East Blue.
Marine Base 153, Branch Commander's Office.
A burly man over three meters tall slowly turned his head to look at the Marine Staff Officer who had come to report.
"The Black Cat Pirates... they're planning to enter my jurisdiction? Is the information reliable?"
The Marine Staff Officer said respectfully, "It's news sent back by the undercover agent dispatched as you ordered, Captain Morgan."
"They were attracted by a treasure, the location of which is said to be near our base's waters."
"After all these years, I finally have the chance to deal with these shameless remnants."
The burly man slowly stood up, raising his right hand to look at the axe that replaced his arm. The cold, hard surface of the axe reflected his cold, hard steel jaw.
"I clearly killed their Captain, Kuro of a Thousand Plans, yet they still dare to roam under the banner of the Black Cat Pirates. It's a stain on my record."
He looked at the Marine Staff Officer and said in a cold tone, "I am the greatest, such a stain cannot exist. The treasure should be mine as well. I absolutely cannot let this group of pirates lay their hands on it."
"Pass down the order: prepare the warship for departure. I want to catch these bastards and execute them one by one."
"Yes, sir!"
The Marine Staff Officer saluted, then suddenly said, "Captain Morgan, this might be an opportunity to make you even greater."
"Hmm?"
"If we spread the news of the treasure, it will attract many pirates. And if you wipe them all out in one fell swoop... the achievement will surely be significant. More people will revere your greatness."
"Hmm... this is indeed a good opportunity."
Morgan looked at the Marine Staff Officer with appreciation. "I'll leave it to you. This is your chance to show your loyalty to me."
"Yes, sir."
The Marine Staff Officer withdrew and let out a long breath after pushing the door open and leaving.
He had taken a risk by speaking up just now, but he felt it was an opportunity.
Marine Branch 153 had almost become Morgan's personal playground. Morgan acted with unpredictable brutality, dominating the base with his own will. He even forced the civilians under his rule to pay tribute.
Almost everyone in the base had grievances but they couldn't beat him.
Morgan was a powerhouse who had slain Kuro, there was no force within the base that could rival him. Even if hundreds of Marines swarmed him, he would easily deal with them.
But since they couldn't join him and couldn't beat him, they might as well take this chance to do something big.
'I need to spread the news as much as possible to attract those pirates. It would be best if Morgan died.'
'If he doesn't die, I'll report upward to get him promoted and transferred to Headquarters.'
The Marine Staff Officer made up his mind. He wasn't alone, the entire Marine Base 153 was behind him.
If we can't beat you, we'll send you away!
Soon, news of a massive treasure near Marine Base 153's waters spread like wildfire across the seas.
"Hey, did you hear? There's treasure on an island in Marine Base 153's jurisdiction, worth 100 million berries."
"Have you heard? There's a huge treasure within Marine Base 153's waters. They say it's the wealth of a kingdom, worth 700 million berries."
"Did you hear? There's a secret treasury of an ancient kingdom."
"It's located within Marine Base 153's waters. They say there's an entire vault of gold and countless jewels."
East Blue.
On a street of a certain island.
"Have you heard? An ancient kingdom's secret treasury has been discovered. Inside is a secret medicine that can bring the dead back to life, and a legendary sword." Johnny whispered.
"How come I heard it was countless gold and mountains of jewels?"
Yosaku shook his head. "That's four different versions already. I think it's definitely fake."
"But I heard many pirates have already headed there."
Johnny scratched his head and looked at his silent comrade. "Zoro, what do you think?"
Beside him stood a man with green hair and three golden teardrop-shaped earrings in his left ear.
He was also the one Johnny had just acknowledged—a truly powerful figure to rely on.
"I'm not interested in gold or treasure, but many pirates will be there, right?" Zoro seemed somewhat interested.
At that moment, a man came running hurriedly down the street, stopping breathlessly in front of the trio.
"What? Do you want to ask for directions?"
Zoro looked in confusion at the stranger with hair covering his left eye, wearing a scarf and a cloak.
"What? I just stopped to catch my breath. Don't get in my way of going back to report." The stranger glared at Zoro and ran past the trio.
Johnny and Yosaku exchanged glances, their expressions turning strange—not because of the other party's poor attitude but because of what Zoro had just said.
How did you even dare to ask that?
If they could, the two of them really wanted to roast him for that line.
"Strange guy. Was he a swordsman?"
Zoro didn't think much of it. He looked up at the sea visible in the distance at the end of the street.
"Let's go. We're heading out to sea now."
With that, he began to stride forward.
However...
"Zoro, the harbor is in the direction behind us! It's to the north!"
"Oh, I know. North."
Zoro changed direction without a change in expression.
"That's south!!!"
Finally, Johnny and Yosaku pulled Zoro from both sides.
The trio headed to the harbor, which happened to be in the same direction as that stranger.
—
A week later.
Near the waters under Marine Base 153's jurisdiction.
Hiroto's ship arrived at a location on the intelligence sea chart.
Nami's navigation skills were unquestionable, and her helmsmanship was superb. Although there were only three of them, they hadn't encountered any problems on the voyage.
Hiroto sat cross-legged at the bow, his sheathed long sword resting on his knees, gazing deeply across the ocean.
Just as he was about to trigger [Incoming Chaos], a series of images suddenly flashed into his mind, startling him.
[Incoming Chaos] has two trigger modes: active and passive.
The passive mode generates random scenes related to story characters, much like jumping to a random timestamp in a video. It consumes no stamina, the only downside is not knowing when it will trigger.
The active trigger generates scenes related to Hiroto himself. He had used it during his fight with Alvida. It showed him scenes of the fight with Alvida within a few seconds, consuming about one-tenth of his stamina.
It was equivalent to a basic version of future sight, which can only be achieved with peak Observation Haki.
From this, the power of a purple entry could be seen.
Now, [Incoming Chaos] had triggered passively.
What appeared in Hiroto's mind was Jango talking to his subordinates. And the content...
Hiroto stood up and went to the top of the sail.
After spending half an hour, he finally spotted a small black dot behind the ship's stern.
They must have been followed when passing the previous island, where Nami had restocked supplies.
"You want treasure? Come and take it with your lives." Hiroto narrowed his eyes, his gaze cold.