East Blue.
On a small, nameless island, the night sky was dyed a deep, bruised crimson by the raging fires consuming a village.
The air was filled with a discordant symphony of weeping, screams of agony, and the cruel, manic laughter of predators.
This was the Great Pirate Era—a scene that could be found anywhere, at any time.
It wasn't just villages on isolated islands; even affiliated nations frequently fell prey to pirate raids.
Years ago, a single sentence from Gol D. Roger had forged a brand-new era. For the common people, however, it was an era of unending misery.
The Great Pirate Era.
Regardless of Roger's true intentions, the result was undeniable: innocent people were suffering, and many were dying.
At that moment, a Marine warship was slowly approaching the island.
The towering flames were visible from miles away. To prevent the pirates from escaping, the crew had extinguished all lights on the ship, using the cover of darkness to close in.
On the deck, dozens of Marines stood fully armed, their eyes bloodshot with rage. They were itching to leap ashore and send every single one of those damned pirates to hell.
"Captain, pirate ship location confirmed. Two o'clock, two hundred meters."
"Calibrate the cannons. Sink it!"
Lucci gave the order, his voice devoid of emotion.
This was standard operating procedure. He had no intention of letting anyone slip away while he was busy wiping out the pirates on land.
"Cannons calibrated!"
"Fire!"
"Yes, sir!"
'Boom! Boom! Boom!'
The Marines were well-trained, and since the target was stationary and at close range, the first volley scored a direct hit.
Then came the second wave... and the third.
As the ship drew closer, the accuracy improved. After taking seven direct hits, the pirate ship was severely damaged, its main mast snapped in two.
"Cease fire. Bring us to shore!"
"Yes, Captain!"
The commotion was far too loud for the pirates looting the village to ignore. They quickly gathered around their captain.
"Captain! It's the Marine! They've sunk our ship! What do we do?"
"What's there to fear? Don't you know what the Marines in the East Blue are like? That ship was a piece of junk anyway. Why not take this opportunity to trade it in for a proper Marine warship?"
"Captain, that's a brilliant idea!"
The pirates erupted in excitement.
To be honest, they might have been worried while at sea—after all, no ordinary pirate ship could compete with a Marine warship in terms of performance or firepower.
But once they hit land...
The Marine didn't mean a thing!
"Enough. Leave a few men to guard the loot and the women. The rest of you follow me to the woods in front of the village. It's the only way the Marine can get in."
"Yes, Captain!"
'''
At the simple harbor, fully armed Marines began disembarking from the warship.
Among them were Luffy and Ace, brought along by Lucci.
Throughout the journey, the two had attempted to escape numerous times. However, Lucci had caught them every single time, leaving them beaten and bruised. They hadn't made any progress.
Looking at Luffy's expression, it was clear the kid was already plotting his next escape attempt.
Ace, however, remained quiet, staring toward the horizon where the flames reached for the sky, his thoughts unknown.
"Captain, all personnel are present!"
"Everyone, enter the woods in combat formation. Advance and search!"
"Captain..."
A Lieutenant beside him hesitated. Shouldn't they be rushing toward the village at full speed?
Before he could speak, Lucci held up his right hand, silencing him.
"We fired three volleys of cannons. There's no way the pirates didn't notice. Yet, they haven't made a move. They're likely lying in ambush in the woods."
"Yes, sir!"
Quickly, the dozens of Marines shifted into a combat formation. With rifles raised and aimed in various directions, they slowly entered the forest.
Lucci followed behind, bringing Ace and Luffy with him.
They hadn't been in the woods for long when the attack hit.
"Marines! Die!"
'Bang! Bang! Bang!'
Several pirates suddenly leaped from the surrounding trees, blades drawn, launching a surprise attack.
The only response they received was three precise, unwavering gunshots.
Until the moment they died, the three pirates couldn't fathom why this was happening. Based on their experience, the Marines should have panicked or scattered in terror the moment they were ambushed.
But there was no panic. Not a single soldier flinched.
Aside from the three who fired, the other Marines didn't even glance their way, as if the attack were completely insignificant.
'Which East Blue branch is this? How can they be this elite?'
Unfortunately, they would never get an answer. As their life faded, their consciousness dissolved into nothingness.
In the next instant, more pirates appeared. Some leaped from the trees like the first group, while others charged out from the thick underbrush. There were about forty of them—roughly equal in number to the Marine squad.
Unfortunately for them, they weren't facing the typical East Blue recruits. They were facing Marines from Headquarters.
More importantly, the men Sean had brought from Headquarters weren't ordinary soldiers. Every single one of them was either a Headquarters elite or a graduate of the Elite Training Camp.
Combined with their recent training and the strength-boosting properties of the Sea King jerky provided by Sean, their combat capabilities had leaped to a new level.
Against these third-rate pirates, each Marine possessed the strength to take on ten men alone.
In less than a minute, the gunfire stopped, and silence returned to the woods.
The ground was littered with pirates lying in pools of blood.
Witnessing this overwhelming disparity in power, the pirate captain, hiding in the rear, nearly pissed himself in terror. He immediately turned and bolted toward the village.
'I can't win! There's no way I can win!'
'These aren't East Blue Marines... could they be from Headquarters?'
'The only way out is to use the women in the village as hostages! I'll force the Marine to give me a way out!'
The captain sprinted frantically, hoping the dense forest would provide enough cover to keep the Marines from shooting him.
But could he really escape?
He had forgotten that behind the two Marine squads stood a monster that defied all standards.
In the next heartbeat, Lucci vanished, utilizing a series of Soru bursts to appear instantly in front of the fleeing captain. Without a word, he drove a Shigan straight through the man's heart.
"Continue advancing!"
"Yes, Captain!"
Lucci glanced back at the two boys. "See that, brats? That is the fate of a pirate."
Lucci looked at Luffy, his expression cold and vacant.
"Why did you kill them? With your strength, capturing them all would have been effortless."
"Why?" Lucci replied. "Just wait until we enter the village. I wonder if you'll still be asking that then."
With that, Lucci led the two of them forward.
With the pirates cleared out, the group quickly made their way through the woods and reached the entrance of the village.
What greeted them was a gruesome sight: countless bodies lying in pools of blood, mirroring the scene they had encountered in the forest. But there was a haunting difference here—the casualties were far greater, and none of them were pirates. They were all innocent villagers.
"Marines! Stay back, or I'll kill them!"
Shortly after the Marines stepped into the village, several pirates emerged. They weren't alone; they had several young women with them. The pirates held blades to the women's throats, their faces twisted in terror.