New World, Delta Island.
At the center of this island, there is a massive circular lake, connected to the outer sea by three large canals.
Bang! Bang! Bang~!...
Consecutive fireworks, accompanied by whistles, soared into the sky, blooming into colorful and brilliant displays.
Cheerful music filled the air above the entire island, and pirate ships with black sails continually sailed grandly from the three canals into the port, docking at the pier by the Central Lake. Wanted pirates, laughing and playing, disembarked from their ships to participate in this pirate celebration, held randomly on an island every few years.
"Everyone, are you having fun at the Pirate Expo?
I believe you should know that our Pirate Expo allows stealing, robbing, kidnapping... all kinds of crimes are permissible, but there is one rule that absolutely cannot be broken! That is... you absolutely cannot let the Marine know about this celebration. Anyone who informs will be hunted down to the ends of hell by all the Pirates present!
Oh! I forgot to introduce myself. I am the stolen goods merchant and the host of this celebration... Donner Modirat!"
On the stage specially built for the celebration, a fat man wearing a pink suit with a wooden prosthetic leg on his right foot, while describing the various programs of this Pirate Expo, worked hard to hype up the atmosphere of the venue, allowing his words to be spread throughout the entire island via the broadcast Den Den Mushi.
On a canal south of Delta Island, a two-masted sailboat flying a black Straw Hat skull flag, with a lion head figurehead, was mixed among numerous pirate ships, heading towards the Central Lake of the island.
"Ah! If the Marine knows about this, will I really be hunted down by all the Pirates?"
Hearing the host's words transmitted through the Den Den Mushi, Luffy, sitting on the bow of the Thousand Sunny, couldn't help but pull a long face and turn his head with a resentful look towards the back of the ship.
At this moment, Sephiroth, dressed in a black suit and wearing a white mask, was lying comfortably on a white beach chair, basking in the sun.
Sephiroth noticed Luffy's gaze towards him, chuckled slightly, and kindly comforted him:
"Don't worry! You won't be hunted down. After all, you are not the informant. It was us, the Marine, who told the Shichibukai about the Pirate Expo and summoned you to participate in this celebration."
"Ah!? Hearing you say that, it seems to make sense."
Upon hearing this, Luffy immediately scratched his head, somewhat confused. He felt that what Sephiroth said was true, but he also felt that something was not right.
Seeing this, Usopp and Sanji, who were standing nearby, couldn't help but cover their faces with their hands, silently mourning for three seconds for their Captain's touching intelligence.
After casually fooling Luffy, Sephiroth turned his head to look at a corner of the Thousand Sunny's deck, where two figures were standing... Ace and Marco!
Compared to two years ago, Ace's physique and appearance had changed significantly. In addition to his facial features becoming more defined, his height had also grown from the original 187cm to 250cm through secondary development.
His muscles were bulging, and his left and right pectoral muscles had even learned to dance up and down. In just two years, he had transformed from a lean and energetic young man into a muscular tough guy.
Furthermore, Sephiroth could feel a surging and vast Haki from Ace, whose unintentional leakage of a trace of aura could bring an extremely powerful sense of oppression. This shows that Ace must have put in great effort in Haki over the past two years.
Sephiroth thought for a moment before speaking:
"Say, Ace..." The speaker hesitated before continuing. "Now that you know the Marines are mobilizing, you're still not planning to leave?"
Ace responded by tugging the brim of his orange cowboy hat lower, shadowing the knife-sharp intensity of his eyes.
"I heard Teach might show his face here. However it plays out, I'm settling things with that bastard."
"Is that so?" Sephiroth gave a single nod. "If Teach appears, he's yours to handle."
The unspoken understanding between them needed no elaboration—the blood feud between Ace and that old fox Blackbeard Teach ran deeper than the Four Seas. Only death could resolve it.
"Land ho! I'm gonna check out the festival!"
The moment the Thousand Sunny docked, Luffy sprang from the bowsprit like a rubber band snapping, vanishing into the crowd before anyone could blink.
"Hey!" Zoro leaned against the railing, three swords cradled in his arms as he glared at the Marine Fleet Admiral still lounging on a beach chair. "Didn't the Marines summon the Warlords for some special operation? Aren't you going to rein him in?"
Sephiroth shrugged, the picture of nonchalance. "You need proper steel to forge a blade. The Marines have made their preparations—just follow the situation and don't slack off too much." He tilted his head back, sunlight glinting off his sunglasses. "They called you Warlords as supplementary forces, not the main event."
******
Meat skewers in both hands, Luffy tore through the festival fare like a hurricane, wide-eyed at every vendor's stall. To any observer, he looked like some backwater kid experiencing civilization for the first time. Only the ominous title of "Warlord" kept opportunistic hecklers at bay—that, and the unconscious pressure radiating from someone who'd toppled empires.
Behind locked shutters on the third floor of a nondescript building, six masked figures in black robes occupied the dim room. The air thickened with the weight of authority that came only from those accustomed to absolute power.
Jaygarcia Saturn's masked face twitched when he spotted the straw-hatted figure through a gap in the curtains. "Imu-sama," he murmured, fingers tightening on the fabric. "The Straw Hat boy came to the Pirate Expo."
"Nika..." The name hissed through Imu's teeth like a curse. Behind his grotesque mask, crimson eyes burned with centuries-old resentment.
For eight hundred years, the World Government had stood guard against this very moment—the return of the Sun God who could shatter the Celestial Dragons' dominion.
Yet fate cared nothing for mortal designs. After eight centuries of vigilance, Nika had risen regardless. And in a bitter twist of irony, the Celestial Dragons' reign had already crumbled because of him.
Had that rubber-brained pirate not awakened the Nika fruit during the Marineford War, Imu wouldn't have panicked. Wouldn't have ordered Mary Geoise's orbital strike in that fatal moment of weakness. The Holy Land's destruction and the gutting of the World Government's military might traced back to a single, catastrophic miscalculation—underestimating Monkey D. Luffy.
Now, the reason Imu and the Gorosei are here is all for the one piece of Roger, which has been widely rumored recently. Pirate King Roger was the one who reached Laugh Tale and learned the truth of the world, and he also seemed to understand ancient texts.
Therefore, in addition to possibly leaving the truth of history in Laugh Tale, that guy also left behind the method to obtain ancient weapons.
Therefore, they absolutely cannot let others get Roger's one piece! Otherwise, their ambition to rule the entire world again will become increasingly difficult to achieve.
Imu turned his head to look at Issac Baron V. Nasujuro and asked:
"Has Blackbeard Teach arrived yet?"
"According to the agents' reports, the ships of Blackbeard Teach and Donquixote Doflamingo have both appeared near the Delta Island sea area, and the two seem to be preparing to meet and discuss something," Issac Baron V. Nasujuro quickly replied.
"What about the movements of the Marine?"
"It is said that three Admirals have come, namely Aokiji, Momousagi, and Kizaru, and Sephiroth will also be present."
"Good! I must kill the hateful Sephiroth and Straw Hat Luffy today!" Imu said through clenched teeth.