The Grand Line – Unknown Sea, Rael's Mobile Base: Obsidian Ark
The Obsidian Ark was not a traditional ship.
It was a leviathan-shaped vessel, black as the night sea, built from wreckage of sunken ships, sky-island metals, and voidstone mined from a crater deep within the Calm Belt. It glided not on wind or water — but on Rael's control of gravity and space.
From the outside, it appeared as a moving shadow. From within, it was a sanctum of strategy.
Inside, maps of the world hung suspended in the air, bent through spatial folds.
Rael stood before them in silence.
Behind him knelt his first three hand-picked followers, those who had joined him after Karthas:
Lysara – the fallen Celestial Dragon who seeks to erase the line of "godblood"
Vale – the bard who spies for Rael across the seas through song and coded verse
Shien – a former Cipher Pol tactician who faked his death after learning the truth about Imu
Each had a mission.
Each was already in motion.
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🐉 Rael's Strategy: Subtle Domination
Rael did not conquer islands openly — not yet.
Instead, he toppled regimes from within, used misinformation to expose pirate lords, or deployed gravitational anomalies to erase marine outposts.
He didn't leave flags.
He left power vacuums… and then filled them through proxies.
In the West Blue, five islands now followed Rael's "Ghost Crown" — a banner only whispered about.
In the New World, a Warlord's hidden weapons lab went missing overnight.
In the North Blue, pirate fleets began to disappear entirely — not defeated… but displaced, warped into a silent spatial void.
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📍 Meanwhile: Mariejois – Room of the Five Elders
The Five Elders gathered around a flame that burned black.
A report from Cipher Pol-0 lay on the table.
It detailed:
An "unknown force" dismantling arms trade rings
Unregistered "gravitational pressure" signatures
A possible reappearance of the Sora Sora no Mi, believed lost
> "These are not coincidences," muttered the bald elder with the sword.
"The Trinity… it may be alive after all."
> "Impossible," spat another. "He would've died as a child."
"Unless," added the scarred elder slowly, "someone protected him. Hid him."
They locked eyes.
> "We must monitor the Summit War closely. If he's alive, he'll come for his brother."
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⚔️ Meanwhile: New World – Onboard the Red Force (Shanks)
Shanks stood at the bow of his ship, looking toward the sea as if it had whispered something to him.
Benn Beckman approached with a report.
> "Three islands fell in a day. No flag raised. Locals refuse to explain. No bounty posted."
Shanks narrowed his eyes.
> "You know, Beck… I've been watching a shadow grow behind Luffy's footsteps."
> "You think it's the cousin?" Beckman asked.
Shanks nodded slowly.
> "If he's walking this path… then when Luffy reaches the summit, he won't be alone."
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📢 Rumors Begin to Spread…
> "They say the World Government lost a fleet to a black storm… with no wind."
"A noble from Mariejois vanished from inside a sealed room — and reappeared in a coffin."
"Have you heard of the Crownless King? No name, no crew, just silence and weight…"
On the seas, sailors began calling him:
The Crownless Tyrant
The Phantom Emperor
The Black Architect
But Rael had no need for names. Not yet.
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🦋 A Glimpse of Marineford
A crow flew over the sea, carrying a message from Vale to Rael's Ark:
> "Ace has been captured. Execution scheduled. Luffy will move. Whitebeard too.
Your window opens."
Rael read it in silence.
Then, he turned to his mirror-map of the world and whispered:
> "It begins."