Hearing the sudden voice, Frost instinctively turned to look at the speaker.
A young man, likely in his late teens, sat leisurely atop the city wall. Around him, the city guards and pirates were locked in fierce battle, yet neither side seemed to notice his presence.
"Who are you? Can you really guarantee that the Kingdom of Joromia will remain untouched by pirates? Do you even realize who you're up against? This is Mammoth Jack, the captain of the Jack Pirates!
His bounty is 450 million Berries!" Frost exclaimed, his voice filled with despair. Jack had already shattered all his hope.
"Heh heh heh!"
The young man chuckled. "Since I've spoken, I naturally have the ability to back it up. If I couldn't, why would I even bother saying it?"
"If you can truly save Joromia from the pirates' massacre, then what harm is there in making you king?" Frost said.
The nobles and royals had already fled. If this man could drive Jack away, then swearing fealty to him was a small price to pay.
Better him than those cowards who abandoned their people.
"Then we have a deal."
The young man lightly leaped down from the wall and slowly walked toward Jack.
"Hey, big guy, you heard that, right? From today on, the Kingdom of Joromia is my territory. Be a good boy and get lost—you're not welcome here!"
Standing before the towering mammoth, he spoke as if issuing a decree.
"Where the hell did you get the guts to talk to me like that?!" Jack's bloodshot eyes glared at him, fury radiating from every pore. His massive trunk swung high before smashing down toward the young man.
"Silence—Attack Nullification."
The young man was Rosinante.
Using his Silent Force, he had traversed the Red Line from Loguetown, stepping into the New World.
After his near-fatal clash with Borsalino in Loguetown, he knew the Marines would start paying serious attention to him.
The Great Pirate Era was only beginning, and while the Marines and World Government were under immense pressure, they weren't yet at the point where they couldn't spare the effort to hunt him down.
Going back to the North Blue was no longer an option.
But the New World—that was different. It was where the Marines and World Government held the least power. It was the eye of the storm. Here, even if they wanted to come after him, it wouldn't be easy.
Besides, Rosinante knew that the moment this era began, the New World would become the epicenter of chaos.
And there was no way he was going to sit this one out.
Yet, upon entering the New World, he immediately experienced its brutality firsthand. The unpredictable, violent weather of the Grand Line was child's play compared to the chaotic tempests here. Even his Silent Force was powerless against the wrath of nature.
Realizing he needed a stronghold to establish himself, he decided to find a place to settle first—then build his own force.
Spreading his Observation Haki to its limits, he soon caught the cries of distress from the Kingdom of Joromia.
Intrigued, he headed toward the kingdom—only to arrive at the exact moment Jack was attacking the capital, Mia City.
Rosinante wasn't some self-righteous hero. He had no intention of fighting Jack just to help the people of Joromia.
Even now, Jack wasn't yet one of the Beasts Pirates' Three Calamities. He wasn't as terrifying as he would become in the future.
But he was still a pirate worth nearly 500 million Berries—a force on par with a Marine Vice Admiral. Even Rosinante didn't want to make an enemy of him lightly.
However… he did need a territory.
And what better way to start than by becoming a king?
That was why he had spoken up.
If he could take this kingdom, then even a fight against Jack would be worth it.
Jack's massive trunk came crashing down, carrying the force of a collapsing mountain.
Yet the moment it struck Rosinante's outstretched palm—silence.
No impact. No shockwave. No sound.
As if nothing had happened at all.
The pirates watching from a distance were stunned.
"Captain Jack's attack… was stopped?!"
"He—he blocked it! Maybe… maybe he really can save Joromia!" Frost stammered, barely believing his own words.
"We're saved! Someone can stand up to Mammoth Jack!" The civilians and guards erupted in cheers.
"If you won't leave…" Rosinante's voice turned ice-cold.
"Then none of you are leaving."
An overwhelming force erupted from his body.
A powerful, crushing will swept through the battlefield.
One by one, the soldiers and pirates alike collapsed, unconscious before they even realized what had happened.
In mere moments, hundreds of people lay strewn across the battlefield, knocked out cold.
Only a handful of people remained standing—Frost, a few guards, and Jack himself.
Jack's eyes narrowed. "Conqueror's Haki…?"
Rosinante took a silent step forward—then, without warning, threw a punch.
"Silent Force: Collapsing Fist!"
With a soundless burst of blackened Armament Haki, his fist sank into Jack's massive mammoth frame.
"BOOM!"
Jack's enormous body—his entire mammoth form—was sent flying.
"Wha—he—he actually—" The stunned survivors gawked as Jack crashed into the ground, carving a massive crater into the earth.
Rosinante's combat experience had been forged in blood.
Before he reincarnated, he had barely finished military training at university. He had once asked his instructor for close-quarters combat techniques, and although his grades were good, he had only learned basic defensive techniques—things like Taijiquan and grappling.
The only offensive technique he had learned was Collapsing Fist—a striking technique designed to channel force through an opponent's body.
Back then, he had only scratched the surface.
But after living and fighting in this world, fleeing from death at every turn, he had refined it, adapting it to his Silent Force.
The result—a completely silent, unstoppable, penetrating force that shattered opponents from the inside out.
Normally, Jack would have been torn apart from the inside.
But Jack's body was absurdly durable. Even among Zoan users, Ancient Zoans were famous for their insane resilience.
Rosinante's punch had sent him flying, but it had only bruised him.
Groaning, Jack pushed himself up. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes still burned with fury.
"Damn… you…" he growled, his body trembling with rage.
Rosinante whistled. "Tough guy, huh? Took a Collapsing Fist straight to the gut and you're still standing. You've got real potential as a punching bag."
"BASTARD!!"
Jack roared, but his body suddenly shrank, reverting from his full mammoth form.
With both blades in hand, his fury ignited.
"DESTROY IT ALL!"
With a murderous glint in his eyes, he swung his massive blade straight at Rosinante.
Without hesitation, Rosinante drew his own sword.
Steel clashed against steel.
Blades met in an explosion of force.
The battle for the Kingdom of Joromia had begun.