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

One by one, his crewmates mysteriously disappeared, driving Luffy to a frenzy as he lunged at Kuma.

The fist slammed into the bear, making clanging sounds, but the bear didn't budge.

"Give me back my partner—!!!"

Rubber machine guns rained down on the bear's body.

The bear's body didn't even sway.

The third palm strike.

Nami flew away.

The fourth palm strike.

Robin flew away.

Robin took one last look at Luffy from inside the bubble, a slight smile playing on her lips.

Her mission was accomplished.

Next, it will be time for each of us to focus on our own cultivation.

Captain Roy was right—everyone on this ship considered each other true partners.

Luffy's fists kept pounding.

But the bear's fifth paw had already struck.

The last one to take flight was Kemi.

It's the mermaid girl they just rescued from the auction.

Camie cried out "Luffy—" inside the bubble, but her voice was blown away by the wind, and she turned into a tiny dot in the sky.

The streets were quiet.

Luffy knelt on the ground, supporting himself with his hands, panting heavily.

He was all alone, surrounded by emptiness.

My friends have all disappeared.

They were all knocked away.

I don't know where it flew off to.

I don't know if we'll ever see each other again.

Luffy's body was trembling.

It started at the fingertips, went up to the shoulders, and then spread to the whole body.

The trembling wasn't from fear or anger, but from a deep-seated fear of loss.

He remembered when he was a child in Windmill Village, Ace said he wanted to go to sea, and he chased after him to the dock crying, but Ace walked away without looking back.

He remembered Shanks saying, "I'll leave this straw hat with you for now," and then the ship sailed away. He stood on the dock and cried all day.

He recalled every parting, every "goodbye," and every farewell where he didn't know if he would ever see them again.

"ah--!!!"

Luffy let out a roar as he looked up at the sky.

The sound didn't sound like a human; it was more like the howl of a wild beast driven to the brink of despair.

With that roar, Conqueror's Haki exploded, and dark red arcs of electricity surged from his body, spreading in all directions.

The ground cracked, the walls collapsed, and even the tiles on distant buildings rattled loudly.

But the bear stood in front of him, completely still.

Rayleigh stood on the roof and closed his eyes.

Kizaru leaned against the wall, squinting as he watched everything, his expression unchanged.

Big Bear lowered his head and looked at Luffy kneeling on the ground.

He raised his bear paw, aiming it at Luffy.

See you next time, Straw Hat Boy.

The bear slammed its paw down.

Luffy's body was enveloped in bubbles, and he transformed into the last shooting star, soaring into the sky.

A dozen or so shooting stars streaked across the sky above the Sabaody Archipelago, heading in different directions.

Each shooting star carries a member of the Straw Hat Pirates.

Every shooting star carries the destiny of a person.

The streets were completely quiet.

There were no sounds of fighting, no screams, and no roars from Luffy.

Only the mournful sound of the sea breeze blowing through the ruins and the distant alarm bells still ringing that the Celestial Dragons are under attack.

Kizaru straightened up from the wall and dusted off his suit.

"Oh dear, they've all flown away!"

"The mission failed... What a hassle!"

He glanced at the bear, then at the red tree where Rayleigh was standing, and then transformed into a golden beam of light and disappeared into the sky.

They come quickly, and they leave even faster.

Without any hesitation or fuss.

Rayleigh jumped off the roof and landed next to the bear.

He glanced at the bear, remained silent for a few seconds, and then sighed.

"That kid Roy really does take everything into account."

The bear did not answer.

He put away the bear paw, picked up the Bible, and turned to walk towards the other end of the street.

After taking a few steps, his body began to flicker, and the next second he disappeared from the spot.

Rayleigh stood alone on the empty street, looking at the devastated battlefield, and then looked up at the sky where Luffy had disappeared.

"Luffy?"

He whispered something, his voice so soft it was almost as if he were talking to himself.

"It seems he's the one Shank chose, even at the cost of his arm."

The wind blows through the mangroves of the Sabaody Archipelago, and bubbles float down from the branches, refracting colorful spots of light in the sunlight.

Everything still looked so peaceful, as if the storm had never happened.

On a mangrove tree in the distance, Roy withdrew his Observation Haki.

He stood up from the branch, stretched his somewhat stiff body, and then turned and jumped down from the tree.

The bear was already waiting under the tree.

When Roy landed, Big Bear nodded slightly.

"Mission accomplished."

"Thanks for your hard work."

Roy patted Big Bear on the shoulder, and the two walked side by side toward Mangrove Tree No. 13.

"Kizaru's gone?"

"I'm gone."

"Where's Rayleigh?"

"Back to the tavern."

Roy nodded and said nothing more.

The two walked through several streets affected by the battle and arrived at the wooden door deep in the Thirteen Mangrove District.

Xiaqi's Bamboo Bar.

The signboard still hangs crookedly, and the wind chimes on the door still tinkle.

Roy pushed open the door, and Rayleigh was already sitting at the bar.

There was a glass of wine in front of him, half of which had been drunk, and the remaining half of the glass gleamed with an amber light under the lamp.

Xia Qi stood behind the bar, a cigarette dangling from her lips, her expression as calm as if nothing had happened.

"You're back?"

"I'm back."

Roy sat down next to Rayleigh, while Big Bear sat in the corner.

Xia Qi poured him a glass of wine, and then poured one for Da Xiong.

Big Bear didn't drink; he just sat there holding the Bible.

Rayleigh picked up his glass, took a sip, put it down, and looked at Roy.

"What exactly are you plotting, you little brat?"

Roy picked up his glass, took a sip, and didn't say anything.

Rayleigh didn't press the matter.

The tavern was quiet for a while, with only the sound of glasses clinking on the table and Shakky turning the pages of her newspaper.

After a long while, Rayleigh finally spoke.

"Luffy's future is going to be tough."

"I know."

"You're not going to help him?"

"We're already helping."

Roy put down his glass and looked at Ridley.

"I arranged the best teacher, the strongest opponent, and the most difficult path for him."

"But he has to reach the final destination himself."

Rayleigh was silent for a moment, then smiled.

"The way you talk is a bit like Roger's."

"Yeah?"

"Um."

Rayleigh picked up his glass and downed the rest of the wine in one gulp.

"None of them are good things."

Roy smiled too.

He picked up the bottle, filled Riley's glass, and then refilled his own.

"Shall we have a drink?"

"Dry."

The clinking of glasses echoed crisply in the tavern.

Rayleigh put down his glass, leaned against the bar, and tilted his head to look at Roy.

"You came all the way to Sabaody Archipelago just to see this show?"

"Otherwise what?"

Roy picked up his glass and took a sip.

"Do you think I came here to capture supernovae?"

"What are you going to do with capturing supernovae? Eat them?"

Rayleigh snorted but didn't reply.