The first half of the New World.
Sabaody Archipelago, Grove 44!
This area had originally been one of the many ports of the Sabaody Archipelago—the gateway through which civilians entered the bubble islands.
But now—
this harbor had been completely abandoned.
Several months earlier, the fierce battle triggered by the "Sabaody Archipelago Incident" had utterly devastated this entire zone.
The very foundation of the land had been destroyed to the point of instability.
There was no longer even a basis for reconstruction.
At a glance, Grove 44 was filled with uneven craters, fractured earth, and shattered terrain.
Even the temperature of the entire area was several degrees hotter than the rest of the archipelago.
According to rumor, this was the lingering effect left behind by Admiral Akainu's overwhelming Logia powers during the battle here.
Even now, months later, the influence of his magma had yet to fully dissipate.
These days, aside from poor scavengers searching the ruins for anything valuable, gamblers down on their luck, and penniless pirates—
almost no one came here anymore.
And yet today—
several pirate crews appeared one after another.
As a result, the already sparsely populated Grove 44 was now completely empty except for these pirate crews.
Because these crews were none other than the pirates currently dominating headlines across the seas—
the crews known as the "Supernovas."
Standing atop a broken stone pillar was a vicious-looking man with spiky red hair, black sunglasses across his forehead, and a dark crimson coat draped over his shoulders.
It was Eustass Kid.
Standing behind him was his first mate—
the blond man wearing a blue-and-white striped mask punctured with several small holes:
Killer.
Aside from the Kid Pirates, the others gathered here included—
the captain of the Fallen Monk Pirates, "Mad Monk" Urouge.
The captain of the Drake Pirates, "Former Rear Admiral" X Drake.
The captain of the Hawkins Pirates, "Magician" Basil Hawkins.
The captain of the On Air Pirates, "Roar of the Sea" Scratchmen Apoo.
The captain of the Heart Pirates, "Surgeon of Death" Trafalgar Law.
In addition—
not far away stood Capone Bege from the West Blue, captain of the Fire Tank Pirates.
Behind him were four crew members dressed like gangsters, making his group the largest among the crews present.
Among the assembled Supernovas,
everyone was here—
except for the Straw Hat Pirates and the Bonney Pirates.
All of them had arrived at Sabaody several days earlier.
If they wished to enter the second half of the New World, they had no choice but to wait here for their ships to finish being coated.
After all, they didn't possess the Magic Eye Pirates' ability to simply fly over the Red Line.
Whether it was unspoken understanding or simply the instincts of rivals,
each of them had been keeping an eye on the other Supernovas who had landed on the island.
And so, during this waiting period,
they had all coincidentally gathered here.
Naturally, none of them could be unaware of the major incident that had taken place here months ago.
The battle scars left behind in Grove 44 were invaluable.
For these confident Supernovas, all on the verge of stepping into the New World,
the traces of battle here could allow them to infer crucial information.
"A-pa-pa-pa… you've got to be kidding me."
"What kind of battle could've caused this much destruction?"
Apoo, wearing headphones and orange-tinted goggles, his teeth resembling piano keys, widened his eyes as he stared at the enormous exaggerated craters in the distance.
Although he had expected something like this,
seeing it with his own eyes was still shocking.
Dressed like a mafia boss, Capone Bege bit down on his cigar and exhaled a puff of white smoke.
He pointed toward the largest, seemingly bottomless crater in the distance.
"That one… the biggest crater."
"That should've been left behind by one of the Four Emperors—Kaido, right?"
Though phrased as a question, he had already made up his mind.
The entire Sabaody Incident had happened far too suddenly.
Combined with the work of Big News Morgans, very little of it had been successfully concealed.
Most major factions had managed to obtain fairly detailed intelligence.
The other Supernovas said nothing.
But their expressions were all equally grim.
Just from the battle traces alone,
they could already imagine how intense that clash must have been.
And if they placed their own pirate crews into that scenario—
every single one of them arrived at the same conclusion:
annihilation.
Even now, months later, the air still carried a heat that was noticeably more intense than elsewhere.
A clear reminder of just how terrifying a Marine Admiral truly was.
All three Admirals—
the greatest combat power of Marine Headquarters—
had arrived.
The long-vanished legendary captain of the Flying Pirates, Golden Lion Shiki.
One of the Four Emperors, Red-Haired Shanks.
Another Emperor, Kaido.
All had appeared one after another.
In comparison,
someone like Donquixote Doflamingo, one of the Seven Warlords—
who would ordinarily be considered a major figure—
had become almost irrelevant in this incident.
The mere thought of such a battlefield sent chills through their hearts.
"So even a monster like you…"
"Can become completely insignificant in front of the true monsters at the top of the world, huh… Doflamingo?"
Law rested his sword on his shoulder, his eyelids drooping as he thought expressionlessly to himself.
A brief silence settled over the ruins.
Then suddenly—
"AHHHHHHH!!"
A thunderous roar broke the silence.
Everyone turned at once toward the source.
It came from where Kid was standing.
"The hell are you yelling for?"
Drake, the cross-shaped scar visible on his chin, looked at Kid coldly.
Faced with the dissatisfied gazes around him,
Kid didn't care in the slightest.
Instead, his eyes burned with excitement as he looked over the ruined Grove 44.
"This is amazing!"
"Just thinking that before long I'll be fighting the monsters of the New World—"
"My blood's already boiling!"
"I'm the one who's going to find the ONE PIECE!"
"The Pirate King will be me!"
Kid openly declared his ambition in front of all the other Supernovas.
His arrogant attitude instantly swept away the unease everyone had felt while observing the battlefield.
Anyone who had become a Supernova and made it to Sabaody possessed their own ambition—
and their own pride.
"What an arrogant bastard."
Urouge grinned broadly, baring gleaming white teeth, a cruel smile spreading across his face.
Then suddenly—
"I'M the man who's gonna become the Pirate King!!"
An even louder shout rang out from outside Grove 44.
Kid turned sharply, glaring toward the source of the voice.
A fist clenched.
Then—
a figure wearing a straw hat came sprinting into everyone's view.
Luffy.
One hand held down his straw hat as he ran straight toward the area.
And several dozen meters behind him—
another figure was in hot pursuit.
She wore revealing clothes and had bright pink hair.
Seeing the two figures,
everyone present froze for a moment before narrowing their eyes.
Straw Hat Luffy.
Jewelry Bonney.
So those two had come as well.
"You bastard! You ate all my food!"
"Get back here!!"
Bonney shouted furiously as she chased after Luffy.
Meanwhile—
Luffy continued running, holding a giant chunk of meat larger than his own head in one hand and taking huge bites out of it.
Clearly, he had no intention of stopping.
Seeing the two of them appear,
Kid's eyes lit up.
A crimson gleam flashed through his red pupils as he grinned.
The next moment—
he swung his arm upward and spread his palm toward the sky.
An invisible magnetic force instantly spread outward.
Clatter! Clatter!
All around the ruins,
large amounts of metal debris rose into the air and gathered above Kid's head.
In only a few blinks, a dense mass had already formed.
The other Supernovas all wore expressions of amusement.
They were more than happy to watch.
"Magnetism: Repel!"
Kid clenched his outstretched hand and swung it toward Luffy and Bonney.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
In an instant, a storm of metallic debris shot forward like torrential rain.
Luffy quickly bit the meat between his teeth and freed both hands.
"Gum-Gum Gatling!"
BOOM!
His arms stretched into a blur, blasting the incoming metal away.
"You bastard! How dare you attack me?!"
Bonney, moving with remarkable agility, dodged the flying debris while glaring at Kid.
Because of the sudden attack,
both Luffy and Bonney came to a stop.
"Hey!"
"You're the one who shouted about becoming Pirate King, right?!"
Luffy's cheeks bulged as he continued chewing meat, his eyes fixed on Kid.
"You don't know who I am?!"
Kid's eyes widened, his already fierce expression turning even more menacing.
All of them had arrived at Sabaody around the same time.
Even if they had never formally met,
as fellow Supernovas, they should at least know one another by reputation.
Because of the Magic Eye Pirates' earlier incident,
all the Celestial Dragons who had once been on the island had already withdrawn.
Thus, the original Celestial Dragon incident had never happened.
"Why should I know you?"
Luffy shot back bluntly.
After finishing the meat, he casually tossed the bone aside and clenched his fists.
"I'm gonna punch you flying!"
"Oh?"
"Good!"
Kid laughed loudly and clenched his fists as well.
"Compared to you, I definitely hate that guy more."
Bonney stepped forward angrily to stand beside Luffy, glaring at Kid.
"This is our fight!"
Luffy shouted at Bonney.
"Shut up, you food-stealing idiot!"
"I didn't steal it! It was just sitting on the table!"
"Idiot! If it's on the table, that means it already belongs to someone!"
"Huh? Is that how it works?!"
"You bastard!"
The two immediately began shouting at each other.
Watching them argue, Kid's expression darkened further.
Then—
rapid footsteps approached.
Two clouds of dust rose in the distance.
"LUFFY!!"
"CAPTAIN BONNEY!!"
Two distinct groups came rushing over.
They were the crews of the Straw Hat Pirates and the Bonney Pirates.
Seeing this, Killer immediately stepped forward to stand beside Kid, eyes sharp with caution.
Zoro and Sanji arrived first behind Luffy.
The moment they reached the scene, they sensed the tense atmosphere and immediately grew vigilant toward the other Supernovas.
"Luffy, what are you doing?"
"What's with all these people?"
Nami asked nervously, gripping her Clima-Tact.
"So they're all here…"
"The pirates known as Supernovas, just like Luffy."
Sanji muttered around the cigarette hanging from his lips as he studied them.
On the other side,
Bonney's crew had also gathered around her.
Kid's impatience became more and more obvious.
He paid no attention to Bonney, Zoro, or the others.
His eyes remained fixed solely on Luffy.
Among the Supernovas,
Kid held the highest bounty.
Right below him—
was Straw Hat Luffy.
Kid had long been interested in him.
Although, due to Yuuki's interference, some events had changed and Luffy's bounty was slightly lower than in the original timeline—
even so,
Luffy had fought Lucci and the others at Water 7 ahead of schedule,
defeated the CP9 agents,
and later defeated one of the Seven Warlords, Gecko Moria.
As a result, his bounty was still second only to Kid's.
"Let me see what kind of strength the man who defeated a Warlord really has—"
"Straw Hat Luffy!"
Kid roared and swung his arm skyward.
The scattered metal from before rose once more and gathered rapidly around his arm.
In the blink of an eye,
his arm had transformed into a gigantic iron fist made entirely of metal.
BOOM!
Kid stomped the ground and leapt high into the air.
Swinging the massive iron fist downward, he roared—
"Magnetism: String!"
"Heh!"
Luffy grinned, his white teeth flashing.
He pulled both arms far back—
then slammed both fists forward.
"Gum-Gum Bazooka!"
BOOOOOOM!!
The attacks collided in an instant.
A massive shockwave exploded outward, kicking up huge clouds of dust in every direction.
The other Supernovas all watched intently.
This was an invaluable chance to gather information.
However—
just as Luffy and Kid's clash reached its peak,
both of them suddenly halted and turned toward another direction.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two fists made of white smoke shot toward them at astonishing speed.
In the blink of an eye, they were already right in front of Luffy and Kid.
The next moment—
both immediately redirected their attacks.
BANG! BANG!
The smoke fists were shattered apart.
"That attack style feels familiar."
Luffy retracted his rubber arm, a look of recollection appearing on his face.
Kid, meanwhile, roared furiously.
"Who the hell are you?! Get out here!"
Heavy footsteps approached through the rolling white smoke.
"Looks like my luck is pretty good today."
"All of you pirates gathered in one place…"
"Perfect."
"I'll arrest every last one of you at once."
A man with short silver hair stepped into view.
He wore a Marine coat emblazoned with the word Justice across the back.
Two cigars were clenched between his teeth.
It was none other than—
"White Hunter" Smoker.
(End of Chapter)
⭐ Enjoying the story?
You can read ahead and support the translations by joining my Patreon!
Your support helps me update faster and take on more projects. Thank you for reading!
The story has been completed on Patreon! patreon.com/AminaSim
Next Bonus Chapter at 5800 powerstones.