The massive fleet crushed through a thousand waves, charging forward without pause.
But that unstoppable momentum vanished once they entered the Calm Belt.
In these waters, where there was neither wind nor current, they could only advance through manpower.
The pirates rowed desperately with long oars, slowly making their way through the dead-silent sea.
At least they did not have to worry about Sea Beasts. Nearly every one of these monsters possessed Conqueror's Haki. Which Sea Beast would dare approach?
"Hey, kid, can't you use your ability to whip up a gale and speed up the fleet?"
On the spacious deck, Golden Lion pointed a finger. The two swords flying in midair abruptly accelerated, shooting toward Roa like a pair of meteors.
"You're asking too much of me! Uncle Shiki!"
Roa spun around, his twin swords tracing twin arcs like crescent moons. With perfect timing, he knocked away the two incoming blades. "One ship would be fine, but how could I do it for more than two hundred? I'm only seven years old!"
"What a useless brat."
Shiki blew out a smoke ring.
"You're being too harsh, Uncle Shiki!"
Roa shot forward, swinging his twin swords mercilessly at Golden Lion. "Lion's Roar: Seal the Eternal Thoughts Slash!"
The flying swords swept through the air in a curved arc and knocked Roa back with a clang.
"I've never heard of that technique."
Golden Lion looked disgusted.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha! Doesn't it sound great?"
Roa laughed loudly. "I think I'm really talented at naming techniques!"
"Just a brat's delirious muttering."
Golden Lion believed in suppressive education.
"Hmph, take this, Uncle Shiki!"
Roa charged again.
The black aura could only improve his basic attributes. As for technique, he still had to practice it himself.
Fortunately, all his uncles and aunts doted on him and were almost always willing to practice with him whenever they had time.
Today was no exception. After Uncle Shiki, Aunt Linlin and Big Brother Kaido also sparred with Roa for a while.
By the time the fleet left the Calm Belt and officially entered the West Blue, evening had fallen. Roa was half-dead with hunger from overexercising.
Unable to hold back, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Captain, I'm starving! Can I get something to eat?"
"Keep yourself under control!"
Instead, the captain's cold voice answered him. "Every pirate in the fleet has a use. If you want to hunt, wait until we reach God Valley."
Roa could not help letting out a lament.
The captain is so stingy.
Doesn't he know I'm still growing and need nutrition?
The small fry can't be of any use anyway. Wouldn't putting them to use be better?
But the other monsters were probably making their moves by now, too.
Somewhere in the West Blue.
"You're going to slaughter all the inhabitants of an entire country, along with a large number of slaves?!"
He had not yet grown his famed pair of bushy whiskers, bearing only faint stubble beneath his nose. Wearing a captain's bicorne hat, Gol D. Roger—the most renowned great pirate in the New World besides Rocks—burst out laughing. "Hey, hey, hey! The world has actually been in the hands of these lunatics for eight hundred years!"
Laughter came from behind him. "Captain, are we going to play the heroes this time?"
"Heroes? Heroes have to make sacrifices. I'm not doing it!"
Roger laughed loudly. "That bastard Rocks will definitely go! When he and the World Government start tearing into each other, that'll be our chance! They've hunted us for so many years. It's time to settle the score!"
"But don't let your guard down, Roger."
His first mate, Rayleigh, pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses. Though he was a notorious great pirate, there was an inexplicable touch of refinement about him. "The Rocks Pirates are already troublesome enough. With the World Government added to the mix, no one can say what might happen."
"Useless, Rayleigh!"
Gaban, the ship's third-in-command, wore a small pair of sunglasses over his nose. His thick black hair was tied into a fluffy ponytail as he laughed heartily. "How could the captain worry about all that at a time like this?"
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Roger's laughter grew even louder. "We're already here! Wouldn't it be a waste not to cause a huge commotion? Men! Let's turn the world upside down!"
"Yeah!!!"
The Roger Pirates had arrived!
In another sea not far from there, a massive dog-head warship plowed through the waves.
"Wahahaha! Not only that fellow Roger, but the Rocks Pirates are on the move too?"
The broad-shouldered middle-aged man laughed heartily, his short, stiff black hair standing up like steel needles. "How many years has it been since a war of this scale?"
"Why don't we use this chance to wipe out both forces?"
"Mr. Garp," his adjutant, a swordsman wearing a gray bowler hat, quietly reminded him from the side, "if the Rocks Pirates really show up, our forces won't be nearly enough."
"There's no time to call in reinforcements now."
The Marine vice admiral known as Iron Fist Garp shook his head. "The Knights of God have also been dispatched by the Celestial Dragons. No one knows what kind of strength they possess, but since the government isn't worried, it should be fine."
The corners of his mouth rose higher and higher. "All I need to do is focus on Roger!"
The adjutant nodded lightly.
"But now that you mention it..."
Garp rubbed his chin, puzzled. "What are the Celestial Dragons doing in a godforsaken place like this?"
Several days later, in the West Blue, God Valley.
This was an island with an extremely unusual landscape. A mountain rose sharply from its center, split in two by a gorge. The gorge was so steep that it looked as if a deity had cleaved it open with a single sword.
That was how the island had earned its name: God Valley.
At this moment, warships surrounded the island on all sides. The Marines aboard stood on serious guard, allowing no unauthorized person or object to enter or leave.
Yet the Marines did not know what was on the island, much less what was happening there.
They knew—and yet they knew nothing.
On the island, the Celestial Dragons' triennial hunting competition was about to officially begin.
"Ah!"
With a scream, blood sprayed from the back of God Valley's king—a man who still had no idea what was about to happen to the island—and he toppled forward onto the ground.
"Hey! Gehring! You jumped the gun, didn't you? The competition hasn't even started!"
A Celestial Dragon wearing a bizarre mask and holding a spear complained furiously.
"I was simply a little impatient. Deducting ten thousand points from me is fine."
The man with golden hair swept upward at an angle like half a crescent moon casually shook the blood from his blade. "I'll win in the end anyway."
"Are you being a little too arrogant?"
Another Celestial Dragon shouted, "Our Donquixote Family will never lose to you!"
"The winners will of course be our Figarland Family!"
Gehring of the Figarland Family, the man with the moon-shaped hair, showed no expression. "In any case, get the rabbits running. If I get bored during the next three weeks, that will be a grave sin."
"Wow! What an arrogant bastard!"
At that moment, a melodious tune came from the loudspeakers installed throughout the island.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, everyone! The triennial hunting competition is about to begin! As usual, over the next three weeks, display your strength to your heart's content until all one hundred thousand rabbits on the island have been wiped out!"
"The person with the highest final score will be the winner. As always, the winner takes all and will claim every prize!"
"Now then, are you ready?"
"Are you ready?"
Somewhere on God Valley, a boy with a huge head spoke loudly. "The damn competition is about to begin, and so is our plan!"
"We've been waiting forever, Big Brother!"
A lively pink-haired girl answered with a giggle.
Beside her, a tall, simple-looking boy with a crew cut nodded woodenly. "Mm."
"Then all we need to do is wait for the chaos to begin!"
The moment the big-headed boy's voice fell silent, the loudspeakers' voices spread across the entire island.
"The competition... begins!"
Before you continue