The sea breeze of the West Blue carried a warm, salty dampness over the sails of the black fast ship. Its hull cut through the calm sea as it sailed steadily toward the port of Chang'an City.
Three days had passed since the smoke of battle cleared over Marineford. After crossing the Calm Belt, Huang Zhong's flagship finally reached the coast of Hua Country's capital. At the bow, Huang Zhong stood in golden armor, his hand resting on the Sunset Bow's string, his gaze fixed on the imposing Chang'an City in the distance. Walls cast from Seastone and Treasure Tree Adam Alloy stretched for dozens of miles, Hua Country's black dragon flags fluttering above them. Warships stood in formation in the harbor, merchants and travelers came and went along the docks, and the people lived in peace-a world apart from the devastation of Marineford.
Beside the ship's rail, Jewelry Bonney clung to the railing, her large eyes curiously surveying the shore, her little face full of wonder. She had traveled throughout the Four Blues and grown accustomed to the misery of people under World Government rule, crushed beneath taxes and left with shattered homes and dead families by pirates. Yet she had never seen a city like Chang'an City, where the people in every street and alley wore genuine smiles, and the patrolling soldiers maintained strict discipline without taking so much as a thing from the civilians.
Bartholomew Kuma stood quietly beside her. His once-vacant eyes had long since regained their light, and the mechanical damage left by the World Government's modifications was gradually healing under the nourishment of Huang Zhong's Dialga Power of Time. His eyes filled with astonishment as he looked at the flourishing scene before him.
He had followed Dragon into the revolution for decades and traveled