The Thousand Sunny.
The Straw Hat Pirates were sailing across the sea.
After defeating the Seven Warlords of the Sea member Moriah, this bunch had been following a certain route, searching everywhere for places suitable for their crewmates to train and study. As a result, the navigator Nami on board discovered that there was a problem with the Sailing Compass.
"The Log Pose suddenly shifted its direction…"
Nami stared at the Log Pose on her wrist, her expression turning more serious than ever before: "It's like the needle's being pulled by some powerful magnetic field. The inside was inexplicably and rapidly filled with magnetism, changing the direction of the pointer…"
"Where is it pointing?"
The group stood on deck, looking up at Nami as she scratched her head.
"I don't know yet…"
Nami raked her fingers through her hair.
"The judgment starting point of this sea."
Nico Robin was sitting on a deck chair, a newspaper in her hand. She slowly raised her head to look up at Nami, lightly tapping the newspaper as she repeated and explained, "Nami, what the Log Pose is pointing to… is the starting point of Konoha Pirates' judgment of this sea. The Konoha Pirates have altered the magnetic field of this entire ocean…"
"!!!"
Nami stared in disbelief at the Log Pose on her wrist.
It wasn't just the Straw Hat Pirates encountering this situation on the sea; every pirate crew or Navy vessel sailing anywhere on the ocean was running into the same predicament.
Just as the news article said, every Log Pose on the sea would point toward the starting point from which the Konoha Pirates would judge this world…
The New World.
Red-haired Shanks also had a newspaper in his hand.
This Sea Emperor had originally been surprised that a paper from the World Economic News Agency could be delivered to the New World so promptly, but he hadn't expected it to carry such a horrifying report!
"The sky's about to go dark…"
"The Log Pose has already changed direction…"
Ben Beckman stood by Shanks' side, speaking in a low voice as he recited the three prophecies printed in the paper and already fulfilled: "We've seen the meteor shower falling from the sky as well. The Holy Land Mary Geoise should already have been destroyed by Konoha…"
"Is that something humans can even do?"
Red-haired Shanks slowly turned his head, fixing Ben Beckman with a hard stare, hoping to hear an answer from this old friend.
"..."
Ben Beckman hesitated for a moment, then lazily lit a cigarette. Forcing a semblance of calm, he let out a long sigh before answering Shanks' question.
"Maybe…"
"It really is a god."
"The true god… of this sea."
"..."
The newspaper slipped from Red-haired Shanks' hand to the ground as he spoke in a low voice: "We were planning to head to the Whitebeard Sea Region to talk with him about the Konoha Pirates advancing into the New World, but it looks like we no longer have time to discuss anything with him…"
"There's nothing we can do about that."
Ben Beckman nodded and reminded his captain: "However, the Konoha Pirates have made all the Log Poses on the sea point toward what they call the judgment starting point…"
"They…"
Red-haired Shanks suddenly understood something, a sharp light flickering in his eyes: "Their goal is to lure everyone over! Those people want to challenge the entire world there!"
"That should be it."
Ben Beckman nodded.
"Then we'll head there too!"
Red-haired Shanks made his decision on the spot, a look of firm resolve flashing across his face: "Since they want to gather everyone on the sea in that place, we'll give them exactly what they want…"
After all…
He didn't have any other options!
Compared to the noisy agitation of the various pirate forces, the Navy's movements were noticeably quieter, because Marine Headquarters Marineford had only one Navy Admiral.
Aside from Akainu, this Navy Admiral, the base only had a number of Vice Admirals stationed there, since the Three Great Admirals of the Navy Headquarters needed to patrol outside and couldn't stay at the base permanently.
Akainu had a cigar clamped in his mouth, puffing smoke in the meeting room. A newspaper was laid out before him, his gaze shadowed and hard to read.
By now…
Akainu had grasped the full picture.
Whether it was the news report in the paper, or the magnetic field changes across the sea, the shifts in weather, and the destruction of Mary Geoise, all of it had been completely confirmed.
The Heavenly Celestial Dragons who'd managed to escape the meteor shower in the Holy Land Mary Geoise were still clamoring noisily, because after Mary Geoise's destruction they simply had nowhere to go. They wanted to head to Marineford, so close at hand, yet couldn't find a specific course there, and they had no way to remain at sea for long.
The Five Elders could only issue orders to Akainu, telling him to gather all Navy forces and head to the location indicated by the Log Pose. The surviving Heavenly Celestial Dragons would also move toward the region the Log Poses pointed to; both sides had to rendezvous as soon as possible at that so-called judgment starting point.
"..."
Akainu felt a bit vexed.
He had just been promoted to Navy Admiral not long ago and was still thinking about how to carry out sweeping reforms in the Navy, and then the Konoha Pirates went and caused this colossal mess…
However…
Akainu had also received a message from Aokiji.
This upheaval that targeted the entire world wasn't carried out by the people aboard the Konoha Pirates' ship; it should have been done by the man behind the Konoha Pirates, because the Konoha Pirates themselves were also heading toward the area indicated by the Log Poses.
Clearly…
The person behind the Konoha Pirates had made a move.
If they could reach that so-called starting point, they should be able to see what kind of man it was standing behind the Konoha Pirates—the man who, by his power alone, had reshaped the entire sea…