"Gurararara! The Pirate Expo... it's really quite lively."
Coincidentally, just as York arrived and the Marine undercover agents settled into their positions, a massive ship boasting a distinctive white whale-head bow docked on the western shores of Firedrop Island.
Edward Newgate, the legendary Whitebeard, stepped off the gangway holding his Supreme Grade naginata, Murakumogiri. He led a tall, relaxed man onto the island who strongly resembled the future Marco, albeit older and far more mature.
Behind them, a thirteen-year-old boy—the real Marco, who bore a ninety percent resemblance to the older man—bounded onto the docks alongside a striking young woman with cascading, sea-blue wavy hair.
And bringing up the rear, a confident young man with a top hat and two finely crafted swords at his waist disembarked.
The Whitebeard Pirates had arrived, bringing at least three future core commanders of their legendary fleet—Marco, Whitey Bay, and Vista—along with the veteran pirate strongly suspected to be Marco's biological father.
"Yo-ho! Is that the open-air arena up ahead?! I want to compete!"
Little Marco skipped and hopped excitedly over to the older pineapple-haired man's side, tugging his sleeve. "Pops, you'll let me go, right?"
The older pineapple-haired man chuckled, reaching out and affectionately ruffling the boy's hair, which was styled almost exactly like his own. "Go if you want, kid. But keep your guard up and be careful."
"Yo-ho! That's great!" Little Marco jumped up happily.
The young woman with sea-blue wavy hair—Whitey Bay—who had escorted him off the ship, rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"What a childish fool. What's the point of being so aggressive?" Whitey Bay sighed, crossing her arms. "Even if you want to play, you should play something actually interesting. Meaningless brawling is the most boring thing on this island."
Little Marco completely ignored her complaints. Clutching a crumpled event flyer, he happily sprinted off toward the open-air arena.
Finding absolutely no interest in the gladiatorial games, Whitey Bay tossed her beautiful blue hair over her shoulder and turned to walk toward the Hot Spring Town.
"Pops! I'm going to go play over there! I'll be back when it's time to set sail," she called out, waving dismissively.
Whitebeard couldn't help but call after her, "You be careful too, Whitey Bay!"
"Don't worry!" The young woman's voice drifted back from afar, already lost in the festive crowd. Whitebeard let out a helpless, booming sigh.
"Hahahaha!" The older pineapple-haired man standing beside him burst into laughter. "Newgate, children are all like this when they grow up. As long as there's no immediate, mortal danger, it's far better to let them be free."
Whitebeard nodded gently, his massive hand resting on his naginata. "That's true... but I'm always a bit worried about Whitey Bay."
"Because she's a girl?" The man teased, then clapped Whitebeard heartily on his massive back. "Don't worry! She had already been sailing these treacherous seas for several years before she ever met us! Her personal safety and survival skills aren't an issue!"
"Come on! I'll buy you a barrel of the local booze!"
Upon hearing there was free alcohol involved, Whitebeard immediately put aside his parental thoughts and followed the man in the direction of the taverns.
Finally, the young man with two swords at his waist, Vista, looked left, then right, then forward. Ultimately, still somewhat worried about the reckless young Marco who had left first, he adjusted his top hat and headed towards the open-air arena.
'Well, fighting strong, unknown opponents from around the world can only serve to improve my dual-swordsmanship,' Vista reasoned to himself. 'I might as well sign up too.'
North side of the island.
A bizarre ship that seemed to have sailed straight out of a candy-coated fairy tale slowly docked at the northern port. A towering, imposing young man wearing a high-collared scarf that concealed his mouth stepped down the gangplank. He was accompanied by a massive, curvaceous, and terrifyingly full-figured woman.
"Ma-ma-ma-ma! Katakuri! This will be the starting point of your fame!" Charlotte Linlin laughed, her voice booming across the port. "Don't you dare disgrace me in that arena!"
"Don't worry, Mama," Charlotte Katakuri replied, his voice muffled but resolute beneath his scarf. "I will definitively win the fighting tournament."
Center of the island. The highest floor of the Water Park Castle.
Buena Festa, the Master of Festivities and the mastermind organizer of this Pirate Expo, sat in his lavish control room. He was currently observing the ports in all four directions of the island through a massive bank of surveillance Den Den Mushi screens.
"First, the Crimson Empire's Pirates! Then, the Whitebeard Pirates! And finally, the Big Mom Pirates!" Festa cackled, rubbing his hands together.
"Aside from the Roger Pirates and the Flying Pirates, the strongest crews in the entire New World are all gathered here on my stage!"
Festa took a sip of wine. "As for the Marines... although no official warships have been spotted on radar, they must have already sent their little rats to infiltrate this island..."
And just as Buena Festa was pondering which major geopolitical forces had yet to arrive, the unmistakable, legendary Jolly Roger of the Roger Pirates appeared on the sea in the eastern surveillance footage.
"Alright! Now Roger is here too! Only Shiki the Golden Lion is missing for the entire board to be perfectly set!!!"
A fervent, utterly psychotic gleam flashed in Buena Festa's wide eyes.
"The biggest, most destructive war in maritime history! It is about to be born by my very own hands! HAHAHAHAHA!"
Festa slammed his hand onto the broadcast dial. "No more waiting! Announce it! The festival begins... NOW!!!"
"Cough, cough, test, test!"
A microphone testing sound suddenly echoed loudly through the island-wide broadcast system.
Hearing this, the tens of thousands of pirates who were enjoying themselves all stopped and looked up at the massive castle in the center of the Water Park.
Buena Festa, dressed in an extravagant, garish formal gown, appeared on a high balcony at the absolute highest point of the castle. Pre-arranged projection screens suddenly descended from the four sides of the castle towers, and specialized Projection Den Den Mushi displayed a massive close-up image of him to the entire island.
"Pirates from all over the world!! A very Happy Expo to everyone!!!"
His high-pitched, fanatic opening remark immediately drew loud, bloodthirsty cheers from all the pirates below.
"Are you eating well?! Drinking well?! Having the absolute time of your lives?!"
"AWOOOO!!!"
"The Pirate Expo, held only once every few years, is officially taking place here..."
Down in the Hot Spring Town, York casually retracted his gaze from the castle screens and instead focused his attention on his advanced Observation Haki.
Just a moment ago, he had sensed the arrival of several incredibly familiar auras from the other three directions of the island.
'Newgate, Linlin, and Roger,' York thought, a smirk playing on his lips. 'Everyone came to join the fun except for the paranoid old lion.'
However, despite clearly sensing the other Emperors, York had absolutely zero interest in meeting those monsters right now. He had just discovered a far more interesting, valuable target locally.
A stylish swimsuit. A sheer dress. A diagonally draped short skirt. Sea-blue hair tied into a neat ponytail.
Although she wore large sunglasses to obscure her face, her familiar, mature silhouette was still instantly recognizable to him. More importantly, York would absolutely never mistake the unique Haki signature emanating from her!
It was the exact aura of the devilish ability that had once literally hung him out to dry.
'Marine Vice Admiral... Tsuru!!!' York's eyes glinted with predatory amusement. 'I didn't expect the Marines to actually send her into the lion's den!'
Gunko, walking beside York, heard his soft murmur and followed his gaze. Her heterochromatic eyes clearly focused on the fair-skinned, curvaceous mature woman passing by a nearby cafe.
Gunko asked in a flat, emotionless tone, "Is that Marine woman your newest target?"
York smiled. The fingers of the hand securely wrapped around Gunko's waist lightly, teasingly tickled her side.
"What's this? Are you jealous?"
"Boring."
Gunko snorted softly, turning her head away. She stopped at a nearby vendor, took a steaming plate of yakisoba, elegantly broke apart her disposable chopsticks, and began to taste it, completely ignoring his teasing.
York wasn't annoyed in the slightest. He chuckled and simply continued to walk casually towards Tsuru's location, keeping his arm firmly around Gunko.
Gunko ate her noodles as she walked, not actively resisting York's guidance, obediently moving forward with him through the festive crowd.
On the other side of the bustling street.
Whitey Bay, who was uninterested in Buena Festa's grand, screaming speeches, was inadvertently glancing over the crowd when she suddenly saw York walking by.
Her dark, beautiful eyes immediately locked onto the towering, incredibly charismatic Emperor.
"Oh... now there's a handsome guy!!" Whitey Bay murmured to herself, her interest instantly piqued.
Then, the very next second, she noticed the stunning, heterochromatic-eyed woman—Gunko—whom York was holding possessively against his side.
Whitey Bay's beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, a competitive, mischievous smirk pulling at her lips.
"Hmm... I do like challenging games!"
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