Tan Island...
The island once hailed as the Navy's great hope—a critical hub intended to bridge the sea to the Sky Island—had suffered an unexpected, devastating assault from Aoki Shiraishi.
Condensing all of his sub-zero freezing beams into an absolute blade of frost, Shiraishi's singular strike had permanently dismantled the ecological climate of Tan Island.
Unable to withstand the sheer cataclysmic force of the attack, Admirals Akainu and Aokiji sustained catastrophic, life-threatening injuries.
In the aftermath, Marine Headquarters hastily dispatched an emergency rescue fleet led by Kizaru and Vice Admiral Garp, narrowly extracting the two critically wounded Admirals from the frozen wasteland.
One of Aokiji's legs and one of Akainu's arms were permanently destroyed by Shiraishi's absolute cold, rendered incapable of physical regeneration.
The terrifying might of the Four Emperors echoed across the entire Grand Line.
Yet, after obliterating Tan Island, Shiraishi unexpectedly discovered that the so-called low-altitude White Sea above the island was merely an isolated, tiny patch of cloud sea. Connecting it to the broader Sky Corridor would require entirely different engineering methods.
Its strategic value and practical utility were virtually negligible.
Realizing that the intelligence regarding Tan Island was flawed from the start, Shiraishi couldn't be certain whether the disinformation had originated within the Navy or from an external third party.
Perhaps it is connected to the Four Emperors summit...
If someone orchestrated this entire trap, and their true target was never me, then the real targets must be Shanks or Whitebeard. Shanks is in his absolute prime and nearly impossible to corner, but Whitebeard arrived at Fish-Man Island entirely alone...
"Captain Unohana, please head down to Fish-Man Island to investigate Whitebeard's whereabouts. I suspect someone is orchestrating a plot against him."
Ace was still secretly shadowing and protecting his younger self across Paradise, far from the second half of the New World. As for Uchiha Madara, he had agreed to Nico Olvia's plea to search for her lost daughter, Robin.
After escaping the burning ruins of Ohara years ago, Robin had been branded the "Demon Child" by the World Government, slapped with a massive bounty. When Olvia learned her daughter was still alive, she had tearfully begged Madara to help track her down.
For reasons unknown, Madara had agreed to the woman's desperate request. Over the past few years, Madara had ventured out several times to search for Robin.
Recently, reports surfaced that Robin had been spotted in the Kingdom of Alabasta. Consequently, Madara embarked on another journey toward the desert nation.
Waters outside Fish-Man Island...
A terrifying high-pressure deluge ripped across the ocean surface. As the mysterious infiltrator staggered back several paces, three tomoe energy constructs coalesced behind his back. The Ketsuryugan flared within his eyes, casting an eerie crimson luminescence over the waters.
Whitebeard forcefully channeled his Tremor-Tremor Fruit, swinging his bisento to unleash waves of Conqueror's-infused seismic distortions. Amid a deafening explosion, the mysterious youth—bearing the exact likeness of Uchiha Madara—drew a crimson cleaver blade. Coating the weapon in dense Armament Haki, he met Whitebeard's strike head-on!
Pfft!
Coughing up a mouthful of blood, the infiltrator was forced backward several paces by the terrifying, space-tearing force of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
Right at that moment, Teach and Kaido moved in unison!
Though both harbored deep wariness toward the mysterious infiltrator, their primary objective right now was to ensure Whitebeard's demise.
Kaido and Teach unleashed their finishing moves simultaneously, while the Three All-Stars lunged forward to execute a coordinated, all-out assault against the wounded Emperor.
Facing the onslaught of overwhelming numbers, Whitebeard sustained multiple severe lacerations across his body. Yet he did not yield a single inch, swinging his bisento relentlessly to trade blows against his foes in a savage battle of attrition.
"Whitebeard... the man hailed as the Strongest in the World truly possesses terrifying willpower and martial prowess."
Gripping his crimson cleaver blade, the mysterious infiltrator chose not to press forward, instead opting to disengage from the epicenter of the brawl.
Whitebeard had already been poisoned by the foreign Chakra injection. No matter how formidable his willpower and combat strength remained, he was nothing more than an arrow at the end of its flight. Leaving Teach and Kaido to grind him down was the far wiser choice.
"Scheming rat... are you in such a hurry to flee?!"
A familiar, booming Gurararara laugh suddenly echoed directly behind the infiltrator. Whirling around, he was met by the sight of Whitebeard's massive bisento descending with crushing atmospheric pressure!
"Vile wretches like you and Teach have zero reason to exist in this world!"
A violent shockwave swept across the entire sea. Whitebeard's all-out offensive arrived with suffocating momentum, leaving his targets not a single second to catch their breath.
The Kingdom of Alabasta...
Located on Sandy Island along the Grand Line, Alabasta was a premier desert superpower boasting a standing army of 600,000 soldiers, standing as one of the grandest nations in the first half of the Grand Line.
Here, the secret criminal syndicate Baroque Works—orchestrated by the Warlord Crocodile—was actively executing Operation Utopia, while Crocodile himself sought to unearth the Ancient Weapon Pluton.
Years ago, following the tragedy of the Ohara Incident, the World Government—terrified of the continued existence of scholars capable of reading Poneglyphs and desperate to prevent the truth of the Void Century from coming to light—authorized Spandine to fabricate charges claiming the young Robin had sunk six Marine battleships.
She was branded with an extraordinary bounty of 79,000,000 Beli and given the sinister moniker "Demon Child of Ohara."
Initially, Robin drifted from place to place seeking basic survival. Yet due to her identity and colossal bounty, she was repeatedly betrayed and abandoned by those she trusted. Over the subsequent decade, Robin hid in the criminal underworld to evade naval pursuit, surviving solely by betraying others before they could betray her.
Now, having aligned herself with Crocodile, she served as the Vice President of Baroque Works under the codename Miss All Sunday...
Stepping onto the sun-scorched sands of the desert kingdom, Uchiha Madara and Nico Olvia traveled side by side. Because Robin's whereabouts had been verified, Madara had brought her mother along.
In truth, Olvia had felt hesitant about confronting her daughter so abruptly. Yet Madara's blunt, domineering approach had forced her to accompany him across the vast desert in search of her child.
The two walked together through the arid heat. Over the past few years, although Olvia had occasionally voiced exasperation over Madara's fiery and arrogant temper, seeing the deep, unspoken loneliness dwelling in the eyes of this man—who appeared roughly a decade younger than herself—frequently triggered her protective instincts, prompting her to look after his daily needs.
Regardless of his past, Madara had once stood as the proud leader of the Uchiha Clan. Since orchestrating the dark events of the Shinobi World from the shadows, virtually no one had ever attended to his daily life with such genuine warmth. In their routine interactions, Madara found himself far from disliking Olvia's presence.
Over time, both had tacitly accepted this unique dynamic. While it remained a matter of daily companionship, in Madara's eyes, this woman belonged under his personal protection.
Consequently, he held full authority to intervene in matters concerning Nico Robin.
"According to Shiraishi's intelligence, she works for Crocodile."
Crocodile's sphere of influence centered around the city of Rainbase. Thus, the pair headed straight for the most prosperous, thriving oasis metropolis in the desert kingdom.
As the dream city of Alabasta and Crocodile's primary base of operations, Rainbase housed the kingdom's premier casino, Rain Dinners.
Inside the bustling, luxurious casino floor, Uchiha Madara and Olvia strode straight through the main entrance.
"Tell your boss to come out and see me!"
It's... Uchiha Madara!
Several sharp-eyed underworld operatives recognized Madara's identity instantly. Panicking, several casino staff members sprinted desperately toward Nico Robin's executive office.
"Uchiha Madara has appeared in Alabasta?"
Inside the back office overseeing Rain Dinners' operations, Nico Robin looked up. She possessed long, elegant black hair swept back from her forehead, wearing orange-tinted sunglasses, a deep vibrant blue vest, and a flowing floral skirt, radiating an air of refined, intellectual composure.