A black-haired girl's anxious face appeared in the transponder snail on Charlotte Linlin's fingertip, the snail crackling with static:
Big Sis Linlin! Pirates are attacking us!
Got it. I'm on my way back! Linlin snapped the transponder shut, meeting Newgate's gaze.
Looks like we're out of time to talk. I'm heading out.
A terrifying aura burst from her body. The air hummed with strange sparks, and chunks of ice formed high above only to melt into mist.
Milky-white dragon scales rippled beneath her skin, spreading until only her face and waist were bare; the scattered white scales only heightened her beauty and majesty.
At the same moment, two curved white horns spiraled from her brow, vast blue wings unfurled behind her, and a long pink-furred tail swept down her back.
She looked like a Valkyrie of draconic myth—her already huge frame now crowned with draconic traits that made her even more overwhelming.
The Mythical Zoan Type Devil Fruit she called Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Demon Dragon Form, revealed itself on Hachinosu Island for the first time; its aura alone knocked out some of Whitebeard Pirates' awakened crew.
With a taloned, scale-armored foot she hooked the limp Kurozumi Higurashi, flapped her colossal wings—
Boom!
A ring of dust exploded outward as she shot skyward, leaving only a contrail and her parting words: 'Newgate, till we meet again.'
Gurararara! You've got it, woman! Whitebeard laughed skyward, eyes blazing with wonder and fighting spirit.
Another Mythical Zoan monster… where the hell did Rocks dig her up?
…A dozen minutes earlier, a triple-sized galleon flying the Rocks Pirates flag lay anchored off Hachinosu Island.
A royal-guard design meant for Linlin's coming-of-age and her first royal commission, it looked absurdly noble among pirate craft.
Yet its maiden voyage wasn't to guard the kingdom but to flee the king, now flying the black flag of Rocks.
On deck, seventeen-year-old Navigator Vina, long black hair whipping, stared anxiously at the island.
I wonder how Linlin's doing… that place looks terrifying.
Relax, Vina, soothed the older brown-haired woman, patting her head.
She's a 500-million-Berry Great Pirate, the hero who pulled us out of hell. Believe in her.
Exactly, Sia, added the green-pigtailed Shi Yue, eyes shining.
Big Sis Linlin's bounty isn't the highest in Rocks, but her potential is unmatched—she'll be fine!
But… Vina twisted her fingers.
We followed her here because she feared she couldn't protect us in that nest of pirates; we who have no strength only drag her down…
We're the ones who should worry about being abandoned! cut in the curly-blonde Viya, eyes Burning.
At least you can navigate! We're truly useless—yet I won't forgive the Marines who treated us like trash. With Linlin, there's hope!
The four had been rescued from a Navy base's 'comfort room' while Linlin was delivering her 'name card' by razing the installation.
She'd meant only to wreck the base, but seeing their broken state ignited a fury that left no Marine alive that day.
Up on the poop deck, elegant blonde Mia sipped coffee, watching them, and murmured to the acting cook, sturdy Babbs:
Those girls… what did they suffer? Their hate looks deeper than ours when we were 'gifts.'
Some darkness, Mia, is better left unknown, Babbs sighed.
Mia, once a noble Demoiselle offered to Celestial Dragons, could guess; she and twenty-odd others had been saved by Linlin's rampage.
In fact, Linlin had freed far more women; some chose their own paths, others stayed on a Sky Island to care for her aged parents.
Mia! A pirate ship's racing at us from the west! a lookout screamed, shattering the somber calm.
What?! Mia strode to the rail, telescope raised.
Impossible—we fly Rocks' flag! Who in the New World is fool enough to cross Rocks?
Through the lens she saw another pirate skiff bearing straight for them, the same black Rocks flag snapping from its mast.