Mary Geoise, Pangaea Castle, Hall of the World King.
A black silhouette wearing a sharp, pointed crown sat upon the massive throne at the center of the hall.
The throne itself towered high above the chamber, forged with jagged edges and decorated with brilliant gold. Deep red fabric lined the seat, embroidered with a symbol closely resembling that of the World Government.
Against such a colossal throne, the dark figure seated upon it appeared almost small, like a doll placed on a monument built for giants.
Yet no one present would ever dare think of that figure as small.
At this moment, beneath the throne inside the enormous hall, five elderly figures knelt respectfully on the cold floor.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
A single finger tapped slowly against the arm of the throne.
The quiet rhythm echoed throughout the chamber.
Aside from that faint tapping sound, the entire hall remained completely silent.
An overwhelming aura spread invisibly from the shadow on the throne, filling every corner of the vast chamber. The air itself felt heavy, as if it had hardened into solid stone.
The five kneeling figures kept their heads lowered.
None of them dared lift their gaze toward the throne.
They had served this figure for a very long time. Because of that, they understood something clearly.
The being sitting upon the throne was currently in a bad mood.
So they remained silent, waiting patiently for the command that would inevitably come.
After a long stretch of suffocating quiet, a calm voice finally echoed from the throne.
The voice carried no clear gender. It was neither male nor female.
"Tell Vegapunk to accelerate the research and development of the Seed."
One of the elderly men immediately lowered his head further and responded.
"Yes, Imu-sama."
This man was Saint Shepherd Warcury, one of the Five Elders.
"I have received reports that Vegapunk recently discovered another fragment of an ancient machine left behind by the Ancient Kingdom. He has already begun extracting energy related to the Ancient Weapons from the fragment. If everything proceeds smoothly, it should not take long before he completes the development."
The shadow sitting upon the throne was none other than Imu.
The being who secretly ruled the world from the Empty Throne.
And the five figures kneeling before him were the Gorosei.
Through the perspective of the Ancient Weapon Uranus, Imu had clearly witnessed the destruction of Marineford.
The moment the attack struck, the island was completely swallowed.
There were no signs of life afterward.
However, what troubled him was not the destruction itself.
It was the process.
The activation time of Uranus had been far too slow.
Whether it was because the weapon had remained dormant for too many centuries, or because the energy required to activate it had weakened, the delay had been unacceptable.
For someone who ruled the world from the shadows, such inefficiency was intolerable.
If Uranus could not strike swiftly, then its value would be reduced to nothing more than a deterrent.
That alone made Imu dissatisfied.
But there was something even more unsettling.
In the final deduction after the destruction of Marineford, one detail had appeared that he had never encountered before.
Rolan's soul was missing.
For over eight hundred years, nothing like this had ever occurred.
Not once.
Even Imu felt a faint sense of unease.
However, he quickly suppressed that feeling.
Once Vegapunk completed the development of the Seed, everything would change.
The activation time of Uranus would be drastically shortened.
Its destructive power would also increase.
At that time, even if Rolan managed to gather both Poseidon, the ruler of the Sea Kings, and Pluton, the ancient battleship capable of destroying islands, it would still be extremely difficult for him to oppose the authority of the World King.
Imu slowly lifted his hand.
The Gorosei immediately understood the signal.
Without another word, the five elders rose from the floor and quietly walked out of the hall.
The enormous doors closed slowly behind them.
With a deep echo.
Once they were gone, darkness returned to the vast chamber.
Imu opened his hand.
Inside his palm was a crumpled photograph.
The dim light of the hall revealed the face printed upon it.
Rolan.
Silence returned once more.
Far away in the New World.
Peach Garden.
Along the coastline of Lungan, the harbor was crowded with people.
Citizens filled the docks from end to end, their eyes fixed eagerly toward the distant horizon.
Everyone was waiting for the same person.
Standing at the very front of the harbor were two beautiful women.
The one on the left had long pink hair and a graceful pink mermaid tail.
The one on the right had flowing blue hair and wore elegant white royal attire.
The pink haired mermaid lifted her hand and pointed toward the distant sky.
"Sister Vivi, that must be Husband's ship, right?"
In the distance, a white cloud slowly drifted toward the island.
Vivi narrowed her eyes slightly as she observed the approaching shape.
After a moment, she nodded.
"Yes. That should be it."
The two women were Shirahoshi and Vivi.
Ever since they received the news that Rolan had left Marineford and was returning to Peach Garden, anticipation had filled their hearts.
Rolan had said that the journey from Marineford to Peach Garden would take at least three days.
Even so, the two women had already been waiting at the harbor for an entire day.
Neither of them felt the wait was excessive.
In fact, the anticipation itself made them happy.
If it were possible, they would have already ridden coral bubbles across the sea just to greet him halfway.
As the drifting cloud grew closer, its altitude gradually lowered.
The people of Peach Garden quickly realized what it meant.
Their king had returned.
Excitement spread across the harbor.
Cheers and whispers rose among the crowd.
On the approaching ship, the scene below was impossible to miss.
Whitebeard stood near the railing, his massive figure towering over the deck as he looked down at the enormous crowd gathered along the shore.
"Gurararara," he laughed loudly. "Rolan boy, you're incredibly popular in Peach Garden."
Rolan stood beside him with a calm expression.
He did not respond.
Only a faint curve at the corner of his mouth revealed a trace of satisfaction.
Ace crouched near the railing, staring at the prosperous kingdom below with clear surprise in his eyes.
"So this is Peach Garden?"
He shook his head in disbelief.
"I never thought someone like you could build a place like this."
His admiration for Rolan had grown significantly during the journey.
Luffy, however, was focused on something entirely different.
His nose twitched wildly as he sniffed the air.
"Hey Rolan! Hurry up and land the ship!"
His eyes sparkled with excitement.
"I smell food! There's a lot of food!"
Thump.
Ace immediately smacked Luffy on the head.
"Have some dignity, idiot. All you think about is eating."
Then he paused.
He sniffed the air himself.
A moment later, a thin trail of drool slowly slipped from the corner of his mouth.
"...Okay. It really does smell amazing."
Standing nearby, Sabo quietly wiped the corner of his own mouth while pretending nothing had happened.
Not far from them, Ivankov suddenly leaned his enormous face toward Crocodile.
"Crocodile boy, hmm? Why do you look so unhappy?"
Crocodile raised his hand slightly.
A miniature sandstorm spun quietly within his palm.
"Move that ridiculous face away from me," he said coldly. "Or I might decide to bury you at sea."
Ever since Crocodile saw Ivankov again, irritation had been constantly building inside him.
Certain unpleasant memories refused to stay buried.
Ivankov instantly waved his hands dramatically.
"No no no, don't do that! I'll die!"
Behind him, one of the new okama blinked in confusion.
"Will he actually die?"
Ivankov suddenly performed an exaggerated backflip before landing gracefully.
"I won't die! Hee haw!"
"Oh. So he won't die," the okama muttered.
Crocodile's eye twitched.
Of all the people in this world, the one he least wanted to deal with was Ivankov.
Unfortunately, the second most annoying person appeared at that exact moment.
A loud laugh rang out nearby.
"Yehahaha! Has the arrogant sand man finally met someone he can't deal with?"
It was Enel.
Crocodile slowly closed his eyes.
Between Ivankov and Enel, the noise around him felt like two mosquitoes buzzing endlessly beside his ears.
So he chose the only peaceful option available.
He pretended to fall asleep.