After the brutal war at Fortress G18, the world had gone mad with expansion.
The World Government, the Navy Headquarters, the Arlong Pirates, the Revolutionary Army, and those two ambitious Yonko crews were all racing to strengthen their forces.
The Beasts Pirates kept hounding the Arlong crew for shipments of artificial Zoan-type Devil Fruits.
Big Mom's pirates were forcing her many children through training to produce more generals worthy of the title "Sweet Commander."
The second great global conscription brought forth another wave of powerful fighters—men and women clawing for the rank of Vice Admiral, even eyeing the position of Admiral candidate.
They wanted to soar instantly to the top, just like Green Bull, Aramaki, who had leapt straight into an Admiral's seat.
In the Holy Land of Mariejois, a new obsession swept through the Celestial Dragons—Devil Fruits.
Twice the Arlong Pirates had broken into the sacred city, and now those who once called the fruits "filthy powers for commoners" were scrambling to find any ability that might keep them alive.
Under orders from the Five Elders, the elite of the God's Knights—the most privileged of the Celestial Dragons—each consumed a Devil Fruit.
Any boost in strength, no matter how slight, was considered worth it.
Even some of CP0's strongest agents received "gifts," each one handed a Devil Fruit to enhance their power.
The World Government had emptied its coffers of every hidden treasure to prepare for war.
Even the Navy Headquarters received a batch of Devil Fruits as divine "rewards."
The world had become a tense competition of armed escalation—an arms race wrapped in paranoia.
···
Garp the "Fist," finally released, carried with him a heavy air of death. His hollow eyes were enough to make Dragon nearly launch an all-out war with Big Mom's pirates in retaliation.
In the end, Dragon took Garp back to Windmill Village in the East Blue, refusing to let him return to the Navy.
The man had tried to retire before, only to be denied repeatedly. And really, why bother applying again? The Monkey family wasn't exactly desperate for a pension.
Kuzan—Aokiji—had the sense to quietly suppress all reports that Garp had "escaped" from Totto Land.
Dragon entrusted Garp to the care of Captain Woop Slap and the tavern owner, Makino.
He told the old man everything about Sabo and Luffy, and for the first time since Totto Land, a faint spark of life returned to Garp's eyes.
Still, expecting that Navy hero to ever walk free from Big Mom's shadow might be wishful thinking.
Dragon even considered asking Souta Kiryuu to have Bartholomew Kuma and Vegapunk erase Garp's memories of the ordeal.
But then what? The man would only return to toil and bleed again for the World Government.
Even if Dragon didn't care, Kiryuu wouldn't agree to something that stupid.
All Dragon could do was sigh and hope his old man could find his way back on his own.
He told Sabo to visit Windmill Village more often and keep the old hero company.
···
Months passed. The New World's power balance finally began to stabilize.
Kiryuu at last found time to visit Wano Country, planning to bring back Yamato.
Big Mom, of course, was still pestering him to choose one of her daughters and fulfill their alliance marriage.
Under Kiryuu's leadership, the Arlong Pirates had rapidly rebuilt their airborne fleet.
The Beasts Pirates even spent a fortune to buy six new airships for their "Tobi Roppo," the Flying Six.
Big Mom's crew followed suit—through purchases and trade deals, they acquired six sky-faring ships of their own.
Perospero, her eldest son, was now one of the Sweet Commanders, and each commander, along with Big Mom herself, received a ship.
The final vessel was left for the dozens of Charlotte ministers—a communal "emergency transport" anyone could use.
Even the Revolutionary Army acquired six sky warships—one each for the five commanders and Dragon himself.
Kiryuu had allowed the sale of those ships precisely to increase the world's mobility.
But the real control still lay with the Arlong crew.
Every ship had hidden contingencies—failsafes tied to the Float-Float Fruit's power and Kiryuu's lightning systems.
The sky was now thick with fleets, and the World Government ground its teeth in fury.
They were desperate to develop their own aerial technology.
But with Vegapunk's fall and the death of Saint Jaygarcia Saturn—the "Scientific Defense Deity"—their scientific might had taken a crushing blow.
For now, the Government couldn't even begin to rebuild the technology tree for sky warships.
All they could do was collect flying-type Devil Fruits and recruit ability users from their member nations to form an aerial branch—the World Government's "Air Force."
It was a weak answer to the growing number of sky-based powers.
···
On the Sky Island of Baron, tension and absurdity mixed.
Kiryuu was preparing to visit Wano to formalize his alliance marriage with Yamato, daughter of Kaido. After that, he was expected to wed one of Big Mom's daughters.
The other women—furious and competitive—refused to sit quietly while their "captain" was handed away in politics.
They insisted on holding their own weddings first.
So under the organization of the Pirate Empress and Baby 5, a series of extravagant air weddings took place on Baron Island.
Day One: the Pirate Empress Boa Hancock, the most powerful "first wife," demanded a solo ceremony to herself.
Day Two: Baby 5 had her own private wedding of "happiness for two."
Day Three: Nico Robin—pretending not to care—secretly outdid both of them with a scholarly, dazzling "Ohara-style" wedding.
After that came a collective ceremony for Perona the Ghost Princess, Monet the Snow Woman, Conis the Sky Angel, and Laki of Shandia—the maids and attendants all joining in the spectacle.
Even Violet, Rebecca, and Bonney joined the chaos with half-serious, half-joking "engagement rituals," laughing through it all.
For the first time, Kuma actually lost his temper, grabbing Bonney by the ear and forbidding her from joining the nonsense.
The Arlong captain's world was too deep and dangerous for her to toy with.
In the end, Baron Island spent several days steeped in wild, dreamlike celebration.
···
Days later, a fleet of skyships lifted off from Baron Island, heading for Onigashima in Wano Country.
"I don't believe that Kaido's daughter is stronger than me," Hancock muttered from her sun chair.
She lay beside Kiryuu on the deck, both basking in sunlight. She plucked a grape and teasingly fed it to him, eyes glinting with challenge.
She'd already begun to master a touch of Advanced Conqueror's Haki—had stepped onto the threshold of the Emperor's realm.
Her mastery of the three types of Haki, her Devil Fruit, her combat skill—she was among the strongest women alive.
Aside from Big Mom herself, she was confident she could defeat candidates like Vice Admiral Gion the Peach Rabbit or Sweet Commander Smoothie.
So how could Yamato, locked away in isolation for over twenty years, possibly surpass her?
True strength came from struggle. From blood, battle, and near-death.
How could someone confined to one country's borders become a conqueror?
Could simply being beaten by Kaido and reading a diary really raise one's spirit and will to such levels?
A caged phoenix can't soar across the skies.
"Maybe... it's talent," Kiryuu said quietly. "Or maybe the world just plays favorites."
Even he couldn't quite understand how Yamato's Haki had evolved in isolation.
Could Kozuki Oden's diary truly be that miraculous?
Powerful enough to brainwash her—and even elevate her spirit to the level of kings?
···