Late 1512, New World, Punk Hazard.
Under the bright sky, Punk Hazard, not yet turned into a forbidden zone by Caesar Clown's poison weapons, was still an island teeming with life.
A guard stationed there lit a cigarette, slowly blowing out a smoke ring.
This was his fifth year stationed here. He wondered how his wife and child, born three years ago, were doing back home.
Before he could finish the cigarette, the sea in the distance suddenly trembled.
Countless chaotic currents lifted the calm sea surface. In the New World, such turbulent sea conditions were commonplace, of course.
That is, unless the soldier saw what was revealed when the sea surface tore open: a dense forest-like formation of... a fleet!
'Unbelievable! How could this be under the sea?!'
'Wasn't this a World Government-controlled island? How dare pirates be so brazen as to attack here?'
The soldier's eyes nearly bulged out of his head, but he faithfully performed his duty and pulled the island's alarm.
At that moment, along with the alarm, came the roar of massive cannons.
Burning steel converged into a beam, erupting from the pirate ships within the sea spray like meteors streaking across the sky.
They violently shattered the layers of obstacles before them, leaving irreparable cracks in the crisscrossing fortifications.
"Oh, Germa's cannons are fantastic." Sakura, watching the situation on Punk Hazard through binoculars from one of the gunboats, praised.
The cannons were powerful, but Judge, that guy, absolutely refused to send his own fleet or his modified soldiers upon hearing they were attacking a World Government's island.
Left with no choice, Sakura had asked people to salvage a bunch of sunken ships around Fish-Man Island. Germa handled the modifications, and Revolutionary Army's members supporting them manned and operated them.
"Buying all that ammunition must have cost a fortune, right?"
A gust of wind blew, and Dragon's figure appeared behind Sakura.
His slightly regretful gaze swept over the trio below the fleet's deck, Sabo, Koala, and Kuina, fiddling with the cannons. 300mm caliber naval artillery… a luxury even the Revolutionary Army couldn't afford to buy freely was now casually being played with by three kids.
Many Revolutionary Army's soldiers also eyed them enviously. Having been in the revolution business for so many years, they'd never fought such a well-funded battle.
"No problem. If you buy it, you use it. Don't worry about the shells, I have plenty of money!"
Sakura waved the cash earned from selling her special healing potions, urging the entire fleet to unleash a torrent of shells.
In this chaotic enough world, the Wood Release healing potions and universal blood plasma she developed would never lack buyers.
Tesoro, Judge, and Doflamingo saw this potential, which is why they accepted the profit-sharing arrangement as distributors and lent their support to this war.
By now, the Punk Hazard garrison on the island had finally recovered from being shell-shocked and began calling for reinforcements to nearby Marine bases.
The Den Den Mushi signals went to G-5, the Marine base closest to the Red Line and the largest Marine branch in the New World.
But the call connected for less than three seconds before a massive sword clang echoed, followed by an explosion, and the Den Den Mushi was abruptly cut off.
"Ara ara, just as Fleet Admiral Sengoku predicted, she would find someone to intercept G-5."
On the top floor of the research facility, Aokiji lifted a corner of his eye mask, teasingly looking at Garp beside him.
"Hmph, just a month's worth of donuts. I'll pay up!"
Garp snorted coldly, walked out of the lab door, and leapt towards the Marine fleet hidden behind the island.
Aokiji shook his head, pushing himself up from the armrest to follow Garp.
From the churning blue sea, the engines of countless Marine vessels roared to life. The Marine fleet swiftly divided, with one part sailing out from the port behind the island, maneuvering along ocean currents, circling from the outer edges of Punk Hazard's waters to encircle the surfaced pirate ships.
Boom boom boom-!
Inside the Marine vessels' cannons, a brutal light like the scorching sun ignited. Scorching winds swept out, instantly spreading in all directions.
The counterattack arrived instantly. Many of Sakura's ships were hit by shells, igniting the ammunition stored on board and causing violent explosions.
"Aren't you going to order evasive maneuvers?"
Dragon watched pirate ships sink one after another, his heart aching a little.
"They're all waterlogged wrecks. If you want the weapons, contact the fish-men to salvage them later." Sakura waved her hand dismissively, then looked towards Punk Hazard.
Not short on money, she didn't mourn these already rotten ships much. The initial bombardment had achieved its goal: destroying Punk Hazard's coastal defenses and forcing the hidden Marine battleships out.
As for the remaining weapons and ammunition, consider it support for the Revolutionary Army's work. After all, they came to help in good faith, so it wouldn't be right to let them leave empty-handed.
Nearby, Dragon, hearing Sakura's words, was overjoyed. He contacted his soldiers via the Revolutionary Army's Den Den Mushi, ordering them to retreat with the weapon-laden ships. They could even come back for more salvage after the war… a huge win!
Such bountiful harvest! Their employer is generous!
"Still, after the losses I inflicted at Enies Lobby, they can still muster a fleet. The Marines truly are the number one power on the seas!"
With a sigh, Sakura pulled out a dedicated communication mini Den Den Mushi and dialed, ordering, "Do it, Enel!"
High in the sky, aboard the Leviathan, floating among the clouds using the Ark Maxim's [Despair] propulsion system, Enel completed the weapon system connections.
"Yahahahaha, let them witness your power, baby!"
Enel caressed the dark metallic control lever obsessively, then pulled it down hard.
The composite hydrofoil's bow and sides shuddered. Dozens of ship-mounted autocannons extended. After a few simple test bursts to calibrate their aim, the cannons roared to life, firing at full capacity!
The entire ship shook violently. The [Despair] propulsion system ran wild to counteract the recoil from the autocannon barrage. The thunderclouds spewing from the chimney began to gradually cover the entire sea area.
The Marines on the warships had no mind to ponder the sudden change in weather, for a storm of metal woven from intense light was already raining down from the sky. Several warships disintegrated the moment they were strafed. Returning fire against the airborne warship became impossible; even relaying commands to the various fleets became extremely difficult.
All they could see were steel meteors flashing with flame… all they could hear was the deafening roar.
"Bastards!"
Witnessing the heavy Marine casualties, Garp gritted his teeth, his body wrapping in Armament Haki as he immediately used Geppo to charge into the sky.
Unfortunately, the moment he took off, the Leviathan concentrated fire on him.
Continuous metal bullets slammed against Garp's body with clang clang clang sounds, shredding his suit, rapidly depleting his Haki, and also letting him catch a whiff of an unusual smell.
"Wait, this is... thermite incendiary rounds?!"
His face turned ashen. Garp struggled to turn his head, wanting to warn the Marine fleet behind him to retreat.
"Ahahaha, figured it out? But it's too late now!"
Sakura jumped down from the ship, landing on the sea surface and plunging her arm into the water.
Using her ability to release heat, thousands of degrees of high temperature were absorbed by the metal shells' surfaces, accelerating the chemical reactions inside. This triggered violent explosions and produced superheated, wide-spreading white-hot flames.
In the constricted pupils of Garp and Aokiji, intense light shot towards the sky.
Boom-!