Crunch, crunch, crunch!
Inside the banquet hall of Alubarna's palace, guards pushed food carts, rapidly delivering dishes to the long table.
The girl seated in the center was devouring everything in sight, steam rising from her body as the food was quickly digested to repair her wounds.
"Wow, so pirates can heal wounds by eating a lot!"
Having heard of Sakura's reputation and intensely curious about this so-called [Future Emperor] pirate, Vivi's eyes widened.
"I think~ it's best not to use her as a reference standard~"
Leviathan, using a wing to hold a fork, turned her head to explain to Vivi.
In that moment of distraction, the meat on her plate was sucked away by a miniature whirlwind, landing in a certain girl's mouth.
"Sakura, damn you!"
Leviatan was immediately up in arms, charging forward to snatch food from the tiger's jaws.
Their struggle sent plates and bowls flying. The guards and palace staff, accustomed only to serving dignitaries and officials, had never seen the crude manners of pirates. They couldn't help but chuckle, eventually bursting into hearty laughter.
"Hahaha, pirates are so interesting! I want to be one too, later-"
Vivi raised her knife and fork, imitating them.
Unfortunately, before her voyage could even begin, Cobra and Igaram moved in perfect sync to cover her mouth. "That is absolutely not allowed!"
Amidst the ruckus, Sakura suddenly turned her head, looking at Cobra.
"Speaking of which, King of Alabasta, isn't there something you should fulfill?"
Cobra, who had been playfully teasing his daughter, immediately grew quiet.
His expression turned grave as he looked at Sakura, giving an almost imperceptible nod. "Please follow me, esteemed guest."
Waving away the attendants, Cobra personally led Sakura out through a palace secret passage.
While Sakura was being given a tour of the royal mausoleum...
At the other end of the sea… Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
A long, sharp air-raid siren blared throughout this massive fortress inscribed with the word [Justice].
The light of dusk shone on the mottled stone bricks of the headquarters. Shadows cast upon them staggered briefly before hurried footsteps ran towards assigned posts.
Under the eaves of the headquarters building, Fleet Admiral Sengoku stood on a balcony, cold sweat beading on his temple.
His voice was hoarse as he muttered, "This is truly insane."
"A man capable of something like this... I only know of one."
Garp, his gaze equally sharp, stood beside him, arms crossed.
Looking out through the gap between the two men, over the crescent-shaped harbor of the headquarters, dozens of massive Marine battleships floated in the air.
The shadow cast by the ships, blocking the setting sun, nearly covered the entire headquarters.
"Gion-chan!!!"
On the docks below, Marine Vice Admiral Chaton, Tokikake stood, letting out a sharp, strangled cry upon seeing his beloved on one of the floating ships.
"Doll... Hina... Is that guy's return related to Higanbana being in Alabasta?"
Garp, who had also walked onto the docks, frowned, recognizing these Marine officers who had been ordered to Alabasta on the princess rescue mission.
Soldiers running with weapons heard their superiors' voices and looked up, gasping within the shadows.
A pirate ship, its sails painted with a helm and a lion's head, its body seemingly formed from a small island, rowed through the air above the fortress.
Atop the near-island-sized pirate ship stood a massive lighthouse. Its rotating spotlight swept light over three figures seated at the lighthouse's edge.
"Where have you been hiding for over a decade? Wouldn't it be better to just remain a legend? Shiki!"
Sengoku, hands gripping his office balcony railing, roared at the sky.
"It's been over ten years, Sengoku! Garp!"
A man clad in a yellow yakuza-style coat, his long hair flowing, spread his arms in the sky, looking down upon the Marines below like a king ruling the heavens.
Within the fortresses surrounding the stronghold, soldiers turned the control wheels of their cannons, adjusting their aim towards the Golden Lion in the sky and the island-pirate ship behind him.
"Hmph! Can't let you underlings interrupt this reunion with old friends!"
Shiki snorted coldly. The will of a conqueror surged. Terrifying Haki stirred up dark, raging lightning, thundering from the firmament.
It covered all, enveloped everything.
Where it passed, whether soldiers operating guns and cannons or officers shouting commands, all fell like straw, prostrated by the intangible impact.
Garp, standing within the storm of Conqueror's Haki, was aghast. "You... your Haki has recovered?"
Shiki ran a hand rather flamboyantly over his head, laughing heartily. "Shihahaha! Met a pretty good doctor in Alabasta! Played a game with her, fought a battle, and even lost an island to her."
"So it was Higanbana Haruno Sakura?"
An aged female voice cut into their conversation. Tsuru stepped onto the office balcony using Geppo.
"Who knows? Guess for yourselves!"
Shiki revealed a contemptuous smile. "Anyway, I'm just here to say hello today. From now on, these skies are under my rule!"
With that, he pressed a hand downward.
A dozen more hundred-meter-long Marine battleships were seized by gravity. The soldiers aboard floated weightlessly before plummeting downward with their ships.
The massive battleships crashed into the plaza. The vast quantities of gunpowder they carried instantly detonated, the explosions sending shrapnel and flames that injured many soldiers.
Some ships crashed into the sea, sending up colossal waves that crashed into the surrounding fortress walls. Soldiers unable to escape in time were swept away by the waves, falling into the ocean.
"Shiki, you bastard!"
Sengoku angrily crushed the wooden railing in his grip but did not order the only Admiral stationed there, Kizaru, to pursue.
After all, this was Shiki. No sane leader of any faction would want to fight Shiki on their own turf.
Don't ask why. Have you ever been hit by a battleship? Have you seen a thousand-ton sphere of seawater? Have you been crushed by an island falling from tens of thousands of meters up?
"Zehahahaha!"
With no one left to stop him, Shiki swaggered away.
Two hours after the attack on Marineford, newspapers carrying the latest news were delivered across the seas by News Coos.
People initially wondered why News Coos were delivering papers so late at night. But when they saw the news on the front page… the entire world erupted.
As wanted posters flew across the globe, the older generation vividly recalled the massive pirate crew that dominated the skies in the previous era and its commander, the man who led those lawless ones… the Flying Pirate, Golden Lion Shiki!
The New World, already embroiled in conflict, grew even more chaotic with Shiki's flamboyant return.
Almost no one doubted that the Golden Lion, with his Haki restored, would choose not to return to the New World.
What was more critical was Shiki's ability to carry multiple islands through the air. This meant he wasn't like other Emperors, needing fixed island territories in specific seas.
Thus, the question arose: Where would he go? And what would he do to this already chaotic world?
Wano Country, Whole Cake Island, the Moby Dick...
Legends from the old era began stirring, pushing the New World's conflict into a white-hot phase, hoping to stabilize the situation before the storm unleashed by the Lion reached its shores.
The chaotic winds of the New World gradually blew beyond the Grand Line, causing Sakura within the mausoleum to sneeze.
Running her hand over the cold, engraved lines of the Poneglyph in the tomb, observing the message left by the rebels of the great kingdom eight hundred years ago.
The girl murmured thoughtfully, "Pluton..."