After his excursion, Yoriichi Tsugikuni returned carrying two massive tiger legs. He wasn't sure exactly how much they weighed, but judging by their sheer size, he figured that as long as the meat didn't spoil, he wouldn't have to worry about his food supply for quite some time.
However, to avoid attracting other predators with the scent of blood, he decided not to haul the giant tiger legs all the way up to his cave. Instead, he left them at the foot of the mountain, a good distance away from his hideout.
He also roasted a small piece of the meat to test it first. Though that giant bird had indirectly confirmed the meat was edible, Yoriichi wasn't about to risk his life without making sure.
And sure enough, while it wasn't poisonous, it wasn't exactly delicious either. The blood hadn't been thoroughly rinsed away, leaving the meat dry and fibrous, with a powerful, gamey odor. It certainly couldn't be called tasty in any sense.
Still, Yoriichi was more than satisfied. After all, it was meat a world apart from that unidentified paste he'd eaten before.
Once he confirmed the meat was safe, Yoriichi spent several hours roasting a few pounds to fill his stomach. Oddly enough, despite devouring several pounds of tiger meat, his new body felt only about half full.
Even so, he forced himself to resist the urge to keep eating. Instead, he built a simple smokehouse near the foot of the mountain and set aside dozens of pounds of meat to be preserved through smoking, hoping to extend its shelf life.
After spending half a day preparing part of his spoils, Yoriichi decided to put the matter of food aside and continue exploring the surrounding terrain.
Although his immediate food problem was solved, his biggest concern at the moment wasn't food it was water.
Fortunately, the pressing issue of a water source found its solution on his second trip out to scout the area.
With his belly finally full, Yoriichi took up his sword once more and set out to investigate his surroundings. This time, instead of following the same narrow path as before, he studied the terrain carefully and plunged deeper into the dense forest, heading toward the lowest point in the landscape.
"These trees are unbelievably tall."
"If I don't mark my path somehow, it'd be all too easy to get lost."
Dense jungle could easily disorient anyone. To prevent that, Yoriichi moved swiftly through the undergrowth, slashing at the surrounding vegetation with his long blade. Grass and flowers near the path were mercilessly cut down, leaving a clear trail in his wake.
Getting a second chance at life seemed to have made Yoriichi far more carefree and youthful at heart.
Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle…
Deep within the island, after following the terrain for about forty minutes, Yoriichi finally discovered a small creek. Glancing up, he saw it winding like a silver serpent through the foothills.
Lush green grass blanketed both sides of the creek, and further beyond, towering ancient trees rose in thick, verdant clusters, many of which were species Yoriichi had never seen before.
He paused at the water's edge, scanning the area warily. Then he swung his sword and chopped down a giant tree as wide as a man's embrace. From its trunk, he cut out a section and hollowed it to fashion a crude container. Submerging it in the creek, he filled it with water.
"…Huh?!"
"Why is the water this color?!"
"And why does it smell…faintly of blood?!"
Scooping up a bucketful, Yoriichi stared in shock at the faint reddish hue of the water, which looked even more pronounced against the pale wood of his makeshift vessel. His eyes flicked toward the creek itself and to his growing horror, he realized that the flowing water had somehow also taken on a reddish tinge. As it surged downstream, the pale red deepened into a dark crimson.
A powerful stench of blood filled the air.
"…What the hell is happening?!"
Seeing the water so clearly polluted, Yoriichi's brow furrowed in a deep frown. He lifted his gaze upstream, searching for the cause. After a brief moment of thought, he tossed the bucket onto the bank, tightened his grip on his sword, and began working his way upstream to trace the source of the contamination.
He'd finally found a water source; there was no way he could ignore this. If he could locate and eliminate the problem, fresh water would be flowing again in less than an hour.
Following the creek upward, Yoriichi pressed on.
He didn't know how long he'd been walking when, all of a sudden, the dense forest fell away, and the terrain opened up before his eyes as he crested a slope.
The sight that met him made him draw a sharp breath.
Upstream from the creek lay a broad expanse of open ground. But at this moment, the clearing was littered with bodies sprawled in every direction. A rough estimate suggested hundreds of corpses, their blood pooling into crimson streams that fed directly into the river.
This place was a battlefield, its earth matted with flesh and blood, the fallen tangled together in an indistinguishable mass.
Not far from the battleground stood the remains of a small town, reduced to rubble and broken walls. Several plumes of thick, black smoke still rose from various points within the town.
Yoriichi lifted his eyes, taking in the silent devastation. The entire place radiated death, devoid of even the faintest hint of life. Among the countless bodies strewn across the ground, certain uniforms immediately caught Yoriichi's attention.
Stained white cloaks, splashed with blood, each bearing two bold black characters written in thick brushstrokes. A wave of familiarity washed over Yoriichi as he stared at them.
"Justice."
"…The Navy?!"
On only his second day after arriving in the world of One Piece, Yoriichi was already witnessing firsthand the brutal reality of this world.
From the uniforms and the way the bodies had fallen, he could roughly deduce that those lying dead belonged to two opposing forces. On one side were the Marines, clad in navy uniforms, joined by civilians armed with pitchforks, hoes, wooden clubs, and other makeshift weapons. These two groups had clearly fought together.
On the other side were pirates, all heavily armed and built like warriors.
Stepping carefully among the corpses, Yoriichi scanned the battlefield. He soon noticed that far fewer pirate bodies lay scattered than those of Marines and civilians. Stranger still, among the civilian dead, he saw neither women nor children.
"Did the pirates win this battle?"
"Were the women and children taken away…?"
"Or did they manage to hide somewhere?"
Crossing the devastated field, Yoriichi pondered these questions while heading toward the ruined town in the distance.
Once-pristine buildings had been reduced to rubble. The town's broad streets were choked with overturned wooden carts piled high with stones, forming makeshift barricades.
Climbing over the obstacles, Yoriichi found the white stone roads stained in sprawling patches of vivid crimson. Standing amidst the wreckage, a heaviness settled over his chest. Even though he hadn't witnessed the townsfolk's desperate struggle against the pirates with his own eyes, he could easily imagine the horrors that must have unfolded here.
Nowhere he looked remained untouched or intact.
Entering the nearest building, he found a living room in chaos, furniture overturned and broken. He pushed open the door to a bedroom. Instantly, a wave of blood stench assaulted his senses. On the bed lay a woman's lifeless body, causing Yoriichi's brow to furrow deeply. With a soft sigh, he drew a blanket over her and silently left the room.
"…This is tragic."
After a brief search through the rest of the town, Yoriichi emerged on the far side, sorrow glimmering in his eyes, his hand clenching his sword tighter and tighter.
There were no demons here.
Yet the cruelty of humanity was no less monstrous than that of any demon.
At the town's edge stood a towering cliff, offering a sweeping view of the endless sea.
The ocean breeze swept over the high precipice, carrying away the lingering scent of blood.
Yoriichi slowly drew his sword and stared down at the blade. The matte black steel reflected his blurred face. As he gazed into the steel and caught sight of the single character engraved near the hilt Destruction understanding dawned in his heart. He murmured softly to himself:
"I think…I know what I have to do."
"With you…I'll bring a sliver of hope to this world."
"Black Blade…Dawn Breaker!"
As the words left his lips, dust around Yoriichi's feet billowed upward without wind. An indescribable, terrifying aura burst forth from his body, radiating outward in all directions.
In the distant primeval forest, leaves rustled violently. Waves crashing against the shore were abruptly forced backward, driven away by a sudden, invisible power.
Several kilometers away, a dog-headed warship sped across the ocean toward Ryujin Island.
At its prow stood a middle-aged man in a black suit, arms crossed over his chest, a thick mustache bristling on his face. Draped over his shoulders billowed the white cloak of the Marines, emblazoned with the single word "Justice."
WOOOM!!!
Suddenly, an overwhelming wave of force rolled in from afar. The ocean currents, which had been flowing steadily, reversed their direction in an instant. Feeling the surge, the man's eyes widened slightly, then he broke into a wide grin.
"Conqueror's Haki."
"To think…someone like this would appear in the East Blue of all places."
"So the disappearance of the E-23 unit…was that his doing?"
"Ha ha ha ha! Interesting. To think someone dares to strike at the Marines. I'll definitely make sure you pay for that."
As the man muttered to himself, a Marine soldier came rushing over, snapping into a crisp salute before reporting loudly:
"Vice Admiral Garp, an unexpected ocean current has just appeared. Continuing on our original course might be dangerous. What are your orders? Should we change direction?"
Hearing this, Garp tilted his head slightly, then answered with a relaxed smile:
"No need to worry. Stay on course. The currents…will settle down soon enough."