Watching Roger's Execution at the Start

The lookout watched the pirates draw closer, his expression grim.

But he wasn't too worried. Even Garfield, the strongest member of the Garfield Pirates, had a bounty of only thirty million.

And their lieutenant commander had already killed several pirates like him!

"Oh, bring us alongside them! All hands, prepare to board!"

At the sight of the pirates, Atlas sheathed her sword, sprang to her feet, and gave the order.

Meanwhile, aboard the Garfield Pirates' ship, a burly middle-aged man was loudly recounting his so-called "glorious" exploits. He was Anthony, the crew's first mate.

"That last town we raided? I killed more than a dozen people. You should've seen the way the townsfolk looked at me..."

Garfield stood nearby, listening with a smile. A cruel look flickered across his face from time to time.

"The M-M-Marines are here!!"

Grant, the second mate, had been admiring the view from the bow when he spotted the approaching warship. He shouted in fright.

"Too late!!!"

Atlas glanced at the distance between the ships and drove her legs against the deck, punching a hole through it. She shot toward the Garfield Pirates like a cannonball.

"You've got to be kidding!!"

The sight scared the Garfield Pirates out of their wits.

Atlas landed steadily on the bow and drew Sandai Kitetsu.

Whoosh!

A bright flash of steel cut through the air. Grant felt a sudden lightness at his neck, then watched blood gush from it.

The cursed blade had tasted blood!

Atlas flicked her blade, sending hot blood sliding onto the deck. A chill ran through the watching pirates.

"Charge!!!"

Just then, the warship pulled alongside the Garfield Pirates' ship, and squads of Marines surged over the railing onto the pirate ship.

Atlas had planned it this way from the start. She could have dealt with every pirate here alone, but she wasn't the soldiers' babysitter. They needed to face battle to grow stronger, and in war... people died.

Her gaze sharpened as she turned to Garfield and Anthony. She raised Sandai Kitetsu before her, gripping it with one hand forward and the other reversed.

One Sword Style: Blade Reversal!

Her blade flashed like lightning. Before either man could react, it severed the arteries in their necks!

"Ah!! She killed the captain and the first mate!"

"Damn it!"

"What do we do? We're going to die!"

The pirate lackeys wilted, their morale crumbling. The Marines, by contrast, fought with renewed fervor, hacking away with their weapons and growing fiercer by the moment!

Soon, every remaining member of the Garfield Pirates had been put down!

As for the Marines...

Not one had died!!

Only a few had suffered minor injuries. Atlas might not shelter them like a babysitter, but she wouldn't stand by and watch them die, either...

The Ox Talisman

A spotless blue sky reflected off the deep sea as Atlas and the others sailed slowly along the route back to Loguetown...

"Hey, did you see that slash of mine? Pretty cool, right?"

"Not as cool as me. I took down several pirates. I'm definitely getting promoted when we get back."

"Lieutenant Commander Atlas is incredible. Two strikes, and she took out the Garfield Pirates' main fighters."

"Of course! Someone like Lieutenant Commander Atlas would be a monster among monsters even at Marine Headquarters!"

The Marines aboard the warship were still caught up in their victory, chattering nonstop. After all, they had won without a single death. Many of them would likely receive commendations when they returned.

"Marine Headquarters, huh..."

Atlas, lying on the deck in the sun, smiled when she heard them. She slowly raised a hand before her eyes. Bright sunlight fell across her face through the gaps between her fingers, softening her normally sharp features...

The Marine Training Ground in Loguetown.

A white-haired boy with a bare, muscular torso was frog-jumping around the Training Ground. Sweat streamed down his body, but his determined gaze stayed fixed ahead. It was Smoker.

Ever since Atlas had knocked some sense into him, Smoker had pestered her to train him every day. But the gap in their physical abilities was too great for him to keep up, so Atlas had suggested he start by building his stamina.

Smoker was a natural talent. As his body grew stronger, using and developing his Devil Fruit powers became much easier. That only strengthened his resolve to keep training.

"Lieutenant Commander, we're about to reach Loguetown!"

After two days at sea, Atlas and the others were finally nearing Loguetown. Days of sailing had left Atlas desperate for a decent meal, so she decided to treat herself once they got back.

"All hands! Prepare to dock!"

Atlas rose and gave the order, her gaze fixed on Loguetown as it drew closer...

"Hey, Smoker, kid. Training hard?"

Atlas had just left the Colonel's office and was heading to the Training Ground for some exercise before dinner when she spotted Smoker working up a sweat. She couldn't resist teasing him.

"Huh? Yes, Atlas."

"Could I trouble you to give me some pointers later?"

Smoker looked startled to see Atlas, then made his request a little bashfully.

"Hahaha! Sure. It'll be a good chance to see how much you've improved."

Atlas agreed readily.

One hour later—

Atlas stood over Smoker with her arms folded. He lay on the ground, looking utterly spent. "Not bad, Smoker. Your stamina's improved quite a bit."

"But I'm still nowhere near you, Atlas!"

Smoker was clearly discouraged. Atlas seemed like a bottomless pit; no matter what he did, he couldn't gauge the limits of her strength.

"Come on, don't worry. I'll buy you dinner. Cheer up."

Atlas spoke lightly, then pulled Smoker toward the base's exit.

A restaurant in Loguetown.

Atlas and Smoker took their seats. After ordering everything on the menu, Atlas began devouring the food, while Smoker ate with considerably better manners. As a boy, he apparently wasn't as unruly as he would be a dozen years later.

"Atlas, how can I get as strong as you?"

Once they had eaten their fill, Smoker produced a cigarette from somewhere and lit it right in front of Atlas.

"Burp... Smoker, what does justice mean to you?"

Atlas let out a satisfied burp. Rather than answer his question directly, she asked him one of her own.

"What justice means to me..."

Uncertainty clouded Smoker's eyes.

"Hahaha, don't overthink it. You'll find your own sense of justice someday!"

Atlas patted Smoker's shoulder reassuringly, then went straight to the counter to pay.

Conviction was a strange thing in the world of pirates. Almost everyone who stood at the pinnacle of the seas had a conviction of their own.

It didn't have to be some grand ideal. Whitebeard's was to have a family, while the Marines' was justice!

But every Marine had lived a different life, and each believed in a different kind of justice.

Akainu believed in Absolute Justice, Aokiji in laid-back justice, and Kizaru in ambiguous justice. One thing was certain: conviction was vital to becoming one of the strongest.

Take Zephyr, the former Marine Admiral. He had been hailed as the youngest Admiral when he earned the rank, yet until he was twenty-eight, he had been an ordinary soldier. Could a man like that truly have gone unnoticed for twenty-eight years?

Atlas suspected conviction had something to do with training Haki.

After all, in her memories of her previous life, Rayleigh had said that Haki was a power lying dormant in everyone across the world, though most people never managed to draw it out.

Conviction meant holding fast to a belief and following it through to the end, regardless of whether others considered it good or evil. It might well be the key to awakening Haki.

Of course, that was only Atlas's theory. She couldn't say for certain how it worked.

Night fell, shrouding everything in darkness, even the human heart...

Atlas sat cross-legged on her bed and focused her mind on the unlit Talismans within it.

She was ready to awaken her next Talisman. Four years had passed since she awakened the first, and her body could now easily bear the power of two. She had delayed choosing because she couldn't decide between the Ox Talisman and the Rabbit Talisman.

But if the Talismans worked the way she imagined, the Ox Talisman was her best choice right now!

So Atlas focused her mind on the Ox Talisman without hesitation.

Soon, she felt the power it granted begin to flow slowly through her body...

The Secret of the Talismans and Setting Out

East Blue, Loguetown.

On the far side of the island where Loguetown stood, a wooden post had been driven into the edge of the shore. A Marine soldier stood guard beside it.

A thick hemp rope was tied to the post, its other end trailing into the sea. Beneath the water, a human figure was faintly visible... hanging limp?

Splash!

The Marine on shore suddenly hauled on the rope and, with considerable effort, dragged the figure out of the water. It was Smoker!

Atlas had taught him this training method. He hadn't made it up on a whim. He had originally wanted him to train with Seastone weights, but this strategic resource was far too scarce in East Blue, and Marine Headquarters hadn't supplied Loguetown with any. Seawater was their only option.

The pressure of the deep sea could strengthen Smoker's body and build his resistance to the weakening effect of Seastone. That way, if someone caught him off guard with it in the future, he wouldn't be completely helpless.

"Captain Smoker, you lasted a minute longer than last time."

The Marine beside him sounded delighted.

Smoker had been doing this training for months. At first, he'd come out of the water limp. Now... he still came out limp.

The soldier stood by in case Smoker lost his strength underwater and needed someone to pull him up.

Smoker didn't answer. Slumped against the post, he stared out at the distant sea with lingering fear, as though he could see through the cold water...

And see that heavily muscled figure.

"Captain Smoker, you shouldn't compare yourself to Lieutenant Commander Atlas. She's a monster among monsters!"

The Marine hurried to reassure him.

A thousand meters beneath the sea in the distance, Atlas hung suspended in the cold water.

Darkness surrounded her. Only the occasional small Sea King swimming past showed any sign of life. Pressure bore down on her from every direction, but her expression did not change.

With her current physique, Atlas could hold her breath underwater for half an hour without trouble. The pressure of the deep sea also tempered her body like steel.

Atlas studied the changes in her body and compared them against her theory. Just as she thought...

After fully "absorbing" the Horse Talisman, she had discovered that its power had effectively become an innate ability of her body. She only needed to expend energy to heal herself.

So she had a bold idea: perhaps the Zodiac Talismans were like Paramecia Devil Fruits, divided into those that altered the body and those that granted special abilities. She sorted them accordingly: the Rat, Tiger, Dragon, Snake, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig Talismans granted Atlas special abilities, while the Ox, Rabbit, Horse, and Sheep Talismans altered her body.

Atlas had tried training beneath waterfalls and taking blows from wooden staffs, but the deep sea had proven most effective. Its pressure came from every direction, working on her entire body evenly.

Since awakening the Ox Talisman and beginning her training, Atlas had felt the density of her muscles and bones, as well as the strength of her internal organs, slowly increase. In other words, the Ox Talisman was reshaping her body's potential!

By the time the Ox Talisman vanished completely from her mind, she might possess the World's Strongest natural physique!