Totto Land, Whole Cake Island.
The island, made up of all kinds of sweets, was currently lit up in celebration. All kinds of festive decorations hung everywhere, making the already fairy-tale-like island look even more dreamlike.
Because of the fall of the two Emperors two years ago, the newly appointed Fleet Admiral of the Marines—former Admiral Akainu, Sakazuki—had moved Marine Headquarters directly into the waters of the New World, officially declaring war on the pirates of the New World on behalf of the Marines.
Even so, the pirates of the New World were still a disorganized mess.
That was because the two remaining pirate emperors did not see eye to eye. Big Mom intended to gather her forces and launch an offensive to try to drive the Marines out, but Shanks disagreed with that approach.
Caught in the tug-of-war between the two of them, the pirates of the New World could not form a united front, so against the aggressively advancing Marines, they naturally ended up at a disadvantage.
And without the support of a second emperor's crew, the Big Mom Pirates alone were no match for the Marines at all.
The fate of the Whitebeard Pirates was a lesson learned in blood.
So the Big Mom Pirates began looking for ways to strengthen themselves.
For a pirate crew to strengthen itself, there were really only two methods: recruit people, or develop technology and manufacture powerful weapons.
Thus, they found a solution that achieved both at once—recruiting a scientist.
The Vinsmoke Family of the West Blue entered Big Mom's sights.
Their patriarch, Vinsmoke Judge, had once been a top researcher on the same research team as Vegapunk, now the World Government's chief scientist. Moreover, the Vinsmoke Family's own power was not weak either, at least not inferior to an ordinary