Golden Lion Pirates?
"Impel Down?"
While the rest of the crew focused on the news, Fang Yi was puzzled.
What exactly was this Impel Down island that had been destroyed?
Why was everyone so shocked to hear that the Golden Lion Pirates were the ones behind it?
The Golden Lion Pirates—also known as the Flying Pirates—were led by Shiki the Golden Lion, a former high-ranking officer of the Rocks Pirates. Like Whitebeard, Newgate, after the fall of Rocks, Shiki had founded his pirate crew.
But unlike Whitebeard, Shiki inherited Rocks' ambition—the burning desire to control the world.
As a result, the growth and expansion of his pirate crew were far more rapid than the Whitebeard Pirates. According to the paper, they now had a fleet of nearly ten pirate ships, making them a small but formidable armada.
"Shiki's not someone you want to mess with," Jaba said with a chuckle. "Looks like the Marines are in for a rough time."
"Forget it—it's not our problem anyway. Let the Marines deal with Shiki.
Oh right, Yi, didn't you say you found a clue about the Poneglyphs?" Roger asked, setting down his empty plate.
"Yes, Captain!" Fang Yi nodded. "Though the World Government has locked down information on the Ancient Texts pretty tightly, I managed to find a lead from some scattered records—it points to Wano Country!"
"Wano?"
Everyone blinked, surprised.
There had always been rumors about Wano floating across the seas, but no one knew its coordinates. No one had ever seen its famed samurai, either. Over time, the place had faded into legend.
But the Roger Pirates were different. When they had rescued Shanks and Buggy, they'd encountered someone from Wano.
"That's right. These ancient scripts may very well be recorded in Wano," Fang Yi explained.
"Because they're not part of the World Government, and have shut themselves off from the outside world, it's possible they've preserved knowledge about the ancient language."
He didn't dare reveal too much, so he gave Roger this subtle nudge instead.
Sure enough, Roger's eyes turned thoughtful.
He recalled something a Wano samurai had whispered to him on his deathbed—it probably wasn't about the ancient language directly, but it might serve as a clue nonetheless.
"So, we're shifting our goal from finding Poneglyphs to searching for Wano now?" asked Taro, one of the combat crew, with a smirk.
Everyone looked to Roger. As captain, only he could decide the direction the Oro Jackson would sail.
"No… We'll continue looking for the Poneglyphs!" Roger said with a wide grin.
"Huh?"
Everyone was confused.
Fang Yi had found a new lead—why ignore that and go back to chasing after the scattered, difficult-to-find Poneglyphs?
But Fang Yi simply smiled. Roger had chosen exactly as he would have.
Wano may seem like a clear lead, but it was far more elusive.
To this day, no one has found Wano's location. They had nowhere to even begin.
But with the Poneglyphs, they'd already discovered several and had solid clues pointing toward others. They could continue tracking them with a structured plan.
From Fang Yi's perspective, the two goals weren't mutually exclusive.
They could pursue both at the same time.
One was a known path. The other was shrouded in mist.
So the smart play was to stay the course—keep gathering Poneglyphs while collecting any intel on Wano along the way.
Besides, they hadn't decoded a single Poneglyph yet—they had no idea what any of them said.
To learn the location of the Final Island, they might need to collect them all.
Fang Yi also knew that the real map to the Final Island would come from the four red Road Poneglyphs, but hunting down the regular ones still earned him tons of points from the system—so of course he wanted to find as many as possible.
With that decided, the Oro Jackson stayed its original course and sailed on.
Meanwhile, in the War-Torn Nation.
"Barrett, I now officially promote you to the rank of General," said Commander Douglas Gray with a warm smile, looking at the 14-year-old youth before him.
"I hope you continue to shine on the battlefield and help us achieve final victory."
"Yes, sir!"
The tall and well-built Barrett responded with clear excitement.
Gray had promised him: if he performed well in the final battle, he would be granted true freedom—the right to leave the battlefield forever.
Barrett was an orphan, born in a country where war raged endlessly. His parents had abandoned him, and he'd been raised by the military.
As a child soldier under Commander Gray, his job was to lead charges, scout minefields, and carry explosives.
Only the top-performing soldier in each battle was given a medal—and little Barrett, who had only ever known weapons, craved it more than anything.
He earned that medal with his incredible combat skills—but was betrayed by his fellow child soldiers out of jealousy.
They not only stole the medal, but left him for dead, grievously wounded.
Why? Because he was too strong—even those raised in the same hell as him couldn't accept it.
Barrett wiped them all out, reclaimed the medal, and realized the truth:
His downfall was due to his carelessness, arrogance, and blind trust in comrades.
From that moment on, Barrett no longer believed in anyone.
He lived only for victory, and only for himself.
Relying on his growing power, he became both a hero of the battlefield and the strongest child soldier in the country. He came to understand that true freedom could only be earned through strength.
One day, on the verge of death from hunger and exhaustion, he stumbled across and ate a Devil Fruit—the Fusion-Fusion Fruit.
From then on, he became even stronger.
Even Commander Gray couldn't ignore him anymore.
He promoted Barrett to general and promised him freedom if he secured victory in the final battle.
Barrett obliterated the enemy in that last war—but instead of freedom, he was betrayed again.
To Gray, Barrett was just a war machine. And now that the war was over, the machine was no longer needed.
But Gray underestimated him.
Furious, Barrett killed Gray, then destroyed the army and the nation that had raised him.
He reduced the War-Torn Nation to a smoldering wasteland.
As he gazed upon the ruins of what once was his homeland, the boy gave himself a new name:
Douglas Barrett
To remind himself forever: there are no comrades, no trust—only strength can bring freedom.
At just 14 years old, he set out to sea alone, seeking strong opponents to challenge him and help him grow.
One year later, Douglas Barrett had never lost a battle.
He was wandering the seas, still undefeated, when he stopped to rest on a small island—just as a pirate ship appeared offshore.
"Eh? Captain, there's already a small boat docked here!"
Buggy stood at the bow, fully armed and alarmed.
"Did someone beat us to it?!"
He was flustered—this island was supposed to hold treasure.
During a previous battle, they had captured an enemy map. That treasure was their goal.
Now it looked like someone else had arrived first.
"Relax, Buggy! It's just some treasure. We're passing through anyway. If someone else grabbed it first, no big deal," Fang Yi said cheerfully, clapping him on the back.
"C'mon, Yi bro, don't say that! We worked hard to get this treasure map! How could a pirate just stand by and watch someone else snatch it!?" Buggy's red nose nearly poked Fang Yi's face in frustration.
Time had shown him the huge difference between himself and Fang Yi—so he'd joined Shanks in calling him "Yi-ge" (big bro Yi) out of respect.
"You're not wrong," Fang Yi replied, pushing Buggy's oversized face away, "but still, we follow Captain Roger and Mr. Rayleigh's orders. And look—it's just a tiny boat. Even if they found the treasure, how would they carry it off?"
"Hehe, you know Buggy—he just wants to be the first to find the loot," Shanks chuckled nearby.
"Shanks, you jerk!"
Buggy turned his annoyance toward Shanks, and the two started brawling again while Fang Yi shook his head.
Even if it was a small boat, it proved someone else was on the island.
Fang Yi scanned the landscape from the deck, keeping a sharp eye out.
—
"Alright, men—move out!"
With preparations complete, Roger gave the order to disembark.
Since the island was uninhabited, no one stayed behind to guard the ship.
Chef Yao and a few crew members set up a cooking station near the shore, preparing food for the inevitable banquet.
Every time Roger returned from land, there was always a party—so they started prepping right away.
"Yi, why didn't you go with the Captain this time?" Chef Yao asked, smiling as Fang Yi helped him chop ingredients.
"I'm not that into treasure," Fang Yi replied with a grin.
He wasn't. If it were a Poneglyph, sure—points and lore.
Ancient ruins or dangerous adventures? Absolutely.
But simple treasure hunting? Not interested.
He'd rather help Chef Yao out than nap peacefully on the beach and enjoy some rare downtime.