Chapter 260: The Surging New World! The Transformation of the Straw Hat
If one were to look down upon the vast, boundless world of pirates from a god's-eye view, one could clearly see:
The aftermath of the Marineford War did not subside with the declaration of a ceasefire; instead, it brewed an even more violent storm.
After the new Fleet Admiral, "Akainu" Sakazuki, took office, he thoroughly demonstrated his chilling, iron-fisted methods to the entire world.
Following the bloody and ruthless great pirate purge he initiated across the Four Seas and the first half of the Grand Line upon taking office.
This decisive, iron-fisted Fleet Admiral went against public opinion and made a strategic decision that could only be called insane.
He ordered the Marine Headquarters at Marineford, located in the first half of the Grand Line, to be completely swapped with the G-1 Branch located deep within the New World.
This masterstroke was equivalent to directly thrusting the main force representing the absolute justice of the Marines into the heart of the New World, where the Four Emperors held sway!
The sea welcomed an unprecedentedly brutal cleanup.
Marine warships patrolled every sea like a pack of wolves, and countless once-arrogant pirate crews were terrified, vanishing into ashes amidst the gunfire.
Meanwhile, in the even more unpredictable depths of the New World.
Taking advantage of the perfect opportunity while the Whitebeard Pirates were licking their wounds and regrouping within their shattered territories.
The one-armed "Blackbeard" saw his personality become even more twisted, and he began a frenzy of looting and territorial expansion.
As for the other Supernovas who had been high-spirited at the Sabaody Archipelago and were known as the "Worst Generation," after stepping into the New World full of ambition, they immediately faced the most brutal beatings and a baptism of reality.
In this sea ruled by monsters, there was no such thing as luck.
Some had their arms ruthlessly severed while challenging the Four Emperors.
Others chose to bow and scrape, surrendering in the face of an absolute disparity in strength.
The remnants of the old era and the madmen of the new era were unfolding a frantic slaughter, like a meat grinder.
...
Kuraigana Island in the first half of the Grand Line.
Before the eerie and dilapidated ruins of the ancient castle, the sharp sword aura flying across the sky almost tore the space apart.
Zoro, his sweat- and scar-covered upper body bare, gripped his famous swords tightly, his chest heaving violently as he gasped for air.
On his left eye, a shocking and hideous scar had appeared at some unknown time.
It was the painful price he had paid during this period, in his pursuit of a higher realm of swordsmanship, through extreme challenges between life and death.
But in his only remaining right eye, an ambition burned hotter than ever before.
The blades of the three swords in his hands were currently coated in a thick layer of Armament Haki.
"Come again!"
Zoro let out a beast-like growl, pushed off hard with his feet, and launched a fearless charge, time and time again, toward the "World's Greatest Swordsman" sitting high atop the ruins.
The Kamabakka Kingdom, filled with a pink aura.
"Don't come over here! You monsters!"
Sanji's tears and snot were streaming wildly through the air.
Behind him was a large group of Okama, dressed in revealing women's clothing, wearing heavy makeup, yet with bulging muscles, chasing him frantically with eyes gleaming.
But in this "desperate" situation that was enough to cause a mental breakdown, human potential was infinitely stimulated.
In order to avoid the fierce lunges of these Okama, Sanji not only mastered Observation Haki and Armament Haki during his day-after-day flight.
He even turned a misfortune into a blessing, realizing a super-high-speed movement technique that broke through the limits of the human body.
His legs rubbed violently against the air; not only did he master astonishing speed, but he also honed a brand-new kicking technique with even more terrifying lethality in this desperate situation.
The mechanical island of Karakuri, Baljimoa.
Deep within the vast abandoned laboratory left behind by the genius scientist Vegapunk.
Franky sat shirtless, amidst mountains of precise blueprints.
Utilizing the top-tier technology and materials here, he began an ultimate, insane modification of his original semi-mechanical body.
The screeching sound of welding, the assembly of heavy artillery, and the dazzling laser light capable of melting through alloys flashed day and night in this icy, snow-covered laboratory.
Torino Kingdom.
Inside the massive library, Chopper, wearing that pink hat, was completely buried in a vast sea of herbology and medical books.
He held a mortar and pestle, constantly extracting active ingredients from the island's rich vegetation, adjusting the formula for the Rumble Ball again and again.
He wanted to break the side effects of his transformations; to become the most solid support for everyone after two years, this kind little reindeer was giving his all.
The Boin Archipelago, the perilous Forest of Gluttony.
The sniper Usopp, who once trembled at the knees when encountering danger and was thin and weak, had now completed a jaw-dropping transformation.
After experiencing countless jungle survival scenarios where he brushed shoulders with death.
His originally thin body had developed a set of tough, solid muscles.
Like an agile jungle leopard, he moved calmly through the man-eating plants that opened their gaping maws.
He pulled back the giant slingshot "Kuro Kabuto" to its limit, aimed at a huge beast lunging from the front, and fired a "Boin Archipelago Specialty: Pop Green" that exuded an eerie aura.
The moment the seed hit the ground, a massive man-eating flower burst from the soil.
It swallowed the beast in one gulp, demonstrating a jungle lethality that was impossible to guard against.
Meanwhile, on various bustling islands of the Grand Line.
Brook was holding one sold-out grand world tour after another.
Amidst the fanatical music and cheers, this "Soul King" continuously infused his soul power into every note.
In the rhythm of the music, he was gradually realizing the deepest soul mysteries of the Yomi Yomi no Mi.
Island of White Soil, Baltigo.
In the underground archives of the Revolutionary Army base, Robin, wearing a simple, elegant shirt, sat quietly amidst mountains of ancient books and intelligence files.
Beside her, accompanied by flying pink petals, several clone arms formed by the Hana Hana no Mi ability had blossomed.
Amazingly, the surface of these slender arms was completely wrapped in a layer of deep, pitch-black Armament Haki!
She used this combination of strength and softness with consummate skill.
These Armament Haki clones were methodically assisting her in her heavy workload:
Some were steadily supporting her body, which was exhausted from long hours of reading.
Others were quickly turning the thick pages for her.
Still others held a cup of steaming black tea, gently bringing it to her lips.
Ten thousand meters in the sky, Weatheria Skypiea.
"It's party time, Futo!"
Nami stood on the high weather tower, excitedly waving the fully upgraded magic Weather Stick in her hand.
Her charming orange hair danced wildly in the wind, like a goddess ruling over the storm.
Above her head, that originally soft, cute, dark purple cat-eared thundercloud "Futo," after devouring several high-concentration weather balls thrown by Nami, instantly expanded in size geometrically.
In the blink of an eye, Futo had transformed into a black thundercloud that blotted out the sky and carried an overwhelming sense of oppression.
Accompanied by the rotation of the scarlet windmill at its core, terrifying lightning bolts capable of splitting mountains poured down like a torrential rain, detonating countless dazzling flashes of light on the clouds of the White Sea, shocking the old meteorologists below into stunned silence as they scrambled to cover their heads and flee.
Calm Belt, Rusukaina Island.
In the dense primitive jungle, Luffy's eyes were tightly covered by a white cloth strip.
Facing a fierce king of beasts, a lion as huge as a small mountain, lunging with its gaping maw, Luffy's expression showed not a hint of panic.
At the moment when those sharp claws, capable of shattering boulders, were about to fall.
Luffy's head just tilted slightly, and with perfect movement that missed by a hair's breadth, he easily dodged the fatal strike.
Immediately following this, his originally soft rubber arm was instantly covered with a thick layer of Armament Haki.
"Rubber—Pistol!"
Luffy exerted force from his waist and threw a simple, direct punch, causing a sonic boom in the air.
The giant lion did not even have time to scream before it was sent flying dozens of meters away by this punch, crashing heavily and breaking over a dozen towering trees before coming to a stop.
Rayleigh, who had been sitting cross-legged on a nearby tree stump, watched Luffy's consummate use of Haki, took a satisfied sip of his drink, and a smile of satisfaction appeared at the corner of his mouth.
...
On the sea, bloody destruction and miraculous rebirth were staged every day.
The suppression by the Marines, the partitioning by the Four Emperors, and the struggles of the Supernovas made this world noisier than ever before.
Yet, in these unknown, hidden corners, the most violent storm belonging to the new era was quietly brewing amidst the silent dormancy and desperate transformation of this group of young people.
Spring passes, autumn comes; flowers bloom and flowers fall.
Time is like fine sand that cannot be grasped by the fingertips; amidst this day-after-day sweat and tempering, it slowly flowed away...
The two-year promise belonging to the Straw Hat was about to arrive.
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