The wailing corpses drifted across the frozen path of the Underworld, their cries echoing endlessly into the misty distance.
"Do you want to come?"
Shirogai hovered calmly in the air, his sharp gaze locked onto Katakuri.
...
Katakuri was silent for a moment before nodding with a heavy voice.
"Yes."
"Very good."
Shirogai's lips curved slightly as his figure vanished into thin air.
...
"Brother Katakuri, are you really going? Maybe we should—"
Some of the Big Mom Pirates hesitated, wary of Shirogai's unnerving power.
"You stay here. I'll go alone," Katakuri ordered, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Without another word, he turned and stepped onto the vast ice road ahead, following the trail of the wandering dead.
"Damn that guy…"
The pirates cursed under their breath, unsure if their anger was meant for Shirogai or the Celestial Dragons who had started this mess.
"Ahhh!"
A sudden scream split the silence. One of the crew pointed at the ground, trembling.
"Look—the mounds! There are no signs that bodies crawled out of them!"
The others looked closer and froze in disbelief. The soil was undisturbed—completely untouched.
"But we all saw those corpses rise!"
"If they didn't come from underground… then where?"
Someone swallowed hard. "The Underworld…?"
The fear in their eyes deepened. The once-lively island now felt like a graveyard breathing cold air.
"Retreat! Everyone, get off this island!"
The pirates scrambled back to Totto Land, their hands shaking as they reported the incident through a Den Den Mushi.
...
Far out at sea, three Marine warships escorted a massive, lavish vessel marked with the hoof insignia of the Celestial Dragons.
But suddenly—
A bone-chilling frost crept across the waves, freezing all four ships in place.
"Oh no! The sea's frozen solid!"
"This has to be Admiral Aokiji's Ice-Ice Fruit!"
"Did we get caught in his battle?"
"Could it be… Admiral Aokiji just fought Big Mom?"
Panic swept through the ranks as reports reached Vice Admiral Doug.
"Ice ability? Impossible!" Doug barked, frowning deeply. "Aokiji wouldn't dare come this close to a Yonko's territory."
"Then what's causing this?" a subordinate asked.
Doug's expression darkened. "Call Marineford. Report this immediately."
"But Vice Admiral," the communicator hesitated, "Saint Simone-sama ordered us not to report this voyage—"
"Forget that! Do it now!" Doug snapped. His instincts screamed danger. It felt like something was already watching them.
"Report our location and request nearby Vice Admirals to protect Simone-sama's ship!"
He muttered under his breath, almost pleading,
"Please… don't let it be that man…"
Moments later, a Rear Admiral approached, pale and anxious.
"Vice Admiral Doug… word is, even Admirals Aokiji and Kizaru together couldn't defeat that new pirate. He can mimic their Devil Fruit powers."
Doug froze.
"You mean…?"
"Yes," the Rear Admiral said gravely.
"The one they're calling The Plunderer—Shirogai. His bounty's already risen from one hundred to two hundred million Berries."
...
On the Celestial Dragon's ship, Saint Simone-sama lounged atop a "bed" of trembling women, their bodies bruised and barely covered.
"Waaah! Why did we stop!?" he wailed, his voice grating.
A pink-haired Marine Colonel bowed deeply.
"Reporting, Simone-sama. We've been trapped in ice. We're unable to move for now."
Simone pouted, slapping the women beneath him.
"No! I want to go play in the other Yonko's territories! Move the ship! Move it!"
"Sir, the ice is too thick. We can't—"
"Waaaaa! I don't care!" he shrieked, biting one of the women hard enough to draw blood. They didn't even dare whimper.
Suddenly, a gruff voice called out from below deck.
"Simone-sama, allow me to clear the ice."
The speaker was a short, thick-bodied man wearing a heavy iron chain around his neck.
Simone clapped gleefully. "Go on then, little man! Break it all!"
"Yes, Simone-sama!"
...
Outside, Vice Admiral Doug watched as the dwarf-like man punched the glacier again and again.
"Is that… Cuney?" Doug muttered. "The so-called 'Giant Strength Crusher'?"
An adjutant nodded. "You know him?"
Doug's lips curled into a sneer. "Captured by Kizaru himself. He's strong—ate the Strength-Strength Fruit—but he's a fool. Became a Celestial Dragon's slave after bribing Impel Down guards."
"Giant Strength Crush!!!"
Cuney roared, slamming his fist into the glacier. The ice cracked apart with thunderous force, freeing the trapped ship.
Doug's eyes narrowed. "Despicable, but powerful."
Then—
"Vice Admiral! Look over there!"
Doug grabbed a telescope. What he saw froze his blood.
A group of shadowy figures was emerging along the ice path—familiar faces he'd seen die just hours ago.
"My god…" he whispered. "Those are the fishermen we executed… They're supposed to be dead!"
______
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