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Sea Calendar 1506. March.

The seas did not fall silent. Instead, the Golden Lion's declaration was like tossing gasoline onto a bonfire.

Fame is a hell of a drug.

For the dreamers and the desperate, Shiki's words were a siren song. They abandoned their lives, setting sail with the delusion that they, too, could etch their names into history. To die a legend was better than living as a nobody.

Chaos spiraled out of control. It was a wildfire that refused to burn out.

The Navy, forced to recall its forces from the four seas to protect the World Government, left the branch bases undermanned and vulnerable. The world was left defenseless.

Pirates, sensing blood in the water, went on a rampage. Looting, burning, killing. The world plunged into a state of sheer panic.

The "Navy Daily" newspapers, filled with hollow promises of peace and order, were treated like jokes. Angry mobs tore them to shreds in the streets.

Desperate to regain control of the narrative, the Navy staged a massive military parade—a global broadcast designed to flex their absolute power and inject some confidence back into the populace.

Fleet Admiral Sengoku led the charge. Behind him stood the three Admirals—Aokiji, Akainu, Kizaru. There was the Hero, Garp, his strength fully restored and then some. Chief Instructor Zephyr. The Admiral candidates, Chaton and Momousagi. And a legion of elite Vice Admirals like Momonga and Strawberry, recalled from the frontiers.

It was an unprecedented gathering of might, a steel wall erected against the coming storm of the Golden Lion.

Up in Mary Geoise, the Celestial Dragons were losing their minds. Those parasites, who knew nothing but excess and cruelty, had somehow heard the rumors about Shiki. They were screaming for protection, demanding that the World Government strip the world of its defenses just to guard their ivory towers.

Because of them, nearly half the gathered forces were tied down in the Holy Land.

Mary Geoise was on complete lockdown. Sentries every three steps, patrols every five. They watched the ground day and night.

They were idiots. If Shiki came, he would come from the sky. Ground patrols were useless.

Commander-in-Chief Kong likely ordered the patrols for two reasons: to stop a ground invasion from opportunistic pirates inspired by Shiki, and to guard against the monsters of the New World.

Specifically, the three madmen among the Four Emperors.

Big Mom could be ruled out; she was too busy eating and birthing her army. But Kaido? He was a wildcard who craved the "greatest war the world had ever seen." Shiki's suicide run was the perfect stage for him.

And Arthur… Arthur was a certainty.

When Shiki declared war, he did it from Raijin Island. He had stood on the Thunder Emperor's doorstep. That meant one of two things: Arthur had either sanctioned it, or they were allies.

However, the Navy analysts knew Arthur's pride. He wouldn't hold hands with Shiki. But that didn't mean he wouldn't show up.

And if he did, Garp was waiting.

Through the video snails, Arthur had seen the news: Garp was back.

That old man was a curse Arthur couldn't shake. He loved the fight, the thrill of a brawl with the Hero, but he hated the entanglement. Garp was like a mad dog that wouldn't let go.

Kaido was a rabid beast, but Garp? With that dog-hat on his head and the dog figurehead on his ship, he was telling the world exactly what he was.

During the Navy's broadcast, Garp had transformed in front of the entire world. He had become a titan that seemed to hold up the sky.

That explained his recovery.

The Mythical Zoan: Human-Human Fruit, Model: Titan.

The boost to his physical strength and vitality wasn't a joke. It was a nightmare.

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Raijin Island. The Summit closest to the storm.

Arthur sat alone on the peak, cross-legged, unmoving. He had been there for nearly two months, ever since Shiki left to prepare for war.

He had food in his storage bracelet, so he had banished everyone else from the island. No distractions. Just him and the microscopic world.

He was focusing entirely on the minute manipulation of electric charges.

With so much preparation, the breakthrough was inevitable. It was just a matter of time.

Arthur seized every second. He was attempting a feat that even Vegapunk had little confidence in.

If he mastered this—if he could truly control the electron—his power would ascend to a new dimension. The World Government was not a soft target. It was a den of monsters. If he charged in blindly, relying only on his current strength, he might just follow Shiki into the grave.

RUMBLE!

The thunderclouds ground against each other, the friction birthing a terrifying roar. A bolt of lightning snapped down, striking Arthur directly.

It didn't hurt him. It didn't even bounce off. It vanished into his body like a drop of water falling into the ocean, not even causing a ripple.

That single, absorbed bolt was a signal. The sky opened up. Thousands of lightning bolts, a cascading waterfall of electricity, crashed down, drowning Arthur in a sea of white-hot power.

"Heh… Hahahahaha!"

Arthur's laughter boomed through the thunder.

"By manipulating the potential difference between the faintest positive and negative charges… I can control the current and voltage at will!"

One month later.

Arthur dispersed the thunderclouds with a wave of his hand and walked down from the sky.

He strode into the Thunder God Palace and reached for a Den Den Mushi to call Vegapunk. He wanted to confirm the next stage of development.

He could already imagine it. If he could alter the properties of the massive electron streams he fired… the destructive power would be terrifying. Enough to rival even Whitebeard's island-shattering quakes.

Purupurupuru… Purupuru…

Before he could dial, the snail rang in his hand.

"This is Arthur."

"Thunder Emperor! It's Shiki!" The Golden Lion's rough, booming voice crackled from the first half of the Grand Line. He got straight to the point. "I'm ready. Indigo's 'SIQ' formula worked. I'm back to my peak… hell, I might even be stronger!"

"I can't wait any longer. I'm going to tell Roger that I'm the stronger man!"

"Good," Arthur grinned. "I'll have Morgans broadcast the war live. The whole world will be watching you."

The call ended. Shiki was likely already in the air.

Arthur took a deep breath, cracking his neck and knuckles. He looked up, his gaze piercing the distance toward the Red Line. Without hesitation, he launched himself into the sky, flying at max speed.

Vegapunk's research could wait. It wasn't going anywhere.

But a grand assault on the World Government? A spectacle like that was ten thousand times more exciting than training.

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Paradise. The Miracle Island, Merveille.

"Jieahahaha! Roger! You started a new era, you tried to turn the world upside down… but you still can't compare to me!"

Shiki's manic laughter tore through the clouds. He spread his arms wide, his golden hair dancing wildly, his eyes blood-red.

Below him, the calm sea began to ripple. The ripples turned to waves. The entire island of Merveille began to shudder. The animals on the island screamed and ran in panic.

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!"

With a deafening roar, the colossal island tore itself free from the ocean's grip. It rose into the blue sky, ascending like a god's chariot.

Target: Mary Geoise.

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