This...
On the warship bearing the flag of the World Government, the deck was crammed with people.
Every single one of them stood dumbstruck, eyes wide, staring at the distant island. Two massive figures leapt skyward, wreathed in golden lightning.
BOOM!
The deafening impact shook the heavens, forcing everyone to clap their hands over their ears.
A heartbeat later, a violent shockwave swept outward. Even at the very edge of the battlefield, the marines were blasted off their feet by the sheer force of the backlash.
Before they could even get up, a towering wave — over ten meters high — surged toward them.
"Everyone brace yourselves! A massive wave is coming!"
From the crow's nest, the lookout bellowed with a voice like a cracking gong.
The marines below, hearing the warning, froze for a moment, their minds going completely blank.
The acting officer in command roared furiously:
"Turn the bow! Evade immediately! Prepare to maneuver!"
His voice snapped the dazed sailors back to their senses. In an instant, men scrambled desperately to their stations, hands flying over the rigging and wheels to steer the warship.
These were elite troops, trained personally under the World Government. Within moments, the ship adjusted its heading, turning sharply to ride out the wave.
Fortunately, the giant swell raised by the impact clashed against oncoming tides, colliding and dispersing, gradually weakening.
By the time the waves reached the stern of the warship, their height had dropped from over ten meters to only a few.
A few-meter swell was nothing to a hundred-meter-long government battleship. The ship rode the waves easily.
Once the danger had passed, the ship turned its prow back toward the island.
"Supreme Commander!!"
The moment they saw clearly, the soldiers' faces twisted with shock.
The man they revered as unshakable as a mountain — their Supreme Commander — was clutched upside down in the talons of that golden monster!
High above the island, Ghidorah suddenly released its claws.
Steel-Bone Kong, still in his Kong Form, plummeted like a meteor from nearly a thousand meters in the sky.
Wooo—BOOOM!!!
The howl of wind tearing apart was followed by a thunderous crash. From the island's center, a towering cloud of dust erupted into the heavens.
"Supreme Commander!!"
The marines on the ship cried out in horror.
Their eyes filled with despair as they stared at the golden monster hovering in the sky.
Even their indomitable Supreme Commander had been defeated. Did that mean this world truly had no hope left?
Was the World Government truly about to fall?
"Wh-what's that…?"
"The Navy?!"
In the midst of despair, one soldier caught sight of a ship approaching the side of the island. Raising a telescope, he immediately recognized the insignia on its sail.
The Navy — an institution under the World Government!
"Heh… interesting. Did they come here… for him?"
Ghidorah's left head plunged into the dust cloud, waiting for Kong to drop his transformation. The instant Kong reverted, he would devour him without hesitation.
But just as he waited, an unexpected turn of events erupted.
Ghidorah's central head turned toward the coastline where a Marine vessel was making landfall. His eyes narrowed. A sudden disturbance pricked at his senses, and he instinctively looked skyward.
RUMMMBLE!
The heavy clouds split apart again. From the heavens fell a massive meteor — at least fifty meters across.
"Gravity? …Attraction?"
He immediately thought of the approaching warship. Realization dawned, and a twisted grin stretched across his maw.
"Fujitora… is it?"
Muttering to himself, Ghidorah's right head jerked upward and unleashed a golden beam of destructive energy.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The falling meteor shattered instantly, reduced to dust and rubble under the terrifying breath.
"Was this Borsalino's decision?"
Ghidorah's central head never shifted its gaze. He watched the approaching figures: a towering blind man in purple robes, and beside him, a wild-looking man with a cocky grin.
"Hahahaha! Don't get the wrong idea. We're only passing through on our way to Marine Headquarters for a meeting!"
Before Fujitora could speak, the other man — Ryokugyu — burst out laughing. His eyes flicked toward the battered Kong, still wreathed in the fading dust.
"So that's the World Government's Supreme Commander, huh?"
"Click-click… what a terrifying body he's got!"
Ghidorah didn't know much about Ryokugyu, almost nothing in fact. But there was something about him… something eerily familiar.
"Marine Admiral Ryokugyu, is it?"
"There's a strange sense of familiarity coming from you."
Ryokugyu blinked, then suddenly laughed even harder.
"Hah! Haven't you realized yet?"
With a grin, he tore open his shirt, exposing his chest — and the silver-gray emblem of a crescent moon emblazoned on it.
"…Pikarian?"
Ghidorah's eyes widened, finally recognizing the source of that familiar aura.
So it was bloodline resonance again.
The Pikarians weren't the same race as him or King, but they all hailed from the same homeland. And during the early experiments back home, Ghidorah had sampled blood from countless other species.
It was that reckless tampering that had left him with his genetic disease — forcing him to search for other paths of survival.
As for the origin of Devil Fruits told in the "canon," he had no knowledge of it. In this world, Devil Fruits were nothing more than accidental byproducts of his genetic experiments.
Back then, before he even realized this was the One Piece world, he had jokingly dubbed those creations "Devil Fruits" — merging them with bionic technology.
In those early years, no one besides him had eaten such fruits. The "powers" they granted were merely hybridizations with machinery, tools to advance their technology.
But when their homeland collapsed from resource scarcity, and war broke out abroad, those terrifying abilities spread — and the fruits began reappearing in their natural form after their hosts died.
It was only then that Ghidorah finally realized the truth: the world he'd landed in was indeed the world of One Piece.
"Hahahaha… seems I've found the right person. You know more than I do."
Ryokugyu grinned, genuinely pleased. Had it not been for the Devil Fruit he'd eaten on a desolate island years ago, he would have been dead. To find someone from the same homeland now filled him with unexpected joy.
As for the World Government and the Marines? He served when it suited him. Orders meant nothing — he lived as he pleased.
"Sometimes, knowing too much isn't necessarily a blessing."
Ghidorah had no interest in digging into the past. Instead, his gaze shifted toward Fujitora.
"You want to save him?"
That meteor just now — Ghidorah had taken note of it. The question wasn't without reason.
"…I'm not sure. But this old man feels… he shouldn't die here."
Fujitora's voice was conflicted. Ever since joining the Marines, the things he had seen, heard, and felt had been far from the justice he envisioned.
Especially after meeting Straw Hat Luffy, that sense of doubt only grew stronger.
Now, he found himself lost on his path.
"You think you can stop me?"
Ghidorah's tone wasn't angry — only curious.
But before Fujitora could answer, two more voices suddenly rang out from the skies.
"He can't."
"We can."
In the blink of an eye, two silhouettes appeared amidst the Marines.
SNAP!
With a casual snap of his fingers, one of the newcomers summoned sprawling green vines that wrapped around Steel-Bone Kong's battered body.
The Kong Form melted away, his human form restored as the vines dragged him underground — only to reemerge moments later, placing him safely behind the two figures.
"…Clem."
The instant he saw that ability, Ghidorah recognized him.
His colossal dragon heads twisted into a hideous snarl.
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