You can read ahead up to 15 chapters on my Patreon: https://www.p*treon.com/darkshadow6395
Water 7, renowned throughout the Grand Line as the "City of Shipwrights" and birthplace of the Ancient Weapon Pluton, was always bustling with activity.
Beside the waterways teeming with people and Buru boats, the sign for the "Water Buffalo Bar" swayed gently in the sea breeze.
Even during the day, the bar was packed with patrons, its cheap and delicious drinks drew a motley crowd from all walks of life.
Yet at this moment, many patrons weren't drinking. Instead, they clutched newspapers, their eyes glued to the front-page headlines.
Judging by the ink, these were clearly the latest editions of the World Economic News, just released today.
Just as people were discussing it...
Creak!
The wooden door of the bar was pushed open, and a figure walked in.
His Marine uniform identified his status at a glance... he was a Marine.
This wasn't anything rare.
As mentioned before, Marine battleships frequently came to Water 7 for repairs. Marines weren't everywhere, but seeing one every now and then was normal.
But this time, something was different.
"... "
The entire bar fell silent in an instant.
"Hm?"
Roy was a bit surprised by this, 'were the drinkers of Water 7 really this well-mannered?'
But he clearly didn't have time to think too much about it.
At that moment, he had already spotted the person he came looking for so he walked straight up to the bar and sat down.
"A glass of cola, please. Fill it with ice," He said in a deep voice.
"This is a bar. We don't have cola. How about sparkling wine?" The bartender replied from behind the counter.
"...Fine, that'll do."
After Roy nodded, the bartender turned around and walked toward the liquor cabinet.
This allowed Roy to get a clear view of the man.
Tall and muscular, the bartender wore a yellow shirt. His face looked somewhat dull, but the distinct contours of his muscles were unmistakable.
The most striking feature was his hairstyle—it resembled two bull horns jutting from his head.
Simple and honest. That was the first impression his appearance gave.
But Roy naturally knew the truth was far more complex.
{Devil Fruit user detected: "Blueno"}
{Devil Fruit confirmed: "Paramecia · Door-Door Fruit," analyzing and recording into the "Devil Fruit Encyclopedia"}
(Devil Fruit Ability — Can open doors to a separate dimension anywhere, allowing anyone to freely enter and exit. The separate dimension can observe everything happening outside.}
{Note: While inside the separate dimension, because it is fundamentally separated by spacetime, the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia cannot analyze external Devil Fruit Abilities.}
{Ability Levels}
{LV1: Weak fruit effect acquired. Can open doors only in places where openings already exist.}
{LV2: Partial fruit effect acquired. Can open doors on solid objects. Requires 400,000,000 Beli to unlock.}
{LV3: Full fruit effect acquired. Can open doors with one's hands on anything except seawater and Seastone, and enter the separate dimension. Requires 2.5 billion Beli to unlock.}
{LV4: Deep fruit development. Any place touched by any part of the body naturally becomes a door. Doors can freely change size and shape. Requires 50 billion Beli to unlock.}
{LV5: Devil Fruit Awakening · Door Domain. Forms a massive "Domain of Doors" centered on the user, pulling everyone within range into the domain. Requires 100 billion Beli to unlock.}
{Analysis Progress: 0%}
That's right.
Roy knew perfectly well that the man before him, "Blueno," was actually a member of CP-9, the World Government's spy organization.
His role as the bar boss in Water 7 was merely a cover for carrying out his mission.
But the crucial factor was the Devil Fruit he possessed.
The Door-Door Fruit, a rare Space-Type fruit in the entire Pirate world, and its effects were incredibly powerful.
The ability to create doors and a separate dimension at will meant that, as long as the user wished, they were almost invincible.
And this was the main reason Roy had come to Water 7.
It must be said that the difficulty of obtaining this Devil Fruit was very low.
All he needed to do was sit comfortably for a while, and it would be his.
"The only downside is the lack of cola here," Roy grumbled inwardly, gazing at the sparkling wine before him. "Honestly, how can a bar not have cola?"
"..."
Soon, however, he saw Blueno return and stand before him, his eyes calmly fixed on Roy.
This instantly put Roy on guard. 'What was going on?'
Before Roy could react, Blueno spoke: "Are you... Roy Amos?"
"You know me?" Roy nodded calmly, though his heart raced. 'Blueno knows my name? Did I slip up somewhere, alerting CP-9 to my presence?'
Just as Roy was lost in thought, exclamations erupted from every corner of the bar:
"It's him!"
"So it really is him!"
"Lieutenant Commander Roy from Headquarters!"
"The Marine Supernova who fought a Warlord to a draw! The rising star and future hope of the Marines!"
"The disciple of former Marine Admiral Zephyr! He was quietly training in the Marine Detention Unit, rumor has it that he only came out this time for the upcoming Three Forces Grand Exercise. He's a true super genius!"
"Are we actually seeing him in person?!"
The patrons' words left Roy completely dumbfounded.
'Fought a Shichibukai to a draw? Marine Supernova? Admiral's disciple who came out of seclusion for the Tri-Service Military Exercise?'
'Who are they talking about? Does the Marine have another Lieutenant Commander named Roy?'
"You look like you don't know." At that moment, Blueno silently handed him a newspaper.
Roy's eyes immediately fell on the front-page photograph.
The image showed a massive Tyrannosaurus Rex standing face-to-face with a Marine on a frozen Sea.
In the image, the Tyrannosaurus Rex appeared ferocious and terrifying.
The Marine's white coat billowed in the wind, the word "Justice" on its back gleaming brightly against the icy landscape.
To be fair, the World Economy News Paper continued to deliver reliably impactful coverage.
A frozen Sea, a colossal beast, and a Marine Hero confronting it head-on—the composition exuded a silent, overwhelming sense of pressure.
The newspaper seemed to have deliberately chosen this angle, ensuring that the wreckage of Hanafuda's "Giant Dinosaur Fleet" behind the two figures was not captured in the shot.
What puzzled Roy, however, was the headline beneath the photo:
"The Three Forces Grand Exercise Is About to Begin, Marine Supernova Appears!"
The article's content below this heavy-hitting title matched exactly what the bar patrons had just said.
According to the report, with the Three Forces Grand Exercise at Marine Headquarters set to begin in just over a month, a number of young and powerful Marine "Supernovas" had begun to reveal themselves.
{Roy Amos is one of them. Secretly trained by former Marine Admiral Zephyr, he possesses formidable strength.}
{To participate in the Three Forces Grand Exercise and uphold justice in defense of the people, he has finally stepped into the public eye, and ten days ago engaged in a pre-exercise warm-up battle against the Warlord of the Sea, Hanafuda, the two fought to a draw.}
{According to insiders, many top Navy officials believe Lieutenant Commander Roy Amos will become a key figure in confronting the dark forces of the seas and pacifying the Great Age of Piracy in the future.}
Below that, the newspaper went on to detail promotional information about the Three Forces Grand Exercise, with a special note:
{This publication will broadcast the exercise live via Den Den Mushi to allied kingdoms of the World Government worldwide… stay tuned.}
Roy: "…"
To be honest, he didn't understand what was going on.
But looking at the crowd surging toward him like a tidal wave, he understood at least one thing: He seemed to have become famous.
…
At the same time, atop a massive island shaped like a skull in Wano Country.
"Glug, Glug!"
A gigantic man with a towering body, twin horns on his head, and a sacred rope tied around his bare chest drank heavily from a gourd filled with strong liquor.
BOOM!
From the clouds above his head, streaks of lightning crashed down beside him. The massive thunderclap sent cries of alarm echoing from below.
"Woro-rororororo!"
He showed no fear of the descending thunder, casually tossing the gourd aside and letting out his signature laughter.
His laughter rang almost in unison with the thunder.
Across the seas, there were many figures with monstrous physiques and ghostly appearances.
But...
Someone with such an appearance and overwhelming presence... there was only one: The Yonko, Kaido of the Hundred Beasts.
"Zephyr's disciple... the Marine Supernova who'll quell the Great Age of Piracy... hic."
At that moment, Kaido was already a little drunk and chuckled as he spoke.
"Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? That Marine brat?"
"He really is strong."
In front of Kaido, a Den Den Mushi trembled as it struggled to carry out its duty.
Given the Den Den Mushi's dinosaur-like appearance, it wasn't hard to guess who was on the other end.
It was none other than the recently defeated "Lizard King" Hanafuda.
"Wororororo... looks like you've gotten rusty these past few years, Hanafuda!"
Kaido slapped his knee and let out another round of laughter.
"..."
Hearing this, Hanafuda remained silent.
He did not deny Kaido's words.
In his youth, he had been a great pirate who could hold his own against the young Kaido.
However, after becoming Kaido's closest friend and accepting the position of a Warlord, although he still revered strength, he could no longer devote himself wholly to honing his own power as he once had.
Before Hanafuda could reply, Kaido continued speaking.
"However…"
The Yonko picked up the enormous kanabo, Hassaikai, resting beside him.
"Allowing a Marine brat to use you to make a name for himself across the seas is something I can't just pretend I didn't notice! Humiliating my brother like this... Are you prepared for the consequences, Marine!?"
He twisted his neck, producing sharp cracking sounds.
"Come on! Let's start a war... it's been a long time since I've fought the Marines! Zephyr's disciple, huh? That old man's missing an arm now. He's not enough anymore. Send Garp or another Admiral instead!"
"Big Brother Kaido!" At that moment, Hanafuda spoke in a deep voice. "Sengoku has already told me that if we retaliate over this matter, my Warlord title will be stripped."
"Ha!?"
Kaido looked at the Den Den Mushi as if at a loss for words.
"Strip your Warlord title?" He roared in anger. "Who cares about that kind of thing!?"
Bang!
A vast surge of Haki exploded outward, blasting a chunk of Onigashima Island's ground apart.
"Whether they want war or to strip titles, that's their problem! All I want is the greatest war in the world!" Kaido's voice trembled as he ground his teeth loudly.
Was it anger? Excitement? Or was it simply the alcohol kicking in?
Perhaps all three.
"No, Big Brother Kaido." Hanafuda continued in a deep, steady voice. "Victory is victory, defeat is defeat. I lost to him. That is a fact. The Marines are free to use me to build his reputation."
The gaze on the other end of the Den Den Mushi seemed to turn toward Kaido.
"But the Hundred Beasts plan absolutely cannot be disrupted because of my defeat!"
He was perhaps the only person who could speak to Kaido like this at that moment.
Yes.
Kaido's ambition was war itself, a vast, blazing war that would drag the entire world into it.
Everyone... nobles, royalty, commoners, Marines, and pirates, slaughtering each other equally in war, and then dying.
War itself was his goal.
Whether he would emerge victorious did not matter to Kaido.
But Hanafuda was different.
From the battles of their youth, he had completely acknowledged Kaido. In all these years, he had rarely strengthened himself further, not out of laziness.
Rather, he knew his talent was far inferior to Kaido's.
So he accepted the Warlord title to hunt pirates, to obtain resources for Kaido, to sell weapons, and to collect Devil Fruits.
His goal was to make Kaido a king.
That was the difference between him and Kaido. Kaido cared about war itself, regardless of victory or defeat. But for Hanafuda, Kaido had to win the war.
Therefore, before his plan was complete and he had accumulated enough, he did not want Kaido to go to war with the Marines because of him!
"...
Hearing this, Kaido also fell silent.
After a while, he set Hassaikai down and sat back down.
"So you're just going to let it end like this, Hanafuda? That's not the person I admired back then." He snorted, his voice growing low.
But upon hearing this, Hanafuda, who was on the other end of the Den Den Mushi, laughed instead.
"End it?" He sneered.
"Of course not..."
He had promised the Marines that he wouldn't retaliate against Roy personally.
He acknowledged his defeat.
But that didn't mean he didn't have other options.
After all,
"A beast's hunt only ends with death."
(End of Chapter)