At last—
This earth-shaking war, filled with twists and turns, finally came to an end after raging for an entire day and night. It concluded with a complete victory for the Marine.
The Beasts Pirates had paid an unimaginably heavy price for this battle.
One of the two Calamities died, and the other was seriously injured. A full third of the Tobi Roppo-level officers were lost, while among the ordinary pirates beneath them, more than half were either dead or incapacitated.
As for the allied pirate crews that had come to fight alongside them, their fate was even more tragic—out of more than a dozen captains, only three ever returned.
In contrast, the Marine's losses were much lighter. Though many Vice Admirals bore wounds from the battle, none were life-threatening.
Once the pursuit had ended, those Vice Admirals began returning in turn, leading their men to sweep the battlefield amidst the ruins: tending to the injured, capturing the surviving enemy stragglers, and locking them all away.
The number of captives alone was two to three thousand, which gave the Marines a bit of a headache.
…
The clouds dispersed. The rain stopped.
Nao and Akainu also returned from the pursuit, walking side by side through the shattered harbor, making their way toward the fortress.
On the way, they ran into several Vice Admirals of Headquarters. After exchanging a few words, the reaction was always the same: astonishment at Nao's achievements, admiration in their eyes, with sighs of both envy and respect.
"This time, all the Vice Admirals the Headquarters sent into battle were seasoned veterans, many from the same era as old man Garp."
Akainu had watched their reactions carefully. When it was just him and Nao again, he shook his head with a small laugh:
"Before, plenty of these old fossils thought HQ went too far promoting you to Vice Admiral so young. They weren't pleased about it. But after this war… I doubt they'll have anything left but submission."
"Was it really that impressive?"
Nao only smiled, shrugging with a carefree look.
More than impressive… Akainu thought to himself. If anything, those old men must be feeling like all their years of life had been wasted.
But then, a stray thought struck him—
Compared to this little monster, wasn't his own age starting to feel wasted too? This kid was only twenty-one, wasn't he?
Akainu's gaze lingered on Nao's overly young, overly striking profile, and his feelings grew complicated. He suddenly remembered the first time the name Natsuya Nao had ever caught his attention.
That had been two years ago.
Back then, the boy had just been a recruit—and he had defeated a Warlord of the Sea, William.
Akainu had admired the ruthless way he fought. He had even considered, once Nao graduated, putting in a personal request to have him transferred under his command, to make good use of him.
But who could have predicted what happened after?
In only two years, the boy had become the youngest Vice Admiral in HQ's history—and in terms of sheer strength, he was now in the same tier as Akainu himself, standing on equal footing.
And in this war, he had gone even further: facing down two Emperors of the Sea head-on, carving out a record so dazzling that even Akainu himself couldn't compare.
The gap between people… sometimes felt wider than the gap between man and beast.
As these thoughts stirred, Akainu's eyes suddenly shifted. He glanced northeast, toward the distant sky.
There, a hot-air balloon had just turned about, slowly drifting away into the distance.
"Looks like Morgans."
Nao noticed it too, raising a brow in mild surprise. "I saw that guy back on Whole Cake Island. Never thought he'd be hiding around here as well, watching the whole thing in secret…"
The president of the World Economy News Paper, personally skulking around like this—was it really necessary?
"Hmph. That damned bird…"
Akainu let out a cold snort, his gaze hardening at the hot air balloon. "Always one to stir up chaos for his own gain. Just to sell papers, he's fabricated stories, twisted the truth… HQ itself has been the target of his nonsense more than once."
"But at least you could say he's neutral, right?"
Seeing the way Akainu looked ready to launch into the sky and chase Morgans down, Nao chuckled.
"He's caused plenty of trouble for pirates too. Take Whole Cake Island, for example—BIG MOM wouldn't have been exposed like that if it weren't for him, one of her so-called invited guests, spreading everything far and wide."
"…That's true."
Akainu narrowed his eyes, the killing intent around him easing somewhat. Then he gave a cold sneer:
"This time the Marine's achieved a great victory, and now's exactly when we need every channel of publicity at our disposal. I'll be watching to see if he has the sense to cooperate. If he dares to twist things again… hmph, then it'll be about time the World Economy News Paper found itself a new master."
Hear that, Morgans?
If your reporting strays from the truth this time, you'll be the one held accountable.
Hands clasped behind his back, Nao said nothing more, only smiling faintly as he watched the hot air balloon drift away into the morning light…
———
While the Marine was still busy dealing with the aftermath of the war, the great battle at G-1 Branch had already begun to ferment overnight.
By the break of dawn the next day, news coos from the major papers had started to spread the story across the entire world.
The speed at which this news appeared in print was, without exaggeration, the fastest in history.
The reason was that Morgans, the biggest tycoon in the world's newspaper industry, was at the scene of the war, dutifully acting as a temporary reporter.
Because of that, the coverage was exceptionally detailed.
The reports didn't just take up three full pages to lay out the causes, the course, and the outcome of the war, but they were also accompanied by a wealth of high-definition photographs, all personally shot by Morgans.
Those photos revealed far too many shocking scenes:
The azure dragon and the golden Buddha clashing with the heavens themselves; the successive defeats of the two Calamities; Kaido launching a furious assault on Nao, only for it to be nullified by a wall of wind;
And later still, the images of Nao and Akainu working together to suppress Big Mom so she couldn't even break free…
As for the Marine's own losses, however, those were mentioned only sparingly.
Maybe it was Morgans, sensing Akainu's killing intent from more than ten kilometers away… or maybe, in his unpredictable mood swings, he simply wanted to spite the two Emperors of the Sea.
Either way—
The newspaper went out fast, and sold out even faster. Those lucky enough to grab a copy passed it around eagerly, and public opinion erupted like wildfire.
The issue instantly became the best-selling paper since the execution of Pirate King Roger five years ago!
In no time at all—
From the East Blue to the Grand Line, from shabby taverns tucked behind bamboo blinds to the bustling marketplaces of great cities… the legendary war became the hottest topic, endlessly discussed everywhere.
And without a doubt—
The man who had played the decisive role, the one whose actions alone had turned the tide of battle, Nao—once again became the very center of the world's attention, just months after his last feat.
———
New World. On a small island under Whitebeard's protection.
A banquet was in full swing.
The reason was simple: it was the birthday of Fifth Division Commander Vista. Coincidentally, Whitebeard himself had just crushed a challenger—Squard and his "Maelstrom Spider Pirates."
In one go, he had added hundreds of new "sons."
So they decided to celebrate both victories at once. The banquet was lavish.
From sunset until deep into the night, the drinking and laughter never ceased. Pirates, drunk and stumbling, lit bonfires, linked arms, and danced with roaring laughter around the flames.
At the edge of the festivities sat a towering figure. Watching his sons drink and cheer in the firelight, he stroked his mustache, eyes full of pride and quiet satisfaction.
The strongest man in the world—Edward Newgate, Whitebeard.
Behind him, thrust into the ground, stood the massive naginata "Murakumogiri."
Like its master, even standing motionless, it radiated a suffocating pressure.
"I can't hold it anymore… can't hold it…"
At dawn, Squard finally slipped away from camp to a cliffside, swaying drunkenly as he relieved himself into the wind.
As the newest "son," he had been the focus of attention all night, drinking until his mind was clouded. After finishing, he was about to stumble back to camp when he spotted a news coo flying overhead.
On a whim, he paid for several copies of the paper.
"This is…"
The moment he unfolded it and saw the headline on the front page, Squard sobered up instantly, his drunken haze gone in a heartbeat.
"Old man! You've got to see this!" He ran back to camp in a panic, waving the paper and shouting. "Something huge just happened at the Marine's G-1 Branch!"
"Hahahaha, what could possibly be bigger than a banquet?"
"Running around like that, what kind of son are you?"
"Come on, you didn't drink enough last night. Come share another cup with me, little spider!"
The Whitebeard Pirates laughed at his frantic look, teasing him kindly.
"My foolish son…"
Whitebeard chuckled too, shaking his head. But when he accepted the newspaper and casually scanned the page, his eyes suddenly sharpened, a flicker of surprise crossing his face.
"What's wrong, Pops?" one of the crew noticed something off and asked.
Whitebeard didn't reply, his brow furrowed as he read. Squard quickly handed out the extra copies he had bought to the surrounding pirates.
Minutes later—
Gasps echoed around the bonfire.
"Oi, oi… this has to be a joke. Kaido and Charlotte Linlin teamed up… and still lost to the Marine of the New World?"
"And lost this badly? Just what kind of monster is this Nao guy?"
"I remember now. Wasn't it last year that Dugalio the Drought died at his hands? And now the other two Calamities have fallen to him as well…"
Among the crowd—
Vista, the "Flower Sword" and birthday man himself, stroked his beard as his eyes widened at the photograph of Nao in the report, staring as if he could hardly believe it.
—When did this kid get so strong???
Compared to the rest of his crewmates, Vista had a much deeper impression of this man. Ever since the report years ago about him defeating the Warlord William, that name had been etched firmly into his memory.
Perhaps because they were both dual-blade swordsmen, Vista had always harbored the thought of testing himself against him one day.
But…
Because he had risen to fame much earlier, Vista had always looked at that young Marine brat from the position of a senior in the way of the sword.
He had imagined that, someday when they crossed blades, he would use his two flower swords to teach the boy what the true essence of dual-swordsmanship really was.
Yet now…
Vista's throat tightened unconsciously. To take a direct blow from Kaido without injury, then to fight alongside another Vice Admiral against that terrifying woman, Big Mom, for several hours straight…
With such an unbelievable record—could he really still consider himself this man's opponent?
"Gurararara…"
By this time, Whitebeard had finished reading the report as well. Gazing out over the distant horizon, he suddenly threw his head back and roared with laughter under the confused gaze of Squard.
"Looks like, after Garp and Zephyr's era, the rotting den that is Marine Headquarters has finally produced another worthy youngster!"
"Pops…"
The crew looked at him in surprise, but Whitebeard didn't continue. He only took another long swig of wine before letting out another round of his booming, carefree laughter.
Now this was how it should be!
Ever since Roger's death, the sea had been unbearably dull to him. Kaido, Big Mom… none of them even had the right to make him fight seriously.
Emperors of the Sea?
It was nothing but a child's game.
But now, with fresh blood like Nao rising… perhaps the time had finally come for this ocean to boil and burn once more!
———
West Blue. Agatha Kingdom.
In a remote village outside the capital.
It was already three in the morning. Outside, the cold wind howled and thick snow fell like feathers. Inside a shabby little bedroom, however, a lonely lamp still burned faintly.
Shrouded in a deep green hooded cloak, a man quietly flipped through intelligence reports delivered earlier by his subordinates from the frontlines.
"The two cities in the west have already fallen…"
"And as for the royal capital, the Crow has successfully infiltrated…"
The man named Monkey D. Dragon looked up at the falling snow outside the window and muttered in a low voice, "It seems this plan to overthrow the Agatha Kingdom is going even smoother than I expected."
All thanks to Kuma's warning.
Dragon felt a flicker of relief. Originally, he had intended to launch the revolutionary uprising in this rotten kingdom last year.
But just as the plan was about to be set in motion, Kuma—who he hadn't heard from in a long while—sent word, urging him to delay.
The reason was simple: Agatha Kingdom lay not far from the Marine's West Blue Branch No. 1. At full speed, warships could arrive within a day.
And at that time, the Branch's Deputy commander, Nao, had just returned from the New World.
Kuma, in an unusually stern tone over the line, warned him: Nao's strength was by no means comparable to that of an ordinary Rear Admiral.
If he were to intervene, the Revolutionary Army would be crushed without question. Therefore, Dragon must delay until the man left his post.
At first, Dragon hadn't taken the warning too seriously.
But after sending agents to investigate, he came back drenched in cold sweat. The intel confirmed Kuma's words beyond doubt. He immediately ordered the frontlines, who were already prepared to act, to withdraw.