...…
Over a vast, boundless blue sea, the Kuja Pirates' ship was setting sail, heading toward Amazon Lily deep within the Calm Belt.
On the deck, Luffy—who had just gone through a major ruckus—was lying sprawled out flat on his back to rest. The bandages wrapped around his body were seeping blood.
Jinbe and Rayleigh stood guard on either side of him, both watching over him and protecting him.
However, the three of them were not alone at the moment.
They were surrounded in layers upon layers by the female warriors of the Kuja Pirates and the citizens of the Women Kingdom.
These women—who had almost never left the Calm Belt and had lived their entire lives in an all-female nation—were filled with an incredibly intense curiosity toward men.
Right now, they were chattering away noisily. Some even cautiously reached out to gently tug at Luffy's rubbery skin or pinch Jinbe's thick, blue skin that was so different from human.
Others curiously examined Rayleigh's face—wrinkled yet still showing traces of his former handsome features—and his silver-white hair.
To them, these three living, breathing men of different types were rarer "creatures" than Sea Kings.
"Mam-ma-ma-ma~ Shakky, Gloriosa,"
Big Mom Charlotte Linlin watched this amusing scene with immense curiosity on her massive face. She turned to ask the two former empresses.
"Is your Amazon Lily really all women? Have they truly never seen a man from childhood to adulthood?!"
"Pretty much something like that."
Shakky elegantly blew out a smoke ring and answered with a smile: "At least when I was on the island, aside from pictures and books, I had never seen a living man.
Gloriosa and I both had to find ways to escape—otherwise, we might have been trapped on that island our whole lives and never…"
She spoke while gently glancing at Rayleigh beside her: "…met the person destined for us."
Gloriosa expressed it even more directly through action. As she spoke, she hugged Roger even tighter, her hands restlessly roaming over his solid chest:
"Exactly! If we didn't get out, how could we have met my Roger~"
Her actions made Roger break out in goosebumps. His face full of embarrassment, he tried to push Gloriosa away, but the more he resisted, the tighter she clung.
Roger truly had no way to deal with this woman in his arms—he couldn't possibly get rough with her—so he could only stiffen his body and let her "grope" freely.
"Gloriosa was the empress from several generations ago; I was from the one before last,"
Shakky continued explaining. Compared to the "intense" scene on Gloriosa's side, the picture of her leaning on Rayleigh's shoulder while holding little Shanks in her arms was especially warm and harmonious—like a picture-perfect happy family of three.
"That country may be peaceful, but it really is too stifling. After all, the world is so big—who wouldn't want to come out and see it with their own eyes?"
"Hahahaha!"
Golden Lion Shiki burst into laughter upon hearing that Amazon Lily really was an isolated Women Kingdom cut off from the world.
His youthful, untamed nature instantly sparked some crooked ideas, and a knowing male grin spread across his face.
"Gloriosa, Shakky! If you get the chance, take me to your country to have a look too, yeah? I'm still a bachelor even now!"
Shakky glanced at Shiki upon hearing this. The corner of her mouth curved into a half-smile, her tone calm yet carrying a warning:
"Sure. As long as you're not afraid of being turned into a porcupine by the island's warriors shooting arrows coated in Haki, feel free to try?"
Golden Lion immediately pictured himself being riddled with arrows and turned into a hedgehog. He shivered involuntarily, awkwardly rubbed his nose, and didn't dare bring it up again.
"Hahahaha! Shakky, that comparison is spot on!"
Roger heard Shakky's words and seemed to recall something. He deliberately glanced at Rocks beside him before bursting into hearty laughter.
"Hey, hey, hey—why are you suddenly using me as the example?!"
Rocks shrugged with feigned grievance.
He remembered that Roger had once teased him as a "porcupine" back in Shakky's bar, and somehow Shakky had remembered it and was now using it here.
Thanks to this little interlude and joke, the atmosphere in God Valley lightened up and became cheerful and lively—of course, this was limited to the pirates' side.
The mood on the Marines' and God's Knights' side remained heavy and oppressive, like the sea before a storm.
"Hey, Garp,"
Zephyr lightly elbowed Garp, lowering his voice while glancing toward Luffy's figure on the light curtain.
"That guy up there… is really your grandson?! How did he end up becoming a pirate? And Dragon—that kid, how did he…"
When mentioning Revolutionary Army leader Dragon, Zephyr lowered his voice even further, afraid that Saint Saturn not far away might hear.
"Yeah, Garp, what the hell is going on? How did Dragon… And this Straw Hat Luffy—is he really your grandson?"
Tsuru and Sengoku nearby also cast inquiring looks. They had missed the earlier light curtain content and were deeply confused by these complicated relationships.
"Ugh… you guys, can you stop bringing up the one thing I don't want to talk about?!"
Hearing his three friends' barrage of questions, Garp—who had just been smiling a little from the pirates' joking—saw his face instantly fall, turning extremely gloomy.
He had been able to laugh earlier, but now he couldn't smile at all.
"Wherever that kid Dragon is, I need to have a serious talk with him. His old man's in the Navy, and he runs off to become some Revolutionary Army leader?"
Zephyr saw Garp's awkward expression and immediately wanted to give Dragon a lecture as his uncle, but before he could finish, a soft, low voice came from nearby…
"Uncle Zephyr… I'm right here."
When he heard Dragon's voice, Zephyr whipped around. Sengoku and Tsuru also turned.
Their faces were filled with shock because they saw Dragon wrapped up like a mummy.
"What happened to you, Dragon?!"
Seeing his nephew injured, Zephyr took advantage of no one paying attention and rushed over to ask about the situation…
Dragon was currently covered head to toe in bandages—looking even worse off than his son on the light curtain.
[The light curtain footage continues playing]
On the Kuja ship, old Rayleigh looked at the two clear numbers tattooed on Luffy's arm.
"3D" and "2Y." He then looked up at the clear, washed-blue sky, a knowing and relieved smile appearing on his face.
"Your crewmates… will definitely understand the message you want to convey." He stated with certainty.
Just as Rayleigh had predicted, when the scattered Straw Hat crew members around the world learned—through various channels—that Luffy had once again gone back to Marineford…
and rung the bell sixteen times, their first reactions were all overwhelming shock and worry.
But when they carefully looked at the close-up shot in the news report showing the tattoo on Luffy's arm, everyone instantly understood their captain's intention.
They nodded in unison, their eyes turning resolute.
This was the captain's way of sending them a new assembly order and time.
At the same time, with Whitebeard's fall, the balance of the Four Emperors that had been maintained in the New World for many years was completely shattered.
The power vacuum triggered massive upheaval. Countless ambitious pirate crews began rampaging wildly, fighting for territory and expanding their forces…
All of them wanted to become the new Emperors of the Sea. The entire New World descended into a storm of blood and chaos.
The view switched to the Blackbeard Pirates. They were currently on an unknown island that was blazing fiercely, gathered around a bonfire, drinking and laughing.
Surprisingly, after escaping from Marineford, they had still not entered the New World.
This also gave Blackbeard Teach quite a headache. The reason was simple—they no longer had a suitable pirate ship!
With more crew members joining, the tattered warship they had stolen from Impel Down was no longer usable.
However, Teach's face showed little anxiety because he held an important bargaining chip in his hand.
One he believed was enough to blackmail the Navy into obediently handing over a brand-new warship!
"Damn it! Let me go!!"
An angry female voice rang out. One of the Supernovas, Jewelry Bonney, had unfortunately fallen into the hands of the Blackbeard Pirates.
She was tightly bound and struggling fiercely while hurling every curse she could think of at Blackbeard and his crew.
Teach tore off a large bite of meat, grinning ferociously as he walked up to Bonney. His rough fingers lewdly reached toward her cheek, even spouting arrogant nonsense about making Bonney his woman.
However, her response was a full-force kick that sent him staggering back several steps, drawing roaring laughter from Burgess and the others.
Outside the light curtain, the moment Bonney appeared, the still-young Bartholomew Kuma and Ginny—though still children—felt their hearts inexplicably tighten for some reason.
An indescribable palpitation and sense of familiarity swept through them, leaving both somewhat puzzled.
"Hey! Kuma, Ginny! Have you noticed that this woman named Bonney looks a lot like Ginny!"
The also-young Emporio Ivankov, with sharp observation, pointed at Bonney on the light curtain and shouted.
Upon hearing this, Kuma looked even more closely at Bonney and indeed noticed that the woman enduring pain had strikingly similar features between her brows to the Ginny beside him.
Yet even stronger was an inexplicable heartache. Seeing Bonney bound and humiliated made Kuma feel as if his heart was being tightly gripped by something—suffocating sorrow nearly overwhelming him.
This resonance was still vague at the moment, yet it had quietly taken root.
"Rocks, your son really grows up to be a total bastard!"
Golden Lion Shiki looked at Blackbeard's vile expression and commented without any courtesy.
Though such behavior wasn't uncommon in the pirate world, he just found Blackbeard particularly repulsive…
There was no special reason—just pure, instinctive disgust.
Rocks looked at the still-innocent young Teach in Eris's arms with a complex gaze. A certain resolve in his heart grew even firmer.
He silently vowed to properly educate this child and absolutely prevent him from growing into the despicable bastard shown on the light curtain.
[View returns to the light curtain footage]
"Captain, on the sea… a warship is approaching."
The Blackbeard Pirates' sniper Van Augur held up his telescope and calmly reported.
However, when he clearly saw the figure standing at the bow, even this usually composed man instantly became extremely grave.
"It looks like the Navy has no intention of 'delivering' us a ship…"
Van Augur's voice carried a hint of tension. "The one coming is… Akainu Sakazuki!"
The name Sakazuki was like a massive stone dropped into still water.
The entire Blackbeard Pirates instantly entered maximum alert. Everyone gripped their weapons tightly, as if facing a formidable enemy.
Blackbeard Teach spat viciously, his face full of unwillingness.
He knew this was not yet the time to clash head-on with this top combat power of the Navy.
"Retreat!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Teach decisively ordered. He led the entire crew in swiftly fleeing the burning island, leaving the bound Bonney behind.
After the Blackbeard crew escaped, Sakazuki stepped onto the island atop molten lava.
He walked straight to the bound Bonney and looked down at her from above.
Surprisingly, he did not act immediately. Instead, in a tone devoid of emotion, he said something seemingly out of nowhere: "To be honest… seeing that you escaped, I really broke out in a cold sweat…"
These words sounded like a complaint, yet more like muttering to himself. The deep meaning behind them was utterly baffling!
...…