Pirates closed in from every direction, footsteps pounding like a stampede.
Emma spins her blades nervously.
"There's too many," Emma said.
"Amy, stay close to—"
Noah walked forward alone.
Emma grabbed his arm.
"Noah, what are you doing?!"
He didn't answer.
Amy frowned.
"Uh… Noah? You're acting weird again."
Noah stopped and inhaled slow and deep.
The air vibrated around his body, rushing toward him as if the atmosphere itself feared him.
Emma blinked.
"Why is the wind…moving towards him?"
Amy's eyes widened.
"Noah…? Why are you breathing like that?"
Emma stepped back.
"Noah...what are you about to do?!"
The ground shook.
The pirates hesitated, confused.
Noah opened his mouth and the air around his teeth ignited.
Amy's voice cracked.
"WAIT— NOAH?!"
ABNORMAL VECTOR MANIPULATION.
Emma and Amy froze.
"MAJESTIC"
The entire street brightened.
"DESTROYER FLAMES." 🔥
FWO O O O O O O O O M!!!
A tidal wave of fire exploded from Noah's mouth.
The pirates screamed, running away but the fire bent midair and chased them down.
Emma shielded her face.
"HE'S— HE'S BREATHING FIRE?!"
The flames kept growing, stretching across the street like a dragon's roar, swallowing every pirate for nearly a hundred meters.
Logia users tried to scatter into elements—smoke, sand, mud, ash but the flames twisted their particles back together with raw vector force, burning their reformed bodies in an instant.
"NOAH, ARE YOU TRYING TO COOK THE ENTIRE ISLAND?!" Amy screamed.
The inferno raged for ten full seconds before Noah snapped his jaw shut and exhaled.
The streets were scorched black.
The Trees Noah created were still burning.
Every pirate had been burned to death or had been wounded badly.
Emma stared at him, stunned.
"Noah… just… what even WAS that?"
Amy poked his cheek cautiously.
"…Is your throat okay? Do you need water? Tea? Medical attention??"
Noah grinned.
"See? That wasn't so bad."
Emma pointed at the ruined street.
"You just breathed out a flaming apocalypse!"
"WHY didn't you warn us?!" Amy asked.
Noah shrugged.
"Would you two have let me do it?"
Emma and Amy shouted in unison.
"NO!"
Noah smirked.
"Well, there you go."
"Come on. We've got an island to save." Noah said walking away.
Emma sighed.
"He calls this 'saving'… unbelievable."
Amy chuckles nervously.
"No more surprises like that! My heart can't take it."
Noah laughed.
"No promises."
The battle was now over, but the island still smelled like burnt earth and corpses. Noah stepped over a burned body.
"Alright… that should be the last of them," he said, brushing dust off his coat.
Emma sheathed her blades with a sigh. "We've searched every where, i don't think anymore pirates are here except for us."
Amy kicked a stone. "Hmph… I wanted to punch at least one more guy."
Emma gave her a side-eye. "You're getting too violent ."
"You're one to talk," Amy muttered.
Noah waved them along. "Come on. Let's go back to the town and make sure everyone's alright."
They walked down the cracked road until the small town came into view. The people slowly emerged from hiding, peeking behind doors, corners, and broken fences.
A little girl ran out first.
"Are they gone?!"
Noah smiled lightly. "Yeah. Sorry for the mess. I… kinda caused a lot of chaos."
The townsfolk blinked.
Then the mayor an old man with trembling hands laughed.
"You saved us. If chaos is the price, then cause as much chaos as you want!"
The townspeople cheered.
Amy nudged Noah. "See? They like your psychotic forest."
"It wasn't psychotic," Noah muttered.
"It came out of the ground like a monster," Emma added.
"I just have really good gardening skiils."
The townsfolk moved closer, smiling with relief.
"You three… thank you!"
"You saved our lives!"
"We thought Blackbeard's men would be here forever "
Noah scratched his cheek. "Well… as long as you're safe."
He threw both hands up.
"NOW LET'S HAVE A PARTY!"
The entire town exploded into cheers.
■■■■■■LATER THAT DAY■■■■■■■■
Tables were dragged into the streets. Lanterns flashed. Music blasted. Someone even brought a ridiculous barrel of rum twice Noah's height.
And Noah.
He was eating like a monster.
"NOAH!" Emma yelled. "THAT'S YOUR ELEVENTH PLATE!"
Noah talked while stuffing his mouth. "It'sh good!"
Amy slapped his hand. "Stop eating all the chicken! Leave some for the rest of us!"
"No," Noah said immediately, grabbing three more legs.
Emma dropped her head into her hands. "Why do you become a wild animal when food appears?"
Noah pointed a bone at her. "Training. Fighting. Eating. These are the foundations of life."
Amy raised a brow. "You forgot sleeping."
"Sleeping is for the weak," Noah said confidently then yawned.
Emma laughed as she sipped a drink. "You're ridiculous."
The villagers danced around them.
Children climbed on Noah's shoulders.
The crowd begged Emma for sword tricks.
A group kept asking Amy to show off her strength.
"Punch that rock!" a kid begged.
Amy blinked. "You want me to punch… a rock?"
"Please!"
She shrugged and punched it once, shattering it.
The crowd screamed.
Emma rolled her eyes. "You're going to make these people think you're some kind of monster."
"I am not scary." Amy said with a smile.
Noah raised a cup. "TO OUR NEW FRIENDS!"
Everyone shouted with him.
"To the Destroyer!"
"To Emma the Blade Dancer!"
"To the Tiny Pink Demon!"
Amy froze. "…Tiny?"
Emma burst out laughing.
Noah coughed his drink.
Amy's eyebrow twitched. "WHO CALLED ME TINY?!"
The entire village scattered.
■■■■■■ THE NEXT MORNING ■■■■■■
The sun rose slowly over the island, lighting up the sleepy town that partied until dawn.
Emma rubbed her eyes. "My head hurts…"
Amy clutched her stomach. "I ate too much…"
Noah stood perfectly fine.
"GOOD MORNING!"
Emma and Amy glared at him in unison.
"Why are you so energetic?"
"Did you even sleep?!"
Noah ignored them and walked straight toward the bartender, who was cleaning the counter.
" Thanks for letting us stay then night here. Plus I've got something for you," Noah said.
The bartender blinked. "For me?"
Noah pulled out a folded flag with his Jolly Roger.
"Put this up," Noah said. "From today on, this island is my territory."
The bartender's hands trembled as she unfolded it.
"You… mean you're protecting us?"
Noah nodded.
"Blackbeard won't touch this place again."
Tears formed in the woman's eyes.
"Thank you. Thank you for everything."
Noah smiled, turned, and walked out of the bar.
The crew headed back to the Scarlett.
Noah jumped aboard the ship.
Emma hopped onto the deck beside him. "Alright, I'm setting sail!"
Amy waved to the villagers who came to say goodbye. "Goodbye!"
The ship slowly drifted away from the shoreline as the islanders raised Noah's flag high above the island.
Emma stretched. "Next stop?"
"Dressrosa," Noah answered.
Amy tilted her head. "Why Dressrosa? And… where is that?"
Noah tossed Emma a small box.
She opened it, inside was an Eternal Log Pose, with three needles pointing in different directions.
"Use that from now on," Noah said. "Normal Log Poses don't work right in these waters."
Amy leaned over Emma's shoulder. "Three needles… which one do we follow?"
Noah grinned. "The one that looks the most dangerous."
"That's not helpful!" Emma replied.
Amy threw her hands up. "We're doomed!"
Noah laughed. "Relax! Emma will navigate us through everything."
Emma murmured, "That somehow makes me more nervous…"
Amy sighed. "I'll go cook breakfast."
Noah pointed. "MAKE SOMETHING BIG!"
"You eat like a Sea King," Amy muttered.
"No I don't," Noah protested.
Suddenly.
A massive shadow rose from the water beside the ship.
A Sea King.
With six horns
Three rows of teeth
And breath that smelled like rotten tuna.
Both Emma and Amy screamed.
"Noah, THAT'S A SEA KING!"
"DO SOMETHING!"
Noah blinked. "Huh. That one's kinda cute."
The Sea King roared and tried to bite the ship.
"CUTE?! THAT THING IS HUGE!" Emma replied.
"IT JUST TRIED TO EAT US!" Amy said.
Noah stared at the sea king.
Conqueror's Haki then erupted from his body.
The Sea King went stiff, eyes rolling back, before collapsing back into the sea.
Amy gaped. "You didn't even stand up…"
Emma: "You terrify me sometimes."
Noah shrugged. "He looked tasty."
As they continued sailing, the sky twisted into swirls, clouds spinning faster and faster.
Amy leaned out of the kitchen window. "Um… Noah? The sky looks weird."
The wind suddenly shifted then blew backward.
Emma grabbed the helm. "We're going uphill!"
"No," Amy shouted, "the ocean is going uphill!"
A massive wave rose behind them like a mountain.
Emma: "ROW! ROW! ROW!"
Amy: "THIS IS A SHIP NOT A CANOE!!"
Noah stared at the wave calmly. "Hmm. Looks fun."
Emma screamed, "NOT FUN!"
The wave crashed toward them—
Noah raised one finger.
"Vector Shift."
The wave suddenly tilted sideways and slammed into a completely different direction.
Emma slumped over the wheel. "My heart is going to explode…"
Noah smiled.
Amy muttered, " I rather fight Eneru than staying here…"
Far behind them…
A Marine ship spotted Noah's vessel cutting through the water.
A Marine soldier raised a telescope.
"Sir! There! That flag! I recognize it!"
A Vice Admiral stepped forward, cape blowing in the wind.
He looked through the telescope.
A young man laughing
A girl with two blades steering
A pink-haired girl bringing food to the deck.
The Vice Admiral's face twisted.
"That's Noah…The Destroyer."
"Should we report this to headquarters, sir?" a Marine asked.
The Vice Admiral lowered the telescope.
"No. Not yet."
"Why not?"
A smirk formed on his lips.
"Because I'm going to be the one to capture him."
The Marines scrambled into action.
The Vice Admiral pointed to Noah's ship.
"Prepare for pursuit! We've found our target!"
The Marine warship turned sharply and set course straight for Noah.