Hachinosu.
The setting sun stained the sea dark red, as though someone had poured an entire bucket of blood across the horizon.
The buildings on the island stood silent in the dusk. Those houses built from reef stone and massive timbers had stood here for nearly thirty years, weathering countless storms and tsunamis, yet never had so many eyes been fixed on them as today.
On the sea, sails stood like a forest.
The flags of four fleets snapped in the wind-Kaido's Beasts Pirates, Big Mom's pirate crew, the Whitebeard Pirates, and the Red Hair Pirates. The forces of the Four Emperors surrounded Hachinosu so tightly that even the waves in the gaps between ships had been pressed flat, leaving only a deathly silence.
Ochoku stood on the raised platform in the center of the island, watching those flags.
His tongue flicked through the air-a nervous habit that had stayed with him for decades. His expression was grave, like a reef weathered for too long, its surface covered in cracks but its core still hard. His hand rested on Murakumogiri at his waist, his knuckles white.
"Kaido, Linlin, Whitebeard, and that brat from Roger's ship-"
His voice carried from the platform, hoarse and low.
"What are you doing at my Hachinosu?"
No one answered him. The sea breeze scattered his voice.
The Four Emperors stood in a line at the bow of Whitebeard's flagship, the Moby Dick.
Kaido was in his dragon-man form, his scales coated in a dark red glow. His arms were folded across his chest, and the arrogant curve of his mouth resembled an unsheathed blade.
Linlin stood to his right. Prometheus spun in her palm, giving off a searing orange-red glow that stretched her shadow far, far behind her.
Whitebeard held Murakumogiri with its tip resting