The New World.
Beside an uninhabited volcanic island, a ship sat motionless in the bay. No one knew exactly what it was doing there.
Anyone who took a closer look through a telescope would have noticed the strange flag on its mast: an upside-down Navy insignia and a pirate's skull and crossbones, both pierced by a sword.
That's right. The ship flying the strange flag belonged to Black Arm Zephyr, a former admiral of the Navy Headquarters. He had served in the same era as Navy Hero Vice Admiral Garp and Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the Buddha.
Not long ago, for reasons unknown, he had suddenly announced his departure from the Navy and cut off all contact with Navy Headquarters.
Then, taking advantage of the brat stirring up trouble in the New World and the outbreak of the world war, he had secretly founded the NEO Navy with his students. Flying that strange flag, they had been working in secret toward their goal of wiping out every pirate in the world.
And now, Black Arm Zephyr and his NEO Navy were carrying out a secret plan.
This was a massive volcanic island. The mountain at its center was the volcano's crater, and it showed signs of constant activity. As a result, no one had ever settled or developed the island—not even pirates wanted it.
That had given Zephyr and his NEO Navy the perfect opportunity.
Black Arm Zephyr knew that this island was one of three critical breaking points in the New World's landmass. If he destroyed all three, then every island west of the Red Line in the New World—whether its volcanoes were active or dormant—would be set off in a chain reaction, unleashing torrents of magma!
When that happened, the pirates of the entire New World would have nowhere