"Haha! I see an island!"
The crew, still trembling from the storm, erupted in cheers. Having survived the tornado, their joy spilled over into laughter and wild relief.
"Full speed ahead! Our destination is that island!" the old captain barked. His face softened with a smile for the first time in days. The tension of guiding the ship past certain death eased, though not completely.
The island loomed closer; vast forests, trees towering over ten meters tall, a sea of endless green untouched by human hands.
The air was rich, fresh, and alive.
Mobius leapt onto the sand as soon as they landed, bouncing on his heels. "Solid ground! Finally!" His grin was bright, his heart racing. This was the first island since leaving port.
Adventure. The very word sang in his chest. He thought of the storybooks he had devoured as a child. So this is what it feels like.
The captain gave the order, "Repairs will take a day. Explore if you must, but don't go too far! And don't get lost, haha!"
The sailors scattered, some in groups, some alone. Mobius tugged at Teach's sleeve. "Boss Teach, let's go!"
They stepped into the forest. Mobius's stride was light, eager, almost running. Teach's was measured, eyes scanning the shadows between the trees.
"Mobius," Teach said, voice heavy. "Stay close. Don't run. This island is dangerous."
Mobius blinked, caught off guard by Teach's serious tone.
A sudden hiss tore through the underbrush. Purple flashed.
Before Mobius could react, a blur lunged for his throat.
Snap!
Teach's hand shot out, catching it mid-air. A snake, two meters long, its scales gleaming a sickly violet, writhed in his grip. It coiled furiously around Teach's arm, fangs dripping green venom.
The drops sizzled where they landed, grass withering into ash.
Mobius froze. That poison could eat through life itself.
Teach squeezed. Bone crunched. The snake's head popped like fruit in his palm.
"This island," Teach muttered, tossing the carcass aside, "is a beast island."
On the ship, the captain slammed a fist on the table. "Beast island? No… Devil Island."
A sailor spread out the old, yellowed chart, pointing to a bloody skull mark drawn decades ago. The words scrawled beneath, Devil Island.
The captain's gut clenched. He had forgotten, lulled by years of safe passages. The tornado had blown them into hell.
"Gather the men. Call them back before it's too late," he ordered.
The cargo master balked. "What? We can't go in there! Let's cut our losses and leave!"
"Leave?" The captain roared. "Without the men, the ship won't move. Abandon them and we all die anyway!"
Reluctantly, the guards and sailors armed themselves, pushing into the forest to drag back whoever they could.
Mobius's face was pale. "Beast Island…" He knew the stories. Lands crawling with monsters that had never left the age of giants.
"This snake," Teach said, "was the bottom of the food chain here. You'd better run back, Mobius."
Mobius's chest tightened. He wanted to argue, but Teach wasn't wrong. Without him, he'd already be dead.
"And you, Boss Teach?" he asked quietly.
Teach's grin split wide. "Me? I'm going deeper. This island smells like fun."
His aura burst forth. Conqueror's Haki thundered across the trees, silencing the forest in an instant. Birds, insects, even the breeze seemed to vanish.
"Go. Some creatures here are stronger than me. You'll only get in the way."
Mobius clenched his fists, then bowed and turned back, sprinting for the shore. One day, he swore silently, I'll be strong enough to return. Strong enough to conquer this place.
Teach pressed onward. The air thickened with the stink of blood. His Observation Haki spread wide. All around, he felt lives snuff out, sailors caught and torn apart in the shadows.
He ignored them. He wasn't here to save fools.
A presence pulsed from deep within the island. Unlike the massive auras of the towering overlords, this one was compact, sharp, suffused with killing intent. Two, maybe three meters tall but monstrous nonetheless.
Teach's lips curled. "Interesting…"
In the island's heart yawned a crater hundreds of meters wide. Within, ants the size of leopards gnawed stone like bread, their bodies gleaming with metallic sheen.
Their blades-for-limbs sliced open a four-meter leopard, spilling its insides in seconds. Corpses of beasts littered the pit, from wolves to apes, all shredded by claws and fangs.
At the center sat a throne of gold ore. Upon it, a figure rose.
Three meters tall, armored in golden chitin, eyes burning crimson. A humanoid ant. It gripped a beast bone in one claw, crunching it to dust between its jaws.
The aura it released washed over the pit like fire. Every ant dropped to its knees.
The roar that followed shook the island. Other titans answered from the forests, dinosaurs, apes, scaled horrors.
The ground quaked with their fury.
Weaker beasts fled in droves, bursting from the interior into the outer jungle.
Teach threw back his head and laughed. "Zehahahaha! A monster king, eh?"
He unleashed his Haki in full, a black storm colliding with the golden ant's oppressive will. Invisible sparks flew across the island.
The golden antennae twitched. Its army stirred, hissing as they surged toward Teach's direction, thousands of metallic limbs tearing the earth.
Teach cracked his knuckles. "A warm-up, is it? Zehahaha… fine. Send them all."
The forest shook. Two wills locked across the island, predator against predator.
And Teach marched forward, eager to meet the monster on its throne.