It was the year 1505 of the Sea Circle Calendar.
Seven years had passed since the beginning of the Great Pirate Era.
And three months had already gone by since the conclusion of the Golden Sea War.
With the World Government no longer capable of launching another large-scale war, and the Navy temporarily entering a period of recovery, the New World once again descended into chaos.
Pirate wars erupted across the seas.
Smoke and fire spread endlessly through the New World, marking an era where Overlords and Emperors competed for supremacy.
Ever since the Great Pirate Era began, true peace had never existed in the New World.
Even the stable Four Emperor structure from the original timeline had never fully formed here.
Part of the reason was time.
The other, more important reason was that the chaotic balance of the New World had repeatedly been interrupted, delayed, or forcibly suppressed by various wars and external events.
Now, however, the structure of the sea was gradually beginning to settle.
The Four Emperors already existed.
And among all pirate forces, very few still possessed the qualifications to challenge that position.
At present, the only true contender was the Nightfall Pirates.
Compared to becoming a Sea Emperor, however, the position of Overlord felt far more attainable for the vast majority of pirates.
To countless ambitious crews, the Emperor's throne was still too distant.
The title of Overlord, however, felt close enough to touch.
Unless they truly reached that level themselves, most pirates would never believe they could stand alongside monsters like Charlotte Linlin or Kaido.
Naturally, territory remained one of the most important standards.
Because islands varied greatly in size and value, precise calculations were impossible. Over time, people gradually began using the number of territories as the simplest measure.
And thus, an unwritten rule slowly spread through the New World.
To become an Overlord, the minimum requirement was thirty islands.
Occupying thirty islands represented enormous influence.
It meant that a pirate crew had already surpassed ordinary forces by a massive margin.
As pirate crews grew stronger, their scale naturally expanded as well.
This could be seen clearly among the largest forces in the New World.
The Whitebeard Pirates.
The Flying Pirates.
Their affiliated crews and subordinate forces were all counted as part of their overall power.
Of course, exceptions still existed.
The Red-Haired Pirates, for example, followed an elite strategy.
Their numbers were small.
But their overall combat strength was terrifying.
A crew like that could easily become powerful while controlling relatively little territory, unless they deliberately expanded.
This contradiction led to endless debate regarding the so-called "Overlord standards."
Many people refused to acknowledge the theory entirely.
Even the great pirates themselves paid it little attention.
Still, among ambitious pirate crews, the theory gradually became accepted as a useful reference point.
Because regardless of the arguments, it still reflected the direction most pirate crews eventually developed toward.
At the end of the day, everything still revolved around one thing.
Supremacy.
Whether one sought the title of Emperor or Overlord, all pirates walked the same bloody path.
Even elite-only crews could not avoid it forever.
If they wished, they could simply recruit subordinate crews and affiliated forces to expand their influence indirectly.
And territorial conflict itself was unavoidable in the New World.
While the seas descended into another round of violent warfare, the Nightfall Pirates focused solely on expansion and internal development.
Far away, near the front half of the New World, another secret conflict quietly began.
It centered around a legendary treasure.
Pure Gold.
More than two hundred years ago, an island called Alchemi, known as the Island of Steel, mysteriously vanished from the world.
Along with it disappeared the legendary Pure Gold.
A treasure rumored to possess enough value to buy the entire world itself.
The World Government had never stopped searching for it.
Neither had the Celestial Dragons.
On a quiet island located within the sea region where Alchemi once existed, a blonde little girl leisurely wandered through the streets with curious eyes.
It was as though she had spent countless years trapped somewhere isolated from the world.
Unfortunately for her, she was quickly noticed by the World Government's intelligence network.
Although the World Government's intelligence agencies had suffered devastating losses during the Golden Sea War, their foundation still stretched across eight hundred years.
Even weakened, they remained one of the greatest intelligence organizations on the planet.
Funding shortages had forced most large-scale operations to halt.
But truly important missions still received support.
Especially now.
After the emergency World Conference concluded, the Heavenly Tribute had finally been renegotiated down to five billion Berries annually, only half of its original amount.
The World Government hated accepting such humiliating terms.
But they had no choice.
They desperately needed money.
The Navy required rebuilding.
Government departments needed to function again.
And the rebellion on the Red Line was still causing endless losses.
With fresh funds injected into the system, portions of the World Government's intelligence network slowly began operating once more.
Then suddenly, they received astonishing news.
A descendant of Alchemi had appeared.
The World Government instantly became excited.
At the current stage, cooperating with the Navy was impossible.
The pirates' nerves were already stretched to the limit. Another major war would benefit nobody.
The World Government itself had developed something close to trauma after the Golden Sea War.
Thus, they chose to act secretly.
CP agents and elite operatives were immediately dispatched into the New World.
Their mission was simple.
Capture the girl.
And use her to locate Pure Gold.
Leading the operation was an elite CP0 operative wearing a green mask.
Codename:
Soul Eater.
A terrifying Paramecia-type Devil Fruit user possessing combat power comparable to an Admiral.
Originally, Soul Eater had been scheduled to participate in the Golden Sea War.
However, concerns about Marshall D. Teach ultimately changed those plans.
Teach's Dark-Dark Fruit possessed terrifying restraint against Devil Fruit users, especially those reliant on attraction-type abilities.
Compared to the Suku Suku no Mi, Teach's gravity-like darkness was even more dangerous.
In the end, the World Government replaced Soul Eater with the red-masked CP0 operative instead.
That decision proved correct.
Otherwise, they might have lost another top-tier powerhouse.
The deployment of Soul Eater alone demonstrated how seriously the World Government viewed this mission.
However, they were not the only ones searching for Pure Gold.
The Flying Pirates had also secretly been investigating the legend for years.
Under Rhinos's leadership, they continuously gathered every rumor connected to lifespan, immortality, and legendary treasures.
Unfortunately, information regarding Pure Gold was incredibly scarce.
The Island of Steel had vanished for more than two centuries.
Only legends remained.
Still, Rhinos never gave up.
Everything he did was ultimately for the Flying Pirates.
And for Shiki.
Because everyone understood one truth.
The Flying Pirates existed because of Shiki.
If something happened to him, the Flying Pirates would collapse almost immediately.
The remaining members would either die, disappear into seclusion, or be absorbed by other forces.
That was why Rhinos desperately searched for anything connected to extending lifespan.
And now, after years of failure, he finally discovered hope.
The World Government had seemingly found real information regarding Pure Gold.
And the key to everything was that mysterious blonde girl.
She had appeared suddenly, almost as though she materialized out of thin air.
No records.
No history.
Nothing.
The moment Rhinos realized this, he personally departed.
Flying alone toward the front region of the New World at astonishing speed.
Meanwhile, the World Government's agents attempted to capture the girl before higher-level forces arrived.
Although those agents themselves were not particularly powerful, capturing a little girl should have been effortless.
They only needed to secure and hide her temporarily.
Unfortunately, they failed.
Through a moment of carelessness, the girl escaped.
She fled riding atop a gigantic green lizard capable of running across the sea itself.
The scene attracted considerable attention.
Fortunately for the World Government, news regarding Pure Gold had not leaked.
Most witnesses merely assumed human traffickers were involved.
The only thing people found strange was the enormous dinosaur-like lizard sprinting over the ocean.
Meanwhile, Rhinos cursed the World Government the entire way.
If those idiots had captured the girl properly, he could have simply stolen her from them afterward.
Now the situation had become much more troublesome.
Still, Rhinos remained confident.
His flying speed far exceeded that of the World Government.
Soon, Flying Pirate intelligence agents secretly began monitoring every nearby island.
The moment the blonde girl appeared again, Rhinos would know immediately.
The World Government did the same.
But their efficiency clearly fell behind.
Thus began a hidden struggle between the Flying Pirates and the World Government over Pure Gold.
Far away at sea, Olga tightly hugged the giant lizard's neck as it sprinted over the waves.
Her breathing was ragged.
The outside world was terrifying.
She never expected people would still be hunting Pure Gold after all these years.
She had barely entered the sea before nearly getting captured.
Pure Gold had already destroyed her life once before.
Because of it, her mother was murdered.
Because of it, Alchemi Island fell into disaster.
At that moment, Olga even began regretting leaving the giant lantern fish.
Eventually, after continuous fleeing, she arrived at an uninhabited island.
She still had no idea how many people were searching for her.
After briefly resting, Olga walked toward a large tree and began digging.
Soon, she buried a cylindrical glass container beneath the roots.
Inside rested a fist-sized chunk of glowing gold.
Pure Gold.
Inside the giant lantern fish existed a hidden third stomach.
That place contained the swallowed remains of Alchemi itself.
And there, hidden deep within the ruins, Olga had accidentally activated a mechanism left behind by her father.
She discovered his laboratory.
Learned the truth about Pure Gold.
And finally forgave him.
Everything he did had been for her sake.
Unfortunately, Olga believed her father had long since died.
In reality, he was still alive inside the lantern fish, trapped within a dinosaur nest.
After discovering Pure Gold, Olga accidentally escaped from the lantern fish and returned to the outside world.
Knowing how dangerous the treasure was, she hid it immediately.
Now she wanted only one thing.
To return Pure Gold back into the lantern fish forever.
The outside world was beautiful.
But it was far more dangerous.
Thinking carefully, Olga even suspected the lantern fish's existence itself was connected to Pure Gold.
Even the ring her father left her contained a fragment of Pure Gold embedded within it.
"Please appear quickly, Lord Lantern Fish," Olga silently prayed.
She removed the ring from her finger.
Even under broad daylight, the Pure Gold embedded within it shone brilliantly.
Then suddenly, the sea erupted violently.
A gigantic lantern fish burst upward from beneath the ocean.
Its enormous mouth opened wide as it began swallowing seawater while moving directly toward the island itself.
It intended to devour the entire island whole.
Olga had been waiting for this exact moment.
Prepared in advance, she immediately climbed onto the giant lizard's back.
But at that exact instant, a violent gust of wind suddenly struck.
Olga reacted too slowly.
The container holding Pure Gold slipped from her hands.
Before she could catch it, the airflow carried it away.
Then a hand reached out and grabbed it cleanly from the sky.
Rhinos.
While flying overhead, he had suddenly noticed a dazzling golden light shining below.
Even without seeing Pure Gold before, Rhinos immediately realized what it likely was.
And when he saw the blonde girl beneath it, his suspicions were completely confirmed.
The airflow delivered the container directly into his hand.
At the same moment, Olga and the island itself were swallowed into the lantern fish's massive body by the raging current.
Everything happened unbelievably fast.
Even Rhinos himself did not expect things to proceed this smoothly.
He stared at the cylindrical container in his hand.
Inside was a special liquid capable of suppressing the glow of Pure Gold itself.
The legendary treasure sought for over two hundred years had finally fallen into his hands.
But Rhinos quickly regained his composure.
He needed to leave immediately.