The New World. Clear skies above an open stretch of sea.
The Eclipse's massive black hull cruised smoothly through the clouds. While the sea below churned with gales and towering waves, up here in the stratosphere, ten thousand meters high, the sun was warm and the breeze was gentle.
"Freeze, Buggy! Did you steal my deep-sea lobster again? It wasn't even finished!"
On deck, Leonora had her apron on, a gleaming chef's knife raised high, chasing a scattering of body parts with murder in her eyes.
"I didn't do jack! That lobster crawled into my mouth on its own!"
Buggy's Bara Bara no Mi went into overdrive. His head flew through the air, his torso dodged around the mast, and his feet sprinted across the deck, his big red nose smeared with lobster sauce.
"Help! This woman is murdering her own crewmate!"
"Hahaha! Red-Nose is so fast!"
Bonnie sat inside her light-proof black mechanical spider, stuffing cotton candy into her mouth and giggling at the chaos on her display screen. Kuma sat quietly beside her, his Bible in hand, a gentle smile on his face.
Up in the air.
Enel sat cross-legged on his drums, a gold brick he'd swiped from Gran Tesoro floating in front of him. Wild arcs of electricity jumped between his fingers. The gold brick melted inside an electromagnetic field, reshaping itself into a perfect golden apple.
He flipped his hand. The apple became a miniature golden scepter with a thunderbolt carved into its head. Another flip. Now it was a gold coin bearing his profile.
"Boring Blue Sea people." Enel looked down at the ocean and scoffed.
"Alright, quit muttering to yourself, Enel. Ace is calling a meeting."
Sabo tapped Enel's drum with the Flame Dragon Staff and headed toward the Eclipse's spacious conference room.
Soon, everyone was seated around the long table. Ace sat at the head, tossing an orange in his hand.
"Everyone's here. You're all clear on our first real objective in the New World, right?"
"Punk Hazard. Getting treatment from Vegapunk." Buggy rubbed the fresh lump on his head from Leonora's knife handle. "But Ace, if it's a medical trip, why don't we just disguise ourselves or pay our way in? Didn't the Gold Emperor just fork over ten billion in protection fees?"
"Pay our way in quietly?"
Ace set the orange on the table, his gaze sweeping the room, a grin tugging at his lips.
"Buggy, you're making Punk Hazard sound way too easy."
"Punk Hazard isn't some playground like the Sabaody Archipelago where any random pirate can waltz around."
Ace leaned back in his chair and started briefing his crew. They'd been drifting through the sky for days with no clue what lay ahead.
"It's a top-secret World Government research island. Its coordinates are wiped from every chart. The surrounding waters don't just have brutal weather. They're locked down year-round by heavy warships and anti-air defenses from the Marines' Science Unit."
Ace tapped the table, his voice low.
"Most importantly, that island houses an old man they say is five hundred years ahead of human intelligence: Dr. Vegapunk. The World Government guards him like he's their own beating heart."
"Five hundred years?" Jeno pushed up his goggles, a fanatical gleam in his eyes. "Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?"
"Not even a little."
Ace glanced at Jeno. "You know how Marine battleships cross the Calm Belt? He lined their hulls with Sea-Prism Stone. You know why there are artificial Devil Fruits and bizarre genetically mutated animals on the seas? Because he discovered the 'Lineage Factor.'"
"Hell, rumor has it he's currently using Warlord clones to mass-produce killing machines called 'Pacifista.'"
A collective intake of cold breath swept the room at these unheard-of secrets. Kuma's grip on his Bible tightened involuntarily.
"And it's not just cutting-edge tech on that island."
Ace's eyes turned cold. "It's also where the World Government dumps the 'dangerous criminals' and 'human test subjects' they collect from all over. You think if we show up asking for a doctor, the World Government's going to politely take our money?"
"A place like that... must be crawling with Marine guard dogs, right?" Buggy shrank back a little.
"What's there to be scared of? I'm here. Let those tin cans come. I'll fry every last one." Enel spun his tiny gold spear dismissively.
"The problem is, an island that classified won't show up on any Log Pose," Sabo brought up the real issue. "With the New World's crazy magnetic fields, how long are we supposed to fly around up here blind?"
"You can stop worrying about that, Sabo."
Carina, who'd stayed silent until now, stood up. She planted her hands on the table, a sly fox grin spreading across her face.
"Intelligence-wise? I've had this handled for a while."
Carina pulled a sea chart marked with a red circle from her bag and slid it to the center of the table.
"Way back when we first landed on Sabaody, I planted a ton of items with my contract waves in the bars and black markets. A while ago, I picked up chatter from a coin. It had made its way into the pocket of a Marine officer who handles supply deliveries to the World Government's Science Unit."
Carina tapped her temple with a smug smile.
"From their conversations over the past few days, the supply checklists they rattled off, and their descriptions of the weather along the route, I've narrowed down Punk Hazard's general sea zone."
"And to be absolutely certain, I sent a few sea birds I have vision-sharing contracts with in that direction ahead of time. Two days ago, the images came back. Confirmed. It's the World Government research island, Punk Hazard."
"Whoa! Carina, your ability is insanely useful!" Chopper's eyes went wide with admiration.
"That's our intelligence officer." Sabo nodded with a grin. "So what's the move? If we can't sneak in, what do we do?"
Buggy swallowed hard. A very, very bad feeling settled in his gut.
"Captain... you're not thinking of..."
"We're going straight through the front door."
Ace picked up the orange, peeled it, and took a bite, his tone as casual as if he was deciding what to have for dinner.
The table erupted in a mix of reactions.
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Sneaking around isn't our style." Sabo tugged his hat down, blue eyes burning with anticipation.
"Yahahaha! Finally, a real fight! I've been itching to pay those Marines back for that old geezer Garp!" Enel crackled with electricity, gripping his staff tight.
"Captain! I've been starving for this! I'll bet that fortress is packed with tasty metals and blueprints!" Jeno laughed, pounding his chest.
"Waaaaah! Again?! That's the World Government's top-secret base! Are you lunatics trying to get us all killed?!" Buggy's legs turned to jelly. He slid right under the table.
Kuma rose silently to his feet. He didn't say a word, but the look he gave Ace through those round glasses was filled with an indescribable mix of gratitude and fierce devotion. For Bonnie, he'd charge headfirst into hell itself. Sinking that island wouldn't even be a question.
Looking out at his crew of fired-up monsters, Ace stood and straightened his dark red coat.
"Carina, input the exact coordinates into the helm."
Ace's voice boomed over the ship-wide intercom, carrying an undeniable authority.
"Eclipse. Adjust heading. Pre-heat the vector jets to full output."
"Beep beep beep! Command confirmed. Heading adjusted. Pre-heat sequence initiated."
"Get ready to raise some hell, everyone."
Ace strode out of the conference room.
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