Endless War Nation

Grand Line—

Endless War Nation.

This was an island repeatedly soaked in blood.

The two nations had been locked in confrontation for a long time, their border repeatedly erased and redrawn by years of artillery fire.

Hills, river valleys, and wastelands belonged to one side today, only to fly the other side's flag tomorrow.

For land.

For mineral veins.

For the scant resources needed to survive in a barren world.

War had become the only order recognized here.

Because neither nation was affiliated with the World Government;

Because it had "no strategic value";

Because "no matter how many died, it would not affect the course of the world";

There was no mediation here, nor was there any judgment.

—And certainly no so-called justice.

The constant artillery fire and piles of corpses had made even passing pirate ships too lazy to dock here.

There was no wealth worth plundering here, nor any fame worth boasting about.

There was only endless slaughter.

And generation after generation swallowed by war.

Above the cliff.

A fractured rock face jutted outward, and beneath their feet churned smoke and bloodshed.

The sea wind howled past, carrying the stench of scorched earth and rust, making their clothes snap in the wind.

Rock and Sakazuki stood shoulder to shoulder at the cliff's edge, overlooking the battlefield below.

Artillery fire rose and fell without pause.

Bullets shrieked through the air.

Soldiers charged, fell, and were trampled beneath the tide of men rushing after them.

Some rolled through the mud, wailing in agony, only to be struck by stray bullets the next moment, their cries abruptly cut short.

Fresh corpses quickly covered them, as though nothing had happened.

Cruel.

Primitive.

Utterly unvarnished.

Yet the two men atop the cliff remained exceptionally calm.

They had both struggled on real battlefields