Volume 3: Pirate Arc - Chapter 1: Someone Got Smashed!

The Grand Line is a contradictory sea that every pirate yearns for yet fears. It holds the world's greatest wealth and is a paradise for pirates, but it is also infested with too many powerhouses. Once the weak step foot inside, they are inevitably torn apart by the ocean's Uzumaki. Because of this, every pirate hungers to enter the Grand Line in search of fortune, yet fears losing their life in the process.

Between the first and second halves of the Grand Line lies the Red Line. Standing atop it is a massive city known as the Holy Land, the residence of the Five Elders, who hold the highest authority in the World Government. Furthermore, the World Nobles, the Celestial Dragons, reside there as well. There are only two ways to enter the Grand Line: by land or by sea. The land route is through Mary Geoise!

On the other side of Mary Geoise lies an island—or rather, an archipelago. It is composed of the world's largest Yarukiman Mangrove trees. Each small island is a single mangrove, totaling seventy-nine, which also represents the seventy-nine islands. Because they are connected, it is called the Sabaody Archipelago. If pirates wish to enter Fish-Man Island to reach the second half of the Grand Line, they must go through the water. Naturally, they must have their ships coated first; after all, pirates cannot simply sail past the doorstep of the World Government headquarters.

On Grove 29 of the Sabaody Archipelago, the pedestrians on the road split to both sides and knelt on the ground, pirates included. In the center of the road, a fat youth wearing a bubble helmet sat lazily on his mount. Calling it a mount was a stretch; it was actually a person—a sturdy middle-aged man with an iron collar around