Baroque Works' Epic Upgrade

Sea Circle Calendar, January 19, 1531.

Grand Line, Whiskey Peak.

Silvery light poured like gauze over the tranquil sea, turning the entire expanse into black velvet strewn with crushed diamonds.

Amid that silence, a massive warship cut through the night like some colossal beast lurking in the depths, slowly sailing into port.

On shore, dozens of men and women dressed as natives appeared to be relaxing, but every one of them watched vigilantly, their murderous intent carefully concealed.

When David's Revenge, its hull bristling with cannon ports, entered their sight, their pupils shrank. They instinctively clenched the weapons hidden beneath their clothes, then quickly recovered from their brief shock.

Following the script prepared in advance, the bounty hunters disguised as villagers immediately switched back to warm, welcoming expressions. In an instant, noisy voices spread along the shoreline like a rising tide.

"Welcome to the Grand Line!"

"Warriors from afar, this is Whiskey Peak, the Town of Welcome!"

"Cheers for the strong of the seas!"

Amid the overlapping cheers, the heavy hatch at the bottom of David's Revenge opened with a dull metallic scrape. A long staircase extended toward the shore like a steel serpent, plunging into the sand.

The instant the stairs touched down, a tall figure appeared first in the hatchway. Dawn, dressed in a long black coat, stepped steadily onto land, followed closely by three women with distinctly different temperaments. Once the entire group had disembarked, the stairs swiftly retracted and the hatch sealed shut.

At that moment, a man with a yellow headscarf wrapped around his head pushed through the crowd. His tongue was unusually long, and he habitually licked his lips whenever he spoke.

This man was Jete, the leader of the bounty hunter gang. He jogged to the front, piled an exaggerated smile onto his