BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Everyone scrambled back toward the shore as deep, thunderous tremors echoed from behind them.
Once safely aboard their ships, Matthias and the others let out a collective sigh of relief.
Even from a distance, watching the island shake violently made their own hearts pound in time with the ground.
Truly a terrifying monster — Kaido of the Beasts.
Two hundred kilometers away across the open sea, Violet had just finished using a Den Den Mushi to report that no other vessels were in the vicinity when Hancock leaned in urgently.
"Little sister — how is Lord Grimm faring now?"
After their last major battle, Hancock had realized her crew's greatest weakness was not lack of training, but lack of real combat experience.
That was why she had set sail once more, bringing Violet along this time.
"His opponent is Kaido, one of the Four Emperors," Violet reassured her, "but with my All‑Seeing Eyes, I can tell you — Lord Grimm is in no danger at all."
"Kaido…"
Hancock bit her lower lip, and a fierce, crimson glint flashed in her dark eyes. "Sooner or later, I will tear that brute limb from limb myself!"
"Lord Grimm told me he and Kaido have always fought each other from time to time," Violet added, relaxing a little. "There is no need to worry."
Just then, Sandersonia walked over, looking impressed. "This power of the Glare‑Glare Fruit is truly incredible."
Behind her stood Grimm's greatest secret asset — the Sea King, Poseidon, Princess Shirahoshi.
Though she was nothing more than a gentle, wide‑eyed five‑year‑old girl at this stage.
And at Sandersonia's feet, surrounded by a group of Kuja warriors, sat a young girl in a soft pink dress with short orange hair — Koala, whom they had rescued from Fish‑Man Island long ago.
"To see everything four thousand kilometers away… it is truly amazing," Marigold agreed.
Even without considering her other skills, Violet's Devil Fruit alone was something to marvel at.
"Thank you," Violet smiled. Then her gaze sharpened suddenly as she looked out toward the horizon.
"Bearing ten o'clock, roughly sixty kilometers away — there is one pirate ship."
"How many men?" Hancock asked instantly, her expression shifting from anxious wife to the commanding Empress as she stepped onto the bow.
"From what I can see, about one hundred and fifty to two hundred — a medium‑sized crew," Violet replied.
"Then you have your orders!" Hancock declared, looking down from the bow with all the pride and authority of the Pirate Empress.
"Change course. Let us purify them from these seas!"
"As you command, Empress!"
"Time to show them what we are made of!"
The Holy Land — Mary Geoise
Central Administrative District
In a vast, brightly lit chamber, the Five Elders — the highest governing authority in the world — sat and stood with an air of immense power.
When agents of Cipher Pol, who had been investigating Fish‑Man Island, sent their findings via a visual Den Den Mushi, the room fell into a heavy silence.
The Five Elders had long ordered Cipher Pol to uncover exactly what agreement or arrangement Grimm had struck with the island.
After all, Fish‑Man Island had once received an offer from Whitebeard himself — he had even promised to give them one of his own uninhabited territories — yet King Neptune and Queen Otohime had politely refused.
To turn down such a generous gift from Whitebeard, only to accept an island from Grimm? It raised many questions. Was it truly a gift?
Or had some secret transaction taken place? The idea of a simple payment was too flimsy to believe.
The new Fish‑Man Twin Islands in the New World were officially under Grimm's control, yet flew Whitebeard's flag — a complicated overlap of two great powers.
Not daring to enter such disputed territory, Cipher Pol had instead focused their investigation on the original undersea island, at the base of the Red Line.
Half of the population still lived there under King Neptune's rule, still harboring old fears of the surface world.
Disguised as ordinary pirates, Cipher Pol agents had questioned many locals. But whenever the name Grimm was mentioned, everyone fell silent and turned away — as if under strict orders, or perhaps terrified of the man himself.
Yet that did not fit what they knew: in most places, ordinary people spoke of Grimm with nothing but admiration and respect.
Digging deeper, they learned the truth: the royal family had issued a decree forbidding anyone from speaking of the events of that day.
Only after pressing and intimidating some of the island's rougher elements did they piece together the story.
Mannoroth, one of Grimm's followers, had attacked Queen Otohime; Princess Shirahoshi, frightened and crying, had summoned the Sea Kings; then, for no clear reason, the chaos had abruptly ended.
That was all they could learn. The identity of the Sea King — Poseidon — was a closely guarded secret, known only to the royal family and a handful of trusted advisors like Jinbe and Fisher Tiger.
Since the information from Fish‑Man Island was too vague to act upon, the World Government shifted its attention to the Sun Pirates sailing the first half of the Grand Line.
Their captain, Fisher Tiger, and first mate, Jinbe, were both high‑ranking figures from Fish‑Man Island. And since they were pirates, pursuing them was fully justified.
A few hours earlier, the Navy had reported that Vice Admiral Kuzan had engaged and defeated Tiger — though Jinbe and his crew had managed to rescue him before he could be interrogated.
Later, one of Tiger's crew — a sawshark fish‑man — had attacked Kuzan's base in a reckless act of revenge. Captured and questioned, he spilled everything he knew.
From him, Kuzan learned that Tiger had already been wounded in an earlier fight and had died because no human was willing to give him a blood transfusion.
But Kuzan cared little about the death of a pirate with a mere 200‑million‑Berry bounty. What caught his attention was another detail.
Ever since Grimm's visit, King Neptune and Queen Otohime's youngest daughter had vanished from public view.
In the past, Princess Shirahoshi had been seen often — walking around the island, attending Queen Otohime's schools, and playing with other children.
But after Grimm gave the islanders their new home on the surface, Shirahoshi had never been seen again. Not once.
That was information of the highest importance. Kuzan sent it straight to the World Government — and the Five Elders once again fell into silence.
"Poseidon… the Sea King…"
One of the Elders, with a long white beard reaching down to his chest, spoke first. "Is it possible?"
The second, with short blond hair, nodded grimly. "It is true — legends say one of the three Ancient Weapons has the power to command every living creature in the world's oceans. And there are rumors that its true form is that of a fish‑man."
CLANG!
The bald Elder, wearing glasses and holding a long white katana, rested two fingers against his temple and smiled coldly.
"So that is why that self‑righteous fraud was so eager to give Fish‑Man Island an island of their own! He never did it out of kindness — he wanted to get his hands on the Ancient Weapon!"
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