Grand Line, Marine Branch 38.
Weather!
Clear.
Puffy white clouds drifted overhead. It was a rare day of good weather.
Suddenly, a rumble sounded a thousand meters up in the sky. A black speck grew larger and larger, shining ever brighter.
Especially beneath the sunlight, it was dazzlingly golden.
"What's that noise?"
The marines patrolling the branch looked around when they heard it. Once they realized it was coming from above, they all looked up, mouths slightly agape with shock.
In just a moment, alarms blared throughout the entire branch.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
"Fall back!"
"Damn it!"
"It's too late!"
Like a meteor from beyond the heavens, a hundred-meter-tall golden halberd descended, filling the marines' pupils with its sacred brilliance.
Rumble!
The golden halberd crashed into the center of the branch. In an instant, the ground within a thousand meters buckled upward, and a shock wave surged out like a tsunami, sweeping everything away with overwhelming force.
Screams and terror spread.
Sand and stones flew as smoke billowed. When everything finally settled, half the branch had been reduced to ruins!
"Cough, cough! Who was that?!"
"How dare you attack a Marine branch!"
A Rear Admiral crawled out from the rubble. The shock wave had left him in bad shape.
As it happened, he was the highest-ranking officer at the branch.
The sudden attack had caught him completely off guard.
Following the halberd with his gaze, he looked up and saw two figures descending from the sky to land on its shaft. They looked down at the scene as if everyone below were insects.
"Gild Tesoro."
"The Desert King."
The Rear Admiral's expression tightened as he stared at the two flamboyant, arrogant figures. His breathing grew strained.
Snap!
With a cigar in his mouth and his Golden Goose Down Coat