The underground palace was deathly silent.
The torch in Nico Robin's hand had long since gone out.
And yet—
The chamber was not completely dark.
Embedded within the rock wall was a flawless cube made of unknown material, glowing with a cold, ice-like light. It was the only illumination in the ruins.
Suspended at the center of that perfect cube—
Was a young man.
A man so strikingly handsome that even by Robin's high standards, he was impossible to ignore.
From the moment her eyes landed on him, she found it difficult to look away.
"…Breathe."
Robin inhaled slowly, forcing her racing thoughts to settle.
She had come searching for a Poneglyph.
Instead, she found—
A person.
Or something that resembled one.
That fact alone sent shockwaves through her normally steady mind.
Even someone as composed as Robin struggled to process the scene before her.
The crumbling underground palace stood silent.
Robin stood frozen outside the cube.
Inside—
Dean D. Dollars couldn't move even if he wanted to.
Time stretched.
Minutes.
Maybe longer.
Then—
Tap.
A single footstep echoed softly through the chamber.
"Retreat now," Robin warned herself. "Do not act recklessly. Identify the target first."
But even as her reason shouted, her body moved.
One step.
Then another.
Until she stood within arm's reach of the cube.
"Stop, Nico Robin. This could be a forbidden relic. You could die. You still carry Ohara's will."
Her rational mind screamed.
Her right hand, however, had already raised the pickaxe.
For a brief moment, the world seemed to hold its breath.
Then—
She brought it down.
Clink.
A faint sound.
Cracks spidered across the glowing cube.
Then—
With a sharp, crystalline shatter, it collapsed into countless fragments of light.
The pieces dissolved into scattered particles.
A faint blood-colored aura erupted outward.
It swept past Robin—
Then continued outward in every direction.
Across the desert.
Across the Grand Line.
Across the world.
In that instant—
The world pulsed.
...
Holy Land — Mary Geoise
Deep within the Room of Flowers—
A figure seated upon the Empty Throne slowly lifted their gaze.
Eagle-like eyes sharpened.
The air shifted.
"…An illusion?"
After a long silence, Imu closed their eyes again.
Calm returned.
...
Marineford — Fleet Admiral's Office
The quill in Fleet Admiral Sengoku's hand snapped in half.
Across the room, Monkey D. Garp, who had been lazily picking his nose, suddenly froze.
Not far away, Vice Admiral Tsuru frowned slightly.
"Karp? Sengoku? What's wrong?"
"…Nothing," Sengoku replied after a pause.
"Yeah," Garp muttered, unusually quiet. "Just felt… nostalgic all of a sudden."
...
New World — Sphinx Island
"Pops? What's with that look?"
A middle-aged man with pineapple-like blond hair — Marco — looked confused.
"Ku la la la… nothing," said the man with the crescent mustache, the world's strongest man, Edward Newgate. "Just remembered something I thought I'd buried."
...
Totto Land
A piece of cake slipped from the hand of Charlotte Linlin.
Her expression twisted.
The surrounding ministers and commanders went pale.
...
Wano Country
The so-called strongest creature in the world—
Kaido—
Suddenly began to cry without warning.
...
Somewhere at sea—
The red-haired pirate Shanks looked up at the sky.
The brewing storm clouds quietly dispersed.
...
When the faint, invisible wave of energy swept across the globe, the strongest figures at the pinnacle of the seas each felt it in their own way.
Because—
They had felt this presence before.
And at the center of it all—
North Alabasta.
The underground palace.
The shattered cube lay in fragments of fading light.
The young man who had been sealed inside slowly fell forward.
Like a fallen god descending into dust.
For a brief moment—
Or perhaps a very long one—
His body trembled slightly.
His eyes opened.
A slow smile curved at the corner of his mouth.
"…That was one hell of a nap."
For the first time in thirty-six years—
Dean D. Dollars spoke.
His voice was slightly hoarse.
And the world, once again—
Had begun to move.