Jaya Island

Several days later.

Marine Headquarters, Vice Admiral Rock's office.

A sea breeze swept past the harbor outside the window. The neatly lined-up warships cast long shadows in the sunlight.

The sea glittered. Everything looked peaceful.

But inside—

A subtle tension hung in the air.

Rock sat behind his desk, his uniform jacket draped over the back of his chair.

The latest intelligence report lay open on the desk.

[The Roger Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates fought on an uninhabited island for three days and nights.]

[Neither side pursued the other afterward. They are suspected of having reached some sort of "deal."]

["Bomb Warrior" Kozuki Oden has been confirmed to have left the Whitebeard Pirates and joined the Roger Pirates.]

Rock's gaze lingered on the last line. His fingers tapped a steady rhythm on the desk.

"Bomb Warrior?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"Who came up with that name for him...?"

He made no effort to hide his distaste.

On the sofa,

A burly young man nearly five meters tall lay sprawled.

Muscle bulged across his upper body, and his shoulders nearly reached the top of the bookshelf.

Marine Headquarters Commodore—Bullet.

He wore headphones, a pounding drumbeat faintly leaking from them.

At Rock's words, he pulled one earcup aside and grinned.

"Bomb?"

"Don't tell me you came up with it, Lord Ro—"

He never finished.

Bang!

A fist flashed down, compressing the air in an instant.

Bullet's head jolted violently. A thin wisp of white smoke even rose from it.

"Hiss—!!!"

He clutched his head with both hands.

"Bastard!!!"

"Don't use magma when you hit someone!!"

"Good thing I put up my Armament Haki out of habit—or I'd have lost my head!!!"

The man beside him stood three meters tall, his powerful frame seemingly forged from steel.

A Justice cloak