The Age of Despair! Poised for Action!

Two years have passed since the Calamity Company completely conquered the world.

In the past two years, the world has undergone tremendous changes.

A massive, surging wave swept across the world, striking everyone's head with perfect fairness.

The world has entered an era of unprecedented chaos, with all order and rules completely collapsing.

Although this world was originally a dog-eat-dog world, in the past, at least the navy maintained order, and peace and tranquility were not just empty words, at least within the Affiliated Nation.

But things are different now.

The king who ruled the world, Lord Roa people called the King of Calamity, treated most countries in the world equally.

Apart from the two nations established by the Charlotte Family, as well as the Giant Kingdom and Fish-Man Island, all other nations in the world suffered the same degree of exploitation.

Leaving aside the enormous taxes paid each year, the unpaid labor in the mines and factories established by the Calamity Company in various places has already caused immense suffering for the world.

Not to mention the pirates who swarmed the seas like locusts—because the Calamity Company treated pirates differently, so in order to survive, large numbers of people set sail, making the seas somewhat crowded.

How many pirates are there in this world now?

The answer was so many that even Roa felt it might be affecting his efficiency in acquiring dark energy.

There are too many pirates, and instead, there aren't enough civilians to go around harming them.

This won't do. The reason we treat pirates differently is because they can bring in more dark energy.

But now the order of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches has been completely reversed.

Pirate ships have become a refuge for many people, but too many people fly pirate flags without doing the things pirates should do. Roa cannot allow this.

Therefore, several months ago, the Calamity Company even set a threshold for pirates to enter the world of pirates.

Yes, now there are entry requirements to becoming a pirate.

Being a bad person isn't something you can just do on a whim; you need a certain level of expertise to become a bad person recognized by the rulers of this world.

Roa ordered that all pirates must report to the Calamity Company and meet certain destruction targets within a specified period.

Those who are still navigating the high seas are probably aware of one thing: the Calamity Company possesses some means of monitoring the ocean.

Even the countless pirates on the high seas would find it difficult to hide once targeted by the Calamity Company.

Therefore, after the Calamity Company massacred a group of disobedient pirates a few months ago, all the pirates had no choice but to obediently go to the various branches of the Calamity Company to register their information.

The term "legal pirate," originally reserved for the extinct Shichibukai, now applies to all pirates.

Whether something is legal or illegal doesn't actually have much of an impact.

Even if the pirates gain the approval of the Calamity Company, Roa will not pay them wages.

But the scary thing is, there's no salary, but there are KPIs.

The Calamity Company set different KPIs for each pirate crew based on their strength.

Destruction, looting, and even fighting among themselves.

It doesn't matter what, as long as it causes enough destruction and makes people feel pain, then the Calamity Company won't bother them.

Conversely, if the task cannot be completed, then one can only hope for the best.

The good news is that there are just too many pirates these days. It's not difficult for the Calamity Company to find a single pirate crew, but finding all of them is no easy task.

They can only conduct random checks periodically.

Even so, it was enough to terrify the pirates.

They had no choice but to obediently engage in burning, killing, and looting.

Yes, that's what pirates are supposed to do.

Therefore, naturally, the world is one step closer to complete collapse.

People all over the world are struggling in despair.

East Blue, Kingdom of Goa.

This place, once hailed as the most beautiful country in the East Blue, is now not much different from other countries on the sea.

The once spotless city has now become dilapidated, and the dense forests outside the city have been uprooted and replaced by factories that spew out black smoke.

This country is one of those countries that doesn't have many mineral resources.

However, because the population is still quite large, the Calamity Company has built many factories here, and large quantities of minerals are transported here and then smelted into various metals.

It was early morning, in one of the factories on the island.

Accompanied by a crisp and melodious tune, a group of workers walked out of the factory area, looking extremely tired.

Wearing dirty overalls and a helmet, Sabo rubbed his eyes and yawned.

Since the Calamity Company conquered the world two years ago, these new Revolutionary Army have been in full-scale infiltration.

Because Mr. Dragon feared that there were still Roa's people among them, all the officers went their separate ways and hid, communicating only with Dragon.

Besides hiding, Dragon also hopes that everyone will develop more power to lay a solid foundation for the future decisive battle against the Calamity Company.

After much deliberation, Sabo finally chose to return to his homeland Kingdom of Goa.

Although he couldn't directly stand up to protect his homeland when pirates attacked, he could still do something.

After all, the country's nobles abandoned this place long ago, shamelessly plundering vast amounts of treasure and taking them to sea, euphemistically calling themselves noble pirates.

Although they were wiped out by a Krieg Pirates after only a short time at sea, the country did indeed lose all protection.

So Sabo returned.

After factories were built one after another in the country, he chose to become a worker in one of them.

If you want to hide yourself, the best way is to become a drop of water and merge into the ocean.

However, life wasn't easy for the workers.

Those bastards at the Calamity Company have no intention of paying wages. Moreover, the machines in the factory run day and night, and the workers have to work non-stop, at least sixteen hours a day.

Even Sabo would get tired after a while, let alone the ordinary workers.

Even so, the exploited workers still lived better than ordinary people.

Because the factory area is a place where the Calamity Company strictly forbids all pirate attacks.

Although they are subjected to severe exploitation, at least their safety is guaranteed.

Sabo blended seamlessly into the crowd of workers, disappearing from the factory with the flow of people and arriving at a group of dilapidated shacks outside the factory.

The Calamity Company wasn't kind enough to provide dormitories for the workers; most of them lived in simple shacks built outside the factory.

Sabo returned to his dwelling, which was really just a simple shed with a few newspapers spread on the floor. It was extremely shabby and didn't even have a door, since there really wasn't anything worth stealing.

Sabo picked up a tattered water bottle from the corner, took a sip of water, and then pulled a small bag from his pocket.

He poured a pill out of the bag and swallowed it with water.

"Call--"

After taking the pill, Sabo's complexion improved considerably.

It should be said that the Calamity Company did not actually intend to kill everyone in the world.

Roa also gave an order.

If pirates are attacking civilians, they should try not to kill them.

Destruction or looting is enough.

The great King of the World said that population is the most precious asset in the world.

It's a contradiction: on one hand, they're ravaging the world, and on the other hand, they hope that people can thrive and multiply.

In order to help people who have nothing to live, the Calamity Company did do something.

They are distributing something called Ration Pill, which are the same pills that Sabo just ate.

It is said that those were the rations eaten by the Clone soldiers of the Scourge back then.

It is a miraculous drug created by a pharmacist within the Calamity Company.

This pill provides a large amount of energy; just one pill can provide an adult's daily energy needs.

It is said that in order to produce enough Ration Pill, the Calamity Company even terraformed the Red Line.

They carved out planting areas on the barren Red Line, specifically for growing various crops that could be used to make Ration Pill.

As for why crops could be grown on the incredibly barren Red Line, Sabo wasn't entirely sure; the newspapers said that Roa had transformed the Red Line.

Nowadays, almost every country has factories that produce Ration Pill.

Many ordinary people on the high seas haven't eaten fresh food in a long time.

However, while Ration Pill can provide enough energy, they have a major drawback: they cannot completely eliminate hunger.

In other words, while eating Ration Pill wouldn't kill you, you would still suffer from the pain of hunger.

Sabo even suspected that this flaw might have been intentionally left behind by Roa, simply to torment the people of the world.

Even so, only factory and mine workers could receive one Ration Pill a day; ordinary people didn't have this privilege at all and had to pay money to buy it.

Although the price of Ration Pill was very low, it was still a huge burden for the impoverished people.

After finishing his meal, Sabo was about to lie down and rest when a suppressed voice suddenly came from the nearby shack, "Mr. Sabo, when are we finally going to start our operation?"

Sabo paused for a moment, then whispered, "Wait a little longer, Rudy, it's not time yet."

Frankly, developing power in this country is a very easy thing.

Everyone in the world now hates Roa to the core.

Even their fear of Roa couldn't suppress this hatred.

Sabo easily established a branch of the Revolutionary Army in the country.

Although he doesn't have a large number of people, he can guarantee that as long as the time is right, he will stand up and call to action, and the entire country will surely respond.

"Should we wait any longer?"

The voice from next door was tinged with suppressed sobs, "Finch is dead. He was worked to death at his workstation—"

"Three days ago it was Damm, last week it was Carl, I don't know how much longer I can hold on."

"Sometimes I even think that death might be a relief, Mr. Sabo, but I'm not willing to die like this!"

"I have nothing left. Even in death, I want to die with some value, at least causing some damage to the Calamity Company!"

"..."

Sabo clenched his fists silently, his teeth grinding together.

Roa, you monster, just how far will you ravage this world?

What kind of hell would you want to plunge the people of this world into before you were satisfied?

"It won't be long..."

But at this moment, Sabo could only slowly say, "Rudy, wait a little longer! Wait a little longer!"

Mr. Dragon, we can't delay any longer.

With every day of delay, countless more people die in despair under Roa's atrocities!

Also in the East Blue, on a certain uninhabited deserted island.

This is an island without any mineral resources, so even now it is completely ignored.

But no one knows that there is actually a fairly spacious area underground on this island.

"Ta-da!"

A series of crisp collision sounds echoed in the empty space.

"Three Sword Style: Purgatory Oni Slash!"

The three blades were simultaneously wrapped in jet-black Armament Haki, leaving three dazzling streaks of light in the air as they pierced through the void.

The next instant, the three swords slammed into a blade that was also wrapped in Armament Haki.

The ground was instantly torn apart with deep cracks, and the two figures were quickly separated in the violent collision.

The bespectacled man staggered to his feet, looked up at the green-haired man not far ahead who was already poised to attack again, and said with some admiration, "You've completely surpassed me, Zoro."

"But this power is far from enough, isn't it, teacher!"

Roronoa Zoro, Three Sword Style swordsman, took the sword from his mouth and said seriously, "I'm still far inferior to those monsters from the Calamity Company!"

The bespectacled man, Koshiro, had a complicated look in his eyes. "Zoro, you don't need to be with us. You have no reason to be enemies with the Calamity Company."

This disciple's strength would be considered that of a powerful figure even within the Calamity Company.

He can live a comfortable life no matter where he is.

"I have no interest in what kind of Calamity Company."

The green-haired swordsman merely raised the corners of his mouth, "But Kuina and I already made a promise! I will become the world's greatest swordsman!"

"And to achieve this goal, I absolutely must defeat Roa!"

Everyone knows that the King of Calamity possesses the world's number one physical skills, the world's number one Haki, the world's number one ability, the world's number one Black Blade, and the world's number one swordsmanship!

What else could Koshiro say?

"However, you may no longer have time to grow stronger, Zoro,"

He said, "Dr. Lilith's research has yielded results, and Dragon received a call from Shanks and rushed off, supposedly because Luffy's training has been successful."

"That means!"

Zoro's eyes suddenly lit up.

The final battle is about to begin!