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

"Alright, alright, now that we're on the ship, we're partners."

Luffy grinned, crossed his legs, and picked his nose.

"But just how powerful is Kaido?"

Is he even stronger than Doflamingo?

The air fell silent for a moment.

Robin spoke, his voice as calm as ever:

"Kaido is one of the Four Emperors and is known as the strongest creature on land, sea and air."

His bounty exceeds 4.6 billion Berries, and he has repeatedly challenged the Marine Headquarters and the other four Emperors single-handedly.

He was captured eighteen times, tortured over a thousand times, and sentenced to death forty times.

But each time, he survived.

Robin paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present:

"If Doflamingo is a cunning fox, then Kaido is a true dragon."

And it's the kind of thing that could destroy the world.

Silence, still silence.

Nami's face turned noticeably paler, and Usopp began to tremble, his lips quivering as if he were chanting some kind of warding-off-evil spell.

"Oh—so what?"

Luffy picked a booger from his nose, flicked it away casually, and wore an almost innocent nonchalance on his face.

"Just shoot it directly."

Just beat him up.

"...What did you say?"

"I said just shoot it directly."

Luffy, completely unaware, repeated it again, even tilting his head slightly.

"Anyway, no matter what kind of dragon or what it is, as long as we beat him up—"

"You better be serious!!!"

Nami slammed her iron fist into Luffy's head, and the shockwave spread outwards from Luffy's head, cracking the ground and creating a crater two meters in diameter.

Luffy was completely embedded in the floor, with only his smoking head sticking out and his eyes still spinning.

Nami grabbed him by the collar and pulled him out of the ground, bringing her face close to his and roaring at him with almost all her might:

"We are about to face one of the most powerful monsters in this ocean!"

The slightest carelessness could lead to total annihilation!

Can't you be even a little bit nervous?! Even just a tiny bit!!

"sorry!"

"I understand..."

Luffy's head was shaken back and forth, and his voice trembled.

Zoro leaned against the corner, opened one eye to look, then closed it again, a slight smirk playing on his lips.

Sanji, with a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, unusually didn't swoon over Nami. Instead, he looked thoughtfully at Luffy, who was being lectured.

Robin smiled and shook his head, saying softly:

"As expected of our captain."

Only after the farce was over did the meeting truly begin.

With Luffy out of the way, the discussion finally made some substantial progress.

Franky crossed his arms and asked the most practical question:

"Therefore, we know almost nothing about the present-day Wano Country."

Twenty years have passed since Kozuki Oden's death. Who knows what this country has become?

"That's right."

Robin nodded, his tone calm.

"In my opinion, acting rashly is the most irrational choice. Our first priority is to gather intelligence."

"Regarding intelligence,"

Sanji spat out the grass stem from his mouth.

"We should be able to find out a lot of information from the Flower Capital."

Those kinds of places are where the most gossip happens, especially in taverns and casinos.

"I can sneak in as a geisha."

Robin smiled slightly.

"Geisha can come into contact with people from all walks of life, whether they are samurai or members of the Beasts Pirates."

"Then I—"

Before Nami could speak, Sanji charged at her, his eyes blazing with fury.

"Miss Nami must never go to such a dangerous place!"

Those filthy men will defile Miss Nami with their lewd gazes—"

"Shut up!"

Nami punched him away, then turned to Robin and said...

"I'll go with you, so there'll be someone to look after you."

Kin'emon pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded:

"The Flower Capital is now within the territory of the Beasts Pirates, and members of the Beasts Pirates are scattered everywhere."

"You two must be very careful."

"I am Raizo."

"I'd like to try to contact Lord Oden's former subordinates."

Although twenty years have passed, I believe that there are still people waiting for the return of the Kozuki clan.

A strange expression, a mixture of crying and laughing, appeared on Raizo's wrinkled face:

"It must be there."

Those guys are definitely waiting.

Luffy had recovered his spirits and sat cross-legged on the ground, listening quietly to everyone's conversation, a rare occurrence for him.

His eyes flickered in the firelight, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

"good!"

Luffy suddenly stood up, dusted himself off, and grinned, revealing his signature wide laugh.

"That's settled then!"

We'll go to the Flower Capital to gather intelligence, while Kin'emon and the others go find their companions. Once everyone's ready, we'll all gang up on Kaido!

This time, no one corrected him.

Nami looked at him, sighed, but couldn't help but curl her lips into a smile.

That's Luffy for you—always so confident, fearless in the face of anything.

It is precisely because he is Luffy that they have followed him all the way here, from the East Blue to the Grand Line, from Fishman Island to the New World, all the way to the doorstep of the Four Emperors.

A spark burst from the fire, crackling loudly.

What they didn't know was...

On Ghost Island, some distance away from Jiuli, at the highest point of Skull Castle, Roy leaned against the edge of a skull's eye socket and opened his closed eyes.

His Observation Haki spread out from his body like an invisible tide, covering the entire Oni Island and spreading across the turbulent currents surrounding Wano Country.

I climbed over the desolate plains of Jiuli, touched the lights of the Flower Capital, swept past the prisoner quarry of Tuwan, and brushed against the white snow behind Linghou.

Every inch of land.

everyone.

Every sound.

The conversation between Luffy and his crew, Kin'emon's tears, the crisp sound of Nami's fist hitting Luffy's head, and the crackling sound of firewood burning in the fire.

Everything was within his perception.

Roy looked down at the chessboard like a god.

The sea breeze tousled his black curly hair, and the moonlight cast a cold, hard shadow on his angular profile.

"It's finally here!"

"What?"

Yamato, who was wielding a spiked club behind Roy, heard Roy's whisper and asked in return.

"It's nothing!"

"Call Jin here now, I need to speak with him!"

"So mysterious!"

Yamato was clearly unhappy with Roy's transformation into the Riddler, but he still put away his spiked club "Ken" and turned to leave the room.

Soon after, King, the Beasts Pirates' "chief steward," hurriedly arrived at Roy's room.

Roy informed King of his discovery that the Straw Hat Pirates had arrived.

He was also instructed to keep a close watch on Luffy and his crew, but not to alert them.

Once they have gathered together the rebellious forces of Wano Country,

That would be the best time to take action.

Jin accepted the order and left.

Roy stood by the window of the Ghost Island Palace, looking at the scattered lights in the direction of Kyuri, a meaningful smile appearing on his lips.

"Nikka, the sun god!"

I really want to see what kind of power this fruit will possess after it awakens!

Night falls,

On the land of Wano Country, a storm that will determine the fate of the world is quietly brewing.

And the starting point of this storm was that boy wearing a straw hat.