Side Story: The Various Powers (1)

The New World, Hachinosu.

It was already the 4th day after the unprecedented war, but the executives of Las Noches had not returned to the Hive.

"Have you heard? Mr. Cifer and his companions have gone on a world tour!"

The island's residents spread the news far and wide, telling each other what they had just learned.

"The adults must have been planning this for a long time to defeat the World Government. Now that they've succeeded, it's only natural they should enjoy life!"

The elderly men, stroking their beards that almost reached their chests, smiled and said...

The entire island was immersed in joy, except for one person in a building diagonally below the Las Noches Palace.

"Boss Barto, stop crying. Senior Cifer and the others have already reached the summit. Isn't that what you wanted to see most?"

Inside the house, the members of the Barto Club surrounded their leader, comforting the man in the middle who was crying while staring at the autographed wanted posters of his seniors on the wall.

"That's exactly why you should cry!"

Barto knelt on the ground, shouting loudly, but his eyes never left the wall.

Even the man's photo seemed to gleam with a blinding light in his eyes at that moment.

"From the moment he rose to fame, in order to save this corrupt world, he overthrew the World Government that had ruled this sea for hundreds of years in just a few years. What benevolence and power this is..."

"After ascending to that supreme throne, he did not covet power, but resolutely took his companions to travel around the world. How carefree that is..."

"More importantly... they said that Hachinosu is now in my hands! This shows how much they value me, no... it's too much, seniors!"

As she talked to herself, Barto broke down in tears.

Meanwhile, a Marine warship was docked at the port, but it was flying the flag of the New Marines, designed by Zephyr himself.

"It's unbelievable that a survivor from the 'Worst Generation' who was once known as a contemporary of them has become a member of the Navy."

Urouge stood near the dock, smiling as the Straw Hat Kid, now dressed in a marine uniform, disembarked from the ship.

"What? Do I know you?"

Luffy instinctively reached for his hat to press on his head, but then suddenly remembered that he had returned it to Shanks a few days ago, so he turned to picking his nose with a bewildered expression.

"We don't know them, and we don't need to know them. Brother Enel has already given us advance notice. If you want to take them away, just walk along the road to the center of the island. Barto and the others are over there."

Urouge still had that honest, simple look on his face. After pointing them in the right direction, he sat down at a small stall near the dock and started cooking his favorite red bean stew with meat.

If I had known life could be this comfortable before, who would have gone to sea to become a pirate?

"It looks so delicious!"

Luffy ignored everything, his eyes fixed on the stew in the pot, his mouth practically watering.

"Luffy, stop spacing out. We're here to take the old man away."

Suddenly, a fist struck him on the back of the head from behind, and then Ace and Sabo, who were also dressed in navy uniforms, came out.

"Stop fooling around, you brats! Do you know how valuable the Fleet Admiral's time is? These three guys don't even have a rank yet!"

"The navy is a disciplined organization!"

With three loud thuds, large bumps appeared on the heads of the three Ace brothers. Behind them stood the current Fleet Admiral Sakazuki.

"That damned old man... I'll teach him a lesson when I become the Marine King..."

Luffy, clutching his large bag, hurried away in the direction Urouge had pointed out, with his two older brothers close behind.

"It's a good thing that young people are energetic. They're here to pick up their grandfather, and aren't you here to pick up your daughter too?"

An elderly man with white hair and beard leaped off the warship, accompanied by a sheep with a bell.

"Semi-retired people should stop arguing!"

Sakazuki spoke with dissatisfaction, preparing to follow the others to retrieve Hibari.

But just then, an unexpected voice rang out from not far away:

"Mr. Sengoku, I want to join the navy."

Yes, it is Luo, Trafalgar D. Vattir Luo.

"Is he trying to take over Rossi Nandi's position? But the Fleet Admiral is right here; you'll have to ask him if you can join the Navy."

As the little brat whom Rossi had risked his life to save appeared before him, Sengoku seemed to see the shadow of that person in him.

"And we'll go wherever our captain goes."

Bepo, poked its round head out from a nearby building, with the other crew members behind it.

"I don't have time to meddle in your business, but whoever you are, you have to start as a lowly marine."

Sakazuki, seeing that it was an acquaintance from the Sengoku, gave him some face, tossed out a reply, and then rushed toward the center of the island.

But before he could catch up with the three, the figure he had been thinking about day and night appeared in his Observation Haki.

"Father!"

Hibari, who was shopping in a store, noticed his arrival, dropped what he was holding, and rushed over to throw himself into Sakazuki's arms.

"Hibari ..."

He bent down and stroked her little head. He couldn't remember how many years it had been since his daughter had called him "father."

Perhaps it started with that trip when he failed to protect his wife.

"How terrifying, Father! Why didn't you tell me anything? What if you die...?"

The Hibari patted his chest, sobbing, trying not to let her tears fall easily.

During her time here, she was never restricted in her personal freedom, and on the day of the decisive battle, she watched the battle with the islanders in the open space.

When she saw Sakazuki leading the navy to attack the World Government, she couldn't describe how she felt.

All that is known is that because he didn't say anything at the time, he was trapped in Hachinosu, and Vice Admiral Garp and SWORD's companions were arrested one after another.

But it was precisely the person he most looked forward to, and who was almost the most familiar among his peers, who abandoned himself, all his companions, and even his mentor in that battle.

So she comforted herself, thinking that everyone would come to pick her up after they had resolved their issues.

This naive idea only stopped when the most heart-wrenching scene occurred during the premiere.

In several different images transmitted by the Den Den Mushi, she miraculously saw her most admired senior Koby.

But what she saw was not what she had imagined.

Instead of following his father's lead, the other party chose to side with the World Government.

Even when the enemy's sneak attack failed, he actually stood up and pleaded for mercy for the enemy before his father, who had risked his life for the world and was already covered in wounds.

All her illusions crumbled, so much so that when he was pierced through the chest, he felt nothing at all.

Only one thought remained in her mind: her father must not die.

"Don't be afraid, Hibari, I will not die."

Sakazuki held his daughter tightly, as if trying to convey the tenderness he had never been able to express for so many years.