Far across the North Blue, vast distances away from the current coordinates of the White Dragon, three massive, heavily armored Marine battleships were furiously cutting through the ocean waves.
On the deck of the central flagship, Vice Admiral Tsuru and Vice Admiral Gion (Momousagi) were casually chatting while observing the sea.
"Big Sister Tsuru," Gion asked, resting a hand on her hip. "Is this Bardock truly dangerous enough to warrant deploying a lineup like ours?"
"Do not underestimate them for a second, Gion," Tsuru warned, her expression dead serious. "This crew managed to clash directly with both Kuzan and Garp, and they successfully retreated from both encounters completely unscathed. That alone speaks volumes about their monstrous strength."
"Is that so?" Gion smiled, her eyes narrowing with a sharp, competitive gleam. Her hand gently caressed the hilt of her legendary Meito, Konpira. "Well, I've heard rumors that there are a few highly skilled swordsmen on his ship. When we catch them, I'm quite eager to see if their blades actually live up to their terrifying reputation."
Just as the two women were speaking, they simultaneously turned their heads. Striding confidently across the deck toward them was a rather unkempt, homely-looking man in a brown suit and fedora: Vice Admiral Tokikake (Chaton).
He stopped directly in front of Gion, swiftly producing a beautiful red rose from behind his back. "My dearest Gion, would you do me the honor of—"
"Absolutely not."
Gion rejected him completely flatly, not even allowing him to finish his sentence.
This exact scenario had played out countless times over the years. Gion was so profoundly practiced at dealing with him that she could instantly shoot down his confessions on pure reflex, without even needing to hear the proposal.
"Noooo!" Tokikake instantly withered, slumping forward like a completely frostbitten eggplant, a dark raincloud practically forming over his head. However, in the very next second, he violently bounced back, his face completely rejuvenated. "I won't give up, Gion! My love is eternal!"
What else could Gion possibly say? She had already rejected the man a hundred different ways, yet Tokikake stubbornly, delusionally persisted. She could only let out a long, exhausted sigh.
Watching the ridiculous daily gag play out, Tsuru simply shook her head. She knew Gion perfectly well; Tokikake literally had a zero percent chance of ever succeeding. Unfortunately, when it came to matters of the heart, trying to convince a stubborn fool to give up was a complete waste of breath.
"Vice Admiral Tsuru! Urgent report!" a communications officer suddenly shouted, running onto the deck and saluting sharply. "We have just received updated intelligence on the White Dragon's coordinates! The target is currently heading directly toward the White City... Flevance!"
"Flevance?" Tsuru frowned deeply, the wrinkles on her forehead deepening. "What on earth are they doing there? After the tragic border incident a few years ago, that entire country should be nothing but an abandoned, toxic ruin."
Tsuru paused, her brilliant tactical mind rapidly churning. "Where exactly did this intelligence come from? Is the source reliable?"
"Well... regarding that..." The communications officer nervously looked up at the legendary tactician. "The intelligence was officially provided by the newly appointed Warlord of the Sea, the 'Heavenly Yaksha' Donquixote Doflamingo. Given his vast Underworld network, the coordinates should be highly accurate."
"That damn flamingo again," Tsuru's eyes went cold. "If he's willingly handing over intelligence to us, he is undoubtedly scheming something vicious."
Tsuru never hesitated to assume the absolute worst when it came to Doflamingo's motives.
In this specific instance, however, Doflamingo didn't have a massive, convoluted master plan; he was simply executing a classic, brutal Underworld tactic: borrowing a knife to kill another.
Bardock's crew had deeply humiliated his Family, severely battered Diamante, and successfully extorted three Devil Fruits from his vault. Doflamingo desperately wanted to completely slaughter them with his own hands. However, after Diamante returned to Spider Miles and gave a terrified, agonizingly detailed debrief outlining the sheer, overwhelming combat strength of Daz Bonez, Enel, and Bardock, Doflamingo realized that fighting the White Dragon head-on was a massive risk.
Since both the Marines and the White Dragon were his enemies, why not simply leak Bardock's coordinates and let the two terrifying forces violently crash into each other?
Regardless of who won the battle, Doflamingo wouldn't lose a single Belly. If both sides managed to mutually cripple each other, it would be an absolutely perfect scenario. To ensure he was in a position to capitalize on the ensuing chaos, Doflamingo's massive flagship, the Numancia Flamingo, was also currently sailing toward Flevance at full speed, carrying nearly the entirety of his elite Executive roster.
After calculating the variables, Tsuru made her decision. "Maintain our heading, but set course for Flevance." Both Gion and Tokikake nodded in agreement. The three Marine battleships immediately fired up their engines, surging forward at maximum speed toward the ruined White City.
Time always passed quickly on the open sea. After a few days of smooth sailing, the White Dragon finally arrived at the island housing the Kingdom of Flevance.
Flevance was a small, landlocked nation completely surrounded by the borders of several neighboring kingdoms. Despite its small size, it was once universally renowned as the most breathtakingly beautiful and obscenely wealthy country in the North Blue. The source of this legendary prosperity was a unique, naturally occurring mineral buried beneath its soil: Amber Lead (Hakuen).
Amber Lead was a miraculous material with a pure, blindingly white luster. It was incredibly versatile, heavily utilized in manufacturing premium tableware, high-quality paint, sweetening agents, cosmetics, and even high-grade weaponry.
Because top-tier Amber Lead products were highly coveted by nobles and royalty across the entire globe, the Amber Lead industry made Flevance incredibly wealthy.
However, there was a horrific, fatal flaw hidden beneath the blinding white beauty. Amber Lead was highly toxic.
The World Government and the Flevance Royal Family had secretly discovered the toxicity of the ore nearly a century ago. Yet, completely blinded by the astronomical wealth the industry generated, they deliberately buried the research and hid the truth from the citizens. As generation after generation mined and handled the toxic mineral, the heavy metals continuously accumulated in their bloodlines, dramatically shortening their lifespans with each passing generation.
Eventually, the horrific biological tipping point was reached, and the Amber Lead Syndrome broke out. The citizens' skin turned stark white, they suffered agonizing pain, and they died in massive numbers.
Because the symptoms were so visually terrifying and the death toll was so incredibly high, the surrounding nations falsely believed it was a highly contagious, lethal plague.
Driven by absolute terror and prejudice, the neighboring countries completely sealed off Flevance's borders. Anyone attempting to flee to seek medical treatment was violently gunned down. When the desperate citizens finally took up arms to fight their way out, a brutal extermination war broke out. Every single infected man, woman, and child was mercilessly slaughtered in the crossfire.
In the end, only one single boy miraculously managed to escape the apocalypse by hiding beneath a massive pile of corpses: Trafalgar D. Water Law.
Even now, years after the complete extermination of the population, the surrounding kingdoms still maintained heavily armed military garrisons along the borders, strictly forbidding anyone from entering or leaving the quarantined zone.
Of course, Bardock's crew didn't care about terrestrial borders.
Activating the massive dials built into the hull, the White Dragon effortlessly soared straight into the clouds, completely bypassing the heavily armed border checkpoints before smoothly descending directly into the heart of the ruined nation.
Standing on the bow of the ship, Bardock looked out over the sprawling, desolate landscape.
"Look," Bardock pointed forward, his voice completely solemn. "This is the White City."