Dawn was just breaking. When the sun rose over the horizon and its light spilled into the room, little Yamato climbed out of bed, brimming with excitement.
She had not slept at all the entire night. Even when she tried her hardest to close her eyes, her mind felt as if it had gone into an excited frenzy, refusing to give her any chance to rest. Yet when morning came, she was still full of energy.
She got up and washed herself obediently, then, like a little adult, packed all her belongings into a bundle as large as she was before carefully stepping outside.
Yemu was already waiting for her outside. On the table sat a steaming serving of oden.
"My time is tight, so we have to leave now. I was worried you might be hungry, so I bought this. Is oden for breakfast all right?"
Little Yamato had never been treated so gently before. Her eyes nearly filled with tears as she nodded.
The fear she had felt toward the unfamiliar outside world vanished in that moment.
Seeing this, Yemu could not help thinking to himself that Kaidou really had done a number on her.
What he said aloud was, "In that case, let's get ready to go..."
As he spoke, he waved toward the sky.
Yamato froze. As far as she knew, going out to sea meant taking a ship. Why was Yemu-sama waving at the sky?
But then, under her disbelieving gaze, a huge white cloud descended from above and appeared by the window, though she had no idea when it had arrived.
"Eh?!"
Yamato stared blankly, while Yemu merely touched her huge bundle lightly and sent it floating up.
Then, for the first time, Yemu gently patted her little head. Under Yamato's flattered gaze, he said, "Don't be afraid. This isn't an ordinary cloud. It's a special cloud made on Skypiea: Island Cloud. It can carry things on top of it, and it's soft and springy. You can try touching it."
Seeing something so new for the first time, Yamato carefully reached out and touched it, then broke into a look of pure comfort and happiness.
It really was so soft, so springy, and so cute.
"Like your father, I'm a Devil Fruit user. My ability lets me freely control non-living objects. Even flying is possible. Of course, I can do that myself too, but having Island Cloud makes many things much more convenient. Come on, climb up. We're leaving."
Yamato took small, nervous steps onto the Island Cloud.
It was clearly only a cloud, yet stepping on it felt just like stepping on solid ground.
At that moment, little Yamato found herself looking forward to the outside world even more.
"Then, we're off..."
As the Island Cloud rose into the sky, Yemu and Yamato turned into a white streak and vanished from Wano Country...
...
It had been a long time since the sea had been this lively.
No, lively was not quite right. It could only be described as a storm shaking the world.
Less than three days had passed since Fire Dragon Yemu declared war on the Celestial Dragons and the World Government, then rescued the slaves imprisoned by the Celestial Dragons in the Holy Land Mary Geoise. Yet everything that had happened in the Holy Land Mary Geoise had spread across the sea as if it had grown wings, carried by reporters, newspapers, and word of mouth.
The last time the sea had been this stirred up was probably the day Roger was executed and opened the new era. That was the only event comparable to this.
It inevitably reminded people of an article personally written by Morgans, the News King, back when Fire Dragon Yemu had just gone out to sea and made his name by killing a Celestial Dragon and causing chaos in Loguetown: After Roger's Death, Who Will Be the Next Pirate King?
In that report, Morgans had given Fire Dragon Yemu a title: the heir to Roger's will.
When that report first came out, it had drawn endless ridicule. No one could possibly treat a pirate who had only just debuted and had not even entered the New World as the successor to Roger, the Pirate King.
Even though, at the time, he had already gone so far as to kill a Celestial Dragon and openly provoke the Marines and the World Government.
But now, when people looked back and read that report again, every one of them could not help praising Morgans' eye for things.
Now, no one thought Fire Dragon Yemu was unworthy of the title heir to the Pirate King's will. On the contrary, that title no longer seemed enough for him.
The titles most people preferred now were still the ones Morgans had given him: the warrior who liberated slaves, the hero who brought freedom to all, and the living god who dared to challenge the Celestial Dragons.
...
In the New World, in the waters where the Whitebeard Pirate Crew was located.
On the Moby Dick, the main ship of the Whitebeard Pirate Crew.
As the undisputed overlord of the New World, the members of the Whitebeard Pirate Crew had spent the past three days gathering in small groups, each holding a newspaper. Whether they could read or not, they stared excitedly at the contents.
After all, in this world, most people who chose to become pirates had tragic pasts.
To a greater or lesser degree, many of those pasts were tied to the oppression of the Celestial Dragons and the World Government.
That was even more true for members of the Whitebeard Pirate Crew.
It was not that they had never thought of doing what Yemu had done, declaring war on the Celestial Dragons and the World Government.
But even someone as powerful as their Oyaji, Whitebeard, tried to avoid direct conflict with the Marines, the Celestial Dragons, and the World Government as much as possible to spare himself trouble.
Because of that, their admiration only grew stronger for Fire Dragon Yemu, who had dared to declare war on the Celestial Dragons and the World Government and rescue countless slaves.
No matter what the future outcome might be, the courage he had shown in this moment alone was enough to earn their respect.
On the Moby Dick, Edward Newgate, captain of the Whitebeard Pirate Crew, watched this scene without stopping them. He simply drank his wine and thought back on the past.
Declaring war on the Celestial Dragons and the World Government. More than ten years ago, a man named Rocks had done the same, and had even almost succeeded. But from beginning to end, all they had thought about was ruling the sea. As for freeing slaves, never mind Rocks, even Whitebeard himself had not truly cared. At most, he had felt sympathy for what those people suffered.
And now, this young man had accomplished something they had never done.
For some reason, Whitebeard, the overlord of the New World and a legendary pirate, let out a silent sigh in his heart.
Then he turned to Marco beside him and asked, "It's confirmed? He's coming today?"
A youthful-looking Marco pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose.
"Yeah, Oyaji. I've already confirmed it. He left Wano Country this morning. If everything goes smoothly, he should arrive this afternoon..."
"Wano Country?"
Whitebeard frowned.
"That's Oden's country, isn't it? Kaidou seems to be there now too."
"Yeah, Oyaji. But because Wano Country is closed off, we don't know exactly what's happened there with Oden and Kaidou. Maybe we can ask about it this time."
Just then, Whitebeard seemed to sense something and looked up.
High in the sky, a white cloud was approaching the Moby Dick along a strange path.
"So he's here..."