Blood trickled from the corner of Lake’s mouth.
There was no denying it—Rankyaku was a powerful technique.
But it also consumed a tremendous amount of stamina.
“It looks like your Armament Haki is still pretty weak,” Arthur sneered quietly.
“You only just learned it, didn’t you?”
“So you’re not all that impressive after all.”
Lake immediately noticed the dramatic change in Arthur’s presence.
Arthur’s eyes had become calm and unwavering, gleaming with a cold light.
It felt as though a true predator had locked onto It’s prey.
For the first time, Lake had the unsettling sensation that he was the one being hunted.
What’s going on?
Why does this brat suddenly feel like a monster…?
He stopped over thirty feet away instead of advancing any farther.
The two faced each other in silence.
Arthur’s expression remained grim.
The fear of losing his life had driven him into an almost savage state of focus.
Lake finally broke the silence.
“Marine brat…
your whole body’s shaking.”
“You think you can beat me like that?”
“I just have to hold out until Apollo defeats Garp’s son.”
“When that happens, you’ll be nothing more than an insect waiting to be crushed.”
Arthur knew nothing about Apollo.
Perhaps he had once been an insignificant member of the Rocks Pirates.
Now, however, he had become a division commander under the Golden Lion Pirates.
Arthur moved first.
His calf muscles exploded with power as he vanished forward with Soru.
“You’ve already lost.”
“Once Cooper and I fight together seriously…”
“…someone like you doesn’t stand a chance.”
“Arrogant brat!”
Lake roared as every muscle in his body tightened.
The two rushed toward each other.
Their fists collided head-on.
BOOM!
Neither yielded.
At that exact moment, Cooper, perched on Arthur’s shoulder, lunged toward Lake’s neck with his beak.
Because all of Lake’s strength was focused into his clash with Arthur, he couldn’t dodge.
Arthur endured the agonizing pain running through his fist without retreating even half a step.
He was fighting for his own life.
His determination was unshakable.
Cooper’s beak pierced Lake’s neck.
The pirate’s face twisted in pain, and the strength behind his punch faltered.
Arthur seized the opening.
His fist broke through Lake’s guard and slammed directly into his abdomen.
BOOM!
The muscles around Lake’s stomach caved inward.
The shockwave rippled through the air.
His body spasmed violently.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
It felt as though dozens of tons had crashed into his abdomen.
He instantly lost control of his body.
“Cooper!”
The eagle darted in front of him, slashing across his face with razor-sharp talons.
Half of Lake’s face was shredded open.
“AAAAAAAGH!”
He screamed in disbelief.
The overwhelming advantage he’d held moments earlier had vanished in an instant.
Arthur gave him no chance to recover.
Using Soru, he appeared in front of Lake again and drove another heavy punch into his chest.
BANG!
Another explosive shockwave erupted.
Lake coughed up even more blood.
Arthur’s fists rained down relentlessly.
Beside him, Cooper tore into Lake’s upper body with his talons.
Every punch landed cleanly.
Every blow carried overwhelming force.
Lake staggered helplessly beneath the assault.
There was no opportunity to fight back.
The sound of flesh and bone colliding echoed across the Marine Base.
Within only two minutes, Lake endured well over a hundred punches.
His powerful body became covered in deep fist marks.
Twisted beyond recognition, he finally collapsed to his knees before Arthur and Cooper.
Seeing the pirate’s vice Colonel completely unable to resist anymore, Arthur stood over him.
His chest heaved violently.
With an almost beast-like growl, he bared his teeth inches from Lake’s face.
“I never imagined the Marines would recruit someone like you…”
Lake laughed weakly.
“…You have to be eliminated.”
Even as he spoke, he knew he had already lost.
He could barely remember what had happened over the last two minutes.
His entire body burned with unbearable pain.
He couldn’t believe the Armament Haki he had worked so hard to master had been defeated by someone who looked like an inexperienced teenager.
Yet reality couldn’t be denied.
He couldn’t move a single muscle.
Only his consciousness remained.
Arthur gradually regained his composure.
Hands in his pockets, he looked down coldly.
“When Cooper and I fight together with everything we’ve got…”
“…someone at your level can only take a beating.”
Cooper landed back on Arthur’s shoulder, his talons stained with blood as he glared fiercely at the pirate.
“…Major Karasu.”
Only then did Arthur remember him.
Ignoring the lingering pain in his fists, Arthur bound Lake with chains before heading inside the Marine Base.
Karasu was still leaning against the damaged wall.
“I’m fine,” Karasu said.
“I just got caught off guard.”
“I never expected him to know Armament Haki.”
This battle had revealed his own weakness.
He needed to strengthen his body.
He needed to improve his physical combat ability.
At the same time…
He had witnessed Arthur transform the moment his life was threatened.
Like a rational beast willing to do absolutely anything to destroy his enemy.
As long as he survived…
Arthur would undoubtedly become one of the Marines’ greatest talents.
But…
As Dragon gradually lost faith in the Marines’ justice…
Karasu had begun questioning it as well.
Sometimes it felt as though the higher-ups were simply training emotionless killing machines.
“I’ve always thought I was weak.”
“I’ve never really believed I was strong.”
After confirming Karasu was alright, Arthur returned outside and picked up his rifle before reloading it.
“Because this is the world of One Piece.”
“A world overflowing with monsters and geniuses.”
“This battle made me realize something.”
“I struggled this much just to defeat a nameless remnant of the Rocks Pirates…”
“Or maybe…”
“There were never any weak members of the Rocks Pirates to begin with.”
Arthur couldn’t help sighing.
The battle had taught him countless lessons.
People in this world could suffer horrific injuries and still continue fighting.
Their bodies were nothing like those of ordinary humans from my original world..
He had barely won through sheer physical strength and an overwhelming instinct to survive.
Because…
He had absolutely no intention of dying to some nameless pirate before achieving his ambitions in this world.
The Marine Base on Lionheart Island had become a sea of corpses.
Marines and pirates alike littered the ground.
Arthur stood silently among them.
Looking toward the neighboring islands, he could hear explosions and volcanic eruptions in the distance.
“The Glint-Glint Fruit…”
“…and the Magma-Magma Fruit…”
Volcanic ash drifted down onto his face.
Slinging his reloaded rifle over his shoulder, Arthur looked back at Karasu.
“The fighting along the coast is still going.”
“What should I do now, Major?”
“Go help the others.”
“I need to recover the important documents from the base.”
Holding his wound, Karasu disappeared deeper into the ruined headquarters.
Only Arthur and Cooper remained in the square.
The two stood there quietly for a moment.
“Cooper?”
“What now, Arthur?”
“What else?”
“I joined the Marines to learn Rokushiki.”
“My duty is to fight pirates and protect civilians.”
His emotions quickly settled.
Together with Cooper, Arthur headed toward the town, where gunfire and screams still echoed through the streets.
“Cooper!”
“One pirate’s still pretending to be dead in the square.
The one I kicked earlier.”
Arthur stopped immediately.
He unslung his rifle and aimed.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Four shots.
Both arms.
Both legs.
Now the pirate wouldn’t be rescuing Lake.
“Hm…”
“I think he’s carrying a Den Den Mushi.”
Arthur searched Lake’s body, took the Den Den Mushi, and continued toward the burning town.
It wasn’t just Lionheart Island.
Every nearby island had become a living hell.
Coast of Lionheart Island
Monkey D.
Dragon continued his fierce battle against Apollo, the Golden Lion Pirates’ division commander.
“Monkey D.
Dragon…”
“My lieutenant has probably wiped out every Marine you brought with you by now.”
Apollo fought Dragon hand-to-hand while constantly remaining on guard against sudden attacks from Dragon’s Devil Fruit powers.
He wasn’t even fighting at full strength.
He was simply waiting for Lake’s good news.
He wanted to watch Dragon’s expression change once he learned his men had been slaughtered.
Instead…
The longer they fought…
The more Apollo realized Dragon’s hand-to-hand combat had improved dramatically since their last encounter. The source of this chapter is g.com.
“Damn Garp’s bloodline…”
“They grow far too quickly.”
Dragon’s expression never changed.
“If I can’t trust my own subordinates…”
“…then who can I trust?”
“As long as Shiki isn’t here…”
“…no one can save you.”
“Surrender.”
The battle continued to rage along the shoreline.
Meanwhile, inside Lionheart Island’s town…
After defeating Lake, Arthur sent Cooper into the sky to search for civilians needing rescue.
“Someone!”
“Please help!”
“Save my child!”
Arthur rushed toward a burning house.
A woman crawled out from a cellar, desperately shielding her baby with her body.
Her leg was trapped beneath burning debris.
Even though she herself had been badly burned, she never loosened her grip on her child.
Arthur immediately rushed into the flames, rescued both mother and child, and moved on without stopping.
Children too weak to escape.
Adults burned beyond recognition.
Dead or alive…
He rescued everyone he could.
One civilian after another.
With each life he saved, the brightness in Arthur’s eyes gradually faded.
Only after witnessing the horrors beyond the East Blue did he truly understand how cruel this world was.
He gently laid an injured child onto the street before kneeling beside him.
“So this…”
“…is the world beyond the East Blue.”
“No…”
“This is probably the true reality of the One Piece world.”
Bang!
A bullet suddenly flew past Arthur’s back, striking a burning building beside him.
“Damn it!
I missed!”
The pirate hurried to reload.
Before he could—
Cooper dove from the sky.
His talons pierced the pirate’s throat.
He carried the man over a hundred feet into the air…
…before dropping him.
Thud.
The pirate landed dead at Arthur’s feet.
Arthur glanced at the corpse before calmly looking toward the coastline.
“Cooper.”
“Keep rescuing civilians.”
“I’m heading to the coast.”
“Cooper!”
The eagle circled overhead in acknowledgment.
Arthur’s mission had been to help Dragon liberate Lionheart Island.
Sakazuki and Borsalino were responsible for the surrounding islands.
In truth…
He was only a brand-new Marine recruit.
Simply fighting ordinary pirates would have been enough.
But the longer this battle continued…
The more people died.
Running through the streets, Arthur passed countless fallen Marines from Headquarters.
This has to end.
He sprinted toward Dragon’s position without hesitation.
The nameless remnants of the Rocks Pirates…
It makes sense they’d all end up serving Golden Lion Shiki.
After God Valley…
The future Four Emperors were probably lying low while secretly building their strength.
Only Shiki inherited Rocks’ ambition to conquer the world.
Seven years have passed since then…
And Shiki is the only one openly dominating the seas.
So where are Whitebeard…
Kaido…
and Big Mom now?
His thoughts were interrupted by a large group of pirates battling Marines ahead.
“More Marines!”
“Send someone to stop him!”
Before they could react—
Arthur threw a punch.
A pirate over six feet tall was blasted clean off Lionheart Island and disappeared into the distance.
His monstrous strength overwhelmed everything before him.
He immediately followed with Rankyaku, helping the nearby Marines wipe out the pirates surrounding them.
“Arthur!”
“You’re really a monster!”
“We’ve been struggling against these pirates this whole time…”
“…and you defeated them so easily?”
“What’s happening at the Marine Base?”
Arthur didn’t answer.
Without slowing down, he continued sprinting toward the coast where Dragon was fighting.
The Marines watched him vanish into the distance.
Arthur smiled faintly.
“What a remarkable era to be alive.”
“If I want to obtain everything I seek…”
“…then I’ll have to become stronger, no matter the cost.”