East Blue — Warship Island Waters.
The Going Merry, like a white arrow, split the waves and clung tightly to the vast green silhouettes blotting out the sky overhead.
As the distance closed, a peculiar island slowly emerged on the horizon.
Its shape was strangely uncanny—towering cliffs of rock rose straight into the clouds. From afar, it looked like a massive warship anchored on the sea, radiating an aura that warned all living things to stay away.
This was the legendary Warship Island.
But what should have been a tranquil homecoming was brutally shattered by thunderous cannon fire.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
Countless black cannonballs, trailing long tongues of flame, roared up from the waters surrounding the island. A dense web of fire instantly blanketed the Thousand-Year Dragons just as they were about to descend.
"ROOOAAR—!!"
A piercing, miserable scream tore through the sky.
Several smaller, slower-flying elderly dragons were struck by the barrage—feathers burst into the air as they wailed and plunged toward the sea.
"What the hell is going on?"
Zoro's brow knotted. His hand was already on his sword hilt, eyes sharp as he stared into the distance.
"There's… an ambush?"
Usopp fumbled for his binoculars, frantically adjusted the focus—and went pale in the next second. Cold sweat streamed down his long nose.
"It's the Marines! A lot of Marine warships! They… they've surrounded the island!"
"What? Let me see!"
Nami snatched the binoculars away.
Through the lens, she saw it clearly: eight large warships, arranged in neat formation, sealing off Warship Island from all sides.
"It's the 8th Branch—Commodore Nelson Royale's fleet!" Nami gasped. "Why are they here ambushing Thousand-Year Dragons?"
Ronan stood nearby with his zhangba iron spear on his back, gaze deep.
So it really has shifted… the story's drifted.
Ronan thought to himself.
In the original anime plot, this fleet arrived while pursuing a little girl named Apis, learning the secret of the Thousand-Year Dragons along the way.
But now, Luffy hadn't saved that girl—yet the Marines had still found this place, and they'd laid a net in advance.
Seems my interference changed the timing. Those few days of training at sea slowed our progress.
The butterfly effect had surfaced. Maybe the Marines still found that girl and forced the location out of her.
Ronan shook his head and tossed the stray thoughts aside.
"Whatever the reason."
He watched the enraged dragon swarm above and curled his lips into a cold smile.
"But these Marines seriously underestimated what a legendary creature can do."
"Nami—look again, carefully."
Nami raised the binoculars again.
This time, her expression shifted from alarm to blank disbelief.
"Th-this… how is this possible?"
In the lens, the Marine fleet—supposedly holding the advantage—was being obliterated.
The enraged Thousand-Year Dragons didn't scatter and flee.
Instead, under the lead of an enormous dragon at the front, they launched a frenzied counterattack.
They dove like green meteors. Their massive claws tore through decks and masts as easily as ripping paper.
"CRASH—!!"
One warship was flipped outright by several dragons working together. The hull capsized on the surface, throwing up a monstrous wave.
Marine soldiers screamed as they tumbled into the water like dumplings. Cannons became useless toys before those claws.
"This isn't even a battle…" Nami muttered, voice trembling. "It's… a one-sided massacre."
"What?! Those bird-like dragons are THAT strong?!"
Usopp shivered at Nami's description, legs going soft as he clung to the mast.
"Hey! Luffy! We should reconsider! Those are monsters! If we go, we'll die!"
"So awesome!!"
Luffy, on the other hand, wasn't afraid at all. He hopped onto the sheep figurehead, eyes sparkling as he pointed at the chaos and yelled:
"Let's go closer! Full speed ahead! I wanna see dragons!!"
As the Going Merry approached, the brutal scene unfolded clearly in front of them.
Calling it a chaotic battle was generous.
This was savage domination.
The air reeked of gunpowder and blood.
The dragons' bodies—green feathers layered over hard scales—were completely unharmed by cannon fire.
Meanwhile, the Marines' prized steel cannons were as fragile as toys under dragon claws.
"AAAAH! Help!!"
"Fire! Fire! Monsters! They're monsters!!"
Screams rose and fell like waves.
Ronan and the others steered the Going Merry into a hidden rock cave on the far side of Warship Island, temporarily avoiding the center of the slaughter.
"Nami, Usopp—you coming?" Luffy cracked his neck, joints popping, face full of eager anticipation.
"No!!"
Nami and Usopp shook their heads like rattles in perfect unison and shouted:
"Only an idiot would go! That kind of battlefield—if you step in, you're not coming back!"
"Fine."
Ronan held his zhangba iron spear and gave it a light flick. The shaft vibrated with a low hum.
"Then you two stay here and guard the ship. Be ready to pick us up if needed. This level of fighting really isn't for you."
Under Nami's frantic nodding, Ronan, Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro surged forward like four beasts unleashed from their cages, sprinting straight toward the island's central battlefield.
They crossed jagged cliffs and climbed over high ridges.
When the four reached the edge of the war zone, what they saw looked like hell itself.
The Marine fleet that had arrived so aggressively… was already annihilated.
All eight warships had become burning wreckage floating on the sea. Flames soared; thick smoke rolled across the water.
Countless Marine corpses and shattered planks bobbed on the surface.
And above that ruin—hundreds of Thousand-Year Dragons circled.
Among them, one dragon was far larger than the rest: the Dragon King.
It stood on the highest reef by the shore like a monument.
It was nearly ten meters tall. Its feathers were a deep ancient blue-green, and each scale on its belly looked like a shield plate.
Its eyes were filled with both intelligence and brutality. The horns on its head rose like a jagged crown.
It was a proud sovereign, coldly surveying the human fleet it had shredded beneath its feet.
At the Dragon King's feet, Commodore Nelson's fat corpse had already been torn in half—his Marine coat, a symbol of power, now reduced to a burial shroud.
"What a vicious creature…"
Zoro pressed his hand to his sword hilt, eyes locked on the Dragon King. The battle lust in his gaze didn't weaken—if anything, it burned hotter.
"Pure physical force… and it wiped out an entire fleet. So this is what a 'dragon' really is."
"Looks like getting dragon bones won't be easy."
Ronan frowned. Even from here, he could feel it—an overwhelmingly terrifying surge of blood and vitality radiating from that Dragon King.
A thousand years of accumulated life force.
This wasn't comparable to Arlong.
"Still gotta try."
Zoro's mouth curled into a bloodthirsty grin as he slowly drew Wado Ichimonji.
"If it's a legendary creature… it's probably gonna feel amazing to cut."
"Alright!!"
Luffy lowered the brim of his straw hat, fists cracking as he clenched them.
"Meat! So much meat! Let's go!!"
"Hey! Luffy—wait!"
Ronan was just about to lay out a plan when Luffy suddenly planted both feet and launched himself like a spring.
Ronan: "...!"
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