Near the Red Line—
A small island, uncharted and nameless.
Linton sat under a canopy, flipping through a stack of reports.
"Instructor Fury, it's confirmed. This kid has nothing to do with the KGB operative's death," one of the men said.
"That little punk is just lucky," Linton added with a smirk.
"Let him out. Even though KGB is dead, he's left behind something useful for us."
...
Inside a dark, windowless room on the island.
Kuro lay motionless on the ground.
Ever since he had regained consciousness, they had locked him up here.
No one had beaten him, and no one had starved him. But the endless darkness made time stretch unbearably long.
"Creak—"
A shaft of light pierced the gloom.
Kuro's eyes snapped to the doorway.
Another mealtime. He had survived another half-day.
"Kid! Get up. You're staying here from now on!" a familiar voice barked — Linton, the man who had captured him.
Kuro pushed himself up and shuffled toward the door, his body stiff from lying down too long.
For the first time, he glimpsed the outside.
Lush greenery filled his vision — tall trees and mossy towers covered in vines.
"Hah! Hah!"
The sound of heavy breathing echoed from nearby.
Kuro's gaze shifted.
Across a flat training field, dozens of kids around his age were drenched in sweat, struggling through grueling exercises.
Beyond them, the dense jungle loomed, and deep inside it, a massive, crumbling tower clawed at the sky.
Suddenly, a tall man in a suit, an eye patch over one eye, walked toward him.
"You! You've been lying around long enough! From today, call me Instructor Fury! Now move! Start running!" the man barked.
Before Kuro's groggy mind could catch up, he saw Fury raise his hand—
Crack!
Only then did Kuro notice the massive iron cage beside the building.
The door had been opened.
"Awoo!!"
Out of the cage burst a black-and-white beast, a massive dog snarling ferociously as it charged at him!
...
Bristol—
The Grand Hall at the heart of the island.
"Pops!"
Marco and the rest of the commanders rushed in, their complicated emotions barely hidden on their faces.
"Gurararara!"
Whitebeard drained the massive jug of sake in his hand, cheeks slightly flushed.He looked down at his sons and laughed heartily.
"Gurararara! What's wrong with you lot? Lookin' like you lost your last penny!" he roared.
"If it's about money, just drink a little less, and we'll be fine!" he joked.
Marco took a deep breath, his tone unusually grave.
"Pops… it's serious."
Whitebeard waved a massive hand dismissively, grabbing a fresh jug.
"Gurarara! Come on, quit with the long faces! You're my sons. Speak!"
Still chuckling, he hadn't noticed yet how strange they were acting.
Marco dropped his head low, unable to look Pops in the eyes.
He bit his lip hard and forced the words out.
"Oden… Oden's dead!"
The words fell like a thunderclap.
The hall fell deathly silent, so still you could hear the sake sloshing inside the jugs.
The crew looked at each other in stunned disbelief.
Oden—the invincible samurai—dead?
"Oden... dead...?"
The laughter froze on Whitebeard's face.
The haze of alcohol vanished instantly.
The veins on the back of his massive hand bulged as he crushed the sake jug into dust.
Through clenched teeth, he growled,
"Who did it?"
"Kaido!" Marco answered, his voice tight with hatred.
Crack!
The crushed jug exploded into powder between Whitebeard's fingers.
A terrible rage twisted his face, until he looked nothing like the gentle "Pops" they knew.
His fists crackled with Conqueror's Haki, slamming into the air.
"KAIDO!!!"
The strongest man in the world roared, and a wave of pure destruction swept out.
The ground trembled violently.The entire island shook as if an earthquake had struck.
Even the sea around Hachinosu Island tilted dangerously.
In the nearby waters, Sea Kings broke the surface in a frenzy, as if sensing something monstrous rising from the depths.
Everyone on the sea knew: To harm Whitebeard's family was to invite certain death.
And this time, it wasn't just a crewmate — Oden had been a brother to him.
"Pops is furious!!"
"Marco! Do something!"
"Thatch! Help calm him down!"
"..."
The lower-ranked members clung to the walls, white-knuckled and praying that Pops would calm down quickly.
Because when Whitebeard lost control, he wasn't a man — he was a walking natural disaster.
But he managed to reign himself in. This was his island. He had to protect it.
Little by little, the tremors stopped.
Only the ocean remained restless, waves still surging wildly.
The once-immaculate Grand Hall was now a wreck.
The crewmates, who had been tossed about like rag dolls, slowly breathed a sigh of relief.
The last time they had seen Pops this angry...
Was when Roger had knelt before him.
"Marco!" Whitebeard barked, his eyes burning with crimson Conqueror's Haki.
"Tell me everything about Oden!"
"I'll explain!" Izo stepped forward, voice trembling.
He began to recount everything he had heard from Urashima.
"Pops, four years ago, after Oden-sama returned to Wano..."
"Orochi and Kaido had already joined forces. The former shogun, Kozuki Sukiyaki, had vanished..."
"Under the threat of hostages, Oden-sama was forced to dance like a fool..."
"Two years ago, when Kaido left the island, Shinobu from Orochi's Oniwabanshu defected and revealed the truth..."
"Oden-sama rallied his vassals and allied daimyos for an all-out assault on Kaido..."
"But in the final battle, Oden was personally slain by Kaido."
"The daimyos died alongside him, refusing to surrender."
"Orochi and Doflamingo — that bastard Heavenly Yaksha — wiped out the rest of Oden's family and samurai, leaving no survivors."
The crewmates, who hadn't known the full story, listened in horror.
Hearing about Oden's humiliation — the forced dancing — their hands clenched into trembling fists.
As pirates, they could accept losing comrades in battle.
But to see family humiliated like that?
Unforgivable.
"That bastard Orochi! If he hadn't vanished, I'd kill him a hundred times over!!"
"Oden... why didn't you come to us?!"
"That damned Doflamingo — even women and children weren't spared!"
"Oden... his bloodline ended with him!!"
Tears flowed freely across the room.
The air grew heavy with grief.
Even the captains wept openly.
Even Whitebeard, the strongest man alive, could not hold back his tears.
"Gurararara..."
He popped open another jug of sake, drinking until not a drop remained.
Then he rose to his feet.
Gripping Murakumogiri — his massive naginata — he slammed the blade into the floor.
Boom!
Everyone looked up at him.
Whitebeard's face was thunderous, darker than a storm.
Like a black magnet pulling all anger toward him.
"Prepare the ships," Whitebeard said, his voice like an iron hammer.
"We're heading to Wano!"
"Everything that happened to Oden..."
"I will make them pay for it!!"
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Fanfic is finished 527 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg