"Who still dares lay a hand on Flower Country?!"
Chinjao readied his Hasshoken, roaring with the arrogance of a warlord.
He sprang forward to answer the affront—only for Whitebeard to make his trademark move.
Whitebeard folded his massive arms, and his fist cleaved the air.
The shock of raw force sent waves crashing; the port's buildings cracked; even the island itself trembled.
If that blow had struck the earth, the harbor would have collapsed, and fissures would have spidered across the isle.
If it had hit Chinjao's cone-head… no one dared imagine the consequences.
Chinjao gnashed his teeth. Rocks-era monsters had only become more monstrous since the war.
Still, his drill-shaped skull was wrapped in Armament Haki, every bone reinforced and honed.
He hardened both fists with Haki and prepared to trade raw strength—because in the end, power wins.
Youthful and at his peak, Chinjao was a tempered veteran: Haki, martial arts, and battlefield craft all honed to a razor edge.
He expelled a breath and spread Observation Haki, searching for the intruders.
A colossal dragon? Giants? A bizarre, oversized ship?
He had seen giants of the West Blue before—especially Sanjuan Wolf, who lived to eat and could flatten islands by accident.
Wolf was a walking warship: a Devil Fruit eater whose bloated mass somehow kept him buoyant.
And Moly—a wanted Newkama with a bounty near two hundred and fifty million Berries—was infamous for slipping out of the world's most secure prisons.
Rumor had it she'd once escaped Impel Down itself, likely thanks to the Push–Push Fruit.
Chinjao didn't know the pale youth aboard the strange raft—nor the scrawny, purple-haired delinquent beside him.
But the tall, self-assured boy looked like a captain. Yet Chinjao had never seen his face.
He snarled at Whitebeard. "Oi, Newgate—are these idiots yours?"
There was no way this presence was innocent. Whitebeard had docked here—was this an ambush?
Whitebeard merely hefted his great blade—Clash of Clouds—and prepared to answer properly.
What had looked like a greeting seconds ago was now serious.
A tidal roar rose as waves and whirlwinds formed a tsunami-level wall.
Even a seasoned non-Devil-Fruit fighter like Chinjao felt the island's defenses strain.
How could he stop a storm that swept the whole isle?
"Stop lying, Newgate! You're terrible at lying!" Chinjao snapped, vanishing in a blur.
He reappeared and struck—Hasshoken's True Form: Cone-Dragon, Cone-Nail—Chinjao Opens the Gate!
His drill head smashed forward with a blow said to split frozen continents in two.
Whitebeard only smiled.
He spun his blade through the air; the whirlwind scattered debris, but Whitebeard himself did not budge.
When his blade rested, the air held still as if bound by the very presence of the weapon.
Whitebeard lifted one enormous hand; every muscle rippled beneath his beard and grin.
Then the tremor stepped free.
The Tremor-Tremor power erupted as an invisible sphere of seismic force.
When Chinjao's head met Whitebeard's fist, the impact burst out like a cutting wave.
The tremor distorted earth and sea; waves bucked; boats trembled; the townmates fled.
"Why provoke Whitebeard? He's a New World monster!" people wailed as buildings crumbled.
To the harborfolk, the Happo Navy weren't pirates—they were their own country's defenders.
For the Flowers of the nation, they were a state force: violent mercenaries raised to fight wars and conquer.
Chinjao charged again—Hasshoken Ultimate: Cone-Dragon, Cone-Nail!
He refused to let Whitebeard leave unbloodied. He wrapped his skull in Armament Haki and drove forward with all his might.
Whitebeard's punch still held. The Tremor continued to ripple outward, smashing structures and toppling walls.
When Chinjao slammed into Whitebeard's guard, their clash sent Chinjao flying through a dozen buildings, each impact shattering more of the town.
Chinjao staggered up—then a heatwave howled from the sky.
"Let me see how far I have to go to catch up with you, Newgate!" Kaido bellowed, laughing as he loomed in Azure Dragon form.
With a roar he expelled a dragon's Heat Breath, hurling a column of flame toward Whitebeard.
"This is my moment," Kaido gnashed—his dragon form magnified his arrogance and hunger to test himself.
He'd waited too long for a fight like this in which to flex his new form.
"Not bad, Kaido," Sharn observed as he stepped forward. The giants stood behind him on the beach, their silhouettes dwarfing the crews of the Whitebeard ships.
Even Whitebeard's sailors craned their necks to look up in astonishment.
Moria felt that prickling dread again—seeing the likes of Whitebeard and Chinjao made every hair on his neck stand upright.
He'd seen their faces on wanted posters—these were the names of legends.
"Who's that brat?" Chinjao snarled, pushing himself upright.
He'd had no time to fully process Kaido, and the sight of Sharn surprised him even more.
A flock of newspaper birds fluttered past, scattering wanted notices—this was before the News King's rise, when printed sheets were rare and expensive.
Sharn's makeshift voyage had already made the headlines.
The sheets fluttered to the ground, and Chinjao snatched one up. His eyes nearly popped out.
The bounties read like a satire:
Sanjuan Wolf — Bounty: 230,000,000 Berries
Kaido (the Oni) — Bounty: 320,000,000 Berries
Moly (New Human) — Bounty: 250,000,000 Berries
Moria — Bounty: 10,000 Berries
Sharn — Bounty: 100,000,000 Berries
Even Moria, who'd found a wanted poster, gaped. Why such a gap on first bounties? Why was Sharn already at one hundred million while Moria had only ten thousand?
Chinjao read the headlines:
"West Blue: Sharn Pirates Break Out of Marine Prison!"
"Captain Sharn Leads Vice-Captain Kaido in Prison Break — Rescues Giant Moly and Colossal Battleship Wolf; Kidnap Ex-gang boy Moria as Crewman!"
"Captain suspected to have escaped from an unspeakable place; former apprentice of a certain notorious crew. Reward reasons: Unmentionable."
"Unmentionable?" Chinjao muttered. Every headline was vague—every phrase a black box. But the implication was obvious.
Only one explanation fit: a former trainee of the Rocks Pirates had escaped from God Valley.
Why unmentionable? Why such a high bounty on a first posting?
"SHARN!!!"
Kaido snapped. He spotted a bounty poster fluttering mid-air—Sharn stood on the dock surrounded by two giants and with Kaido's Azure Dragon coiling above him.
To Kaido it looked like he was merely a backdrop—used to frame Sharn for the cameras.
Anger erupted, pride shattered, and a child wailed at his humiliation.
Moria pounded a broken crate into the sand; fruit spilled across the deck, nearly washed away.
"How am I supposed to go home now?" he cried. "Ten thousand for me—this is embarrassing!"
"T-Sharn—wahhh!"
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(Author's Note: Wishing everyone every good thing.)
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