Crushing Defeat! The Terror of the New World, the Three Brothers' Darkest Hour!

Gray Terminal.

Mountains of garbage piled up everywhere, and the air was thick with the stench of rot and scorched ash.

Ace, Luffy, and Sabo were hiding behind an abandoned cargo container.

"Did you see that?"

Sabo pointed toward an open area in the distance.

Dozens of pirates had gathered there.

They were carrying barrels of pungent-smelling liquid.

"Is that... oil?"

Ace frowned.

"They're going to burn the mountain?"

"No, they're going to burn all of Gray Terminal."

Sabo's voice trembled.

As someone born into the nobility, he understood all too well how those lofty people thought.

To welcome the upcoming inspection by the Celestial Dragons.

For the sake of so-called "cleanliness."

They were going to set fire to this place where "non-humans" lived.

They would burn all the garbage, along with everyone living here, into ashes.

"Those bastards!"

Luffy clenched his fists in fury.

"There are still lots of people living here!"

"Those animals!"

Ace could not hold back any longer.

He sprang out, swinging the water pipe in his hand with fierce force.

"Stop right there!"

That furious roar startled the pirates carrying the oil.

"Who is that?"

"It's those three brats!"

"Catch them! The captain will reward us!"

Dozens of pirates charged forward with blades and guns raised.

"Perfect!"

Ace laughed and charged forward instead of retreating.

Though he had yet to set sail, Kahn's "torture" had already pushed his combat skills far beyond those of ordinary pirates.

Bang!

One swing of his pipe cracked a pirate's skull open.

He twisted aside and dodged a slash.

A spinning kick.

Three pirates were sent flying.

Luffy bounced around like a rubber ball.

"Rubber Machine Gun!"

Wild punches could kill even an experienced master.

He had no real technique, but his strength was immense, and his body could rebound.

Ordinary swords could only leave white marks on his body.

Sabo was even calmer.

He specifically targeted the pirates' joints.

Every strike left another pirate unable to fight.

In just a few minutes.

Dozens of pirates were sprawled across the ground.

"This is the Bluejam Pirates?"

Ace stepped on a pirate's chest, his face full of disdain.

"Too weak!"

"Weaker than the old man's sneeze!"

"Indeed, there was no challenge at all."

Sabo let down his guard as well.

"Looks like we overestimated the value of fourteen million."

"I want meat!"

Luffy was already rummaging through the pirates' pockets for food.

Just then.

A round of applause came from the top of the garbage mountain.

Clap, clap, clap.

Slow and rhythmic.

"Wonderful."

"Truly wonderful."

A hulking man covered in gray muscles stood there, looking down at them.

Like an elephant looking at ants.

In the shadows beside him, a skinny man playing with a dagger let out a sinister laugh.

"To think that even in a backwater like East Blue, there would be such lively little fish."

Ace suddenly looked up.

His beast-like instincts made every hair on his body stand on end.

Danger!

Extreme danger!

He had only felt this kind of sensation from Garp and Kahn.

"Who are you?"

Ace gripped the water pipe tightly, his palms drenched in sweat.

"Us?"

Garino leaped down from the garbage mountain.

Boom!

The ground shook.

Dust billowed everywhere.

Two deep pits were left where he landed.

"We're the teachers here to give you a lesson."

Garino rolled his neck.

The oppressive aura around him made even the air feel thick.

"First lesson."

"Don't think that beating a few rats makes you lions."

Whoosh!

Before his words had even faded.

Salome, the skinny man playing with the dagger, vanished.

When he appeared again, he was already behind Luffy.

Fast.

Too fast.

So fast that Sabo could not react at all.

"Luffy! Watch out!"

Sabo roared.

But it was too late.

Splurt.

A spray of blood burst forth.

Before Luffy even understood what had happened, a bone-deep wound appeared across his back.

"Argh!"

Luffy screamed and collapsed to the ground.

"Rubber?"

Salome licked the blood from his dagger with a disgusted expression.

"No wonder it felt so strange to cut."

"Bastard!"

Ace's eyes turned red.

He roared and charged at Salome, bringing down the water pipe with all his strength.

"Die!"

The blow was powerful and heavy.

It could have shattered even stone.

However.

A large hand suddenly reached out.

It firmly caught the rapidly swinging water pipe.

Without moving an inch.

It was Garino's hand.

A layer of black substance covered his hand, gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

"Is this your full strength?"

Garino looked at Ace, his eyes full of mockery.

"Too light."

Crack.

Garino's fingers tightened slightly.

The steel water pipe was crushed flat in his grip like a noodle.

Ace's pupils shrank sharply.

Armament Haki!

This guy actually knew the technique that only that perverted old man and his freakish big brother knew?

"Is this what East Blue brats are like?"

Garino casually flung his arm.

He threw Ace away, pipe and all, like garbage.

Ace slammed heavily into the abandoned cargo container and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"How disappointing."

Garino walked toward them step by step.

Every step felt as though it landed on the three brothers' heartbeats.

"That person actually sent us to deal with trash like this."

"What a waste of talent."

Sabo trembled as he helped Luffy and Ace up.

Fear.

The confidence they had built over the past three years crumbled at that moment.

The strength they had been so proud of was as fragile as paper before this man.

"So this is... the strength of the New World?"

Sabo muttered.

Meanwhile, atop Mount Colubo several kilometers away.

Kahn was still lying in his recliner.

He held the apple with a bite taken out of it.

Though he was so far away.

It was as if he had witnessed everything with his own eyes.

"That's about enough."

Kahn took another bite of the apple.

Juice spilled everywhere.

"If their bones aren't broken, how can tougher bones grow?"

"Only after seeing the sights of hell."

"Will you understand."

"Standing in the sunlight was such a wonderful thing."

Kahn closed his eyes.

Quietly listening to the screams carried on the wind.

That sound was more beautiful than any melody.

Because it was the sound of growth.

The stench of the garbage mountain was overpowering.

It was a mixture of rotting food, rusted scrap metal, and the smell of fuel oil about to be set alight.

Luffy lay sprawled on the ground, the wounds on his back still bleeding. The pain made him bare his teeth, but he bit his lip hard and refused to cry out.

The water pipe Sabo had used as a weapon had already snapped in two. He knelt on one knee, gasping for breath, his signature golden curls stained dusty gray.

Despair.

A despair unlike anything they had ever known.

The burly man named Garino was like an insurmountable mountain. Even just standing there, his oppressive presence made the three children, barely ten years old, struggle to breathe.

"What's wrong? Is that all?"

Garino raised his foot and pressed his heavy military boot onto Sabo's broken arm, applying just a little pressure.

Crack.

Sabo let out a muffled groan, cold sweat instantly soaking his back.

"Weren't you acting pretty cocky just now? What was it—High Town Vigilantes? Pirate Bane?"

Garino grinned, revealing yellowed teeth. His smile was full of mockery.

"In the New World, brats as full of themselves as you usually don't even survive the first episode."

"Let him go!"

Ace crawled out of the ruins.

His face was covered in blood.

He swayed as he forced himself upright. His usually defiant eyes were now bloodshot.

Anger.

Anger at the enemy, and even more anger at himself.

Too weak.

Really, truly too weak.

They always had to rely on that freak of an older brother, always had to rely on that old geezer of a grandfather.

When real danger came, he couldn't even protect his little brother.