The ship had not been sailing for long when the cry of a News Coo echoed from high above.
A moment later, two newspapers came fluttering down from the sky.
Before either could be carried away by the sea breeze, Shiki casually raised one hand. An invisible force caught both newspapers in midair and drew them neatly into his grasp.
"Oh? Two of them?" Nami remarked as she steadied the ship.
The sight of a newspaper never failed to catch her attention. News from around the world was important, but bounty updates were even more so.
Vivi and Robin approached as Shiki unfolded the first paper.
Neither woman seemed particularly concerned about keeping her distance. Vivi leaned closer from one side while Robin calmly moved beside him from the other, their faint, distinctive fragrances drifting around him.
Shiki lowered his gaze for a moment.
With both women leaning in to read, the soft warmth pressing against his chest was rather difficult to ignore.
Neither Vivi nor Robin appeared to notice—or perhaps they simply did not care.
Shiki said nothing and returned his attention to the newspaper.
Nami abandoned the helm for a moment and hurried over as well.
"What does it say?"
The front page showed the image of a young pirate wearing a straw hat.
He was grinning broadly at the camera, the scar beneath his left eye clearly visible. Beneath the picture was an enormous bounty and a headline describing the Straw Hat Pirates' recent actions.
Shiki's eyes narrowed slightly.
Monkey D. Luffy.
Nami studied Luffy's photograph.
"This boy has a huge bounty. And it says he came from the same sea as us, Shiki."
Vivi tilted her head as she studied the cheerful face on the page.
"He looks rather cheerful for someone the World Government considers so dangerous."
Robin's eyes rested on the initial in his name.
"Monkey D. Luffy…"
Her smile became thoughtful.
"Another person carrying the letter D."
Shiki, however, was focused on something else.
So that was why he had not seen Franky in Water 7.
At the time, Shiki had assumed the cyborg had simply left the city to deal with some matter of his own. However, after spending several months on Skypiea, it seemed the Straw Hat Pirates had already passed through Water 7 before Shiki and his crew arrived.
That explained Franky's absence.
Still, one thing was strange.
Luffy had apparently never visited the sky island.
That was different from the story Shiki remembered.
In the original course of events, Skypiea had been one of the Straw Hat Pirates' most important adventures. Yet in this world, their route appeared to have changed.
Perhaps his own actions had already caused more alterations than he realized.
Shiki gave the matter only a passing thought before dismissing it.
There was little point in obsessing over every difference. This world was no longer following the exact path he remembered, and expecting everything to remain unchanged would be foolish.
"Shiki, look at this."
Robin's voice pulled his attention toward the second newspaper.
Her usual faint smile had disappeared.
That alone was enough to tell him the contents were serious.
Shiki unfolded the paper.
The headline printed across the front page was large enough to dominate nearly the entire page.
PORTGAS D. ACE CAPTURED
Beneath it was a photograph.
Ace was lying defeated on the ground, his body covered in frost and injuries. Standing over him was Admiral Aokiji, his expression hidden beneath the shadow cast across his face.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Even Nami forgot about the new bounty poster in her hands.
Vivi stared at the headline in disbelief. "Portgas D. Ace… He's the commander of Whitebeard's Second Division, isn't he?"
"Yes," Robin answered quietly. "And he is not simply one of Whitebeard's subordinates."
Her eyes remained fixed on the photograph.
"Whitebeard considers every member of his crew his family."
Nami slowly lowered the newspaper. "Then the Navy hasn't just captured an ordinary pirate."
"No," Robin said. "They have taken one of Whitebeard's sons."
The wind swept across the deck, rustling the newspaper in Shiki's hands.
Interesting.
Even after my arrival, certain events still happen regardless.
Shiki's eyes narrowed slightly.
He had already killed Blackbeard.
Teach had been the one responsible for capturing Ace in the original story and handing him over to the World Government. With Blackbeard dead, Shiki had assumed Ace would avoid that fate.
It seemed that had been a careless assumption.
Even without Teach, Ace had still fallen into the Navy's hands.
However, after thinking about it, Shiki could understand how it had happened.
Sengoku had once admitted that the World Government had suspected Ace's true identity for quite some time. Blackbeard had merely given them the opportunity they needed to capture him and confirm their suspicions.
If the Navy was already watching Ace, then Teach's absence would not necessarily save him.
It only meant someone else had to create the opportunity.
This time, that person had been Aokiji.
Robin folded her arms beneath her chest, her expression unusually solemn.
"If the Navy intends to execute him publicly, the consequences will spread far beyond a single pirate crew."
Vivi looked toward her. "You think Whitebeard will attack?"
"I doubt he would ever abandon one of his men," Robin replied. "Especially not a division commander."
Nami frowned. "But attacking the Navy directly would mean going against the entire World Government."
"That is precisely why this is so dangerous," Robin said. "The Navy would not announce Ace's capture so openly unless they were prepared for Whitebeard's response."
Her gaze returned to the enormous headline.
"This may be an invitation."
"An invitation?" Vivi repeated.
"A challenge would be more accurate," Robin clarified. "The Navy may be trying to draw Whitebeard onto a battlefield of their choosing."
Vivi's expression turned complicated.
"If Whitebeard moves, the Navy will gather everything it has," she said. "The Admirals, the Vice Admirals, the Warlords… They may even summon forces from across the world."
"And once the fighting begins," Robin added, "other pirates will not remain silent. Some will try to help Whitebeard. Others will take advantage of the chaos."
Nami's face grew increasingly uneasy.
"So while the Navy and Whitebeard are fighting, every ambitious pirate in the world will start moving?"
Robin gave a slight nod.
"Territories will likely be attacked. Trade routes may collapse, and even kingdoms protected by either side could be dragged into the conflict. Places far from the battlefield may still suffer."
Robin then glanced toward Shiki, who had remained silent throughout their entire discussion.
"Captain… You've been awfully quiet."
Shiki rested one arm against the side of his chair.
"What do you want me to say?"
"Anything would be better than sitting there with that adorable smile on your face."
Only then did Vivi and Nami notice the faint grin on his face, though neither of them seemed able to see the strange charm in it that Robin apparently did.
It was the expression Shiki wore whenever he sensed something enormous approaching.
Vivi looked at him carefully.
"Shiki-san, do you believe there will truly be a war?"
"Of course."
His answer came without hesitation.
"You sound very certain." Nami folded her arms and stepped closer, squinting her eyes as she looked him up and down.
Shiki pointed toward Ace's photograph.
"That man isn't merely a division commander."
Robin's eyes narrowed slightly.
There was something in Shiki's tone that suggested he knew far more than the article revealed.
Shiki did not explain further.
The World Government had captured Gol D. Roger's son.
They would never quietly place Ace inside an ordinary prison and allow the matter to end there. His bloodline made him too valuable as a symbol.
Sooner or later, they would announce a public execution and when that happened, Edward Newgate would come.
No matter how old or ill Whitebeard had become, he would never allow one of his sons to die without a fight.
The Summit War would still happen.
Blackbeard's absence had changed the road leading toward it, but the destination remained the same.
Shiki's grin slowly widened.
Fate was an interesting thing.
Even after one piece was removed from the board, the world simply replaced it with another and continued moving.
Nami's eyebrow twitched.
"Why do you always act mysterious at the worst possible moment?"
"Because your reactions are entertaining."
"You—!"
Before Nami could continue, Vivi gently touched her arm.
"Nami-san, perhaps we should focus on what this means for us."
Nami exhaled sharply before looking back at the newspaper.
"We're not part of Whitebeard's crew, and we're not with the Navy. As long as we stay away from their battlefield, this should have nothing to do with us."
Robin's eyes shifted toward Shiki.
"That depends on what our captain decides."
Nami froze.
The color slowly drained from her face as she turned toward Shiki again.
"No."
Shiki raised an eyebrow, clearly amused by her reaction.
"I haven't even said anything."
"You don't need to! I know that expression!"
"What expression?"
"The one that says, 'Something dangerous is happening, so naturally I should go directly toward it.'"
Vivi gave a helpless smile.
"That does sound somewhat like Shiki-san."
Robin covered her mouth, quietly amused.
"Ara. It seems Nami understands our captain rather well."
"I understand that he has no sense of danger!"
Shiki laughed.
"Hahahaha! Danger?"
He rose from his chair, and golden light flickered within his eyes.
The world was already preparing to gather its greatest monsters onto one battlefield.
Shiki had no obligation to save Ace.
He had never met him, and Ace's connection to Luffy meant little to him personally.
Yet a war between the Navy and Whitebeard was not something he could simply ignore when such a battle promised to be entertaining.
Shiki walked toward the bow of the ship, his striped coat fluttering behind him.
Nami watched him suspiciously, silently praying that they would not have to sail into such a dangerous place.
Although her Devil Fruit had given her far greater confidence in her own strength, her cautious nature had not disappeared. If trouble could be avoided, she would still prefer to avoid it.
"Captain…"
Nami hesitated before asking the question.
"Where are we going?"
Shiki looked toward the endless sea ahead.
"For now, we continue on our current course. As for whether we'll join that battlefield… we can decide after we reach our destination."
...
On the Grand Line, the Sabaody Archipelago held a position of immense importance.
Located directly before the Red Line, it was the final major destination pirates had to reach before entering the New World. Anyone following the usual route through the first half of the Grand Line would eventually arrive there.
Because of that, Sabaody attracted pirates from every corner of the sea.
Those who managed to reach the archipelago were rarely weak. Many carried bounties worth tens or even hundreds of millions of berries, and among such monsters, a pirate with a bounty below one hundred million could hardly attract any attention.
The archipelago's unique location drew not only pirates, but also bounty hunters, merchants, nobles, criminals, and countless powerful figures from across the world.
Among the pirates currently gathered there, the most famous were the eleven rookies whose bounties had each surpassed one hundred million berries.
The Eleven Supernovas.
As Shiki stood at the bow of the ship, an amusing thought crossed his mind.
Would he be counted among them this time?
Considering the bounty on his head, he certainly met the requirement.
Then again, if he was added to the list, they would no longer be the Eleven Supernovas.
"I have heard that Sabaody is incredibly beautiful."
Nami leaned against the railing and gazed toward the distant horizon, already imagining everything awaiting them once they arrived.
"There must be all kinds of shops there. Clothes, jewelry, rare goods from other islands…" Her eyes gleamed as she began counting the possibilities on her fingers. "And with so many people passing through, there should be food from places we've never even heard of."
"Nami-san is right. I've heard that people from all over the world gather at Sabaody," Vivi said with growing excitement. "They should sell local specialties from many different islands."
She paused, then her eyes brightened.
"Do you think we might see mermaids there too?"
"Mermaids?" Nami repeated.
Vivi nodded eagerly. "Sabaody is close to Fish-Man Island, isn't it? There may be mermaids visiting the archipelago."
Unlike the two of them, Robin remained silent.
She stood beside the mast, her eyes resting on Shiki rather than the horizon.
Shiki noticed her gaze and gave a small shrug.
Robin understood that Sabaody was not merely a beautiful tourist destination.
Its colorful bubbles and bustling streets concealed a far darker side.
It was a place where pirates, human traffickers, bounty hunters, and criminals gathered openly. People could be kidnapped and sold as slaves without anyone daring to interfere.
More importantly, it was one of the few places where they could unexpectedly come face-to-face with some of the most dangerous and untouchable people in the world.
The Celestial Dragons.
The World Nobles considered themselves gods, standing above every ordinary person. Offending even one of them could result in a Navy Admiral being dispatched without delay.
With Shiki's personality, Robin could already imagine how badly things might end if they encountered one.
After their long voyage, the ship finally reached the Sabaody Archipelago.
The moment they entered the harbor, Nami hurried toward the side of the deck and stared at the island before them.
"So this is Sabaody…"
Countless transparent bubbles drifted through the air, reflecting the sunlight as they floated between the enormous trees.
"It's beautiful!"
The bubbles were one of the archipelago's most distinctive sights. They emerged from the resin produced by the colossal mangrove trees, rising gently into the sky before bursting when they drifted beyond the island's unique climate.
Even Vivi stared in wonder.
"There are bubbles everywhere…"
Robin opened the book she had been carrying and calmly began explaining.
"Strictly speaking, Sabaody isn't an ordinary island."
Nami looked back at her. "How so?"
"The entire archipelago is formed by the roots of seventy-nine Yarukiman Mangroves," Robin explained. "Each tree is large enough to support an entire town, so the archipelago is divided into separate areas known as groves."
She turned one of the pages.
"Every grove is identified by the number of the mangrove growing there, from Grove One to Grove Seventy-Nine."
Vivi looked toward the enormous trees towering above them.
"So the entire archipelago is growing on their roots…"
"That's right," Robin said. "The bubbles are created from the resin secreted by the mangroves."
Nami listened for a moment before closing the book in Robin's hands.
"Very interesting, but we can learn the rest later."
Robin looked down at the now-closed book and smiled faintly.
Nami placed her hands on her hips and surveyed the busy harbor.
"First, we need to find somewhere to stay. After that, we can look around the island."
She had only taken a few steps toward the gangplank when Vivi caught hold of one of her arms.
Robin calmly took hold of the other.
Nami blinked and looked between them.
"What are you doing?"
"This time, we should remain together," Vivi said.
Robin nodded.
"It would be unwise to wander around Sabaody alone."
Nami frowned. "I wasn't planning to go far."
"That is not the only concern," Robin replied, glancing toward Shiki. "It would be safer if all of us stayed close to Captain."
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