Sea Circle Calendar, year 1522.
The protagonist of the era, Straw Hat Boy Monkey D. Luffy, reunited with his crew at the Sabaody Archipelago, making a spectacular entrance with the fruits of two years of training.
They then had their ship coated and descended, officially setting sail for Fish-Man Island, the dreamlike realm beneath the deep sea, opening the next leg of their voyage toward the New World.
Meanwhile, Eustass "Captain" Kid, a fellow member of the "Worst Generation," and the Kid Pirates he led were riding high.
Previously, in a fierce clash with the crew of "Red Hair" Shanks, one of the Four Emperors, Kid had paid the terrible price of losing his left arm, but his momentum had not diminished.
To bolster his strength and vent his rage, he turned his sights on the Big Mom Pirates, who had been badly weakened by Gern's attack.
He launched a lightning assault on two important pirate ships under their command and won a resounding victory, adding to Totto Land's woes.
At the same time, to build up their strength for revenge against Red-Haired Shanks, the Kid Pirates formed an alliance with the On Air Pirates led by Apoo and the Hawkins Pirates led by Basil Hawkins.
The World Economy News Paper sensationalized this alliance of the "Worst Generation," calling it "the thunderclap of a New Era."
It drew the attention of people across the world. A rising storm powerful enough to challenge the old emperors' rule was taking shape.
Unfortunately, "Beasts" Kaido, one of the Four Emperors, descended from the sky and crushed their so-called alliance with overwhelming power.
Faced with a terror they could not hope to withstand, Apoo and Hawkins immediately chose to surrender.
Only Kid, the most defiant of them all, led his crew in fighting to