Next Bonus, 100!!
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It all started last year.
Flower Island was a mandatory stop on one of the seven routes of Paradise.
It was a spring island, blessed with eternal warmth.
Its primary industry was floriculture. The island was famous for the "Rainbow Rose," a flower so rare and beautiful that the Celestial Dragons accepted it in place of the monetary Heavenly Tribute.
Because of its location, pirate traffic was inevitable.
The rulers of the Kingdom were pragmatic. Rather than letting pirates roam free, they designated a specific zone for them—this port town.
It was a containment strategy. Let the pirates spend their money and cause trouble in one place, boosting the economy while keeping the rest of the kingdom safe.
The town was built on the poorest soil on the island, separated from the capital by a massive wall.
It worked, until he arrived.
A cunning, vicious remnant of a bygone era.
Ochoku.
He and his crew seized the town, breached the wall, and effectively took control of the island.
Initially, they planned to grow poppies for drugs. But by accident, they discovered a gold vein in the river.
That changed everything.
Ochoku enslaved the townspeople, forcing them to mine for gold.
To keep the secret, he set traps at the port. Any ship that docked was seized. The crews were either recruited, enslaved in the mines, or beheaded.
Sanji and Usopp had likely been taken to Ochoku.
"And," the captive Pete gasped, "you guys might be strong... but the Big Bosses are coming. There are a hundred section leaders in the kingdom, but only three Big Bosses. If you want to live... run!"
"I'm not leaving my friends behind!" Luffy shouted, his eyes burning with resolve.
"Zehahaha! Well said!"
A loud, raucous laugh echoed across the docks.
Luffy, Zoro, and Viola turned.
Another ship had docked without them noticing.
Four men and a sickly horse were disembarking.
Leading them was a massive, barrel-chested man with a wild, rugged presence.
He was missing teeth. His chest was covered in thick, black hair. His skin was tanned like leather, and he wore a bandana over his unruly black hair.
Three flintlock pistols were tucked into his sash on the left; a bottle of rum hung on the right.
He wore a white shirt open to the navel, with a black captain's coat draped over his shoulders.
"Hey, kid! Your friends got nabbed, huh?"
"How about we team up?"
"Let's crush this Ochoku guy together!"
Luffy frowned. "Who are you, old man?"
Teach laughed, a sound that rumbled from his gut. "Does the name matter?"
This meeting was happening earlier than in the original timeline. The Alabasta incident hadn't happened yet.
Luffy's bounty was still a mere 30 million Berries.
To Marshall D. Teach, that amount wasn't even worth looking at. He hadn't even seen Luffy's wanted poster.
They were strangers.
Teach was hunting Ochoku to steal his territory and claim the empty Warlord seat left by Doflamingo (in this timeline). Inviting Luffy was just a whim—cannon fodder to increase his odds.
Luffy stared at the man. He didn't know who he was, but his instincts were screaming.
Stay away.
"I'll save my friends with my own power," Luffy stated flatly.
"He refused the Captain? Brave little ant," Burgess grumbled, flexing his massive arms.
Teach waved him down, still grinning. "Zehahaha... Then good luck to you!"
"Zoro, Viola. Let's go."
Luffy led his crew away.
"Captain, you just wanted them to trigger the traps for us, didn't you?" Lafitte twirled his cane, smiling elegantly.
"Ochoku might be a relic," Teach said, his eyes darkening, "but the old bastard still has teeth."
"Wait... you're Lafitte! The Demon Sheriff!" Pete, still on the ground, stared in horror at the pale man.
"Oh? Still alive?"
Teach walked over, drawing a pistol.
"Don't kill me! I know where Ochoku hides the gold!" Pete screamed.
"Oh?" Teach paused.
"Here. Have an apple."
Doc Q rode his emaciated horse forward, offering a basket of red apples to the terrified man.
Pete was confused, but fear made him obey. He grabbed an apple.
He took a bite.
BOOM!
The apple exploded, blowing Pete's head apart.
"What a pity," Doc Q wheezed, coughing into his hand. "Fate... has made its choice."
Lafitte looked up at the roof. "There's one more up there."
Wings sprouted from his back. He flew up and dragged the sniper down to the street.
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Guided by Viola, Luffy and Zoro sprinted through the town until they reached the collapsed section of the great wall.
Suddenly—
Three figures blocked their path.
An elderly Fishman.
A muscular swordsman.
A young girl.
"The Big Bosses?" Zoro's hand rested on Wado Ichimonji.
The elderly Fishman coughed. "No. Only I hold that title. I am Cledom, a Tiger Shark Fishman."
"These are my assistants."
"Royta."
"Flody."
"So you're the ones disturbing the peace," Cledom rasped. "Making an old man work... what a pain."
"You took my friends!" Luffy shouted. "Give them back!"
"Friends?" Cledom sighed. "In that case... I suppose I'll have to defeat you, so you can all be reunited in the mines."
He stood up straight, towering over four meters tall. His eyes were sharp, his teeth jagged.
"Gum-Gum..." Luffy charged.
"Fishman Karate: Seiken!"
Cledom didn't move his feet. He simply punched the air.
BOOM!
The shockwave screamed through the air, creating a visible tunnel of vacuum pressure that tore a trench through the cobblestones.
Luffy's pupils shrank. He leaped upward just in time.
CRASH!
The building behind him disintegrated.
"That was close!" Luffy wiped sweat from his brow.
This opponent was on a different level than anyone in the East Blue.
He attacked again.
Cledom moved. His body snapped like a bow, his leg whipping out like a steel cable.
"Fishman Jujutsu: Spin Kick!"
WHAM!
Before Luffy could even react, an irresistible force slammed into him.
He was launched sideways, crashing through a thick stone wall.
"Luffy!" Zoro and Viola shouted.
They looked at the Fishman in shock.
This guy... he's a monster!
Cledom was a top executive in Ochoku's organization, ranked within the top ten of the original crew. After the fall of Hachinosu (Beehive Island), Ochoku's forces had been decimated. Cledom and Ochoku's two sons became the three pillars of his new empire.
They were remnants of the old era, lurking in Paradise. Too strong for this sea.
SWISH!
A blade flashed toward Zoro's neck.
Royta attacked.
Zoro sensed it and raised his swords to block.
But Royta's left arm suddenly extended, an extra joint unfolding, and he punched Zoro square in the gut.
THUD!
Zoro flew backward, crashing into the brush.
"Cough..." Zoro spat blood.
He looked up. Royta's arms had two elbows each.
"Longarm Tribe!"
"Don't get distracted!"
Flody spread a pair of insect wings from her back, scattering a cloud of glittering white dust toward Viola.
Zoan-type, Bug-Bug Fruit, Model: Poison Moth.
Viola's eyes widened as she read the girl's intent. Poison! She scrambled back.
The battle erupted.
The Straw Hats, who had breezed through the East Blue thanks to Jin's interference in the timeline, were facing their first true wall.
They lacked combat experience.
Even with Viola's help and the early introduction to Haki concepts, the gap in raw power was too vast.
These three were New World veterans.
In a matter of minutes, the outcome was decided.
Luffy lay unconscious, felled by Cledom's Fishman Karate.
Zoro was bleeding heavily from multiple slash wounds.
Viola had succumbed to the poison dust.
The Straw Hat crew... had been completely wiped out.
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