The Marine training vessel Z-1 fought to maintain its position beneath relentless cannon fire.
Two unmarked pirate ships moved across the mouth of Hells Island's harbor, firing in irregular volleys while keeping their flags lowered.
Their aim appeared careless at first, but Zephyr had watched too many naval battles to miss the pattern beneath the disorder.
The shells were not meant to sink the ship.
They were steering it.
Every shot that landed short pushed the helmsman away from open water, while every shell aimed near the stern forced the vessel closer to the narrow harbor channel.
Whoever commanded those ships wanted the Marines trapped between the cliffs and the town.
Zephyr stood at the bow with the Battle Smasher raised.
A cannonball screamed toward the main mast.
Armament Haki spread across the massive prosthetic weapon as he struck the shell from below, sending it back into the sea before it could detonate over the recruits.
Another came from the left.
He crushed it with a backhanded blow.
The explosion rolled harmlessly across the water.
Behind him, hundreds of Headquarters recruits manned the cannons, secured damaged lines, and carried ammunition from the lower decks.
The excitement had faded from most of their faces.
What remained was the tense concentration of young Marines beginning to understand that a New World operation could turn deadly before anyone announced that the real battle had started.
Binz remained near the bow with Ain.
"Instructor Zephyr," he said, unable to hide his frustration, "do we really need to keep waiting for reinforcements? Those two ships are hiding their flags and barely landing half their shots. We can break through them ourselves before G-9 even clears its harbor."
Several recruits nearby glanced toward Zephyr.
They did not openly agree, but their expressions made their thoughts clear.
This was the newest elite class from Marine Headquarters.
They had trained under Zephyr, studied tactics, learned Haki, and spent years being told they would become future officers of the Marines.
With Black Arm Zephyr, Ain, Binz, and hundreds of capable recruits aboard, calling for help against two unidentified pirate ships felt humiliating.
Ain turned sharply toward Binz.
"Instructor Zephyr did not request support because he doubts our cannons."
"I never said he did."
"You implied the signal was unnecessary."
"The nearest branch is half a day away. Whatever happens here will be finished before they arrive."
"That does not make the signal useless," Ain replied. "G-9 knows our position, Headquarters has a record of the attack, and another unit can intercept anyone who escapes. Reinforcements are not only for rescuing people who have already lost."
Binz's jaw tightened.
Zephyr let the argument continue for only a moment.
"That's enough."
His voice was not loud, but it carried across the deck more effectively than a shout.
Both officers straightened.
Zephyr kept his gaze on the harbor.
"This voyage began as a training assessment. The order to evaluate a Warlord candidate arrived after we entered the region. None of these recruits were selected for a mission involving that target, and none of you were briefed before departure."
Binz looked toward the island.
"Is the candidate really that dangerous?"
Ain answered before Zephyr could.
"Doflamingo held a Warlord seat for years. He ruled Dressrosa, commanded powerful officers, and controlled an underground network that supplied weapons across the New World. War Demon Zaraki killed him before Headquarters could finish reacting."
The name moved through the recruits in low murmurs.
Ain continued.
"Afterward, he fought Kaido long enough to wound him in front of the entire world. Whether Zaraki survived or not, those are the kinds of people the Warlord system was built around. If Headquarters considers someone strong enough to offer legal status instead of attempting an ordinary arrest, then treating that person lightly is stupidity."
Binz folded his arms.
"And where is Zaraki now?"
Ain's expression cooled.
"Missing."
"After falling into boiling water beneath Kaido's attack."
"No corpse was recovered."
"That doesn't mean he survived."
"And it does not mean you get to declare him dead because the alternative makes you uncomfortable."
Several recruits began watching the argument more closely than the pirate ships.
Binz's voice sharpened.
"I'm not uncomfortable. I'm tired of hearing people speak about him like he's some invincible standard the rest of us are supposed to worship. He challenged Kaido, disappeared into the sea, and now everyone else is left dealing with the consequences."
Ain stepped closer.
"No one asked you to worship him. But dismissing what he accomplished because you resent the attention he received is childish."
"You weren't there either."
"No, but I can read an after-action report."
"And Morgans can print whatever sells."
Zephyr turned.
One look silenced the deck.
"Zaraki's fate has nothing to do with the discipline expected from you here," he said. "He accomplished something few Marines could have done, and he paid heavily for it. Do not diminish another man's achievement simply because you are frightened of the standard it creates."
Binz's face tightened.
"Yes, Instructor."
Zephyr looked over the rest of the class.
"Strength is not proof that recklessness was wise, and survival is not the only measure of a battle. Learn from what Zaraki achieved. Learn from what it cost him. Then keep your attention on the danger in front of you instead of arguing over a man who is not here to defend himself."
The recruits returned to their stations.
Ain moved closer to Zephyr.
"G-9 confirmed the message, but they still need several hours."
"Send another report. Tell Headquarters the outer ships are acting as decoys and the harbor appears prepared."
Ain nodded and hurried toward the communication station.
Zephyr expanded his Observation Haki toward the shore.
He did not try to cover the entire island. The harbor and town were enough.
According to their intelligence, Hells Island's port should have been busy. Merchant crews used the settlement to resupply, civilians lived in the streets beyond the warehouses, and a local defense force guarded the cliffs.
Zephyr sensed none of them.
No families hiding in cellars.
No wounded dockworkers.
No soldiers moving between buildings.
The waterfront felt abandoned.
Then, deep within the town, he caught one presence.
It had been suppressed so tightly that it nearly disappeared beneath the smoke and cannon fire, yet the violence within it was impossible to hide completely.
It felt crude and enormous, like a blade too heavy for its wielder but swung without concern for whatever stood nearby.
Zephyr's remaining hand tightened.
He knew that kind of strength.
Not with certainty.
Not enough for a court or an official report.
But he remembered the night his students died. He remembered the weapon that tore through them, the laughter that followed, and the moment his arm fell into the blood beside him.
Ain returned.
"Headquarters acknowledged. Vice Admiral Tsuru ordered us to withdraw beyond the harbor and wait for support."
"Tell the helmsman to turn three points to port."
The training vessel began changing direction.
Both pirate ships reacted immediately.
Their cannon fire intensified, shots that had previously fallen wide now striking close to the hull and forcing the ship away from open water.
Zephyr's expression hardened.
"They don't want us leaving."
Binz heard him.
"Then let us sink them."
"Hold your position."
"Instructor, if they're trapping us—"
"The ships are bait. The real threat is inside the town."
That ended the protest.
Zephyr turned toward the recruits.
"Ain and Binz are coming with me to confirm the harbor and search for survivors. Everyone else maintains covering fire. No one lands without my direct order."
Ain stared at him.
"Headquarters told us to withdraw."
"We cannot withdraw while those batteries control the channel, and we cannot abandon the town without confirming whether anyone remains alive."
Zephyr placed one foot on the railing.
"Ain, keep a continuous visual record. If this is what I think it is, Sengoku will need proof."
Her expression changed.
"You know who is in there."
"I know who the attack resembles."
Before she could ask more, a deep metallic sound rolled from beyond the burning warehouses.
A piercing shriek tore through the air.
A massive green slash erupted from the darkness at the center of the town.
It crossed the harbor in an instant, leaving a long white trail of compressed air behind it.
Several warehouse roofs split simply from being too close to its path.
"Instructor!"
Zephyr had already moved.
Armament Haki spread across the Battle Smasher and the flesh of his shoulder as he planted both feet against the deck.
Rather than receiving the attack at its center, he struck upward into the lower edge and forced the slash away from the warship.
The collision exploded above the bow.
A violent shockwave swept across the deck. Recruits were thrown from their feet, loose equipment slammed into railings, and several windows shattered along the cabins. The mast bent but held.
The green slash changed direction and screamed into the clouds before fading over the sea.
Something warm struck Ain's cheek.
Blood.
She looked toward Zephyr.
The Battle Smasher's outer casing had been carved open in a deep diagonal line.
Black metal had peeled back around the cut, and the edge of the attack had continued through the prosthetic into the remaining flesh near his upper arm and shoulder.
He had protected the ship.
He had redirected most of the attack.
It had still wounded him.
A recruit near the mast struggled upright.
"Was that Mihawk?"
Ain stared toward the town.
"It doesn't match the recorded characteristics of Mihawk's attacks. This one carried far more brute force, and far less control."
Zephyr said nothing.
He recognized the weight behind it.
The complete disregard for whatever stood near the target.
Memory pressed against him until the burning harbor became another battlefield filled with the screams of students who had trusted him to bring them home.
The two pirate ships stopped firing.
The sudden silence felt heavier than the bombardment.
Heavy footsteps came from inside the town.
One.
Then another.
Buildings trembled.
A silhouette appeared behind the smoke.
The figure was enormous even by New World standards, his upper body thick with muscle and a crescent-shaped white mustache fixed beneath his nose in crude imitation of Edward Newgate.
A long bisento rested across one shoulder, its edge dark with blood.
Beside him walked a tiny elderly woman in bright clothing, leaning on a cane and smiling as though the burning town had been arranged for her amusement.
Miss Buckin raised her voice across the harbor.
"Well, well. They really sent you, Zephyr. I suppose the Government wanted to see whether age had softened you before deciding what my Weevil is worth."
The giant tilted his head.
"Mama, is that the old Marine?"
"Yes, Weevil. That is the man who has spent years blaming you for things he could never prove."
Edward Weevil stared toward Zephyr with open confusion.
"Did I fight him before?"
Buckin's smile sharpened.
"You fought many Marines, dear. Most of them were too weak to matter."
Zephyr's remaining hand tightened.
The bisento.
The monstrous strength.
The same careless violence.
He still did not possess proof that Weevil had been the pirate from that night.
Then Buckin pointed her cane toward the recruits behind him.
"If those students interfere, deal with them the same way you dealt with the last group. The Government wants a demonstration, so give them one they can't ignore."
The night became still.
Whatever uncertainty remained inside Zephyr disappeared.
Armament Haki spread across the damaged Battle Smasher.
"So it was you."
Weevil blinked.
Zephyr stepped from the railing and dropped toward the harbor.
"I have waited a long time to hear that answer from someone arrogant enough to say it aloud."
He landed hard enough to crack the stone pier beneath his boots.
Weevil lowered the bisento into both hands.
Behind Zephyr, Ain shouted orders while the Marine ship reopened fire on the two decoy vessels.
Binz led the wounded below deck, his earlier anger replaced by grim focus.
Weevil swung first.
...
Far beneath the surrounding sea, the Polar Tang raced through the deep current toward Hells Island.
The engines strained against the flow.
Warning gauges trembled while Bepo called out depth and distance from the navigation station.
"Twenty minutes to the outer reef!"
Law stood over the chart with one hand braced against the table.
"That is the fastest safe route. Any more power and we risk tearing the engine apart before we reach the island."
Zaraki leaned against the control-room wall with Nozarashi resting at his waist.
No one aboard knew what he called the strange pressure moving through the sword or why its sealed blade had begun trembling several minutes earlier.
To the Heart Pirates, it was simply another unsettling feature of an already abnormal weapon.
Zaraki understood it differently.
Nozarashi had sensed the violent presence ahead.
'That one is strong.'
Zaraki opened his golden eyes.
"How long now?"
Bepo swallowed.
"Nineteen minutes."
Zaraki's smile widened.
"Then tell the engines they have eighteen."
Law looked over his shoulder.
"If you damage my submarine, I will leave you on the seabed and personally explain to Garp that you drowned because you were impatient."
"You'd have to admit you were carrying me first."
Law's expression darkened.
"Make it seventeen minutes, Bepo. I suddenly want him off my ship."
Bepo looked between them.
"Is that an order?"
"No," Law said. "It is frustration."
Outside the hull, the distant sea carried the muted vibration of another enormous clash.
Nozarashi stirred eagerly in its sheath.
Zaraki placed one hand over the hilt.
The blind-box timer continued counting down where no one else could see it, but the price was no longer what occupied his thoughts.
Someone powerful was waiting at the end of the current.
That was reason enough.