"Here they come."
On the rocky shoreline of God Valley, Dean D. Dollars suddenly spoke.
The moment his words fell, a Level-One Red Alert siren wailed across the entire island.
All artillery units were loaded.
All Marines and officers immediately moved into combat positions.
"Wooooo—"
A deep war horn echoed across the sea.
But it did not come from God Valley.
It came from the far horizon.
It was the plundering horn of the overlord of the seas — the Rocks Pirates.
The sound waves rolled outward, so powerful they seemed almost solid, sending ripples across the ocean's surface.
Moments later, the horn fell silent.
At the edge of the horizon, a thin black line appeared.
Then another.
And another.
It was a fleet.
Pirate ships flying skull-and-crossbones flags, cutting through the waves.
The mightiest pirate fleet in the world — commanded by the sea overlord himself, Rocks D. Xebec — advanced like a storm made of steel.
"Wahahahaha!"
On the massive flagship at the front, Rocks lowered the horn from his lips and burst into wild laughter.
"Listen up, you animals! Are you ready?! Treasures, women, power — everything this world has to offer is piled up on that Celestial Dragon island!"
"God Valley is the greatest hunting ground in the world!!!"
His voice boomed like thunder over the fleet.
"Hahaha! Captain Rocks! My Flying Fleet is ready! Let's tear this place apart!"
A booming laugh echoed from the sky.
A tall man wearing an orange fur coat floated effortlessly above the ships, his long golden hair flowing like a lion's mane.
It was Shiki, the Golden Lion.
"Well, well… I wonder if they've got any good cake on that island? I'm gonna eat the sweetest cake in the world!"
On a candy-decorated pirate ship stood a towering young woman with a striking figure and a wild grin.
She was Charlotte Linlin — later known as Big Mom.
Even at this age, her monstrous strength was terrifying. As a child, she had already killed giant warriors with her bare hands.
Though she hadn't yet reached her future Emperor-level power, she was far from ordinary — which was why Rocks had appointed her commander of the Ninth Division.
In contrast, a certain future Emperor was still just an apprentice.
Kaido, the future "Strongest Creature," was currently nothing more than a trainee aboard the Rocks crew.
He had not yet obtained his Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit.
He did not yet possess his near-immortal body.
Among this crew of monsters, he was barely noticeable.
To the Marines, he wasn't even a priority target.
Except to Dean.
Dean D. Dollars, who knew how the future would unfold, understood exactly what kind of monster Kaido would become.
If he had the chance…
He would eliminate the threat at its root.
That was his plan.
At that very moment, Kaido suddenly shivered.
A chill ran down his spine for no apparent reason.
"Wahahahaha! Listen up!"
Rocks' voice boomed again from the flagship.
"Taking God Valley is only step one! Once we crush the Marines and uncover the 'secret' hidden on this island…"
"Our next target will be Mary Geoise — the Holy Land atop the Red Line!"
"Once we take Mary Geoise, I will become King of the World! And you — you'll all be my ministers!"
"We'll carve this world up and make it ours! Wahahahahaha!"
The fleet erupted in deafening cheers.
Greed.
Bloodlust.
Ambition.
The killing intent of countless New World monsters surged into the sky, scattering even the storm clouds above.
"Knock knock."
A pirate lifted a bottle and drained it.
He placed both hands on the twin swords at his waist.
It was Captain John.
"Captain Rocks, I want half the treasure on that island."
"Greedy as ever, John," said a long-haired pirate with narrow eyes and a beard — Wang Zhi, commander of the Third Division.
"Same as always," growled the massive man wielding a giant silver-plated axe — Silver Axe. "Whoever grabs it, keeps it!"
"Hey, Newgate. Not gonna say anything?"
All eyes turned toward a towering man with a crescent mustache.
"Ku la la la… I've told you before," said Edward Newgate. "I'm not interested in treasure."
"Then I'll gladly take your share," sneered Gloriosa, captain of the Sixth Division.
Newgate sighed softly.
"All I want… is a family."
"Newgate!"
Rocks' voice boomed again.
"Let the storm rage harder!"
His red hair whipped in the wind like demonic flames.
"You're here now. So fight!"
Newgate's loneliness vanished.
He stepped to the bow of the ship.
With a heavy clang, he planted his supreme-grade blade, Murakumogiri, onto the deck.
"It's coming!"
"The monster Whitebeard is about to move!"
"The power that can destroy the world!"
"The Tremor-Tremor Fruit!"
Amid the excited howls of the pirate monsters, Newgate clenched his fists and punched forward.
Crack.
The air shattered like glass.
BOOM!
The sea tilted violently.
Waves rose like mountains.
The ocean itself capsized.
The Battle of God Valley had begun.
...
Far from the island, beyond the raging waters—
Another pirate ship rose and fell with the waves.
They were the freest people on the sea.
The Roger Pirates.
"Roger, what do we do? The war's already started," asked a blonde man with a lightning-shaped scar over his eye — Scopper Gaban.
Their captain, Gol D. Roger, stared toward the distant storm.
"I've confirmed it," Roger said gravely. "God Valley isn't just a playground for the Celestial Dragons. There's something else hidden there."
"Whatever it is… even if it's destroyed, we can't let it fall into the hands of a power-hungry man like Rocks."
"That's enough for me," Gaban said, gripping his twin axes, battle spirit blazing.
Beside Roger stood his right-hand man — Silvers Rayleigh — silent as always.
Half a beat passed.
"…Or maybe we wait a little," Roger muttered, rubbing his forehead. "I'm not in a hurry to see that bastard Dean too soon."
The entire Roger crew nodded in deep agreement.
Some storms were worse than others.
And sometimes—
Dean D. Dollars was one of them.