spear was primed!
"Might!"
In that instant, a majestic crimson beam shot skyward!
The sword light cleaved the dragon clean in two. Like a bursting bubble, the wounded halves evaporated in flames, turning to charred remains that twitched violently.
The hundreds-of-meters-long body crashed down, kicking up white dust across the forest.
Soon, though, Little Sakura saw the rolling flames reveal two broken outlines rising again, threading together with gooey strings to reconnect.
"An immortal... monster?"
Her brow furrowed, bad memories bubbling up.
The giant sword rose once more, Armament Haki flooding the blade as black lightning crackled.
But then her sleeve tugged. Looking down, a rabbit about half her height hopped into view.
It wore a round top hat, a monocle over one eye, and a pure white tailcoat fluttering in the breeze.
Seeing her stare, it tugged her clothes again and pointed to a nearby hole.
"Huh? You want me to follow you in?"
Little Sakura curiously pointed at herself. The rabbit nodded and hopped right into the burrow.
Glancing hesitantly at the dragon charging with light in its mouth, then at the rabbit hole by her feet...
Little Sakura sighed and dove in after it.
With a pop like a soap bubble bursting, the hole in the white forest vanished.
The dragon's breath blasted empty air, raging futilely.
On the other side, Little Sakura's vision blurred.
Deep darkness swallowed her as she plummeted through the tunnel—down, down.
Who knows how long it lasted? It felt like passing through clouds before light suddenly appeared.
When the haze cleared, she hit the bottom—a massive plaza.
The sky was still pure white. Wide roads floated in the void, thick fog blanketing the world.
Scattered around the plaza were building fragments and giant chess pieces, drifting and clashing with puffs of smoke.
Lots of upright, albino-like little animals hid in the ruins, eyeing her warily.
"What is this place? And what are you guys?"
Little Sakura caught up to the guide rabbit, scooping it up by the belly and lifting it high.
"Hey, mind if I dissect you?"
A dangerous gleam sparked in her emerald eyes, making her look downright menacing.
The rabbit broke into a cold sweat at that, thrashing wildly.
"High intelligence, and it gets human society stuff... System, what do you think?"
Thinking of her daily quests, Little Sakura instinctively called out. But her ears stayed silent—no [Notice] pinged.
'System?'
No response again. Her playful expression turned serious.
"Looks like something's off with me!"
The girl raised an eyebrow, sighing without another word.
Just thinking.
In the silence, a voice rang out—ancient and patient, soft and low.
"Stop teasing the lady. She's a great pirate from far away."