Two Fleets Ready for Battle

While Dawn and his crew raised their glasses in celebration on Laplace, an ominous shadow hung over Troy Island, a little more than a hundred kilometers away.

Troy Island was renowned for producing gifted musicians. That fame had also made it a tragic destination for slave ships. Today, even more vicious visitors had arrived.

Pirate ships flying fearsome skull flags converged from different routes like sharks drawn to blood, crowding the waters outside Troy Island's harbor.

More than a hundred vessels of all sizes nearly choked the sea. Their masts stood like a forest, lending the scene a murderous air.

The five thousand pirates came from across the first half of the Grand Line and the West Blue. They had gathered here for the enormous sums offered by rulers of the New World's Underworld, who saw Dawn's aggressive expansion as a growing threat.

The influx of these outlaws plunged the island of music, already plagued by slave raids, into utter chaos and terror.

Within hours, violent incidents broke out across the island. Gunshots, explosions, and cries rang out one after another.

Some pirates returned to their old trade, burning, killing, and looting without restraint. Others turned slaver for the day, hunting down musicians in hopes of selling them to nobles or wealthy merchants with particular tastes for a tidy profit.

On the slave market, captives with special skills were always more sought after and fetched higher prices. Musicians and painters, whose professions evoked art and refinement, were especially prized by nobles who considered themselves high society. They thought such slaves reflected their own lofty status and taste.

"I won't waste breath talking about unified command or coordinated attacks. Fight on your own or join forces as you please. I only want that brat and his crew wiped off the face