Across the breadth of the East Blue, the exact same scene played out.
Aboard the sea restaurant Baratie, surrounded by the endless ocean under the darkened sky, Zeff and his band of sea cooks stared upward in grim silence.
Others might not have possessed a clear concept of Im's tier, but deep in Zeff's heart, he understood with absolute clarity.
She was a monstrous terror standing at the absolute apex of the world.
For anyone else, wiping out an entire ocean was unthinkable.
Yet coming from her, the apocalyptic notion of annihilating the entire East Blue was a horrifyingly plausible reality!
Zeff gazed into the pitch-black firmament with chilling calm. Faced with pressure of this magnitude, anything they attempted to do was utterly futile.
His greatest solace was that Sanji was far away from the East Blue right now. As long as that little eggplant was elsewhere, even if disaster struck here, the boy would be safe.
When his eyes caught that solitary beam of light piercing through the shadows, his pupils wavered.
It was that single glint of radiance that sparked a sudden ember of hope in his chest. He couldn't explain why he felt it; Im's world-ending power had already been laid bare for all to see.
It was a force no ordinary mortal could dream of stopping.
Yet the instinct lingered. Perhaps... whoever was arriving truly could pull it off!
Indeed, he knew someone had arrived within that beam of radiance. In this cruel world, hope and miracles never fell unbidden from the sky.
Whenever they appeared, it meant someone had stepped forward in a place unseen!
Someone was throwing themselves in harm's way, shielding the world so that others might live untouched.
"The people's hope... has emerged after all," Zeff murmured, exhaling a quiet, weathered sigh.
In Cocoyasi Village, Nami's hometown.
Her sister, Nojiko, sat alongside Genzo on an isolated hillside, quietly watching the darkening heavens.
"Nojiko, has everyone in the village hidden away?" Genzo asked out of the blue, popping the cork on his liquor bottle and taking a long swig.
"Yeah," Nojiko nodded, though not a trace of relief surfaced on her face. After a brief hesitation, she added, "Though hiding anywhere amounts to the same thing in the end. This enemy is simply too terrifying."
"She's leagues beyond anything Arlong ever was. She's... trying to obliterate the entire East Blue!"
To prepare for this disaster, the villagers had excavated a tunnel beneath the reinforced bedrock of the mountain, fashioning a makeshift shelter.
Now, Cocoyasi Village and several neighboring settlements had crammed inside to take refuge. Yet she knew all too well that such fragile defenses could never withstand the encroaching cataclysm.
To them, Im was not an enemy—she was a walking natural disaster, a calamity against which all resistance was meaningless.
The suffocating canopy of dark mist smothering the East Blue stripped away all warmth and sunlight. Living purgatory was descending upon their heads.
"You should head down to the shelter too, Nojiko. At least... there's a chance you might survive..." Genzo said, his voice turning heavy with solemn urgency.
The two traded glances for a long moment before Nojiko turned her head away, looking up at the silent, oppressive expanse of black sky.
"It really doesn't matter where I stay. I doubt any of us are making it through this," Nojiko said, her tone eerily calm and unbothered.
She didn't place excessive weight on life and death. The fact that Nami wasn't here was a blessing beyond measure.
Because of that, she had no remaining regrets.
"This simply isn't something mortal hands can turn back."
Genzo's pupils contracted slightly, letting out a solitary, defeated sigh. He knew Nojiko was right. Having witnessed the earlier spectacle with his own eyes, he held no illusions that any of them could be spared.
That scene remained permanently branded into his soul.
Beneath the swirling dark vortex, a warship bearing the flag of the New World Government had appeared. A solitary figure had commanded stone masses larger than islands to soar into the heavens, hurling them skyward with godlike force.
Yet in the end, that mighty display had been obliterated in a single stroke.
Such power transcended the boundaries of human comprehension.
Shortly after, word had spread that the expeditionary forces deployed by the New World Government had been utterly wiped out.
Fate, it seemed, was already sealed.
What they couldn't fathom was why—why did that monster insist on wiping the East Blue off the map?
"Hahaha, you're right. That's hardly something human strength can alter," Genzo chuckled dryly, a fond, nostalgic look softening his weathered face. "Come to think of it, it's a blessing Nami isn't in the village anymore. If she's the only one of us who gets to live on, that's more than enough."
"Yeah," Nojiko looked at Genzo, tilting her chin up toward the heavens once more, a serene smile gracing her lips. "It really is wonderful that she isn't here."
"Though once she learns what happened to the village... she won't be able to take it. The one left behind is always the one who suffers the most."
Her brow knit with worry. Knowing Nami's fragile heart, learning that everyone she loved had been wiped out might break her spirit entirely...
"She'll be fine," Genzo said with unshakeable conviction. "With that crew at her side, they won't let anything happen to her."
"Everything will be fine. That boy made a promise to me... He'll keep his word... won't he?"
Before his eyes, the silhouette of a boy in a straw hat seemed to materialize. The boy turned back with a broad, beaming grin: "Leave it to me!"
That smile was as radiant and pure as ever—Luffy laughing from the bottom of his heart.
He was grinning wide, his mouth moving as if speaking, yet no sound carried through the air.
Still, Genzo heard every word as clearly as if it were whispered in his ear.
Nami's smile—I will protect it!
That was his solemn oath.
"Alright, that's all I need!" Genzo burst into uproarious, booming laughter. "BWAHAHAHA...!"
Gen-san...
Nojiko watched him for a long while before letting out a soft laugh of her own. Yes, perhaps meeting the end like this wasn't bad at all.
Above them, a streak of radiant light cut through the black firmament like a shooting star, listening silently to their final wishes.
Standing on the edge of the abyss, they felt no sorrow—only a profound, weightless release, meeting whatever came next with serene acceptance.
East Blue, Shimotsuki Village.
This was the sacred ground where Zoro had honed his swordsmanship and forged his resolve since childhood. His master, Shimotsuki Koushirou, was currently leading the newest generation of young disciples through their forms.
Regarding the dark mist choking the heavens, he had temporarily told the children it was merely a bizarre weather anomaly, hiding the horrifying reality.
After all, the truth was far too cruel for young hearts to bear.
Everything proceeded just as it always had: practicing forms, swinging steel, resting.
"Alright, it's dinner time now. Everyone, take a break," Shimotsuki Koushirou clapped his hands, calling a halt to the children practicing their kata.
"Yay!"
"Let's go, dinner time!"
"The food's gonna be amazing today!"
Watching the children's bright, carefree smiles, Koushirou smiled warmly in return. Only after the last student had scampered out of the dojo did the deep, heavy worry resurface in his gentle eyes.
He could clearly perceive the suffocating malice radiating from the black mist above, yet he was powerless against it.
All he could do was fulfill his duties to the very end.
"I wonder how Zoro... is doing right now. He shouldn't be in the East Blue, should he?" Thinking of his disciple, Koushirou shook his head with a helpless sigh. "It seems I truly have grown old. Even if Zoro were here, what could he possibly do against this?"
"It's far better that he isn't here..."
And so, the entire East Blue held its breath, descending into an unprecedented, terrifying stillness.