Another day passed.
Both pirate crews were tearing the ocean apart, searching desperately for the Golden Lion.
The urgency came from Buggy's grim analysis.
The destruction of Enies Lobby confirmed a terrifying theory that had been keeping the clown awake at night: Shiki wasn't just back to flex.
He was planning to wipe the East Blue off the map.
Or worse, enslave it.
Nearly every member of the Straw Hat crew—Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp—came from the East Blue.
If Shiki dropped an island on the Goa Kingdom or Syrup Village... there wouldn't be anything left to go home to.
Even without the whole "rescue Chouchou" mission, stopping Shiki had just become priority number one for them.
As for Buggy? He'd sooner die than let Shiki desecrate the East Blue.
That ocean was Roger's birthplace!
It was a holy ground for him.
To Buggy, the Pirate King wasn't just a captain; he was his foster father, the man he owed everything to.
Letting Shiki spit on Roger's legacy was not an option for him.
...
Aboard Buggy's ship, the mood was heavy.
Buggy lay flat on the deck, staring up at the clouds drifting by. He wasn't doing his usual flashy routine.
"Captain Roger," Buggy murmured to the empty sky. "My gut tells me we're close. I can smell that old lion's stench."
He clenched his detached fist, floating it near his face.
"But I can't stop him alone. I know that. I'm not Shanks." Buggy sighed, a sound full of self-awareness.
"Well... I just hope I can at least do something useful. Just one thing."
His crew—Alvida, Cabaji, Mohji—watched from the upper deck. They were used to their captain being a loudmouth coward or a boastful idiot.
Seeing this melancholy, serious side of him was unnerving.
They exchanged glances and quietly retreated below deck, leaving the clown alone with his murmuring.
...
Three days into the voyage, the atmosphere on the Sunny was tense enough to snap a mast.
Everyone except Franky (who was confident in his ship) and Robin (who was naturally chill) was growing increasingly agitated.
They knew the stakes. The East Blue was the "weakest sea." The Marines there were jokes, and the pirates were small-time.
Against a monster who could juggle islands like Shiki? They stood no chance.
Luffy was coping the only way he knew how: eating.
"USOPP!" Luffy bellowed, spraying bits of grilled giant squid everywhere. "Still no sign of that Golden Lion bastard?!"
Usopp, who was already freaking out about Kaya's safety back in Syrup Village, finally snapped.
"SHUT UP AND LET ME FOCUS!"
THWIP.
Usopp fired a "Sleep Star" pellet right into Luffy's mouth.
THUD.
Luffy hit the deck, fast asleep.
But even while snoring, his jaw kept working, chewing the squid.
Zoro and Sanji were unusually quiet.
They avoided their usual petty arguments. Finding Golden Lion was critical, but so was getting stronger.
Every second wasted bickering was a second they weren't training.
The Straw Hats' schedule was packed tight.
No idle moments.
After a grueling close-combat sparring session with Robin, Nami wiped sweat from her forehead.
She leaned against a tangerine tree, gazing up at the endless blue sky.
"If only we had Ray right now," Nami whispered. "Or Chouchou's nose. We're sailing blind here."
Chopper, sitting nearby mixing herbs, sighed heavily, his ears drooping.
"Yeah. If I could fly like them, maybe I could sniff him out. My nose is good, but I can't smell clouds."
Sanji, who was bringing a tray of drinks, stopped.
His visible eye lit up.
"That's it," Sanji muttered.
He walked over to the reindeer. "Chopper. Come here."
"Huh? What is it, Sanji?"
"I'll carry you," Sanji said, looking up at the sky. "I can use Sky Walk. If I carry you up into the clouds, we can cover way more ground. If we work together, we can definitely expand our search area."
Chopper's eyes sparkled. "Let's do it!"
...
The New World
Far, far away from the Straw Hats, the man Nami was missing was currently fighting for his life against the weather.
Ray was speeding through the air like a silver comet.
Since leaving Water 7, he had been flying intermittently for ten days straight.
He didn't stop at Fish-Man Island; he just flew right over the Red Line and plunged headfirst into the New World five days ago.
And let's just say, Ray immediately understood why they called this place the "Graveyard of Pirates."
It was a hellhole.
The weather didn't just change; it tried to kill you.
One minute it was hailing knives of ice, the next the ocean was on fire. Natural phenomena defied all common sense.
Gravity wells, lightning storms that targeted people, islands that floated... it was chaos.
And the wildlife? Terrifying.
Even though Ray was flying high in the air, he was constantly mugged by wildlife.
Giant birds the size of houses, carnivorous insects that swarmed like clouds, and things that didn't even have names tried to eat him every few hours.
The result?
Ray had a lot of snacks.
He'd roasted the most delicious parts of these giant beasts into jerky, to fed Chouchou once he got him back.
…
The Winter Island
Because the climate in the New World is insane, time becomes a suggestion.
Each island has its own unique magnetic field, weather, and timeline. Ray had no idea what day it was. He just knew he was tired.
His demonic energy needed to recharge.
He spotted an island below.
It was covered in snow, locked in a perpetual winter.
Through the blizzard, he could see a small town nestled in a valley.
Ray landed in the dense forest on the outskirts. Immediately, his Observation Haki warned him.
'Strong,' Ray noted.
The jungle was crawling with fierce beasts.
Just scanning them, Ray realized that the "fodder" wildlife here possessed strength comparable to Sanji and Zoro back when they first set out to sea.
The alpha predators? They likely had combat power equivalent to a Marine Headquarters Captain.
The New World didn't mess around.
If you were weak, you were lunch.
This was exactly why the Yonko system existed.
The Marines were stretched too thin. They couldn't station Captain-level forces on every single rock in the New World just to fight off tigers and bears.
On islands not covered by the Marine flag, the people needed a shield.
Someone had to protect them from the environment and other pirates.
While a few islands, like Wano or Elbaf, produced powerful warriors capable of defending themselves, most places were helpless.
They had to bend the knee, so they aligned themselves with powerful crews or the Revolutionary Army.
For the average citizen, the Yonko were the lesser of two evils.
They were the mafia that kept the monsters away.
And the residents of this winter island? They naturally had their own "protectors" too.
…
Ray didn't care about local politics.
He just wanted a nap!
He avoided the town. Crowded places meant trouble, questions, and annoying people.
He flew toward a snowy mountain peak.
"This will do," Ray muttered.
Poison Claw.
Acidic green energy melted a neat, tunnel-shaped hole into the cliff face.
With a sweep of his Light Whip, he cleared out the debris, leaving a clean, dry shelter shielded from the wind.
He walked in, sat down, and closed his eyes and he was asleep in seconds.
BOOM!
Of course, the universe hates Ray.
No sooner had he drifted off than the sound of cannon fire echoed from the valley below. It was followed by the faint, distant sounds of screaming.
Ray opened one eye and he frowned.
'Smells like blood,' he thought while sniffing the air.
The wind carried the sounds clearly. The cries of women and children running for their lives. The desperate pleas of men begging for mercy.
And the excited shouts of pirates who's looting and pillaging.
It was a classic raid.
Ray closed his eye again.
He felt slightly irritable about the noise, but he had zero intention of playing hero.
The strong slaughtering the weak? That was the norm.
That was the law of the jungle.
Especially in the New World. It was tragic, sure, but Ray wasn't a savior. He was on a mission. If he stopped to save every burning village, he'd never reach Whole Cake Island.
'Not my problem,' Ray decided, shifting to get comfortable.
But just as he was about to tune out the massacre, his keen hearing picked up a shout from the town.
A pirate was yelling to his leader.
"REPORT! We've secured the perimeter! The tribute for Smoothie-sama is ready!"
Ray's eyes snapped open.
The drowsiness vanished instantly.
'Smoothie?'
Ray sat up and a slow, predatory grin spreading across his face.
'The old hag's daughter? Charlotte Smoothie? One of the Three Sweet Commanders?' Ray chuckled.
'Well, isn't this my lucky day? This is like someone handing me a pillow when I'm drowsy.'
'If a Sweet Commander was here, that meant a direct line to Big Mom.
It meant a ship. It meant intel and it meant he could send a very nasty message.
Ray stood up, dusting the snow off his coat.
"Looks like I'm getting involved after all."
He walked out of the cave and looked down at the burning town.
"Time to say hello."
---------
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