"Great Eruption!"

A cylindrical wave of sword energy shot forward, colliding mid-air above the sea surface with a returning laser beam.

Boom!

The ocean surface erupted, sending towering waves surging in all directions.

"We're leaving."

The Big Mom Pirates slowly withdrew. The most important thing now was to claim the spoils of victory.

...

On the other side of the former Nomilo Island.

Steam Pirates.

Just as they were preparing to leave, Knock suddenly saw a beam of laser shoot out from Charlotte Linlin's side.

Upon sensing with Observation Haki, he immediately understood:

"The Navy..."

His eyes narrowed slightly, lost in thought.

Suddenly, steam compressed and gathered between his hands, forming a three-meter-long white spear.

With a flick of his wrist, it whooshed forward with a sharp sound, flying straight at the warship where Sengoku stood.

"Let's go."

His subordinates immediately responded:

"Yes!"

The fleet slowly sailed away.

...

On the warship.

Sengoku snorted coldly:

"One after another..."

"All showing off their power, huh."

He turned to Kuzan and Borsalino and said:

"You two, try stopping it."

"Feel the difference for yourselves."

"Knock is a pirate who has pushed a Logia fruit to its limit."

"You two are Logia users as well—experience it."

Kuzan rarely looked serious, while Borsalino maintained his usual indifferent expression.

Kuzan stepped forward, took a deep breath, and brought his hands together.

As the steam spear closed in—still nearly a kilometer away—he compressed and gathered cold air between his palms.

"Frozen Time Capsule!"

A stream of freezing air shot out, freezing several-meter-thick ice spikes in mid-air along its path. One second later—

A few hundred meters away from the warship, the ice stream collided head-on with the steam spear.

The cold instantly wrapped around the steam spear, turning it into an ice spear. But the next moment, the ice spear began to expand rapidly in mid-air.

Crack—

A sharp sound rang out.

Kuzan's face changed drastically:

"Not good."

The steam spear exploded, unleashing a massive shockwave and intense heat.

The remaining cold from Kuzan's attack clung to it, transforming into a massive iceberg several hundred meters wide.

But it was immediately shattered by the violent steam blast.

Huge chunks of ice melted as they flew, crashing toward the warship under the force of the blast, while a ferocious shockwave followed close behind.

...

Kizaru turned into countless points of light and instantly appeared in the sky.

His hands formed an orchid-shaped seal as golden light spun in a cross pattern:

"That's scary~"

"So these are the ice blocks of Navy Vice Admiral Kuzan~"

"How huge~"

"Yasakani no Magatama!"

Countless dazzling light bullets burst from his hands and body.

In an instant, they filled the sky, striking all the airborne ice chunks and shattering them into tiny hail-like fragments.

A flash of golden light—he landed directly on the deck and casually wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead.

"Whew~"

"All done~"

Kuzan's forehead twitched:

"You bastard..."

Beside them, Gion reminded everyone:

"The shockwave from the explosion is incoming."

Chaton leaned against the railing, chin in hand, wearing the same nonchalant expression as Borsalino:

"Don't worry, it'll be fine."

Only those two seemed completely unconcerned.

As the surging waves and incoming shockwave loomed, Sengoku stepped forward.

In an instant, he transformed into a massive golden Buddha nearly a hundred meters tall, radiating a blinding light.

He occupied most of the deck.

Pressing his palms together, a semi-transparent white shockwave ring appeared around his hands.

He pulled outward, arms extended, and the shockwave ring rapidly expanded into a white translucent dome that covered both warships.

Everyone except Borsalino and Chaton was stunned:

"What is this?"

Sengoku's thunderous voice rang out:

"Buddha Shockwave!"

The semi-spherical transparent dome expanded wildly until it collided with the oncoming blast and tidal waves.

It exploded with a deafening boom.

An overwhelming force burst from the dome.

It flattened everything on the sea surface.

The shockwave and waves vanished completely, leaving only turbulent undercurrents rocking the warships below the surface.

A sign of what had just transpired.

The giant golden Buddha gradually shrank, returning to Sengoku's normal form.

"Withdraw."

...

Days later, upon returning to headquarters, the Marines dispersed in small groups.

Kuzan made his way to the Navy's Intelligence Division, casually inquiring about pirate intel.

Suddenly, he seemed to recall something:

"By the way, any updates on that so-called Devil Child?"

The intelligence officer checked and shook his head:

"No. The last known sighting of the suspected Devil Child was on Cusque Island in the West Blue. She's been missing for quite a while."

Kuzan nodded and murmured softly:

"I see..."

"If there's any news, let me know immediately. After all, I was part of the Buster Call."

"Didn't expect one to slip through the net."

"We must bring her to justice."

The soldier nodded:

"Understood, Vice Admiral Kuzan."

Kuzan smiled:

"Appreciate it."

Then he slowly walked away.

The intel officers, sorting through documents, sighed:

"Vice Admiral Kuzan sure is dedicated."

"Doesn't seem as lazy as the rumors over the past two years say."

"Who knows?"

"Maybe someone framed him."

"Unlikely."

"Eh, whatever—let's finish this up."

"My son's one-month celebration is tonight. Everyone's drinking at my place!"

"Hahaha, congrats, congrats!"

"What're we waiting for? Hurry up! Move it, move it!!"

"Aye!!!"

This is the happiness of ordinary people...

...

Inside the Fleet Admiral's office.

Sengoku and Kong were analyzing the situation in the New World.

On the table lay a massive pile of bounty posters—all currently registered pirates.

All active in the New World. A good portion of them had been crossed out—taken down by Knock and Charlotte Linlin.

Kong frowned slightly:

"This isn't good."

"This cleanup has broken the backs of the New World pirates."

"Who would even dare challenge for the title of the third emperor now?"

Sengoku also furrowed his brows, scanning the bounty posters on the table and sighing:

"Indeed."

"Most of the ones with real potential have been wiped out."

"What's left are solo operators..."

"Or minor powers that can't threaten the other two at all."

Kong suddenly noticed Kaido's bounty poster:

"What about this guy?"

"A Mythical Zoan—Azure Dragon Fruit user. I remember Sakazuki even captured him for a while and experimented on him, right?"

Sengoku recalled Kaido's files and shook his head:

"He was once a trainee pirate on Rocks' ship, but in recent years in the New World, he hasn't made any big moves."

"His territory has stayed the same, but his actual base is unknown."

"Though there is intel suggesting he controls a weapons production line and has seized a fair portion of the arms trade in the New World."

Kong glanced at it:

"I see..."

As Kong continued thinking, Sengoku suddenly asked:

"What's the progress on the Warlord system?"

"If nothing changes, the third emperor probably won't emerge."

"We'll have to take another approach."

Kong thought for a moment:

"Fine. Let's wait and see."

"That Crocodile guy… he's built up power in Alabasta now."

"He's fighting off pirates landing on the shores. It's effective, but doesn't shift the bigger picture."

"Not much use."

Sengoku looked at the map on the wall, pinpointing Alabasta's location:

"I see..."

...

North Blue.

On the third giant warship, Sakazuki sat in his office, staring at a map of the Grand Line spread out on the desk.

His pen circled three spots: the Florian Triangle, Fish-Man Island, and Dressrosa.

These three locations were, in the original storyline, territories of future Warlords of the Sea. On the map, they seemed to connect into one zone, and he was deep in thought.

Knock knock knock—

Without looking up, Sakazuki said:

"Enter."

A guard stepped in and reported:

"Reporting, Admiral Sakazuki. Rear Admiral Enel has delivered a mafia ship involved in arms trafficking."

"Asking for your instructions on how to handle it."

---

(For each review +1 additional chapter)

read +100 chapters on Patreon tambeerg