One Piece: The user of the Nen-Nen Fruit, who overturned the sea.

Sabaody Archipelago.

The end of the first half of the Grand Line is also the starting point for the New World.

This archipelago, composed of seventy-nine mangrove trees, looks like a green gem floating on the sea when viewed from the air.

Giant air bubbles naturally form at the base of each mangrove tree, refracting the sunlight into a rainbow of colors, creating an almost unreal beauty.

But at this moment, this beautiful archipelago is shrouded in an eerie atmosphere.

The news that Roy had stolen the Heavenly Gold had spread throughout the world in just a few days.

Mary Geoise, Pangaea.

The atmosphere in the Five Elders' meeting room was as heavy as the sky before a storm.

Saint Satan sat in the main seat, holding a piece of intelligence in his hand. His usually calm face was now clouded with gloom.

"Heavenly Gold. An entire ship full of Heavenly Gold. Roy emptied it all by himself."

His voice wasn't loud, but every word sounded like it was being squeezed out from between his teeth.

Piet Saint's expression was equally grim: "What did Zefa say?"

"What did you say?"

Satan sneered.

"They say the Roy Pirates only injured but didn't kill, and that Roy himself didn't even use his full strength."

It's a miracle he and his group of new recruits survived.

"You bastard!"

Volchli slammed his fist on the table.

"A former admiral, unable to protect even a ship full of celestial treasure!"

"It's no use blaming him."

Satan rubbed his temples.

"You all know how strong that brat Roy is."

"Only two years have passed since the Pure Gold incident; haven't the lessons of the Knights of God been learned enough?"

When the Knights of God were mentioned, the Five Elders all fell silent.

Nine people attacked one enemy; six died and three were seriously injured.

That humiliation is still etched in their hearts.

"Then what do we do?" Piet Saint gritted his teeth. "Just let it go like this?"

Satan remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking, "Let's wait. Let's wait for the navy to make a move. Sengoku is more anxious than we are."

The other four people fell silent.

A heavy silence filled the meeting room.

Because they all knew that the World Government had very few options left when facing Roy.

Sabaody Archipelago, commercial street.

Roy walked at the front, hands in his pockets, looking as relaxed as if he were strolling in his own backyard.

They didn't consider robbing the gold from the sky a big deal at all.

Yamato followed behind him, carrying a spiked club, looking around and glancing at anything new and interesting.

"Roy, Roy! Look at this! Smoking candy!"

"Roy! That! That seashell can sing!"

Pea was dragged along by her, still holding the pot of snow lotus in her arms, looking helpless.

Savi and Bages walked on either side of the procession, their two large heads acting like two moving walls, automatically separating the crowded people.

Enel floated in mid-air, his golden staff held horizontally on his shoulder, his Observation Haki covering the entire shopping street.

"Boss, there's a navy." Tesoro whispered in Roy's ear.

Roy followed his gaze—at the street corner, two men in casual clothes were pretending to look at the goods on the stall, but their eyes kept drifting this way.

At the alley entrance, a fruit vendor stood with his back so straight that he didn't look like an ordinary vendor.

A shadow flashed across the opposite rooftop, moving at an abnormally fast speed.

"More than one," Roy said calmly. "There are at least a dozen on this street."

Tesoro's eyes turned cold: "Should we—"

"Need not."

Roy interrupted him.

"Let them keep an eye on us. We haven't done anything wrong."

Tesoro's lips twitched.

Didn't do anything bad?

Boss, you just robbed a whole ship full of gold from the sky a few days ago.

But Roy said no, so he stopped, though his body was crackling with lightning, ready to deal with any unexpected situation.

The group continued walking forward.

The commercial street was bustling with activity—selling slaves, weapons, information about Devil Fruits, and charts of the Grand Line... all sorts of people were there.

But Roy noticed that there were several times more people dressed as pirates in the crowd than usual.

"Have you heard? Shanks is on this island too!"

"Of course it's true, it's been all over the place these past few days. That guy rejected the Shichibukai's invitation and is now heading to the New World."

"Not just him. 'Blood Axe' Barrett—no, not that Barrett, but another one with a bounty of 230 million—is also there."

"Mona the Sea Serpent, bounty of 180 million."

"Gula the Iron Arm, bounty of 150 million."

"Damn it, this island is a powder keg right now. The Navy definitely won't sit idly by either."

Roy listened to these comments and a smile crept onto his lips.

Shanks is here too.

interesting.

He was preparing to take his men to Xia Qi's "Knock on Bamboo Bar" when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.

In the crowd, a little boy wearing a spotted hat was squatting in front of a stall selling secondhand medical books, engrossed in flipping through them.

Luo.

"Roy," Yamato noticed too, "it's that brat Roy."

Roy walked over and stood behind Roy.

The kid was too focused; he didn't even notice him getting close—and you know, Roy didn't deliberately hide his presence.

"You're cured of lead poisoning, why are you still buying medical books?"

Luo paused, looked up, and stared at him expressionlessly: "Doctor Kureha said that studying medicine cannot be stopped."

Roy smiled.

This kid is actually quite cute when he gets serious.

He pulled a handful of pewter pews from his pocket and tossed them to the stall owner: "I'll take all of these books."

The stall owner caught the money and couldn't stop smiling.

Luo paused for a moment, looked down at the stack of wrapped medical books, and remained silent for a few seconds.

"……Thanks."

"Let's go." Roy ruffled his hair. "I'll take you to meet some interesting people."

Luo, clutching the medical book, obediently followed behind him.

Meanwhile, at the Sabaody Naval Base.

The atmosphere in the monitoring room was as tense as a string stretched to its limit.

Dozens of Den Den Mushi were operating simultaneously, and intelligence from surveillance points all over the island came in like snowflakes.

"Third District: Pirate 'Iron Arm' Cooler, with a bounty of 150 million, has been spotted!"

"Mona, the 'Sea Serpent,' has been spotted in the Seventh District! Bounty of 180 million!"

"Members of the Red-Haired Pirates spotted in the 12th district! Location being confirmed!"

"Second block 23, discovered..."

The communications soldier's voice had gone hoarse.

The lieutenant general in charge of the defense of the Sabaody Archipelago stood in front of the nautical chart, his face ashen.

As the highest-ranking officer from the Navy Headquarters stationed in Sabaody Archipelago, he bore a heavier burden than anyone else.

Normally, it would be big news if one or two pirates with bounties over 100 million were to gather on this island.

What now?

"Blood Axe" Barrett, "Sea Serpent" Mona, "Iron Arm" Cooler, "Red Hair" Shanks...

And then there's the most deadly one—the Heavenly Emperor, Roy.

"Has the location of the Roy Pirates been confirmed?" the vice admiral asked.

"Report! We spotted them in the shopping district an hour ago, but... but we lost track of them very quickly."

"waste!"

The lieutenant general slammed his fist on the table.

"With so many surveillance points, how could they not even keep an eye on a few people?!"

The communications soldier lowered his head, not daring to speak.

The lieutenant general took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He knew he couldn't blame his subordinates.

The Roy Pirates are all monsters.

Let alone ordinary soldiers, even if he personally went out, he might not be able to keep an eye on them.

"Continue the search."

"Also, report the situation here to Naval Headquarters in detail. Request reinforcements."

"yes!"