Watching Roger's Execution at the Start of My Life as a Pirate

In the pirates' system of power, Conqueror's Haki was the embodiment of will, while Observation Haki was an extension of the mind—the sixth sense, as it was commonly called. But neither mind nor will could exist without the soul beneath them. (I made that up. Just treat it as my own addition to the lore.)

Marco's mind reeled. If Atlas's earlier burst of Conqueror's Haki had struck him like a wooden mallet, this one hit like an iron hammer!

Still, Marco was the Whitebeard Pirates' first division commander. His daze lasted only an instant before he snapped out of it.

But to Atlas, that instant was the opening he needed!

"Explosive Fist: Armament—Shatter!"

His fists moved so fast they nearly became afterimages, slamming into Marco. Charred fistprints appeared across his body, and the terrifying force sent him flying higher into the sky!

Agonizing pain brought Marco's mind into sharp focus. Regenerative blue flames surged over him, healing his burns in an instant. At the same time, he transformed fully into his Mythical Zoan Phoenix form!

Screech!

A piercing cry burst from Marco's beak, and the blue flames around him blazed even fiercer!

"Phoenix Brand!"

With his injuries healed, Marco shifted back into his hybrid form and fired a powerful shock wave at Atlas. The whole motion flowed so smoothly that it gave Atlas no time to react.

"Armament Haki: Emission!"

Atlas refused to give ground. His blood-red Armament Haki surged out as a shock wave and collided with Marco's Phoenix Brand!

Boom!

Atlas didn't know whether this was a unique property of Marco's Phoenix fruit, but even after his Armament Haki dispersed most of the shock wave, the rest kept coming!

Life Return: Armament Haki—War God Body!

Atlas's body swelled rapidly. Standing five meters tall, she charged straight through the remaining Phoenix Brand, taking it head-on with her formidable physique. The impact barely slowed her as she hurtled toward Marco!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Fist met fist, palm met palm!

They traded blows with almost no thought for defense. The high-grade Armament Haki covering Atlas's entire body let her withstand the exchange directly. Marco relied on the blue flames that continually burned away his injuries. His Mythical Zoan gave him extraordinary endurance, but even that paled beside Atlas's absurd Horse Talisman.

"Marco, if that's all you've got, you're staying here today!"

When they broke apart, Atlas slowly drew Sandai Kitetsu from her waist...

A Thousand Slashes in an Instant

In her War God Body state, Atlas stood nearly five meters tall, with hands to match. Sandai Kitetsu looked almost dainty in her grip, like a child's toy. The sight was so absurd it might have made someone laugh.

Marco, facing her, could not laugh at all. To his senses, the razor-sharp aura pouring from Atlas was so fierce it almost stung his face.

"One Sword Style Secret Art: Twenty Instants in the Snap of a Finger, Twenty Thoughts in an Instant, Ninety Moments in a Thought, Nine Million Cycles of Birth and Death in a Moment!"

"That move..."

A fierce sense of danger raised every hair on Marco's body. He reacted on instinct, beating his wings to retreat!

"Thousand Slashes in an Instant!"

Sandai Kitetsu seemed to transcend time and space as Atlas slashed through Marco with unimaginable speed!

Clang!

She withdrew the blade and sheathed it!

Marco looked down in confusion. He had no wounds, but his instincts told him it was not that simple.

"Can't you hear it? The scream of your flesh..."

The moment she finished speaking, countless cuts appeared across Marco's uninjured body. Blood sprayed everywhere, as if he were a machine built to pump it out!

Bang!

Marco's body jolted, and blue regenerative flames poured from him. But more and more cuts kept appearing!

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

Blue flames spilled from the wounds in ever greater torrents. His flesh broke down, then healed again in an instant...

Marco patted his chest, still shaken. "That swordsmanship is terrifying. For a moment there, I thought I was going to die."

Not a single cut remained on his body, not even a scar. Only the cold sweat on his forehead betrayed him. He truly had been afraid. His blue flames could regenerate flesh almost instantly, but if an attack exceeded the limits of his recovery, he could still die!

"Don't try to fool me. You're the legendary Phoenix, a Mythical Zoan rarer than a Logia!" Atlas curled her lip, unimpressed by Marco's performance.

"Hey, hey! Why don't we call it here? If we keep going, it's not like you can do anything to me!"

"I wouldn't be so sure. Right, Sandai Kitetsu?" Atlas lightly patted the sword at her waist. She had developed that technique using the Rabbit Talisman's incredible speed: speed so pure and extreme that it seemed to distort time and space, leaving no way to dodge.

"You can use that move again?" Marco stared at her. Every hair on his body stood on end as danger engulfed him. "You've got to be kidding!"

"Razor: Explosion!"

While Marco was distracted, Atlas flashed forward and drove a vicious hook into his face!

Pfft!

The punch swelled Marco's face, knocked out several teeth, and sent blood spraying from his mouth. Blue flames immediately spread across him, healing every injury almost at once!

"Hm?"

Atlas was about to follow up when she froze. Someone with a powerful life force had entered the range of her Observation Haki. From the look of it, the Whitebeard Pirates had sent reinforcements.

"I'll let you off today, Marco. You won't be so lucky next time!"

Atlas turned to leave without hesitation.

Marco made no move to stop her. Judging by her expression, Pops had probably sent someone to help him. But even with another fighter here, they would not be able to hold her. She was a woman who had escaped safely from an emperor of the sea.

Then, under Marco's bewildered gaze, Atlas ran... away...!?

Yes, ran. With her current physique and the Rabbit Talisman's speed, she had no trouble running across the sea.

After a long while, when Atlas had vanished beyond the horizon, a tall, dark-skinned man came into view aboard a small boat.

He had two curved black mustaches and wore a dark blue top hat, an open blue shirt that exposed a broad patch of chest hair, a scabbard at each hip, and a black cape draped over his back.

The Whitebeard Pirates' fifth division commander—Vista the Flower Sword!

"Hey, Marco! How'd you end up looking so rough? Hahaha!" Vista had spotted the bloodstains on Marco from afar, but his Observation Haki told him Marco's life force was still strong. Relieved, he laughed at him without restraint. That was how things had always been among the Whitebeard Pirates.

"Don't ask. That bastard marine keeps getting stronger. Anyway, what are you doing here?"

Marco glanced down at himself. All his wounds had vanished, but he could not get rid of the bloodstains. The blue flames had burned some of them away, at least.

"Well, Pops got worried when you were gone so long, so he sent me to check on you." Vista remembered what Pops had told him before he left.

"That arrogant marine's talent surpasses even Garp's when he was young. Vista, go take a look. I'm worried that fool Marco might get himself hurt!"

Marco scratched his head, a little embarrassed. "Good thing you arrived when you did. It made Atlas think twice. Otherwise, I really might have died here today."

"Seriously? I know how much of a pain your power is. She pushed you that far?" Vista was surprised. Marco's fruit gave him even greater vitality than an ordinary Mythical Zoan. Besides the thick skin, strong defense, and rapid recovery common to Zoans, every Mythical Zoan possessed a special ability.

Sengoku's Human-Human Fruit Buddha Form had the Great Buddha Shockwave. Kaido's Fish-Fish Fruit Azure Dragon Form gave him command over lightning and fire. Marco's Phoenix had regenerative blue flames, allowing him to recover instantly as long as an attack did not exceed what he could endure!

"What was I supposed to do? Her physique and healing are more monstrous than any monster's. I couldn't find her limit. And..."

Marco paused. Remembering Atlas's terrifying final sword technique, he shuddered. "And her swordsmanship was terrifying. I felt like there was no way to dodge. I couldn't even see her draw her blade..."

At the mention of swordsmanship, Vista licked his dry lips. Interest lit up his face. "A master swordsman, huh..."

Recalled to Headquarters

Sea Circle Calendar 1507. Marine G-5 Base, Staff Office.

The office was nearly empty, with no unnecessary decorations and none of the gathering of big shots Atlas might have expected.

Behind the desk sat Marine Headquarters' chief of staff, Vice Admiral Tsuru. The legendary marine, wisdom glinting in her eyes, looked Atlas up and down as she sat in the visitor's chair.

Vice Admiral Tsuru was thoroughly pleased with Atlas. She was a veteran marine who had devoted nearly her entire life to the cause of justice. She had gone from a graceful young woman to a white-haired elder, and now another outstanding young marine had emerged to carry the Navy forward after its three monstrous vice admirals. Tsuru could feel nothing but pride.

"Vice Admiral Tsuru, did you call me here to give me an assignment?"

Atlas had accepted a mission and was about to set out, only for Gion to bring her here on her way to the harbor. She still had no idea what was going on.

"No need to rush, Atlas. What do you think of the situation in the New World?"

Instead of answering, Vice Admiral Tsuru asked about the state of the world. The lofty question caught Atlas off guard.

After a moment's thought, Atlas answered slowly and firmly.

"Right now, the pirates in the New World have their so-called emperors of the sea. Other pirates who arrive there either join one of the three great pirate crews or get wiped out by those crews or the Navy. Since the last upheaval in the New World, we've taken over the Pirate Alliance's former territory and dealt blows to the Whitebeard Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates. We've come out ahead of everyone."

"But this situation has serious drawbacks. For one thing, it drives those pirates into the emperors' ranks, making them much stronger. Pirates don't see anything shameful about joining whoever they can't beat."

"And then there's the World Government..."

Atlas raised the explosive topic, but Vice Admiral Tsuru's expression did not change. She merely motioned for Atlas to continue.

"The Navy's strength has grown to an unprecedented level. We've always had our strongest hold over the first half of the Grand Line, where headquarters is based. Only the New World remained in pirate hands. Now that the Navy has established a presence there, the World Government is bound to grow wary of us."

Strictly speaking, Atlas was treating the Navy and the World Government as separate entities. If the Five Elders heard her, they would certainly become suspicious. The Navy was the force through which the World Government maintained its grip on the world; they would never allow it to break away.

"That's why the Five Elders have been looking for Warlord candidates," Vice Admiral Tsuru added quietly. "Since the Seven Warlords of the Sea system was established, you've sent its only member to Impel Down. Now they're looking for a new balance."

No marine who truly believed in justice liked having the World Government do as it pleased over their heads, least of all those idiotic Celestial Dragons. Garp had publicly called them a pack of trash more than once.

But the World Government controlled the Navy's main source of funding. Without it, the Navy could not last long.

"Enough. Sengoku and the others can worry about our disagreements with the World Government. I called you here mainly because headquarters has issued your transfer orders."

Vice Admiral Tsuru brought the subject to a close, and neither of them mentioned it again.

"As you know, the situation in the New World has largely stabilized. All three major pirate crews have suffered losses, so there's unlikely to be a large-scale war anytime soon. Headquarters intends to bring some of our forces back to Marine Headquarters."

"And..." Vice Admiral Tsuru smiled at Atlas, who sat ramrod straight. "You've earned enough merit, too. You can go back with Tokikake and Gion to receive your promotion to vice admiral."

"Vice admiral?"

Atlas had expected as much. She had earned enough credit long ago; only her age and lack of seniority had kept her from jumping straight from commodore to vice admiral a year earlier. Since then, she had spent nearly all her time fighting pirates. Her accomplishments were more than enough to make up for what she lacked in seniority.

"A warship is ready for you. Go prepare, then head straight back to headquarters."

"Hey, hey, hey! How can our luck be this bad? This weather is awful!"

Aboard the warship, Tokikake stared dumbfounded at the enormous storm ahead. He had been busy showering Gion with attention. Though the New World's bizarre weather no longer surprised him, it had interrupted a rare chance to spend time "alone" with the woman of his dreams.

"Helmsman, get ready! Navigator, change course and steer clear of the storm! If we get caught in it, this whole ship is finished!"

Gion hurriedly gave orders, taking the chance to escape Tokikake's relentless pestering.

"Reporting, Rear Admiral Gion! The storm's too close! We can't avoid it in time. All we can do is minimize the damage and make sure we reach Marineford safely!"

A navigator rushed out of the cabin and shouted his report before she had even finished speaking.

"Leave it to me. We can't afford to damage the warship, or Admiral Sengoku will start lecturing us again..."

Atlas, who had been resting against the rail with her eyes closed, finally spoke up.

"You focus on the ship's heading. Turn the helm as hard as you can."

"Yes, Rear Admiral Atlas!" The navigator snapped a salute and ran back toward the cabin.

Atlas watched him disappear, then turned her back on the others and leaped off the warship!

"Hey! Kanos, what are you doing?"

Gion could not imagine how Atlas's plan involved jumping off the ship.

"Just watch, Rear Admiral Gion!"

Atlas offered no further explanation. Her muscles swelled, and in an instant she grew into an eight-meter giant. It was the tallest she could make herself with Life Return, even with the Ox Talisman's power. This form was built for pure strength!

"Impact: Explosion!"

Atlas planted both hands against the warship. Explosive flames blasted from beneath her feet, and she poured their thrust and her monstrous strength into the hull!

And so, before everyone's stunned eyes, Atlas pushed the Navy warship with her bare hands, sending it racing across the sea!