First Steps into the New World! Toying with the Marine Fleet with Spatial Doors

Early the next morning.

Lin Yuan stood on the beach of Void Island, with Kaido, Bullet, and King behind him.

"Everyone ready?" Lin Yuan asked.

"What's there to prepare?" Kaido had an iron club he had helped himself to from the transport ship slung over his shoulder. "I can fight whenever."

"I'm ready too." Bullet clenched his fists.

King said nothing and simply nodded.

Lin Yuan raised his hand and opened a huge door in front of him. Beyond it was the sky over a stretch of sea in the New World, about fifty meters above the surface.

"Let's go."

He stepped through onto a Micro Door in the air, hovering high above the sea. Kaido, Bullet, and King followed close behind, stepping through the door one by one and standing in midair.

"That's the convenience of the Door-Door Fruit." Lin Yuan smiled. "No need for a ship. We can go wherever we want."

"Wororororo..." Kaido laughed. "That power is damn useful."

2

The sky over the New World was overcast, dark clouds rolling in the distance and strong winds whipping up waves on the sea. But Lin Yuan wasn't worried. They wouldn't fall into the water—he had left a Micro Door beneath each of them, ready to catch them at any moment.

"Can you sense anything ahead?" Bullet asked.

Lin Yuan closed his eyes and spread out his Spatial Perception.

Within a kilometer, three warships were spread out in a fan formation, seemingly searching for something.

"Marines." Lin Yuan opened his eyes. "They're looking for us."

"How many ships?" Kaido asked.

"Three. About three hundred men on each. There's a Vice Admiral aboard one of them."

"Wororororo... Are we fighting?"

Lin Yuan thought for a moment.

"Yes."

He wasn't looking for a fight, but he needed to establish his authority. Pirates in the New World didn't believe in reputation, only strength. If he didn't fight a few tough battles, no one would fear him.

"How do we do it?" Bullet asked.

Lin Yuan smiled and raised his hand, opening a door in front of him. Beyond it was the deck of the middle warship.

"I'll go in through here and throw that Vice Admiral into the sea. You circle around from both sides and break the masts on the other two ships. Don't kill anyone. Just knock them out."

"Why can't we kill them?" King asked.

"If we kill them, the Marines will send more people after us. If we knock them out, they'll think we've 'shown mercy,' and there'll still be room to negotiate."

"Wororororo..." Kaido laughed. "You're pretty calculating."

"Enough talk. Move out."

3

Lin Yuan stepped out of the door and landed on the warship's deck.

The Marines froze for a moment, then erupted into an uproar.

"It's Lin Yuan!"

"The one with a billion-berry bounty!"

"Quick! Open fire!"

Gunshots rang out, and bullets came flying like rain. Lin Yuan raised his hand and opened a huge door in front of him, and every bullet flew through it. On the other side was the sea.

The bullets splashed into the water one after another.

"Don't waste your bullets." A deep voice came from the direction of the bridge.

The Marines stopped firing and made way.

A burly man wearing a "Justice" cape stepped forward. He had a long scar across his face and a fierce look in his eyes.

"Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, Onigumo," he introduced himself. "Lin Yuan, you've got some nerve. You dared to raid a World Government transport ship, and now you've come to the New World to die."

"To die?" Lin Yuan tilted his head. "How do you know I've come to die?"

Onigumo sneered, and his hands transformed into spider claws, black as ink—coated in Armament Haki.

"Because I'll personally capture you and take you back."

He stepped forward and thrust his claws at Lin Yuan's face. They moved so fast they left an afterimage in the air.

Lin Yuan didn't dodge. He raised his hand and opened a Micro Door in the claws' path—only the size of a fist, just enough to catch Onigumo's hand.

Onigumo's claws plunged through the door, beyond which was the sky a hundred meters up. He lost his balance and pitched forward.

Lin Yuan stepped aside and opened another door beneath his feet. One of Onigumo's feet went through the door while the other remained on the deck, leaving him in a full split.

"You—!" Onigumo's face turned ashen.

"Hehehe..." Lin Yuan laughed. "Mr. Vice Admiral, are you practicing your splits?"

4

On the other two warships, Kaido and Bullet were also causing havoc.

Kaido dropped from the sky and swung his iron club, smashing the mast clean in two. Splinters flew, and the sails came tumbling down onto the deck.

"Wororororo..." Kaido laughed. "Come on, you Marine brats!"

The Marines raised their guns and fired, but the bullets that struck Kaido didn't even break his skin. He reached out, grabbed a Marine, and gave him a gentle toss, sending him flying dozens of meters into the sea.

"Too weak! Too weak!" Kaido shouted. "Isn't there anyone who can fight?!"

On the other warship, Bullet was even more direct. He didn't use a weapon, just his fists. One punch smashed a gaping hole in the deck. Another brought down a section of the ship's side.

"Buhahahaha!" Bullet laughed. "You bunch of trash can't even take one of my punches!"

The Marines fled in terror.

King didn't join the fight. He stood atop a mast, keeping watch and providing support. Flames burned on his back—a characteristic of the Lunarians. But he had covered his wings with a cloak, not wanting to expose them.

In less than ten minutes, all three warships had been disabled. Their masts were broken, their decks damaged, and Marines lay scattered everywhere.

Lin Yuan had trapped Onigumo on the deck using doors—six surrounded him, with empty air ahead and behind him, to either side, above and below. The slightest movement would send him falling into one.

"You... you bastard!" Onigumo ground his teeth.

"Don't be angry." Lin Yuan crouched down and looked Onigumo in the eye. "Take a message to Sengoku for me."

"What message?"

"Tell him Lin Yuan has come to the New World. If he wants to catch me, send an Admiral. A Vice Admiral isn't enough."

"You—!"

Lin Yuan stood up, opened a door, and walked through it.

The door closed behind him.

Kaido, Bullet, and King each withdrew through a door as well.

The three disabled warships drifted with the waves. The Marines helped one another to their feet and gazed at the sky, unable to speak for a long time.

5

Evening. A small, unnamed island in the New World.

Lin Yuan and the other three had built a fire on the beach and were roasting fish and meat they had helped themselves to from the warships.

"Today's fight wasn't satisfying." Kaido gnawed on a piece of fish. "That Vice Admiral was too weak."

"It's not that he was too weak," Lin Yuan said. "You're just too strong."

"Wororororo... You're right."

Bullet wiped the grease from the corner of his mouth. "Where to next?"

Lin Yuan pulled a sea chart from his pocket and studied it by the light of the fire.

"The New World is vast. We need to find a place to settle down. Preferably an island with no World Government garrison and no pirates occupying it, but in a good location."

"An island like that won't be easy to find," King said.

"That's why we'll have to take our time looking." Lin Yuan put away the chart. "We'll rest here tonight and continue tomorrow."

He lay down on the beach and gazed at the stars.

Kaido lay down too and was soon snoring.

Bullet leaned against a reef with his eyes closed, but he wasn't asleep.

King sat by the fire, poking at the wood.

Lin Yuan had his eyes closed, but he wasn't asleep. He was thinking about something—Sengoku had told him to find Rocks, but he hadn't gone. Still, he knew that sooner or later, he would run into the Rocks Pirates.

Rocks, Whitebeard, Golden Lion, Big Mom... the strongest pirates of this era were all gathered on that ship.

And he, with three young men at his side, had to fight a bloody path through these seas.

"Hehehe..." Lin Yuan chuckled softly.

Interesting.

(End of Chapter 12)