The Lion Pirates moved deeper into the town.
Their footsteps echoed through the narrow streets as they pushed past the last line of Whitebeard guards.
"Search every building!"
"Take anything valuable!"
"Don't let anyone escape!"
The pirates had expected resistance at the harbor. They had not expected the town to be this large, but they were not worried. Their captain had already taken control of the port.
Once the harbor was theirs, the rest of the island would follow.
At least, that was what they believed.
A pirate kicked open the door of a small shop.
"Where's the money?"
A loud crash came from outside.
"Where are the villagers?"
The captain turned.
One of his men came running down the street.
"Captain!"
"What?"
"The people have moved to the eastern district."
The captain smiled.
"Good. Then we'll go there."
He raised his weapon.
"Everyone move!"
The enemy continued forward, leaving the burning harbor behind them.
Not far away, Doran leaned against a broken wall. One of his guards was beside him, barely able to stand.
Doran looked toward the eastern district.
"How many can still fight?"
The guard hesitated.
"Everyone is still alive, but we don't have enough men left to keep fighting."
Doran closed his eyes for a moment.
Then he opened them and looked toward the eastern district.
"Civilians?"
"Still moving."
"Good."
He pushed himself away from the wall and picked up his sword.
"Then we keep fighting."
The guard stared at him.
"Captain, you can barely stand."
"I don't need to stand for long."
Doran took a step forward.
"Help is coming."
Then something strange happened.
The wind stopped.
Doran noticed it first.
The smoke above the harbor had been moving toward the west. Now it hung almost completely still in the air.
The flames on the rooftops continued to burn, but the smoke no longer moved.
The pirate captain noticed it too.
"What..."
He slowly looked toward the sky.
Nothing.
Only clouds.
Then came a sound.
A low mechanical hum.
It was faint at first, almost impossible to hear beneath the noise of the battle.
The pirates stopped.
"What is that?"
Nobody answered.
The sound grew louder.
Brrrrrrrrrrr...
It came from above.
People slowly stepped out from behind windows and doors.
Garon looked up from the eastern street.
"What...?"
The young man beside him pointed toward the sky.
"There!"
Something moved between the clouds.
At first, it looked like a bird.
Then it became larger.
Much larger.
A Whitebeard guard raised his weapon.
"Is that a bird?"
"No."
The object broke through the clouds.
Several people gasped.
It was not a bird.
It was a figure.
A woman.
Or something that looked like one.
She was falling from the sky.
White and silver armor covered her body. Two large wings extended from her back, and a smooth mask covered most of her face.
She fell without slowing down.
Ten meters.
Five.
Two.
Then—
BOOM!
She landed in the middle of the street.
Stone cracked beneath her feet. Dust rose around her as several nearby pirates stumbled backward.
Nobody moved.
As the dust slowly cleared, the figure stood perfectly still.
Her head turned.
Left.
Right.
She looked at the pirates.
Then at the guards.
Her wings folded behind her.
One pirate pointed his sword at her.
"What the hell are you?"
No answer.
The pirate stepped forward.
"Did you hear me?"
The figure raised her head.
Two small lights appeared behind her mask.
A quiet voice came from behind the mask.
"Target identified."
"What?" The pirate swallowed.
"Hostile units detected." Her head turned slightly. "One hundred and thirty-seven within range."
"What are you talking about?" The pirate looked around.
The figure did not answer.
She simply raised one hand.
A thin metallic sound came from her arm.
Click.
The pirates stepped back.
"Captain..."
Leo the Lion stared at the stranger.
"Everyone, attack!"
Leo's men charged.
The figure moved.
She vanished from the spot.
A second later—
CRASH!
The first pirate was thrown across the street.
Before anyone could react, she appeared beside another.
One strike.
The pirate dropped.
A third attacked from behind.
She turned without looking.
Her arm blocked the blade.
CLANG!
The sword broke.
The pirate stared at the broken weapon.
"What—?"
She struck him in the chest.
He flew backward.
The battle seemed to stop.
Every pirate in the street stared at her.
She did not chase them.
She simply stood between them and the guards.
Then her wings opened.
For the first time, everyone could see them clearly.
They were not made of feathers.
They were mechanical.
Thin metal structures unfolded from her back with a quiet series of clicks.
The young man beside Garon stared in disbelief.
"She's not human..."
Garon said nothing.
He could not take his eyes off her.
Then another sound came from above.
Brrrrrrrrrrr...
Everyone looked up.
Another figure descended through the clouds.
Then another.
And another.
The pirates slowly stepped backward.
"No..."
A fourth figure appeared.
Then a fifth.
Six.
Ten.
More shapes emerged from behind the clouds and over the distant forest.
The sky seemed to fill with them.
White and silver bodies descended in perfect silence.
Each carried the same design.
Armor.
Wings.
Masks.
They moved without hesitation.
The pirate captain looked upward.
His confidence finally disappeared.
"What are they?"
One of his men answered with a trembling voice.
"I don't know."
More figures landed across the town.
Some appeared on rooftops.
Others landed near the harbor.
A few descended between the enemy and the eastern district.
They did not attack.
They formed a line.
Protecting the civilians.
Separating the enemy forces.
The pirate captain looked around.
His men were suddenly surrounded.
"Who sent you?"
The nearest figure turned toward him.
A small symbol appeared on the left side of her armor.
It was the gold mark of ART Pirates.
The captain's face went pale.
"Impossible..."
The figure spoke.
"Threat level confirmed. Leo the Lion."
A short pause followed.
"Seastone armaments activated."
Another voice answered from behind her.
"Activated."
Then another.
"Activated."
The words echoed through the street one after another.
A single response from an entire force.
The captain tightened his grip.
"You're ART Pirates?"
No answer.
A figure on a nearby rooftop opened her wings.
Another did the same.
Then another.
Across the town, dozens of white wings unfolded at once.
The sound was almost beautiful.
Almost peaceful.
But the pirates no longer felt that way.
They had come expecting an island without its Emperor.
They had come believing that Whitebeard's death had left a weakness.
They had come believing Arthur was too far away to matter.
Now they were looking at an army they had never heard of.
The captain slowly lowered his weapon.
"What are you...?"
The figure in front of him stepped forward.
Her mask reflected the morning light.
Then, from somewhere above the clouds, dozens of small mechanical lights appeared.
The captain looked up.
His face turned pale.
"There's more?"
The answer came from the sky.
Multiple voices spoke as one.
"Command received."
For the first time since the attack began, the Lion Pirates understood something.
They had not entered an undefended island.
They had entered a territory that had been waiting for them.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
The pirates stared at the figures surrounding them.
The Valkyries stood in complete silence.
White and silver armor covered their bodies from head to toe. Their faces were hidden behind smooth masks, and mechanical wings rested behind their shoulders.
There was no anger in their movements.
No excitement.
Only control.
The pirate captain looked around.
His men were trapped between several groups.
One group stood near the harbor.
Another blocked the road toward the eastern district.
More Valkyries stood on the rooftops, watching every movement below.
They had surrounded the pirates without giving them a chance to escape.
The captain gritted his teeth.
"Don't just stand there!"
He pointed his sword toward the nearest Valkyrie.
"Attack!"
His men shouted and charged.
The Valkyries moved at the same time.
Not one second too early.
Not one second too late.
The first line stepped forward.
The second line moved behind them.
The third line remained in place.
Their formation changed in a single moment.
A pirate swung his sword at the nearest Valkyrie.
She moved her head slightly.
The blade passed beside her mask.
Her hand caught the pirate's wrist.
With one quick movement, she twisted his arm and threw him onto the ground.
Another pirate rushed toward her.
A second Valkyrie stepped between them.
She blocked his attack with her forearm.
CLANG!
The pirate's sword broke.
Before he could react, she struck him in the chest.
He fell backward.
"Move!"
Several Leo's men tried to run through a gap.
The Valkyries closed it immediately.
Two moved left.
Two moved right.
Another landed in front of them from above.
The escape route disappeared.
"How are they moving like that?!"
"Is it Observation Haki?"
"No!"
One pirate pointed at the rooftops.
"Their vision is connected!"
The Valkyries were not simply fighting.
They were controlling the battlefield.
Whenever a pirate group moved, another group of Valkyries changed position.
Whenever someone tried to escape, a new unit appeared in front of them.
Whenever a civilian was caught between the two sides, a Valkyrie moved first.
One of them flew down and caught a child before a collapsing wooden beam could hit him.
She carried the child to safety and placed him beside his mother.
The woman stared at her.
"Thank you..."
The Valkyrie turned away.
Her attention had already returned to the battle.
The mother held her child tightly.
"What are they?"
Nobody answered.
Near the harbor, the Whitebeard guards watched in disbelief.
Doran was still standing, though his injured arm hung uselessly at his side.
A Valkyrie landed beside him.
Doran immediately raised his sword.
"Friend or enemy?"
The figure looked at him.
"Friendly unit."
Doran blinked.
"What?"
"Your team is no longer required to engage."
The guards stared at her mask.
"They speak?"
"Yes."
"Then who are you?"
The Valkyrie looked toward the pirates.
"ART's Valkyrie Legion."
Doran repeated the name quietly.
"Valkyrie..."
The figure turned away.
"Remain behind the designated line."
Doran looked at the battlefield.
The exhausted guards slowly lowered their weapons. The battlefield was no longer theirs to control.
Doran lowered his sword.
"Everyone, move back!"
The guard beside him looked surprised.
"Captain?"
"Fall back!"
A few guards hesitated.
"But Captain—"
"They've got this."
The guards slowly retreated.
The Valkyries moved forward.
The pirates saw them coming.
Leo the Lion raised his sword.
"Don't panic!"
His voice was no longer as strong as before.
"They're only machines!"
One of his men looked at him.
"Machines?"
"Then destroy them!"
The pirates attacked again.
This time, the Valkyries answered with greater force.
Several opened their wings.
Small mechanisms moved across their backs.
A series of sharp clicks filled the air.
Then they launched forward.
One Valkyrie flew above the street and struck the ground in front of the pirates.
BOOM!
The impact threw several men backward.
Another moved between two buildings.
Her wings folded tightly against her body as she passed through the narrow space.
She landed behind a group of pirates.
They turned too late.
Three strikes.
Three men fell.
On a rooftop, another Valkyrie raised her arm.
A thin beam of energy shot toward a pirate ship preparing to leave the harbor.
The beam struck the ship's mast.
CRACK!
The mast broke.
The entire ship tilted.
The pirates aboard it screamed.
"The ship!"
"Save the ship!"
Another beam struck the second vessel.
Then a third.
One after another, the pirate ships lost their ability to move.
The attack had changed completely.
The pirates had arrived by sea.
Now the sea had become their prison.
Leo the Lion stared at the harbor.
His fleet was being disabled without being destroyed.
His men were being defeated without being killed.
His eyes widened.
"They're doing this on purpose..."
A nearby pirate looked at him.
"What?"
"They could kill us."
He watched a Valkyrie knock another attacker unconscious instead of striking his head.
"But they're not."
The captain finally understood.
"They're taking us alive."
A Valkyrie landed directly in front of him.
He raised his sword.
"You think you can defeat me?"
The Valkyrie did not answer.
He attacked.
His sword came down with all his strength.
The Valkyrie blocked it.
The impact pushed her back several meters.
The captain smiled.
"Got you!"
He attacked again.
The Valkyrie lowered her stance.
Her wings opened.
Then she disappeared.
The captain's eyes widened.
She appeared behind him.
He turned.
Too late.
A precise strike hit the back of his neck.
His body collapsed.
The sword fell from his hand.
The remaining pirates froze.
Their captain was down.
Nobody gave them an order.
Nobody needed to.
The Valkyries moved together.
One group secured the harbor.
Another gathered the defeated pirates.
A third checked the buildings.
Others moved through the streets, making sure no civilians were trapped.
The battle was over.
The entire operation had taken only minutes.
Smoke still hung above the harbor.
Broken weapons covered the streets.
But the civilians were alive.
The pirate ships were disabled.
The enemy had been defeated.
And not a single Valkyrie had spoken more than necessary.
Garon slowly stepped out of the building where he had been hiding.
He looked around.
The same streets that had been filled with screaming were now silent.
A Valkyrie walked past him.
Garon watched her carefully.
She stopped.
For a moment, he thought she was going to speak.
Instead, she simply turned her head toward the two flags above the town.
The Whitebeard flag.
The ART flag.
Then she looked back at the harbor.
Everything was secure.
Garon finally understood.
These beings had not come to conquer the island.
They had come to protect it.
The young man beside him whispered,
"Where did they come from?"
Garon looked toward the sky.
"I don't know."
Another Valkyrie flew upward.
Then another.
One by one, the figures began leaving the streets.
Some returned toward the harbor.
Others disappeared beyond the rooftops.
A few landed on the highest buildings and remained there.
Watching.
Waiting.
The people followed them with their eyes.
Nobody cheered.
Nobody celebrated.
They were still trying to understand what they had just witnessed.
Doran walked toward one of the Valkyries.
"Wait."
She stopped.
He looked at her mask.
"Are all of you really members of the ART Pirates?"
The Valkyrie remained silent for a moment.
Then she answered.
"Captain Arthur authorized our deployment."
Doran's eyes widened.
"He knew this attack would happen?"
"No."
"Then why were you here?"
The Valkyrie turned toward the ground beneath them.
Her answer was simple.
"We were already here."
Doran stared at her.
The Valkyrie opened her wings.
Then she rose into the sky.
Doran watched until she disappeared behind the clouds.
His expression slowly changed.
They had not arrived because the island was attacked.
They had been waiting before the attack ever began.
The question was no longer who had protected the island.
The question was—
How long had they been there?
Night had fallen over the island.
The fire at the harbor had been put out. Broken crates and damaged ships remained along the docks, but the streets were quiet again.
The injured Whitebeard guards were being treated inside the town hall.
The pirates who had attacked the island were locked inside an old warehouse near the harbor. Their weapons had been taken away.
The captured pirates' bounties would help pay for the rebuilding.
For the people of the island, the danger had passed.
But many of them were still awake.
They stood outside their homes and looked toward the sky.
The strange white figures were gone.
Only one Valkyrie remained beside the warehouse door, motionless beneath the moonlight.
She did not speak.
She did not rest.
She simply watched the town.
Garon stood outside his house with the young man from the harbor.
The young man had barely spoken since the battle.
Finally, he broke the silence.
"How many do you think there were?"
Garon looked toward the rooftops.
"At least fifty, on this island."
The young man looked uneasy.
"Other islands?"
"Every island that flies the ART flag needs protection."
He paused.
"They probably have units like these as well."
The young man looked at the Valkyrie.
"So they're spread across the sea?"
"Most likely." Garon lowered his voice.
"And there are more units like them?" The young man swallowed.
"Probably."
Neither of them noticed the Valkyrie turn her head toward the eastern side of the island.
A small light appeared behind her mask.
"Surface operation complete."
A voice answered through a hidden communication system.
"Report."
"Hostile force defeated."
"Casualties?"
"Zero civilian fatalities."
A short pause followed.
"Whitebeard forces?"
"Survivors stable."
"Facility status?"
"Undisturbed."
"Return."
"Understood."
The Valkyrie took a step forward.
Her wings opened.
Then she jumped.
After flying over the forest, she descended toward the cliff.
Straight toward the edge of the island.
The young man saw her disappear.
"Where is she going?"
Garon looked in the same direction.
He had no answer.
They had no idea that the Valkyrie was not leaving.
She was returning to her station.
Far below the quiet streets, a hidden door opened.
The Valkyrie entered a dark tunnel.
The door closed behind her.
The sounds of the island disappeared.
Only the soft sound of machinery remained.
She walked forward.
Small lights turned on along the walls as she passed, one after another.
The tunnel continued deeper.
The walls changed from stone to metal.
Then the tunnel opened.
A large underground chamber appeared.
Five Valkryies stood around a central control platform while the others remained in their assigned positions.
White and silver armor covered their bodies.
Their mechanical wings were folded behind their backs.
Their smooth masks reflected the pale light from the machines.
A mechanical voice echoed through the chamber.
"Unit returned."
She stopped.
Her wings folded completely.
"Surface mission complete."
A screen came alive.
A map of the island appeared.
Several points on the map began to disappear one after another.
Harbor.
Town.
Eastern district.
Western coast.
All secure.
Another screen appeared beside it.
It showed the pirate ships.
All of them had been captured.
The system displayed the final result.
THREAT ELIMINATED.
The Valkyrie stood silently.
Then another door opened.
A man entered the chamber.
He wore a dark coat with the ART symbol on his shoulder.
He was not one of the fighters from the harbor.
He was a member of ART's intelligence network.
His eyes moved across the chamber.
He looked at the returning Valkyrie and the five units stationed around the central platform.
"So it finally happened."
The returning Valkyrie turned toward him.
"Hostile force entered the protected zone."
"How many?"
"Two hundred and sixteen."
"And our losses?"
"Zero."
The man nodded.
He looked at the screen.
"And the civilians?"
"Safe."
"Good."
He walked closer to the central platform.
"How many units are active on this island?"
"Sixty."
"How many are assigned to other islands?"
The Valkyrie paused for a moment.
"Deployment information is restricted."
The man gave a small smile.
"Even to me?"
"Your access is limited to this facility."
He looked at the five inactive Valkyries.
"Then tell me what you can."
"All assigned units remain on station."
"Any island requesting support?"
"None."
"Good."
He turned toward the control room.
"Keep the Legion hidden."
"Understood."
"No unnecessary deployments."
"Understood."
"Each island must protect its own civilians until support arrives."
"Understood."
The man stopped before leaving.
Then he looked back.
"One more thing."
The Valkyrie waited.
"If another enemy comes..."
A pause followed.
"...move as soon as you receive the warning."
"Understood."
"Even if another island sends a request?"
"Command approval is required."
The man nodded.
"Good. There are too many islands under Boss's flag to move units carelessly."
The Valkyrie's eyes lit up.
"Understood."
The man left.
The chamber became silent again.
The inactive Valkyries begin their maintenance cycle.
Their eyes remained dark.
Only the returning unit stood beneath the light.
Then a small signal appeared on the main screen.
A neighboring island had received a warning.
The Valkyrie turned toward it.
The signal disappeared almost at once.
"No support required."
The chamber returned to silence.
Above them, the island slept peacefully.
The people believed the attack was over.
They believed the strange warriors had left.
They believed they had seen the full strength of the ART Pirates.
They were wrong.
The battle at the harbor had not revealed the power of ART.
It had revealed only the unit assigned to that island.
Across the sea, other islands flew the same black flag.
And on each island, silent guardians waited.
The world believed Arthur had only built an Emperor's crew.
They were wrong.
Beneath the flag of ART...
the angels were scattered across the sea.
End of Chapter 01