In the Sabaody Archipelago, once a paradise for criminals, pirates, and arrogant nobles who strutted around like they owned the world, something had changed.
Its streets"formerly filled with suspicious glances and whispered threats"were now alive with laughter, food stalls, and tourists taking selfies with giant floating bubbles in the background.
The reason? Two giants of order had planted their bases on opposite ends of the archipelago: the Marines and the Bounty Hunters Guild.
When Marineford was relocated to the New World, many thought Sabaody would descend into chaos. But the Marines had no intention of giving up territory. They built a bigger, more modern base on one side of the archipelago. The Guild, not wanting to fall behind"or "miss out on business""set up their headquarters on the other side.
The result? Pirates, bandits, and petty thieves were caught between a sword and… another sword. Any disturbance was crushed within minutes. Even the most notorious pirates preferred to keep a low profile. And not just because of the surveillance.
The Marine base had a vice admiral stationed there"one who had recently risen to fame and proved he had the power to back it up.
And over at the Guild's base lived an old man famous for once punching Kaido and sending him flying like a carnival balloon. Oh, and Fairy Tail members were frequent guests. Their base was conveniently close to the entrance to the New World"or so people believed.
The truth was a little more mysterious: they were there under secret orders from a certain admiral with big plans for the future.
Meanwhile, in the center of the archipelago, a young man with green hair, three swords at his side, and a cloak with the word "JUSTICE" on the back was walking around with an irritated expression.
His face, serious enough to make you think someone owed him money, was marked by a scar over one eye. And when people saw the rank on his shoulder, they gulped:
Vice Admiral.
It was Roronoa Zoro.
Everyone knew who he was. A few months ago, he had faced the legendary Golden Lion Shiki. The battle had been brutal, but Zoro emerged victorious… with one less eye, but with a reputation that was skyrocketing.
He was already considered one of the top ten swordsmen in the world, and many claimed it was only a matter of time before he caught up with Hawkeye himself.
The craziest part? He was only 21. And, as many remembered, the current Admiral Shironeko had also been an unstoppable prodigy in her youth. She was the one who personally recruited Zoro.
"She got lost again…" Zoro grumbled under his breath.
Of course, anyone who knew him was aware that he was the one who was lost. Again.
Buruburuburu... Gacha!
"What?" he answered, picking up the Den Den Mushi with the patience of a boulder.
"ZORO?! Where the hell are you?! You were supposed to go to the Sabaody base!" a woman's voice shouted from the other side.
"I'm heading there now," he replied confidently.
"Oh yeah? Is anyone around you right now?"
"Yeah... Hey, you! Come here," Zoro waved at a random civilian. The man approached, eyes full of fear.
"Hello, kind citizen," said the voice through the snail. "My slave here can be a bit… special. Could you tell us where exactly he's standing?"
"Uh… we're in the shopping center. Middle of the island…" the man said, sweating bullets.
"I knew it! You idiot, Zoro! We told you to follow the sun! What, did you fall on your head as a kid?" Kara's mocking voice echoed from the snail.
"I am following the sun!" Zoro growled, looking up proudly.
A second later, the "sun" exploded in a rainbow of colors.
It wasn't the sun. It was a giant bubble covered in paint.
"That was a bubble, wasn't it?" Kara asked, barely holding back her laughter.
"No." Zoro lied with the shameless dignity of a professional liar.
"Citizen?"
"Y-yeah… it was," the poor man whispered before running away, terrified of Zoro's killer glare.
"You're so dumb I don't even know how you're still a vice admiral. You're a slave to the wrong direction. If you weren't so strong I'd"Gacha!"
Zoro hung up with a scowl and started walking again, this time actually looking at the real sun.
Many in the archipelago say that the Marine base was built where the sun sets, and the Guild base where it rises"just to help Zoro find his way around the island.
Even so… he always gets lost.
...…
Meanwhile, on the Sunny Go…
The scene was so peaceful it was borderline depressing. The Straw Hats, infamous for causing chaos on every island they set foot on, were simply sitting around. Yes"no explosions, no yelling, no enemies flying through the air. Nothing.
"This is boring…" said Luffy, lying on his back on the ship's deck, lazily swinging one leg. "I thought we'd get into more fights before setting sail…"
"Fights!? With who now?! The Marines?! Did you already forget we're supposed to be their spies?!" Nami shouted, the vein on her forehead about to burst.
"If you keep yelling like that, we'll be the most useless spies in the Grand Line!" whispered Rab, covering his face. He now wore a medical coat similar to Chopper's, along with a little backpack that read "Dr. Frog." It was his symbolic farewell to his study buddy… though it wouldn't last: his frog hat was already packed and ready for when he got off the ship.
"I… was deceived…" murmured Sanji, sprawled on the floor, soaked in blood (from his nose), eyes spinning.
"Again?" asked Gin, scratching his head.
"Miss Kara… said she'd send me to a paradise full of women… And I ended up on an island full of sumo wrestlers! With mustaches! MUSTACHES!" Sanji wailed, shedding existential tears. "Never again… will I trust…"
"You begged to go!" growled Gin, already regretting reuniting with this group of lunatics.
"Gin, let me see those shiny tonfas!" exclaimed Nami, walking over with starry eyes. Sanji saw her and immediately erupted into another geyser of blood that sprayed even the sails. Rab rushed over like it was standard medical protocol.
Gin sighed and slowly pulled the tonfas from his back. They gleamed like they'd just been pulled from buried treasure.
"Is this… is this pure gold!?" Nami shouted, hyperventilating.
"Technically, it's an adamantine alloy. The gold's just on the surface to add weight. That way I can use smaller tonfas that are still as lethal as"" Never mind," Gin said, realizing Nami was already caressing the weapons like gold bars from a vault.
"AWESOME, FRANKY! DO IT AGAIIIN!" shouted Usopp, running in circles around the new Franky"a square metal colossus with shoulders big enough to land a plane on.
Franky changed his hairstyle by pinching his nose, which made Usopp and Luffy jump up and down like kids in front of a cotton candy machine. Rab resisted… for three seconds, before diving in to play with them.
"Good to see they haven't changed," said Robin, smiling warmly.
"ROOOOOCK!" a voice shouted from the sky.
Everyone looked up. Brook descended with an electric guitar slung around his neck, wearing a star-covered jacket, sunglasses, and a neon pink scarf.
"How are my precious nakamas?" he asked, playing a note so loud it knocked seagulls out of the sky.
"'Bout time, you bony rockstar!" said Franky. "We were waiting for ya!"
"Sorry I'm late, had to say goodbye to my band. The last concert was fire! Oh, and Luffy"Uta says hi. She said now that she's a Marine again, she'll catch you easy."
"Shishishi, I'd like to see that!" said Luffy, suddenly springing up with his fists ready for action.
"Alright, then let's set sa"" Nami began, but a tremendous roar cut her off.
BOOOOM!
A slashing wave tore across the island from the center, slicing trees like toothpicks.
"What was that?" asked Nami, her eyes wide as plates.
"That cutting style feels familiar…" Luffy said, a dangerous grin forming.
The Observation Haki users tensed instantly. Robin narrowed her eyes.
"This smells like a good fight…"
"No, no, no! Luffy, no! We can go straight to Fishman Island without burning anything along the way! Just this once!" Nami screamed in desperation.
Another slash tore through the sky"literally! A cloud was sliced in two like it was made of paper.
"That's it"we're checking it out!" Luffy yelled, already leaping off the ship like it was a trampoline.
"I'm going too!" shouted Gin, chasing after him.
"Seriously!? We could've left without angering half the World Government!" screamed Nami, pulling her hair as the others began to jump down as well.
"Just accept it. It's Luffy," said Rab, climbing up on Franky's shoulders like a frog king.
"Hey! This ain't a taxi! SUPER service comes with SUPER fees!" Franky complained, firing his jets to launch the group down to the island.
"I just hope it's not another serial killer looking for pirate heads…" Robin murmured with poetic calm.
"DON'T SAY THAT!" Usopp shouted, already packing his first-aid kit and a sign that read "Just passing through!"