After hearing Gloriosa's concerns, Shakky thought it over and decided it was best to follow Brook's arrangements. She trusted his foresight more than anyone's.
"I believe Captain Brook will plan this well. Just look at the last two wars. He is a remarkable strategist."
Thinking of Brook made her eyes gleam. As a veteran who had missed both great battles, she felt the loss keenly. If she had not been carrying the life of a Celestial Dragon on her hands, her current bounty might be even lower than those of the new cadres. Thankfully, her title as captain of the Second Division had long been settled. If she were only now returning, she did not want the newcomers looking down on her.
Her hand tightened around her partner, the venomous snake. On Amazon Lily, the art of archery fused with Armament Haki. Even when the arrow left the user's body, the haki clinging to the arrowhead could pierce like a cannon. Many pirates would never master such advanced use of Armament in their lifetimes, whether projecting haki outward or separating it cleanly from the body.
"They are here. The legendary golden ship."
All around the island, Kuja warriors looked up with wide eyes. A vessel that could cross the Calm Belt so casually meant their sanctuary was no longer safe by default. At least against the Hell Pirates, the Calm Belt would not protect them. Fortunately, they were allies now. They would not need to fear the new world overlord that could come and go as it pleased.
"Jihahahaha, what a sight."
Even Shiki the Golden Lion was momentarily stunned. Below, countless Kuja warriors stood poised in the heat, their attire light and their stares like drawn blades. Thousands of fierce beauties in war dress lined the beaches and the cliffs. Next to him, Hiruba and Streusen gulped audibly, eyes bulging like drums and noses twitching.
"Shakky."
Charlotte Linlin and Stussy descended at once. The three hell sisters were reunited in midair, though their titles had been rewritten by the navy and the theatrics of their old epithets were gone. Shakky flew up as well and the three embraced. With Linlin standing on Zeus, her thundercloud, the height difference made the scene almost comical as she hugged both Shakky and Stussy at once.
The golden ship hovered above the palace. Pressure rolled out from the deck like a falling sky. The Kuja archers tightened their bowstrings in unison, instincts honed by a lifetime of guarding sacred ground. Once, no man set foot on Amazon Lily. Now, not even the Kuja could bar the path of the world's mightiest crew.
"Yohoho, Shakky, your aura has grown sharper. Slaying a Celestial Dragon did a number on your spirit. Perhaps you really will awaken Conqueror's Haki soon."
Brook could feel it. Shakky's force surpassed Stussy's now. Authority in Amazon Lily had hardened her like iron. If she took the throne, if she carried the island on her shoulders, she might truly awaken the kingly will.
"Hmph, you did not take me along to the Valley of Gods to hunt those pigs. If I had been there, I would have awakened Conqueror's ages ago."
Shakky's tone was acid. She had been livid when the papers announced it. Kaido and Kozuki Oden awakened Conqueror's Haki, both newcomers, both younger than her. She had missed the greatest feast of all, and the regret gnawed worse than losing tens of billions.
"Do not worry. There will be more chances."
Brook soothed her quickly. Otherwise this sharp-tongued storm would pester him for days.
"Fine then. Captain Shakky of the Hell Pirates' Second Division formally requests to rejoin the crew. Captain Brook, please approve."
Her voice carried across the plaza. The Kuja and the Hell Pirates heard it clearly. Whether or not she was the strongest did not matter. She had earned the right to the second banner.
"Approved. From this moment, Shakky is captain of the Hell Pirates' Second Division. The Second Division is a women's division. No men will be accepted."
Brook made it plain to protect her command. No fool would challenge the leader of the Kuja unit and expect mercy.
Stussy began clapping at once. The others followed, veterans and newcomers alike. Even those who had never met Shakky understood what it meant for Brook to speak so decisively.
On the island, the Kuja bowed to Gloriosa as their former ruler and accepted Shakky as their queen and captain. Even so, Shakky could not manage both island and fleet every day. She appointed Gloriosa as prime minister of Amazon Lily and deputy captain of the Kuja Pirates. That way, Shakky could return frequently to the golden ship.
When she learned Stussy had been pregnant for more than two years, Shakky was speechless. So the quiet schemer had succeeded even earlier than Linlin. She had underestimated Stussy. The thought filled her with a dozen new calculations.
But first things first. They had to move Amazon Lily to the New World.
Brook left Shiki and the Kirin Lion to handle the island itself, using the Float-Float Fruit and the Wind Control Fruit to lift and push Amazon Lily out of the Calm Belt. To save time, Brook took Redfield and piloted the golden ship directly toward Dawn in the South Blue to secure the Portgas family.
As the bridge between the Hell Pirates and Amazon Lily, Shakky had to remain on the island. She would coordinate the work of transporting an entire nation. There was no room for error.
This journey to the South Blue was for the Portgas family alone. Nothing more. The Hell Pirates could not linger in the Four Seas. The war between the navy and the Rocks Pirates was burning hotter every day. Member nations and naval branches in the front half of the New World were falling like rotten walls. How could the Hell Pirates ignore such a bounty of ripe territory
As the strongest crew under the sun, harvesting spoils others had bled for was not even greedy. Let the lesser pirates chase gold. The land itself would belong to Brook.
The crew split again. The World Government and the navy scoured the seas for signs of them, terrified the golden ship would suddenly appear above Marineford or the Holy Land and drop an island from the sky. The Hell Pirates had vanished from the North Blue, and for a time, even the Five Elders could not track them. They had already flown silently through the East Blue without being noticed.
Only when the golden ship descended upon Dawn in the South Blue and took another family did the World Government finally realize where Brook had gone. This time, the Portgas family had not hidden their D. The Five Elders could see the pattern at last.
Brook was gathering the D clan.
He was matching Pluton to the bloodline that could awaken its main cannon. He was preparing to meet the Celestial Dragons' national treasure head on.
The signal could not have been clearer. It was a blade pressed to the World Government's throat.
--------------
After retrieving the Portgas family, Brook wasted no time and immediately returned to Amazon Lily. By then, Shiki and the Kirin Lion had nearly succeeded in hauling the island out of the Calm Belt. Once it entered the Grand Line's current, the island's drift would accelerate considerably.
In the Giant Kingdom of Elbaf, King Odin had already fulfilled a difficult commission from Brook: recalling Jaguar D. Saul and placing him under guarded watch. Odin had no choice. Brook's influence had grown monstrous, and now that he possessed the battleship Pluton, the balance of power between the Hell Pirates and the World Government was nearly even.
If either side collapsed, Elbaf would be caught in the crossfire. Odin could only comply with Brook's "request" and send Saul to him as tribute. The Navy wouldn't risk conflict with Elbaf over a single giant navy officer—especially one who was born of that very kingdom.
Perhaps, Odin thought, if Pluton and Uranus balanced one another, a fragile peace might yet return to the world.
Far away, on a winter island deep within the New World, a man with black, curly hair trudged through snow with his wife and daughter, fleeing toward the coast. Rumor said Rocks D. Xebec was building a new Beehive Island atop Skull Island and needed thousands of laborers. The man sought work there—but it was his daughter who had her own designs.
She, too, had black curls, and though barely fourteen, her sharp eyes held both cunning and cruelty. Her name was Marshall D. Tim—a girl of keen mind and ferocious ambition.
The family preserved ancient texts and secrets of the D clan, knowledge Tim had absorbed from a young age. Among all the D's alive, the strongest were Rocks D. Xebec and the vanished Gol D. Roger. As for Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp—he was a traitor in her eyes, a hound of the World Government unworthy of the D name.
She couldn't find Roger, but Rocks… he was within reach. If she could bring the Marshall family's knowledge to him, he would surely grant her an audience. What she didn't know was that Rocks, locked in war with the Navy, had yet to return to the island she sought. The new Beehive remained unfinished, and fate had other plans for her.
Meanwhile, the Hell Pirates were towing Amazon Lily across the Calm Belt, heading toward the Red Line to reenter the New World.
Brook studied the map. "If we follow this current," he murmured, "we'll soon reach the Red Line."
Shakky, now both navigator and Second Division captain, turned toward him. "Captain, if we pass along this route, we'll cross near Impel Down and Enies Lobby. Why not strike at them both? Imagine the chaos—revenge against the Navy and the World Government in one move."
Her eyes gleamed with mischief. The destruction of Enies Lobby or the capture of Impel Down would shake the world to its core—and their bounties would soar again.
Brook's grin widened. "Impel Down… how could I forget that paradise of prisoners? A nest of monsters waiting to be plucked."
He straightened, his laughter ringing across the deck. "Yohohoho! The Navy's main forces are still locked against Rocks. Perfect timing! The iron walls of Impel Down, hmm? They say no one can breach it for twenty years—but why wait?"
He snapped his fingers. "We strike now."
Shakky blinked. "Captain, you're serious?"
"Serious enough to make history!" Brook grabbed her cheek playfully. "You're my lucky star, Shakky. You always say what I'm already thinking!"
"Hey! Hands off! I'm the queen of Amazon Lily now, not your cabin girl!" she barked, swatting his hand away, though her pulse quickened with anticipation.
Brook's laughter boomed again. "Yohohoho! Change of target! Prepare for the greatest raid in history. We're taking Impel Down!"
The crew erupted in cheers. Brook continued, voice sharp with command. "Any pirate who refuses to submit will be slain. Their corpses, their shadows, their blood—all shall serve the Hell Pirates!"
For Brook, it was more than revenge—it was profit. Linlin needed souls, Shakky and Crocus required blood, Abefu sought corpses and shadows, and Seahorse devoured memories. The raid would feed them all.
"This," he declared, "is payment for what the Celestial Dragons did to Galle Island and Yindu!"
"Hahahaha! Brother Brook, I love your style!" Shiki roared. "Let's tear down their legend of invincibility!"
The deck filled with excitement. No pirate crew had dared assault Impel Down for centuries. To attack it was madness—exactly the kind of madness that made the Hell Pirates unstoppable.
Below, the Kirin Lion and Shiki took control of Amazon Lily's course, steering it back toward the Calm Belt while the golden ship and the Kuja's Serpent vessel flew above, ready to support.
Neither the Five Elders nor Fleet Admiral Kong anticipated such a move. Their defenses were focused on Marineford and Mary Geoise, expecting Brook to target the Navy's heart or the Celestial Dragons' palace. Even the Sabaody Archipelago had been evacuated of nobles. None imagined he would aim instead for the world's most fortified prison.
Far below, in the lowest level of Impel Down—Infinite Hell—a giant man sat in shadow. Ibadombo, known as the Barehand Skull-Splitter, had been imprisoned for months. He now beat his cellmate senseless to steal a scrap of food, his knuckles slick with blood.
Here, food came once a week—if one was lucky. Most barely survived.
The prisoners of Level Six were the worst of the worst—powerful pirates with immense bounties, or those who carried dangerous knowledge the World Government wished to suppress. None would be allowed to die until their usefulness was spent. And when they did, their corpses would be sent to scientists for study.
"Damn you, Rocks," Ibadombo muttered between bites. "You left us here to rot."
He swallowed the stolen food in a single gulp, then leaned back, eyes dim with bitterness. "If someone set me free," he whispered, "I'd serve them for life. No rebellion, no betrayal."
His words vanished into the darkness, drowned by the sound of distant chains. None could escape Impel Down. No one ever had.
Or so they believed.
Far above the clouds, a golden shadow was already moving. The laughter of a man echoed through the skies—sharp, bold, and unstoppable.
"Yohohohohoho~! Let's crack open the gates of hell!"
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