By all logic, the Roger Pirates should've had no chance of winning the Battle of Edd War against Shiki's massive Flying Pirates fleet.
It wasn't just a matter of numbers. As a pirate overlord, Shiki had an army of powerful subordinates under his command. Otherwise, how could he have kept Kaidou, Charlotte Linlin, Ochoku, Silver Axe, and the rest of those ambitious monsters in check, all by himself?
In both manpower and elite combat strength, Shiki held the advantage. That's exactly why he believed the odds were in his favor.
But Shiki was just plain unlucky. In the Battle of Edd War, he could've beaten practically anyone—even the Marines, the so-called rulers of the seas.
That was his confidence. The only problem was, Roger's crew didn't fall under "anyone."
Because the Roger Pirates were blessed with outrageous luck. Not only did they have Roger, the era's main character destined to usher in the Great Pirate Age, but they also had Buggy the god of luck himself—wielding what could only be called the strongest "Haki of fortune" in the entire sea.
If those two hadn't ended up on the same crew, maybe Shiki would've stood a chance. But the protagonist and the luckiest man alive teaming up? How are you supposed to beat that?
It's like what happened two decades later. There's no way Luffy, the next era's main character, should've been able to break into Impel Down and bust out with a horde of prisoners. But slap the protagonist together with Buggy's divine luck, and boom—he pulls it off like it's nothing.
In a sense, both the Battle of Edd War and the future Impel Down riot were triggered by the same force of nature: the combination of a main character and Buggy the god.
No one can handle that.
And now, in this sea battle, Shiki had the misfortune of learning firsthand what it meant to go up against both the protagonist and Buggy.
At first, everything went exactly as Shiki had planned. They were dominating the fight, and as long as they kept the Roger Pirates boxed in and cut off their escape, it was only a matter of time before victory was his.
But just as Shiki started to revel in his impending triumph—already imagining how he'd savor the win, and even mulling over whether to spare Roger's life just to see if he'd still talk big when facing death—disaster struck.
The New World's weather was notorious for being swift and brutal. And while unpredictable, it wasn't entirely without signs. As a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit user with the powers of the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi, Shiki knew full well what his greatest weakness was: storms.
Caught in a storm, his powers were suppressed almost completely, and even his personal strength would plummet. It felt just like a Devil Fruit user sinking into the sea. He wouldn't drown, sure, but the storm would toss him around like a rag in the wind—his body weak, his power unusable.
That's why Shiki had recruited top-tier meteorologists and navigators to serve under him, ensuring he could avoid storm zones whenever he set sail.
And before heading to the Edd War Sea to surround Roger, those same experts had conducted meticulous calculations and extensive surveys of the surrounding waters.
Their conclusion had been unanimous: no major storms were expected in the Edd War Sea anytime soon.
It was that confidence—fueled by the forecasts—that pushed Shiki to launch his assault.
But then it happened. In a matter of seconds, a massive storm erupted out of nowhere, sweeping across the entire Edd War Sea and catching everyone completely off guard.
"Roger! This storm is insane! If we stay here, we're gonna get shredded—we have to break through now!" Gaban shouted through the downpour, taking down an enemy with a swing of his axe.
Storms at sea were terrifying even in Ortoren's past life, an era with far more advanced navigation technology. A massive storm could easily destroy every ship in its path, even threatening coastal cities. But this was the New World—and most ships here were still wooden sailing vessels.
Even the Oro Jackson, built from the legendary Treasure Tree Adam, couldn't withstand the raw fury of nature forever.
And this particular storm in Edd War? It was the kind of superstorm that might only appear once in ten, maybe even twenty or thirty years.
Even Roger, who'd shown no fear when facing Shiki, now wore a look of alarm.
"Move it! Our ship's fast—and that bastard Shiki's in no condition to chase us. As long as we're quicker than them, we win! Let's get the hell out of here!"
Most of Shiki's ships relied on his Devil Fruit power to stay airborne. On a normal day, they could soar through the skies effortlessly, vanishing and reappearing at will. But in a storm like this, they were in serious trouble—and couldn't even compare to the Oro Jackson.
Bracing himself against the gale, Shiki stood beneath the mast, glaring at the Oro Jackson as it pulled away. His eyes burned with fury and frustration.
"Roger!!!" he roared at the fading silhouette.
But maybe he shouted too loud—because the storm seemed to take offense. A nearby ship's rudder was suddenly torn free by the wind, spinning through the air before slamming square into Shiki's head, knocking him flat.
Then, with a single violent gust, he was swept into the air and vanished into the storm.
With Shiki gone, his fleet fell into chaos. Leaderless, and overwhelmed by the storm and the fragility of their vessels, disaster struck.
...
Three days later, in Totto Land, Whole Cake Island.
That day, Ortoren didn't head to the mountains to train. Instead, he buried himself once again in the library.
But this time, he wasn't reading Rocks' Haki: From Beginner to the Grave. Instead, he was absorbed in a different book—an unsigned work titled A Brief Discussion on the Development of Devil Fruit Abilities.
At first, Ortoren had only opened it casually. But after reading a few pages, he realized the book made a lot of sense. It described many of the exact problems he was currently facing. It divided Devil Fruit powers into the traditional three types—Paramecia, Zoan, and Logia—and offered basic insights into developing each category.
The depth wasn't great, but for a beginner like Ortoren, it was perfect.
Most of his knowledge about Devil Fruits came from memories of the original story. He had plenty of ideas about how to develop his powers—but when he really thought about it, he realized he lacked even the most basic understanding.
He had tried asking Katakuri about some of these issues before, but Katakuri was always busy, and Ortoren didn't want to keep piling on favors. So, finding answers in this book felt incredibly rewarding.
"So that's how it works. The energy within Logia-type fruits is limitless, but the amount a user can actually control depends on their own 'capacity.' The biggest factor is physical stamina. Among Logia users of the same level, those with more endurance can access far more energy than the rest." Ortoren read the analysis in the book and nodded in agreement.
This was the container theory. After eating the Goro Goro no Mi, Ortoren possessed infinite lightning power—like an ocean—but how much of it he could wield depended on how much he could hold as a vessel. If his stamina was low, he was like a small cup: scoop one serving of water from the sea, and it's gone. But if he were a barrel, he could hold much more and unleash greater power.
"So the limitation on Logia energy isn't the ability itself—it's the user?" Ortoren muttered.
After mulling it over, he flipped to the classification section on Logia fruits. Unsurprisingly, his Goro Goro no Mi was listed at the top. There were no so-called "higher-level" fruits above it, but there were plenty of lesser ones—like the Jiki Jiki no Mi and other variants.
He also noticed the entry for the Mera Mera no Mi. The book's anonymous author had indeed placed it beneath the Magu Magu no Mi in the hierarchy.
But the reasoning wasn't some crude idea like "fire isn't as hot as magma." After all, in theory, fire's temperature ceiling far exceeded that of magma.
Instead, the book explained that magma was a more advanced manifestation of fire. The Magu Magu no Mi could replicate nearly all of the Mera Mera no Mi's abilities—and do it with even more destructive force. And since magma was born from fire, it could often overpower it. That's why the Magu Magu no Mi was ranked as a superior version.
The more Ortoren read, the more he realized this logic applied across many comparisons. For instance, ice was considered a more advanced form than snow.
Just as he was diving deeper into the theories, the door suddenly burst open. Katakuri strode in, urgency written all over his face.
"Something big just happened. I'm heading to the front lines to meet up with Mama. Want to come with me?"
"Huh? What happened?" Ortoren looked at him, bewildered.
Katakuri's expression was grim. "Three days ago, Shiki clashed with Roger's crew in the Edd War Sea. At the same time, a superstorm hit the area. Shiki's entire fleet—was nearly wiped out."
...
(50 Chapters Ahead)
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