The world of One Piece was one of contradictions. A place where fantastical adventures danced like fairy tales, yet just as easily, hellish horrors could stretch out before you, like the scene now facing Yoriichi Tsugikuni and his crew.
For the strong, this world was a dream. Anything beautiful you could imagine, endless treasure, overwhelming power, a life surrounded by luxury, was all within reach. Everything was open to those who had the strength to seize it.
But for most ordinary people, this dream was little more than a cruel illusion. What they tasted instead was pain.
Following Yoriichi's instructions, Kyros, the native son who had returned home, leapt ashore and approached a young man in a guard's uniform, who sat slumped on the ground resting.
"Excuse me, friend," Kyros said gently. "Can you tell me what happened here?"
The young guard had been on edge since the night before. Whether the pirates had truly left or were hiding in wait remained unknown, and those stationed by King Riku to calm the people had remained tense throughout the night. After all, such feigned retreats had occurred before.
He sat with limp arms draped over his knees, his head buried between his legs to block out the sun. At the sound of Kyros's voice, he jolted upright, eyes darting nervously.
When he saw the Marine uniform on Kyros, his eyes widened in disbelief.
"Ma-Marine?!"
The very sight stunned him.
After all, this was Dressrosa, smack in the middle of the New World. Civilians here might go an entire year without seeing a single Marine. In this era, the Navy had little spare strength to send many forces deep into the New World.
Establishing bases here required immense combat power. But Marine Headquarters was woefully short on elite forces, most of whom were already deployed across the four seas just to maintain stability.
So when the young guard saw Kyros in uniform, his nervousness evaporated instantly. Remembering the question just asked, he quickly straightened up and answered:
"Pirates!"
"Pirates landed at this port yesterday and looted Dressrosa!"
"This… all of this… was done by pirates!"
His voice was filled with hatred.
"So it really was pirates?" Kyros asked.
"What crew was it? How many of them were there? Were there many casualties? Was the palace attacked? Were any captured?"
Kyros had suspected this even before disembarking, but now it was confirmed. He urgently pressed for more details, hoping to gather information that might help Yoriichi track down the pirates at sea.
This was his homeland, after all. While his memories of Dressrosa weren't particularly warm, it was still home. And no matter what, he couldn't sit by while his people suffered.
Even setting aside personal reasons, he was a Marine. And a Marine must never turn a blind eye to pirates.
"I… I don't know."
"They came and left so fast. By the time we responded to King Riku's summons and rushed to the port, they had already vanished."
"As for civilian casualties…"
"I'm not sure. But from here at the harbor all the way to the outskirts of the city, the nearby residents were all attacked in some way."
Being low-ranked, the guard didn't know much. His information was limited, but what he did know was already troubling enough.
Kyros's expression darkened as he heard the scope of the attack.
"That far?"
He hadn't done a headcount, but he could already estimate the scale. The distance from the harbor to the city's edge was not small. For pirates to reach that far, through Dressrosa, a kingdom with tens of thousands of stationed troops, meant only one thing: these were no ordinary pirates.
This was not some tiny town like Orange Town. This was a fortified kingdom.
To break through here… these pirates were dangerously capable.
After a few more quick questions, Kyros rushed back aboard the Dawn and relayed everything to Yoriichi.
"This is really troublesome," Yoshiro groaned.
"There's not a single clue about this pirate crew. Even if we wanted to hunt them down, we have no place to start."
He sighed helplessly. Yoriichi's team might be powerful, but when the enemy leaves no trail, even overwhelming strength is useless.
The sea was vast. The Navy's intelligence network in the New World was thin at best. Without Log Pose guidance, sailing here was difficult. Searching for a nameless crew with no intel was no different than looking for a needle in the ocean.
"…There's nothing we can do," Yoriichi muttered, rubbing his brow.
"We have to acknowledge our limitations."
He had already begun thinking of countermeasures. But after several moments of reflection, he could only shake his head and sigh.
If only this world had satellites, he thought.
"Damn it!" Kyros hissed through gritted teeth, fists clenched in frustration.
He wasn't blaming Yoriichi, his fury was aimed at the pirates, and at his own helplessness. He hated that he hadn't been able to protect his people from this nightmare.
The rest of the crew stood silently on the deck, weighed down by the same bitter realization.
Yoriichi tapped the railing with his fingers, his brows furrowed.
Justice in the New World required more than strength, it required intelligence.
The G-ICE base on Water Seven had been operating for some time, but tracking pirates still relied mostly on luck… or waiting for the enemy to come to them.
"…Hmm?"
Yoriichi suddenly raised his head and gave Kyros a gentle pat on the shoulder.
"I understand how you feel, Kyros. And you're right, we can't just wander the seas hoping to bump into pirates."
"But…"
"We can wait for them to come to us."
"You said they only reached the outskirts of the city, right? And none of them were captured or killed?"
"If that's the case, I'd wager they'll come back."
"Dressrosa is rich. They faced no real resistance. And they didn't even reach the central city during their first raid."
"If I were a pirate, I'd definitely come back for round two."
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100 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter
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