Faces Never Seen in a Lifetime

This was the Age of Great Pirates. Countless pirates fought and slaughtered one another over the One Piece left behind by the legendary Pirate King, Gol D. Roger.

After eating the Gum-Gum Fruit and becoming a rubber human, the boy Monkey D. Luffy set sail to become the Pirate King. Luffy and his companions went through countless adventures.

After the Enies Lobby Incident, they became famous throughout the world, and even the World Government dared not underestimate them.

The Straw Hat Pirates set their sights on the New World and continued racing across the Grand Line today.

These familiar words suddenly surfaced in Wuli's mind, and now they had appeared vividly before him.

The Straw Hat Pirates were one of the most blessed pirate crews in this world, led by their captain, Straw Hat Luffy.

Originally, he might have become the Pirate King without any surprises, while everyone else could have smoothly fulfilled their dreams.

But now, there was an unexpected variable in Wuli, especially since he stood on the opposing side.

Pirates and Marines—the future had gained another shroud of uncertainty.

Meanwhile, aboard the Straw Hat Pirates' ship, the Thousand Sunny, things were as lively as ever.

When Sogeking Usopp and Tony Tony Chopper, who loved eating cotton candy, spotted the Marine warship—

they ran back and forth across the deck like ants on a hot pan.

Usopp cried out in a trembling voice, "We're doomed, we're doomed! We just got to the New World and already ran into the Marines. Are there even more Marine warships in the New World than in other seas?" Then he suddenly stopped, looked toward the figure sitting cross-legged on the lion-shaped prow, and shouted, "Luffy! What should we do?"

The person sitting above had messy short black hair and a scar beneath his left eye.

Luffy sat cross-legged, wearing a small red vest, blue knee-length denim shorts, straw sandals, and a straw hat hanging around his neck.

Unlike Usopp and Chopper, Luffy bared his white teeth in a confident grin when he saw the Marine warship.

Tony Tony Chopper scampered about on his little hooves as well, crying out in a childish voice, "We're dead! The Marines are here! What should we do?"

For a moment, the two of them made the Thousand Sunny unbearably noisy. Before Luffy could say anything, Nami, standing nearby, finally reached the end of her patience. Duang! Duang! She punched each of them once.

A lump immediately swelled atop Usopp and Chopper's heads, and they quickly fell silent.

Holding their swollen heads with tears streaming down their faces, they looked at Nami with more fear than they had shown upon seeing the Marines.

Seeing that the two had quieted down, Nami secretly let out a sigh of relief. Those two were far too noisy.

Then she looked toward the Marine warship and frowned. "I didn't expect us to encounter the Marines the moment we entered the New World. This is a bit troublesome." She carefully examined the map in her hand, then turned to the cyborg Franky and asked, "Franky, how many more times can we use Coup de Burst?"

The tall, muscular cyborg Franky, who wore nothing but a pair of briefs, heard Nami's question.

He leaned his body to the right, pressed his hands together in a peculiar pose, and said in his magnetic voice, "Hmm... SUPER! Boss lady, there's only enough cola fuel left for one more Coup de Vent."

"Ahh—yawn." Roronoa Zoro, the Pirate Hunter with short green hair, yawned.

Looking listless, he fiddled with the three swords at his right hip and lazily said, "Why make it so troublesome? We can just go over there and cut them all down. Besides, I recognize one of those Marines. He was the one who rusted my Yubashiri at Enies Lobby. I don't know the other one."

"Yeah, I think we saw him at Enies Lobby. I haven't seen the other Marine before," Usopp added. He had fought that man before and had ultimately won, so the impression was quite clear.

Usopp and the others only felt a gust of wind sweep past them before they saw someone appear beside Robin and Nami.

He had golden hair, twirling eyebrows, a small goatee on his chin, and a smile on his face.

"Nami-swan~ Robin-swan~ Is there anything you need me to serve you with?" Sanji said ingratiatingly. Then, upon seeing the Marine warship, his expression darkened. "I'll go over and wipe them out!"

"Sanji, what about the food cooking in your kitchen?" Brook, who looked like a skeleton, reminded him.

"Ah, I almost forgot! Then I'll leave this to you guys. I'm going to cook." Sanji slapped his forehead, remembered that he was in the middle of cooking, and vanished again in a flash.

Robin, who had a full figure and wore a black leather jacket and a cowboy hat, put down the newspaper in her hands.

When she saw Shu aboard the Marine warship, her small mouth opened slightly in surprise. "That's Colonel Shu. He should be from a branch base. Why would he be here? Perhaps he was transferred to Marine Headquarters in the New World. The newspapers previously reported that Marine Headquarters had relocated its base from Marineford to the New World. As for the other one..."

Robin's gaze shifted to Wuli. Although he wore a Marine cloak bearing the word "Justice,"

his clothes underneath were casual, and compared to Shu, he did not have much of a Marine air about him.

A thoughtful look appeared in her eyes. "The newspapers reported just a few days ago that the World Military Draft had ended. An unfamiliar face, casually dressed, without much of a Marine bearing... he should be a new Marine recruited through the World Military Draft."