"How can there be a ship here?"
That wasn't only Tsuru's question — it was what nearly everyone on board thought.
After all, Wano's isolation was no secret.
Closed borders didn't just mean outsiders were barred from entering. It also meant no one inside could leave.
And with the natural barrier of this massive waterfall, neither pirates nor the Navy could easily break in.
But for Magnus, it posed no difficulty.
He could freeze the sea with ease — even the entire waterfall if he wished.
But what about the people before him?
A ramshackle raft, trying to scale a waterfall hundreds of meters tall?
It would shatter to pieces.
Through the spray, Magnus spotted a green-haired girl standing on the raft. Though the raft was about to plunge with the falls, her face was lit with excitement.
"Once we cross this great waterfall, we can finally leave Wano!"
"Ohhh!!!"
"Then we'll live freely, doing whatever we want!"
"Ohhhhhh!!!"
"And I'll find the perfect husband!"
"Eh!?"
"…"
The girl puffed out her cheeks at the grim faces of her retainers.
"What's with you all? Don't tell me you'd rather see me married to that brat from the Fūgetsu family?"
"Of course not!"
"But, young lady, running away like this… your father will be furious."
"…"
For men who had lived their whole lives in Wano, leaving the country was the gravest sin imaginable.
"We're already here! There's no turning back now."
One samurai in wide robes grinned.
"I want to see the world outside. To see what kind of blades outsiders can forge!"
"That's right!"
The girl raised her voice with a dazzling smile.
"Then let's set out!"
The massive raft, stocked with barrels of food, tipped toward the waterfall.
But just before they fell—
"Frozen Breath!"
They saw him. Not far away, a massive ship towered over the waves.
A man leapt from it, landing lightly atop the sea.
No — not on the water.
For before his feet touched, the roaring waves froze solid, cold surging out in every direction.
In an instant, the sea below the waterfall for thousands of meters around turned to ice.
And it didn't stop there.
The ice climbed with the flow, racing up the waterfall, until it spread beneath their raft.
"You've got to be kidding!?"
Everyone aboard froze in shock.
"The waterfall… it's frozen solid!"
Hundreds of meters tall, wider than a hundred men across — and in a blink, it had become a frozen glacier.
And then came something even more unbelievable.
The man who had frozen the sea strode back to his ship. He gripped it with one hand.
And lifted it.
Dozens of meters of wood and steel, raised above his head.
Then—
"Moonwalk."
Step by step, he climbed into the sky, carrying the ship as if it weighed nothing, until he passed right over them.
Boom!
The ship landed atop the ice with a heavy crash.
The people on the raft gaped, dumbfounded.
Magnus smirked.
He didn't know how they'd planned to scale the falls, but he wasn't about to wait for them.
With a sweep of Observation Haki, he gauged their strength. The strongest among them barely touched the level of a great pirate — a bounty in the hundreds of millions at best.
Meanwhile, they were trapped. Magnus could freeze water, but melting it wasn't his specialty. His frost was only a byproduct of his Zoan powers.
So, naturally, complaints rose.
"Hey! Who are you? Why'd you freeze the waterfall? How are we supposed to get down now?"
The green-haired girl puffed her cheeks again and shouted at Magnus.
"And you froze Fish Ball too!"
Fish Ball?
Magnus blinked, then noticed it — the great carp beneath their raft. It had been carrying them upward, their only chance of clearing the falls. And now it too was encased in ice.
He scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.
"Haha, my mistake. I mixed up your carp with the others. Don't worry — it's just frozen water. If thawed quickly, it won't be harmed."
With that, Magnus drew his blade.
"Miss, be careful!"
"He's from outside!"
"That flag… pirates!?"
The young samurai who'd longed to test himself gripped his hilt. But the moment Magnus's eyes met his, the weight of overwhelming pressure crushed his chest, stealing his breath.
Magnus slashed — not at them, but at the ice.
From tens of meters away, the strike split the frozen surface. The carp beneath their raft broke free, along with the raft itself, beginning to tumble.
"Ripley!" Magnus barked.
A shadow loomed overhead. A beautiful female giant appeared, catching the falling raft in both hands.
"Hold on tight!"
With a playful laugh, Ripley set the raft down on a stable patch of ice.
Then she turned to Magnus.
"Captain, I thought Wano was closed off. Outsiders can't get in, insiders can't get out. These folks look like they're trying to leave."
"How should I know?"
Magnus shrugged. He wasn't omniscient.
But from their dress, they were no commoners.
Then the girl's voice rang out.
"Wano is closed, yes — that's why we're leaving!"
She stood proudly, chest out.
"My name is Shimotsuki Haruko. Since childhood, my dream has been to leave Wano and see the wider world."
"Outsiders… pirates."
"Give me your name!"
(End of Chapter)
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