In the first half of the Grand Line.
On a calm and windless sea, a pirate fleet composed of four warships had gathered here.
Their flag bore the emblem of a massive spider with a swirling vortex.
And the leader of this pirate fleet was one of this year's hottest rookies on the seas—Maelstrom Spider, Squard.
Bounty: 164,000,000 Berries.
With that bounty, as long as he successfully reached the Sabaody Archipelago, he would become one of this year's Super Rookies.
And once he entered the New World, he would step onto an even grander stage.
At only seventeen years old, Squard was brimming with confidence and ambition.
Standing atop his flagship, the Real Spider, he was delivering a speech to his subordinates, proclaiming his grand ambitions!
"This era belongs to the bold! I've already bought a Log Pose permanently set for the Sabaody Archipelago—our next stop is there! Once we reach Sabaody and coat the ship, we'll pass through the deep-sea Fish-Man Island and head to the true stage for pirates—the New World!" Squard roared excitedly, raising his saber high.
"Long live the Captain!"
"Once we enter the New World, who are we going to take down first!?"
Hearing that question, Squard didn't hesitate at all. "Of course we're going to challenge the Whitebeard Pirates! I—"
But before he could finish, he suddenly noticed something reflecting light high up in the sky.
Not just him—pirates across the fleet also sensed something off, all looking up at the heavens.
"What's going on?"
"Can't see clearly… something just flashed across the sky?"
"Doesn't it feel like the temperature just dropped? I'm getting cold…"
"This is the Grand Line—weather changes fast. Nothing strange about it. I heard in the New World it's even crazier. Sometimes icebergs even fall from the sky…"
"No way. How could icebergs fall from the sky!?"
"Ice… ice! It really is ice! You don't even need to reach the New World—ice is falling right now!!!"
Amid the shocked cries, a crystalline ice slide—like a staircase descending from heaven—rapidly extended from the sky toward them.
By the time they realized what was happening, the slide had already stretched to just behind their fleet. A biting chill swept over them, instantly freezing all four ships solid on the sea.
"What the hell is this!?"
"A staircase from heaven? If we climb it, do we go to heaven!?"
"Don't be stupid! Something's sliding down it!"
"Move! Get out of the way!"
"We can't! The ships are frozen solid!!"
"Captain!!!"
Maelstrom Spider Squard was also completely dumbfounded.
But even though he had no idea what was happening, as the captain and strongest man in the crew, he immediately drew his massive blade from his back. With a few quick steps, he leapt across the ships and reached the rear of the fleet, staring at the unknown object hurtling down the ice slide.
It looked like… a massive block of ice!?
"What kind of wicked crap is this!?" Squard cursed, gripping his blade tightly, his eyes filled with determination as he gathered strength.
Their fleet was frozen in place—there was no escaping.
So he decided to unleash his strongest slash and shatter whatever that thing was!
The rapidly descending object was, of course, the Oro Jackson.
Thanks to that bastard Roger, the entire ship had started plummeting. Apparently, he had eaten a balloon octopus raw with mustard last night, resulting in the Roger Pirates performing a ten-thousand-meter, no-rope bungee jump!
As always, the Roger Pirates were monstrously strong. Aside from a few unlucky individuals who might run into trouble from such a fall, the rest could preserve themselves just fine. People like Roger, Gaban, Rayleigh, and Shakky could even save others.
But the problem was—the ship couldn't.
No matter how sturdy the Oro Jackson was, it couldn't survive a ten-thousand-meter freefall.
At a critical moment like this, it was time for a Devil Fruit user to show off.
Midair, Valthior forcefully activated his ability, unleashing terrifying cold that froze the entire Oro Jackson solid. Layer upon layer of ice encased the ship, turning it into a gigantic block.
Then, from the sky, he blasted freezing energy downward toward the sea, forming a massive frozen slide angled at forty-five degrees, stretching from the sky straight into the ocean.
And now, the Oro Jackson—encased in ice—was racing down that slide at high speed.
The closer it got, the more one could feel the overwhelming force carried by that strange ice block. Its speed was so extreme that the air itself seemed to be torn apart. Squard could even see incomprehensible rings of compressed air forming behind it!
At that moment, fear crept into his heart.
With his strength, he could escape.
But looking at his crew—his subordinates who placed their hopes in him—Squard ultimately chose not to run.
They were comrades who had fought side by side, entrusting their lives to one another.
As captain, how could he abandon them and flee!?
"Maelstrom: Great Spider Slash!!"
As the massive ice block bore down on him, Squard gathered every ounce of strength in his body and roared, slashing forward!
That strike felt perfect—perhaps the strongest attack he had ever unleashed.
Sure enough… under pressure, people could surpass their limits!
Squard imagined his slash splitting the ice apart, himself leading his crew to yet another miracle as their captain.
But reality was cruel.
His proud slash struck the ice head-on.
It wasn't completely ineffective—but it was barely worth mentioning.
It left behind only a shallow scratch before dissipating.
Before Squard could even process the disparity, the massive ice block slammed into his ship with unstoppable force.
The sturdy vessel, built with immense resources, shattered like a pile of toy blocks upon impact.
Before he could even touch the ice, the violent shockwave from the collision blasted him away.
What followed was utter destruction.
As Squard was hurled through the air along with splintered wood and raging currents, he watched his fleet be mercilessly annihilated.
The pirate flag that symbolized his pride was torn apart by the wind.
His comrades—who had fought and bled alongside him—were either flung into the air like him, or instantly crushed into bloody mist upon impact.
Through the chaos, he finally caught a glimpse of what lay within the ice.
A pirate ship… flying a skull flag.
He recognized that flag.
"Roger…!" Squard roared through gritted teeth.
But in the next moment, he crashed into the sea, sank briefly, and lost consciousness.
This was not the end.
The immense momentum continued to carry the Oro Jackson forward. Considering the ship's structural limits, Roger and the others didn't dare force it to stop.
Encased in the massive ice block, the Oro Jackson skipped across the sea like a stone, bouncing at incredible speed.
In just a few breaths, it vanished from the scene, leaving behind nothing but the wreckage of the Maelstrom Spider Pirates.
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