The year was 1522 of the Sea Calendar.
Atop Onigashima in Wano Country, the New World.
Dark clouds shrouded the sky as thunder rumbled.
Luffy, transformed into the Sun God Nika form, grasped lightning in his hand as he clashed with the Yonko Kaido!
"It ends here, Kaido! Onigashima in the way! Get out of my sight! I'm gonna smash it to pieces!" Luffy roared, his rubber arms stretching infinitely as his body swelled.
In an instant, his right fist expanded to half the size of Onigashima itself.
He unleashed his full Armament Haki, coating the massive fist in pitch-black darkness.
Lightning crackled across the surface of his fist—divine power like a prison!
"[Flame Dragon Torch]!"
A colossal dragon over a hundred meters long erupted in raging flames, the intense heat distorting the very air.
"That fist of yours won't land! Your body will melt before it reaches me!" Kaido roared, charging toward the mountainous black fist with overwhelming heat.
He opened his maw and unleashed flames capable of melting anything in existence!
"[Rising Dragon! Flame Bagua!]"
"I won't melt! The old man already taught me how to attack without touching! I'll defeat you for good!" Luffy hair turned into white flames as his Conqueror's Haki erupted.
With a mighty roar, his colossal fist came crashing down!
"[Gomu Gomu no... Bajrang Gun!]"
Kaido flaming dragon form collided with Luffy lightning-wreathed fist!
BOOM!!
The terrifying impact sent shockwaves rippling outward, instantly dispersing the flame clouds supporting Onigashima.
Without their support, the massive skull-shaped island began its deadly descent!
Baring his fangs, Kaido roared "Straw Hat! What kind of world do you intend to create?!"
"A world where all my friends can eat as much as they want!" Luffy unleashed every ounce of his power, his black-and-red Conqueror's Haki-infused strike hammering into Kaido head, forcing the hundred-meter-long flaming dragon downward inch by inch!
Kaido eyes widened in disbelief as Luffy colossal fist gradually overwhelmed him.
He couldn't accept that he would lose to Straw Hat Luffy!
In his final moments of consciousness, Kaido recalled his conversation with King.
"King, I know who Joy Boy is."
"Who?"
"Joy Boy... is the man who will defeat me."
King had laughed "Then it seems he'll never appear."
Kaido began to fall!
Down he plummeted, along with the massive Onigashima, toward the ocean below.
As Kaido fading vision caught sight of the enormous sword falling from Onigashima, he suddenly stiffened.
His pupils dilated as a voice like thunder exploded in his mind!
"No... Onigashima will shatter... That man will emerge... Joy Boy might not be you after all, Straw Hat!"
With an earth-shattering crash, Kaido struck the ground, causing mountains to crumble and the earth to collapse layer by layer, sending his body tumbling into the magma below.
At the critical moment, Momonosuke barely managed to create flame clouds, wrapping them around Onigashima to slow its descent until—THUD—it landed safely.
"You were amazing! Absolutely incredible!" Yamato caught the exhausted Luffy, jumping with excitement.
Thus, two Yonko—Charlotte Linlin and Kaido—were both defeated, cast down into the depths of the magma below.
As everyone inside Onigashima withdrew and heard the joyous news, they erupted into thunderous cheers.
No one noticed the massive cracks beginning to spread across the enormous skull of Onigashima.
The colossal longsword embedded diagonally in the skull trembled and hummed, as if cheering in delight.
Deep beneath the island core, a gigantic figure slowly opened its eyes.
*****
Seven days later, as the world celebrated the transition between the old and new Emperors and Wano welcomed its new ruler with a grand banquet in the Flower Capital...
At the Udon Prison in the quarries
A middle-aged man with disheveled hair, bare-chested and draped in a Justice cloak, extended his left hand.
His five fingers transformed into long vines that pierced through and restrained the Beast Pirates members wearing seastone cuffs.
The vines pulsed with bulging lumps that made gulping sounds, writhing as though alive.
This was the Marine Headquarters' new Admiral - Ryokugyu, Aramaki.
The vines tightly bound Queen and King, their tips penetrating the two All-Stars' bodies, continuously draining their life force.
Queen obese frame withered into a gaunt, ancient husk resembling a dying old man.
With cold indifference, Ryokugyu kicked Queen body with his black leather shoes, sneering.
"I told you not to resist, didn't I? If I got taken down by mere officers, where would that leave my dignity?"
"Admiral Ryokugyu? Damn you! Without these seastone cuffs, even an Admiral couldn't defeat us so easily!" King spat blood as a vine impaled his chest, lifting him high.
"Still defiant, mere officers? Even Kaido himself wouldn't be safe from my absorption!" Ryokugyu eyes turned vicious as he grabbed King remaining wing and tore it off with a cruel grin.
"Useless parasites defeated by children playing pirate. What a waste of decades building your fearsome reputation. Emperors? Pathetic!"
As Ryokugyu spoke, the flowers spawned by his ability suddenly trembled. The ground began shaking violently.
From the distance came thunderous cracking sounds.
Inky black clouds gathered overhead, plunging Udon into darkness.
"An earthquake? Volcanic eruption?" Ryokugyu frowned.
Then came an earth-shattering explosion beyond the quarries, its shockwave rippling through the prison.
"A battle?"
Following the sound, Ryokugyu strode outside, his vines dragging Queen and King like snakes slithering at his feet.
Emerging into open ground, he immediately saw the source - a skull-shaped island with a giant sword embedded in it.
Now, the mountain-sized skull was fracturing apart.
"Onigashima?"
The skull island was none other than the Beast Pirates' stronghold.
BOOM!!
Another deafening roar shook heaven and earth - a furious bellow of pure rage!
"ROAAAAR!!! Kaido! My foolish little brother! You've finally been defeated!"
Ryokugyu pupils instantly contracted.
His fingers involuntarily loosened the vines binding Queen and King, causing the withered, near-death duo to collapse onto the ground.
"What... was that?" Queen and King weakly struggled to open their eyes, trying to make out what was happening on Onigashima.
Amid the swirling dust, a colossal figure slowly rose to its feet!
"What happened to the promise you made to me? You told me, 'Big Bro! I will never lose! I will drag every nation, every noble into war—let fate be decided by battle!' "
Step by step, the figure strode out from the shattered ruins of Onigashima.
"Fine! I entrusted the world to you! I willingly slumbered at the heart of Onigashima! And yet... you still lost!"
At last, the massive figure revealed its true form.
His appearance bore an uncanny resemblance to Kaido, yet he seemed younger—his face chiseled like stone, radiating unyielding strength.
Standing nine meters tall, his muscles coiled like dragons, crowned with horns identical to Kaido.
His mountainous frame even surpassed Kaido in sheer size!
Clenching his fists, he roared toward the sky's, his terrifying aura piercing the sky, tearing apart the dark clouds above!
"After thirty years of slumber... I, Caesar, will smash this wretched world to pieces!!"