The New World. Open waters.
Three Marine warships cut through the waves in a tight arrowhead formation, their white sails emblazoned with the seagull insignia snapping in the strong wind. Ahead of the flagship, a pirate vessel bearing Whitebeard's flag fled desperately, its crew pushing their ship to maximum speed.
On the flagship's deck, Finn and Borsalino stood together near the bow railing, watching the fleeing pirates with casual interest.
"Are the Whitebeard Pirates' ships everywhere now?" Finn asked, his tone conversational.
Punk Hazard was located in the New World, and Borsalino had spent considerable time in this region recently. He understood the changing power dynamics intimately.
"In recent months, there have been many." Borsalino nodded, his arms crossed casually. "Now that the Roger Pirates have disbanded, Roger is dead, and Golden Lion Shiki has been captured and imprisoned in Impel Down. His massive fleet has scattered to the winds. The situation that once divided the New World into three dominant forces has become a single overwhelming power under Whitebeard."
He paused, then continued matter-of-factly. "Many pirates believe he will become the new Pirate King. They've chosen to join his banner. I've heard some people calling this the 'Era of Whitebeard.'"
"Era of Whitebeard? Haha." Finn's smile turned sharp. "I wonder if they asked the Marines' permission first. On these seas, pirates have risen and fallen for centuries. There have been countless so-called heroes. But in the end, for eight hundred years, the only force still standing strong is the Marines." His voice carried absolute conviction. "On this ocean, there is only one true overlord, and that is the Marine!"
Just as he said. Throughout history, there had been countless legendary pirates. Rocks in the past. Roger, Whitebeard, Golden Lion Shiki, all titans in their own right. But only one eternal power remained constant across the centuries: the Marines.
As soon as he finished speaking, Finn stretched out a single finger, pointing at the fleeing Whitebeard Pirates' ship in the distance.
Borsalino glanced at Finn with mild curiosity, a knowing smile playing at his lips. Could it be that Finn learned this dramatic finger-pointing gesture from him?
Come to think of it, it had been quite a while since he'd last seen Finn engage in actual combat.
According to Sengoku, Finn's strength had grown to the point where he could compete with Golden Lion Shiki for extended periods without significant disadvantage. Even if a gap existed, it apparently wasn't particularly obvious.
Borsalino privately assessed Finn as being perhaps one step away from truly entering the ranks of the world's absolute strongest.
On the surface, Borsalino himself appeared to be at that same level of strength. Vice Admiral, competent with all three types of Haki, possessing a powerful Logia Devil Fruit.
But Borsalino was deliberately concealing his true capabilities. No one in the Marines knew exactly how strong he really was. Even Sengoku probably underestimated him.
Borsalino himself felt quite confident. He believed he could dare to fight even monsters like Admiral Sengoku or Whitebeard himself if circumstances demanded it. He'd already entered the top tier of combatants, he was certain of that.
Just as Borsalino was considering these thoughts, Finn lightly hooked his extended finger.
The accelerating pirate ship in the distance suddenly stopped dead in the water, as if it had struck an invisible wall. Then it slowly rose into the air, water streaming from its hull as it ascended several meters above the ocean's surface.
The next second, Finn pressed his finger down sharply.
The ship slammed into the sea with devastating force, hitting the water so hard that the hull immediately collapsed inward. The ocean itself seemed to cave beneath the impact, forming a massive depression as displaced water surged outward in violent waves.
From the shattered wreckage, a pirate with a long sword at his waist launched himself through the air with impressive speed, propelling himself directly toward the Marine flagship where Finn and Borsalino stood.
This sea was extremely dangerous. Without a functional ship, survival chances dropped to nearly zero. Now that their ship had been casually destroyed by Finn, seizing the Marines' warship represented their only hope of living. The pirate's decisiveness was commendable.
He was worthy of being one of Whitebeard's subordinates. Although just a nameless small-fry with no particular reputation, he clearly possessed some skill and courage.
Borsalino kept his arms crossed over his shoulders, his posture remaining relaxed and unconcerned. He didn't take the charging pirate seriously whatsoever.
Finn smiled, and before the pirate could close half the distance, he asked casually, "Do you want to dance too?"
The pirate's expression showed confusion. What did that even mean?
As soon as the words left Finn's mouth, a flash of cold steel cut through the air. The pirate startled, instinctively raising his long sword to block across his chest. But at that precise moment, overwhelming gravitational force pressed down on him from above, pinning him completely motionless.
He hung suspended in midair like a target at an archery range, unable to move a single muscle.
Then his body split cleanly in two, blood spraying into the air as both halves fell toward the ocean separately, one on the left, the other on the right.
Finn slowly sheathed his sword, the blade sliding home with a satisfying click. "Your courage was commendable," he said to the corpse falling toward the sea.
"There was no need to actually draw your sword, was there?" Borsalino glanced at Finn with mild amusement. "You could have probably just stepped on the deck hard enough and he would have died."
"After all, he dared to attack us directly." Finn's smile remained in place. "We should show some respect for that kind of bravery. Haha."
The warship continued sailing for another two days before reaching Kusagumo Island.
Some commotion arose on the island when the Marine ships docked at the port. This was a haven for amateur scientists and independent researchers. Many scientific minds from across the world gathered here to exchange knowledge and conduct experiments away from government oversight.
Naturally, they were surprised and concerned by the sudden appearance of Marine warships.
Some researchers who were working on banned technologies chose to flee immediately, disappearing into the island's interior.
The Marines ignored their departures entirely, focused on a single objective.
"Vice Admiral Borsalino, according to the latest report from our surveillance ship, the flagship of the Big Mom Pirates, the Queen Mama Chanter, is only thirty minutes away from our current position!" A Rear Admiral reported, his expression tense and worried.
Borsalino's normally relaxed expression tightened slightly. "Finn, you delay Big Mom for a while. I'll go secure Dr. Vegapunk and evacuate him."
Finn nodded immediately. "Leave it to me."
The Queen Mama Chanter was Charlotte Linlin's personal flagship. If that ship appeared, it meant Charlotte Linlin herself was present.
Not a subordinate commander. Not a expedition fleet. The future Yonko herself.
Finn turned and boarded a warship again, issuing clear orders. "Leave the port and wait for Charlotte Linlin near the coastal waters!"
"Yes, Vice Admiral Finn!" Another Rear Admiral responded quickly, already moving to execute the command.
The battle absolutely could not begin at the port. That would make it inconvenient for Borsalino to extract Vegapunk safely. Finn would delay Charlotte Linlin offshore, and after Borsalino secured the scientist, he would naturally return to provide support.
Even if circumstances didn't allow Borsalino's reinforcement, Finn possessed the capabilities to evacuate calmly on his own. His gravity manipulation provided escape options few others possessed.
Before long, a massive ship appeared from beyond the horizon.
The ship looked like it had sailed straight out of a fairy tale or children's storybook. Brightly colored, almost cheerfully decorated, and seemingly alive. It sang constantly in an eerie, high-pitched voice that carried across the water.
The flag bore the Big Mom Pirates' distinctive logo.
"Say hello..." Finn said with a predatory grin.
As soon as the words left his mouth, the Sōzaiat his waist unsheathed in a blur of motion, leaving flower-like after-images in the air before his body. Then it slid smoothly back into its scabbard with practiced ease.
The Rear Admiral standing nearby looked confused. What was the Vice Admiral doing? Some kind of demonstration?
Faintly, the officer thought he sensed some kind of energy flying toward the sky, but he couldn't be certain.
Meanwhile, aboard the Queen Mama Chanter, Charlotte Linlin sat enjoying a massive slice of cake while Perospero, her eldest son, stood dutifully beside her.
"Mama, there's a Marine warship ahead," Perospero reported, licking his candy-cane-striped tongue across his lips nervously.
"Hmph! I knew the Marines were going to interfere with my plans!" Charlotte Linlin snorted coldly, her voice deep and threatening.
Not long ago, she'd personally sunk a Marine surveillance ship that had been tracking their movements. Usually, such actions proved the Marines were targeting you specifically. She wasn't surprised that Marines were blocking their approach now.
"Sink it!" Charlotte Linlin commanded, swallowing the last of her cake in one enormous bite.
At that moment, Katakuri, who sat not far away with his characteristic stoic posture, suddenly froze. His eyes widened slightly as he looked up at the sky. "Mama, turn the rudder! Now!"
"Katakuri, have you foreseen something?" Charlotte Linlin asked after a moment's hesitation, her tone shifting to attentiveness.
Recently, Katakuri had been manifesting brief glimpses of future sight intermittently. His Observation Haki was evolving rapidly after his defeat and capture by that Marine, Rodriguez Finn.
At the same time, she followed his gaze upward.
Afterward, she no longer needed Katakuri to explain anything. Her expression shifted to something between confusion and dull shock.
If she wasn't mistaken, that appeared to be a meteorite falling directly toward their ship.
"I knew the New World's weather wasn't this straightforward!" Charlotte Linlin cursed, her voice rising.
She initially assumed it was just catastrophically bad luck. The New World's climate was notoriously bizarre and unpredictable. Meteorites falling from the sky sounded outrageous, certainly, but when you actually encountered such phenomena personally, it didn't seem quite so impossible to accept.
"Mama, it's not the climate." Katakuri's voice cut through her assumptions, deep and certain. "It's the Marines. If my guess is correct, that's Rodriguez Finn."
At the same time, he stood up fully, his massive frame unfolding as he stared toward the distant warship, hoping to spot Finn directly.
Although Katakuri had told his mother to turn the rudder immediately, Charlotte Linlin had absolutely no intention of following that advice. Instead, she smirked viciously. "The Marines' opening move? He seems to be quite a powerful opponent... Finn. Is he the brat who defeated you before?"
As the words fell, the captain's hat resting on Charlotte Linlin's head, Napoleon, sprang to life with eager animation. The homie jumped from her skull and landed in Charlotte Linlin's outstretched hand, instantly transforming into a massive long sword.
This was Charlotte Linlin's Emperor Sword, Napoleon in his blade form.
"Ikoku!!!" Charlotte Linlin roared, her voice shaking the air itself.
She swung the blade in a devastating arc toward the burning meteorite descending from above. The powerful slash cut through the sky like a physical force, visible as a massive wave of compressed air and Haki.
The huge meteorite didn't shatter when struck by the attack. Instead, it seemed to be erased, annihilated by some overwhelming force. Not even residual fragments remained. It was completely destroyed, disintegrated into nothing.
"Mamamamama! Not that impressive..." Charlotte Linlin laughed with sinister satisfaction, her distinctive laugh echoing across the water.
The meteorite looked imposing, certainly, but in practice, it had been nothing more than a flashy opening move. All show, no substance.
Meanwhile, on the Marine warship, Finn's eyebrows drew together slightly. He'd known the meteorite wouldn't kill Charlotte Linlin, that wasn't the point. But he hadn't expected her slash to be powerful enough to completely obliterate the falling space rock without leaving a trace.
"She's worthy of being an old monster who has dominated these seas for decades," Finn murmured softly. "Even without the official Four Emperors title yet, she already possesses that level of strength."
It was even possible that Charlotte Linlin was at her absolute peak right now. After all, in twenty years, she'd be almost seventy years old. Currently, she was only in her mid-forties and should be at the height of her power.
As soon as Charlotte Linlin began moving in earnest, Finn finally saw her massive figure properly, no longer obscured by distance or the ship's structure.
Unlike the grotesquely fat woman of his memories from the future timeline, Charlotte Linlin at this moment wasn't particularly bloated or ugly. Her face carried a certain grim intensity, but you could vaguely tell she'd probably been quite beautiful in her youth.
Though her figure had expanded considerably, she looked powerfully built rather than simply obese. Muscle layered beneath her substantial frame, visible in the way she moved.
Without dwelling on these observations too long, Finn brushed his foot against the deck railing. The sword at his waist, Sōzai, flashed with cold light as it left its sheath.
"Gravity Blade: Tiger Roaring Sea!!!" Finn shouted, his voice carrying across the water.
Powerful gravitational force flew from his blade, and in just moments, it lifted the entire ocean surface in front of the warship. Water rose in a massive wall, forming an artificial tsunami that rushed toward the Big Mom Pirates' flagship with devastating momentum.
"Mama!!!" Perospero exclaimed, genuine fear coloring his voice.
"Shut up!" Charlotte Linlin roared back, a ferocious smile spreading across her face.
She suddenly grabbed at the empty air and thrust her hand forward in a grasping motion.
The next moment, the Queen Mama Chanter beneath her feet began rising into the air, seemingly defying gravity itself.
It wasn't levitating through any supernatural means. Instead, the sea surface beneath the ship was surging upward, lifting the ship on a column of water. After a moment, a huge tsunami also manifested under her ship, but this wave was distinctly different.
The tsunami had a human face formed from the water itself, and it sang with an eerie, haunting voice.
This was precisely Charlotte Linlin's Soul-Soul Fruit ability in action. She'd imbued her own soul fragments into the ocean water, creating a homie from the sea itself.
The two tsunamis collided violently in midair between the ships, creating an explosion of water and force. Massive waves spread outward from the impact point, rocking both vessels despite their considerable distance from each other.