Island of Knowledge — Ohara.
Dozens of kilometers off the coastline, the waves surged as soldiers gathered on the decks, loading round after round of cannonballs into place.
At the shore, countless Ohara residents preparing to set sail, along with travelers who happened to be visiting, all gazed out in confusion at the massive fleet in the distance.
That... looked like the Navy?
Those warships and the seagull-flag—they definitely looked right. Countless vessels sliced through the sea, rapidly approaching Ohara in a full-on encirclement.
Cannons adjusted their angles, aiming squarely at Ohara from afar.
On the decks stood many high-ranking officers rarely seen in the West Blue.
The most eye-catching were two tall men—
One with curly hair and sunglasses.
The other, brawny and wearing a hat.
On the other side stood a man in a pinstripe suit draped in a gray-and-white cape. He held a golden Den Den Mushi with an odd shape, looking arrogant as he appeared to be giving deployment orders.
Anyone with knowledge would be stunned at the sight of that golden Den Den Mushi—
It was a symbol that the World Government's final line had been crossed.
There would be no negotiations.
The supreme overlords of the sea were about to unleash absolute punishment—
The Buster Call!!!
Usually composed of more than ten warships and five or more Vice Admirals,
It signaled an indiscriminate annihilation of the designated area!
The thick atmosphere of war finally stirred doubt and fear among the citizens gathered along the coast.
"Hey... why do I feel like those Navy ships are heading for Ohara?"
"No way, could it be that some major pirate showed up here?"
"What kind of pirate would need this kind of firepower? The Pirate King?"
The crowd murmured in panic, not realizing that, in fact, there was someone here who fit that description—
A true pirate of legendary stature, worthy of such a massive mobilization.
At this moment, he was calmly sitting on a cliff, sipping orange juice through a straw.
Come to think of it, after this Buster Call... the Three Admirals were about to rise, huh.
Orin mused over the history stored in his memories.
Next to the juice-sipping Orin sat the handsome, pale-faced Mihawk, wearing a red floral shirt, arms crossed over his chest, gazing indifferently at the fleet in the distance.
He then shifted his gaze to Orin, noticing how calm he was, as if expecting all of this. Coolly, he asked:
"Is this entire naval operation really for the two of us?"
You couldn't blame Mihawk for thinking that.
They'd only been relaxing on this island for a few days, and it was just a regular island in the West Blue—no masters of Haki, no powerful warriors.
How could that possibly warrant a mobilization of this scale?
With that in mind, Mihawk slowly drew the magnificent black blade on his back—Yoru, the Black Blade.
He looked ready to make the first move—a hundred-meter slash as a greeting to the Navy.
It was no exaggeration—
If no one stopped him, Mihawk could slice through a warship with a single swing, a clean, seamless cut. It didn't matter how many ships there were.
In the face of true power, numbers no longer mattered. At most, only the five Vice Admirals might survive his blade.
"Huh? What would the two of us do to deserve this...? Okay, maybe we do deserve it a little."
"But this Buster Call isn't aimed at us. Besides, the World Government knows full well that something like a Buster Call is a joke to me."
If they really wanted to deal with Orin, they'd at least need to send top-tier elites for a sneak attack.
A mass encirclement of warships?
To Orin, they were just a bunch of moving targets.
"Their real goal... is the destruction of Ohara. You saw that massive tree in the center of town, didn't you? This so-called Island of Knowledge is home to many scholars studying a certain history."
"History?"
"A history the World Government has hidden at all costs—even wiping out an entire nation to keep it buried. A forbidden history."
At those words, Mihawk's face finally grew solemn. Beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
It went that deep...?
"Do you want to hear it? I can give you the basics," Orin said with a smile, glancing at the young hawk beside him.
"Forget it. I get the feeling this is one of those things that'll be a huge pain to know about. Besides, I'm not interested in history anyway."
The cold and aloof sword-obsessed Mihawk declined Orin's offer to spill the secrets.
Orin didn't push. He simply continued watching the impending "end of the world."
Reaching for a truth one couldn't bear without the power to match...
Whether you call it an ideal or a death wish—
Orin wasn't some saintly soul. He wasn't going to intervene.
...
On a Navy warship,
At the front of the assembled marines stood a tall figure at the bow.
Wearing a black Marine coat and dark sunglasses that obscured his expression,
Vice Admiral Kuzan quietly stared at the coast as murmurs rose behind him.
"Are we really going to fire indiscriminately? There are a lot of civilians over there..."
"Shut it! That's an order!"
"But still... no matter how you look at it, this is—"
Though many Marines had doubts in their hearts, the CP agents—the World Government's enforcers—had not the slightest shred of mercy.
...
Under the command's orders, the first wave of cannon fire erupted—unleashing indiscriminate bombardment across the entirety of Ohara.
Chaos erupted instantly!!!
BOOM!!!
Explosions and the screams of civilians filled the air, turning this once-beautiful island into a living hell.
Locals and travelers alike perished under the relentless rain of cannon fire.
They could hardly believe it—
That the Navy, widely hailed as the symbol of justice, would actually slaughter civilians here and now.
Soon, Marines from several warships began landing, ruthlessly hunting down scholars hiding in the crowd.
Amidst the terrified masses fleeing in panic, two figures stood out sharply—
Casually strolling, utterly unfazed by the crying, screaming chaos around them. They looked like they belonged to a different world entirely.
Orin had no intention of hiding his identity. There was no one in these seas that he needed to fear or avoid.
Any cannonball, stray bullet, explosion, or flying debris that came within ten meters of him—
Vanished without a trace.
Eventually, the two stood atop a tall building, using a Den Den Mushi to record the entire destruction of Ohara.
Checkpoint Logged: Ohara's Destruction +1
Naturally, their distinctive posture and presence soon caught the attention of the Navy and CP agents.
But when those forces surrounded the building and got a proper look at the figure smiling and waving at them...
They froze on the spot, jaws wide open, unable to utter a sound.
Even their guns dropped from trembling hands—they didn't dare pick them back up.
H-how... how could it be!?!!
After a long silence, someone finally raised a shaking Den Den Mushi, nearly screaming in terror:
"R-reporting to Command—A presence has appeared that we cannot handle!!"
"A Marine saying such nonsense? In the face of a Buster Call ordered by the World Government, what so-called 'big shot' would dare stand in the way!?" came the stern, skeptical voice on the other end.
"It's... it's that guy..."
The Marine was sobbing now, snot and tears running down his face. His pupils quivered uncontrollably.
"It's Black Gun—Orin!!!"