Grand Line – New World.
Aboard the Moby Dick.
Marco the Phoenix, commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' First Division—and one of Sora's Devil Fruit targets—rushed over to the world's strongest man, Edward Newgate, holding a newspaper in hand.
"Pops, you've got to see this!"
Whitebeard put down his barrel of sake and glanced at Marco with a raised brow. "What's got you in such a rush?"
Marco took a deep breath to steady himself and explained:
"Sora—the Godslayer—just robbed the World Government's Celestial Tribute fleet."
"And it's been revealed he has a flying ship."
Flying ship?
Whitebeard's eyes narrowed slightly.
Now he understood Marco's panic.
If Whitebeard could get Sora's cooperation—and use that ship as a trump card—then their chances of rescuing Ace would drastically improve.
Without Sora, the odds of pulling Ace out of the Marines' hands were less than 30%.
But with Sora's help… those odds might go beyond 50%.
That was why Marco was so alarmed.
However, not even the Marines could track Sora—so how could Whitebeard expect to find him within the next two months?
It was already too late.
Glug glug glug— Whitebeard emptied his sake barrel in a few deep gulps and shook his head calmly.
"Marco, there's no time."
"Sengoku won't give us that opportunity, so we move now."
"War is coming."
...
Wano – Onigashima.
Glug glug glug… hic…
Kaido downed several bottles of booze in one go, then roared:
"Bring him to me—I want to teach this brat a lesson myself!"
"A flying ship?! I must have it!"
"With that, I'll finally be able to start an unparalleled war!"
Beside him, Jack the Drought grumbled bitterly.
"What's the big deal? We already have an air unit. Why care so much about some rookie?"
Jack had always been bitter that Sora's bounty exceeded his by a whole 500 million Berries.
King the Wildfire glared at him and snapped:
"Shut up, Jack."
"A flying fleet isn't the same as a few beasts with wings."
Flying animals, huh?
King, is that how you view your subordinates?
Queen gave him a look, quietly roasting him in his head.
But he chimed in as well:
"If we can capture Sora's ship, I should be able to replicate it."
"Then we'd have an entire airborne fleet."
"And that would put boss Kaido one step closer to becoming Pirate King."
"I'll go find him!" Jack volunteered eagerly.
If it would help Kaido become Pirate King, Jack would do anything.
Queen gave him a sideways glance and laughed.
"Find him? Even the Marines can't. What makes you think we can?"
"Then what do we do?" Jack scratched his head, frustrated.
Strategic planning wasn't exactly his strength.
Puffing on a cigar, Queen blew out a smoke ring and grinned.
"If he wants to enter the New World, he has to pass through Sabaody Archipelago. You might find him there."
"Then it's settled," Kaido declared, slamming his fist down.
He was determined to seize Sora—no matter what.
Then he turned to Queen.
"I don't trust Jack with this. You go. Take the Flying Six."
Queen's face fell. "Boss, I've got a ton of experiments going on…"
Kaido ignored him and resumed drinking.
Glug glug glug…
...
Whole Cake Island – Totto Land.
"Oh my, oh my."
"This Sora actually owns a flying pirate ship? I must see it with my own eyes."
Big Mom, Charlotte Linlin, beamed with interest as she read the paper while resting during her postpartum recovery.
Especially after seeing Sora's handsome face—drool literally dripped from her lips.
Drip drip drip…
"Katakuri, can you find him for me?"
"We must get our hands on that flight technology."
"If that brat Kaido gets it first, we'll be in serious trouble."
She turned to her most capable son.
Katakuri flipped a coin in his hand, calm as always.
"Mother, if he wants to enter the New World, he has to pass through Sabaody Archipelago."
"We can station people there to watch for him."
"But others will think of that too."
"So we'll need to send overwhelming force if we want to take Sora—and his ship—before anyone else does."
Overwhelming force…
Big Mom nodded in agreement. She understood the strategic value of that ship, and she knew other Pirate King hopefuls like Kaido would be thinking the same.
A conflict over Sora was inevitable.
She looked at Katakuri and said:
"Then you'll go. Take Smoothie with you."
"You can also deploy Daifuku and Oven as you see fit."
"I don't care what it takes—bring Sora back to me."
After giving the order, she grabbed a massive one-meter-tall cake and shoved it into her mouth with a moan of delight.
Katakuri nodded solemnly.
"Understood, Mother."
Regardless of her command, Katakuri would've gone after Sora anyway.
That flying ship was simply too important.
Kaido wasn't the only one with ambitions of becoming Pirate King.
Katakuri, bearer of Conqueror's Haki, had dreams of his own.
...
A snow-covered island, somewhere remote.
Inside a cave lit by campfire—
Shanks sat silently, flipping through the newspaper with a cold expression.
He hadn't seen any reports about Luffy for over a month now.
And that left a bad feeling gnawing at him.
Especially after learning that Sora had taken Princess Vivi in Alabasta—on the same route Luffy was traveling.
The more he thought about it, the worse that feeling got.
Just then, Benn Beckman entered the cave and handed him a newspaper.
Sitting on a stone by the fire, Beckman took a drag of his cigarette and exhaled a smoke ring.
"Sora showed up."
"He robbed the Celestial Tribute fleet at G8 Fortress."
"Killed all the CP0 escorts."
"Killed the fortress commander."
"According to the paper, he has a ship that can fly."
"Which means every major faction is probably after him now."
"So—what do we do?"
"If someone else gets that ship before us… we'll have a serious problem."
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Don't forget to give Power Stone
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