New World, Onigashima.
"Rumble..."
Black clouds blanketed the sky, while lightning shaped like giant serpents flashed and darted through them.
The gale howled, and towering waves rose and fell across the sea. At the tips of the waves, it seemed as though millions of tiny hands were struggling.
Amid the raging sea and sky, Onigashima, shaped like a horned skull, seemed exceptionally tiny.
In front of Onigashima's castle gates, a man dressed in the Beasts Pirates' uniform raised his head and studied the sky, where thunder continued to rumble.
"Although we've grown used to such terrible weather, today's thunder... is unexpectedly deafening."
"Yeah, it really is unusual."
On the other side, another man in the pirates' uniform first looked up at the unending flashes of lightning within the clouds, then echoed his agreement.
Just then, a tall, dark figure approached from the distance.
"Lord King."
The two guards immediately composed themselves when they saw the figure striding toward them, their faces turning respectful.
King glanced at the two guards and asked, "Have you seen Young Master Yamato?"
The two guards instinctively exchanged a glance, then shook their heads at the same time.
"No."
"..."
Seeing this, King said nothing more. He walked past them and entered the castle.
"Rumble—"
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning split open the night.
In an instant, heaven and earth shone as brightly as day.
Inside a prison cell built of piled stone bricks.
The floor was pitch-black and damply cold. Under the incessant flashes of lightning, mottled bloodstains could just barely be seen.
High on the stone-brick wall, a tiny window the size of a bowl had been carved out.
Beneath the window, Jaba, who had lost all four limbs, pressed himself against the wall. His torso was perfunctorily bound with two loops of wrist-thick