For years, only four names had ruled the second half of the Grand Line. Across the New World, they stood at the very summit of piracy.
'Whitebeard' Edward Newgate.
'Red-Haired' Shanks.
'The Beasts' Kaido.
'Big Mom' Charlotte Linlin.
The Four Emperors. Now... the newspapers carried a different title.
"The Five Emperors of the Sea."
...
Whole Cake Island
Inside the enormous banquet hall of Whole Cake Chateau...
Charlotte Linlin casually tossed another empty dessert plate aside before grabbing the latest newspaper.
Perospero stood nearby. Katakuri remained silent. Smoothie folded her arms. Cracker frowned. Every Sweet Commander had already read the front page.
Big Mom stared at Arthur's bounty poster. 5,200,000,000 Berries.
Big Mom: "MAMAMAMA!!" A deafening laughter echoed throughout the castle.
Big Mom: "So the Government finally found another Emperor." She laughed loudly.
Perospero: "The Marines are already calling them the Five Emperors." Perospero adjusted his candy cane.
Big Mom: "Emperor? He's still just a brat." Big Mom snorted. She looked again at Arthur's youthful face.
The room remained silent. No one interrupted. Big Mom continued eating another enormous cake.
Big Mom: "Strength alone isn't enough. An Emperor rules territories, commands thousands, and builds an empire." She licked the cream from one finger.
Big Mom: "Still... he's handsome." A smile slowly spread across her face.
Several of her children immediately exchanged nervous looks. Perospero already knew that expression. Big Mom had begun planning another political marriage.
Big Mom: "MAMAMAMA!! Perhaps I should marry one... or maybe two of my daughters to him."
The Sweet Commanders remained completely silent.
No one dared remind her that Arthur was already surrounded by beautiful women.
Katakuri silently closed his eyes. Perospero simply sighed. Nobody wanted to become involved whenever their mother started arranging political marriages.
...
Wano Country, Onigashima.
BOOOOOM!!
A massive kanabo smashed apart an enormous boulder. Kaido slowly lowered his weapon. His crimson eyes remained fixed upon Arthur's bounty poster.
Silence.
King stood nearby. Queen stopped laughing. Jack quietly waited. Kaido took another drink.
Then another.
Then another.
Finally—
Kaido: "WORORORORO!!" His laughter shook the fortress.
The Beast Pirates immediately relaxed. Whenever Kaido laughed...things usually became interesting.
Kaido: "They're calling him The Fifth Emperor?" Kaido held up the newspaper.
Kaido: "A kid? Compared to me?" Kaido's Conqueror's Haki leaked unconsciously.
The sky above Onigashima rumbled. Lightning crackled across the ceiling. King quietly watched his captain. Kaido slowly crushed Arthur's bounty poster inside one enormous hand.
Kaido:"The Marines... have become soft." He stood. His towering figure overlooked the entire fortress.
Kaido: "I don't care what the Marines call him." His eyes narrowed.
Kaido: "I'll decide for myself. If he's truly worthy... If he wants to sit beside me...Then let him survive my kanabo first."
The Beast Pirates erupted into cheers.
...
Meanwhile... far away from the New World... West Blue.
The Athena continued sailing peacefully across calm blue waters. The smoke of Ohara had long disappeared beyond the horizon.
For the first time in days...
No explosions shook the sea. No Admirals blocked their path. No warships pursued them. Only the sound of waves striking the hull remained. Life aboard the ship slowly returned to normal.
Inside the library...
Robin quietly walked between towering bookshelves. Thousands upon thousands of books filled the enormous room. Every shelf had been carefully recreated. Every manuscript. Every historical record. Every map. Every note.
Arthur had copied everything from the Lake of Books before leaving Ohara. Robin gently ran her fingers across one familiar book. A small smile appeared. Arthur approached from behind. Robin remained silent for several seconds. Then she slowly shook her head.
Arthur: "Still thinking about rebuilding Ohara?"
Robin: "...No." She looked around the endless library.
Robin: "Everything that truly mattered... is already here." She smiled softly.
Robin looked at the bookshelves. Some of the books were still wet. Some still smelled of seawater. Arthur had even copied the damaged books. Robin repaired them one by one.
Robin: "The scholars wanted knowledge to survive." She placed one hand upon a bookshelf.
Robin: "And it did."
Arthur smiled. Neither of them spoke again. Words were unnecessary.
...
Above deck... A familiar cry echoed overhead. Several News Coo descended toward the Athena.
"CAAAAW!!"
Sugar: "The newspapers are here!" Sugar immediately pointed upward.
Bepo enthusiastically caught one of the birds. Law paid the delivery fee.
Within seconds... everyone gathered around.
Sabo unfolded the newspaper.
Baccarat immediately spotted Arthur's enormous bounty.
Baccarat: "Captain! They raised everyone's bounty!"
Excited voices filled the deck.
One after another... new bounty posters appeared.
Hancock smiled proudly.
Robin looked amused.
Monet quietly folded hers.
Baby-5 happily spun in place.
Koala laughed.
Kuina simply nodded.
Sugar compared hers with Law's.
Even the Angeloids received their first official bounty posters.
Astrea stared curiously at her own photograph.
Astrea: "They caught my good side."
Nymph sighed.
Ikaros remained expressionless.
Meanwhile... Bepo searched through the stack again.
Then again. Then a third time.
Bepo: "...Huh?" Bepo blinked.
Bepo: "My poster isn't here." Everyone looked toward him. Bepo scratched his head.
Law took the stack and checked carefully. He found nothing.
Sugar checked. Nothing.
Robin checked once more. Still nothing.
Bepo re-read the newspaper they had bought, thinking he might have missed something.
He went through everything. He even bought another copy of the paper. The News Coo was left bewildered.
But still, there was nothing.
Silence.
Then... Sabo burst into laughter.
Sabo: "Looks like it's still 500 Berries!"
Bepo: "...Seriously?" Bepo froze.
Koala covered her mouth, trying not to laugh. Baby-5 failed immediately. Even Hancock smiled. Arthur chuckled.
Arthur: "I guess the Marines still think you're the least dangerous among us."
Bepo: "After everything I did?! I punched Rear Admirals! I fought an entire Marine battalion! I trained so hard!" Bepo collapsed dramatically onto the deck.
Law: "Congratulations." Law patted his shoulder. Bepo looked up hopefully.
Law: "You're still worth 500 Berries." Law's expression remained perfectly calm.
For several seconds... silence filled the deck.
Then— Everyone burst into laughter. Even Robin laughed softly.
The sound carried across the open sea as the Athena continued sailing toward its next destination.
Far behind them... the world was still struggling to accept the birth of the Fifth Emperor.
But aboard the Athena... life had already returned to what mattered most.
Family.
Adventure.
And whatever awaited them beyond the next horizon.