"Shurorororo~~"
When Law returned to the control room of the experimental base, he was greeted by a man surrounded by swirling white gas. His unique laughter came with an accusation.
"Look at the mess you've made, Law!"
"Why didn't you deal with those Marines and pirates?"
"It's not your place to complain, Caesar."
Carrying his long sword, Kikoku, Law's face was calm and unreadable as always.
"I'm not here to clean up after you. Besides—"
"You saw the sword skills of that armored enemy, didn't you? Do you really think you can handle the White Hunter and still take him down?"
As he spoke, Law tossed a heart over and explained concisely.
"Smoker"
"Shurorororo, you only 'took out' a Vice Admiral? Is this all a Warlord of the Sea can do?"
The man shrouded in white gas slowly formed a tall figure. He had long, sharp black hair with ram-like horns on his head, standing about the same height as Brook. His face was painted with purple lipstick and eye makeup, with a flat nose and long eyebrows. His limbs were unusually slender, and he wore a pink-and-white coat printed with the word "GAS" on either side. Beneath it was an orange-and-yellow striped suit, and he wore black-and-purple gloves marked with "CC."
"A bunch of rookie pirates, and you're already so hesitant?"
"—Fine, leave it to me to 'deal with' them."
This guy, Caesar Clown... Law was fully aware of his capabilities. Since Caesar seemed so confident, was he planning to seek help from the Joker's forces?
Perfect.
Since Caesar insisted, Law couldn't be bothered to stay any longer. He turned and walked away, pulling down the winter hat he wore to hide the slight upward curve of his lips.
Rookie pirates?
Sorry, but they probably won't even know what hit them!
As a cautious man, Law had already noticed the white dove perched on the shoulder of Robin, the archaeologist from the Straw Hat crew. It was clearly an ability-created entity. Two years ago, in Sabaody, he had seen the same technique. Coupled with the timeline of its sudden rise...
The Straw Hat crew's strategist, The White Knight, and the Marine candidate Admiral, "White Dove."
From Law's investigation, these two titles pointed to the same person: Tokovich Roman!
Overlooking this fact, Caesar, and even the Joker behind him, were in for a rude awakening.
Of course, to Law, this was something he was happy to see.
What a beautiful day~~
---
Elsewhere,
At the temporary base of the Straw Hat crew.
"Big brother, give us 'candy.'"
Tears, drool, and snot ran down the faces of the children as they crawled toward The White Knight and Nami like they were under a spell.
"Calm down, everyone—"
Trying to stop them and calm them down, Nami stood in their way. But the blonde girl named "Shinder" just stood up, her eyes blank.
"That's a lie,"
?
"Big sister, you promised me candy."
?!
"She's hallucinating."
Roman from The White Knight calmly stated the cruel truth, leaving Nami and the others stunned.
Before they could come up with a response, the giant girl's face twisted in anger, and she clenched her fist tightly.
"Liar!!"
A massive fist, as large as a round table, came crashing down. There wasn't even a hint of technique in the movement—it was clumsy and awkward. But with a height of 7 or 8 meters, the sheer weight and power were overwhelming, like that of a child from the giant race.
*Swish—*
As the giant girl swung her fist at Nami, a white figure instantly dashed forward to intercept it. Nami instinctively tried to stop him:
"Roman, wait!"
But against the poisoned and mentally lost giant child, The White Knight had already raised his hand:
"More More—50x Slow Ray!"
*Buzz, buzz, buzz.*
A huge fan-shaped beam swept across, instantly turning all the children into "statues." Nami, who had tensed up, let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew, I thought you were going to..."
"What are you talking about?"
The White Knight landed and turned his head to face her.
"These kids are victims. The real villains are someone else entirely. I can at least tell that much apart."
"Brook,"
Hearing Sanji explain the situation, Luffy's usual cheerful grin was replaced by a serious expression.
"Use your lullaby to put the kids to sleep."
"Understood, Captain Luffy."
"Chopper,"
Luffy turned to the small reindeer doctor.
"Can you heal them?"
"...I can use the 'Hormone Gloves' to stabilize their bodies for now. But to create a proper detox medicine, I'll need a sample of the 'candy' they were given."
Chopper pulled out the 'Hormone Gloves' that Roman had specially made for him and added:
"Even with that, curing this kind of addiction will take a very long time..."
"Leave the rest to me,"
The White Knight nodded at Luffy.
"The Marines I work with are already on their way. They'll handle sending the kids home and helping them recover."
"Great."
With the children's problem resolved, Luffy turned and headed toward the exit.
"Brook, Franky, Chopper—you three stay here and look after the kids. The rest of you—"
"Come with me. Let's go punch that so-called 'mastermind' into the sky!"
---
But they hadn't gotten far:
"Look at these huge footprints. Could it be the legendary snow monster?"
...
"Who cares if it's a snow monster or snowman? Just watch out for poison gas or similar tricks. Other than that, it's just another weakling."
As he spoke, The White Knight stepped back slightly and raised his arm toward the nearby forest. Then—
*Bang!*
A bullet—or rather, a cannonball—about the size of a human head came hurtling toward The White Knight. Spinning at high speed, it generated rings of white steam from air friction, but Roman caught it effortlessly with his fingers before it could explode.
No! His hand didn't even *touch* the cannonball.
"This is... Haki projection!"
Luffy stared in surprise at the gap between The White Knight's hand and the cannonball. Though it was only a few centimeters, it was undeniable:
"Yep, this is definitely Haki projection. But—"
"It works better for defense. My offense still needs work."
"Hehehe, Roman, your Haki is getting stronger,"
Luffy laughed genuinely, impressed by Roman's mastery of advanced Haki techniques.
Then:
"Looks like I need to train even harder too!"
...Sorry, people like us have to get stronger through "training," unlike you, who suddenly levels up mid-battle like it's a video game cheat.
The White Knight's Roman rolled his eyes, lightly pushed the cannonball, and sent it back the way it came.
"Here, have it back."
Though the push seemed casual, Roman had actually used all his strength. The reason? The cannonball hadn't been aimed at him but at Nami, who was behind him.
"Looking for death!"
As the cannonball flew back, it tore through the air, forming a massive vortex. The surrounding air gathered around the cannonball like a snowball, creating intense vibrations. The once-black cannonball now emitted rings of white light as it shot forward at an incredible speed, leaving behind streaks in the air.
Meanwhile, the glowing cannonball rapidly grew larger mid-flight. The air was forced aside violently, erupting with a thunderous roar.
As the giant cannonball streaked past, the ground below was torn apart like water being split open. Solid frozen rock was shredded, leaving a deep gash with debris and dust scattering everywhere.
If you looked up, you'd even see the thick black clouds in the sky lowering and twisting unnaturally. It was as if a massive black dragon was chasing after the cannonball, ready to descend from the clouds.
"More More—50x Shock Cannon!"
Roman's furious strike was earth-shattering. The attackers didn't even have time to react before a blinding flash of white light, brighter than lightning, pierced through the snowstorm in an instant!
The surrounding air shuddered violently, sending shockwaves rippling out in all directions. A dazzling light, so bright it was almost blinding, grew stronger and stronger, as though the sun had suddenly fallen to the land. Heat that seemed capable of melting everything spread outward.
And then: the deafening explosion.
BOOM!!!
On Punk Hazard, a mushroom cloud the size of a giant fist rose into the sky!
The mushroom cloud grew larger and larger as it ascended. At the core of the explosion, all ice, snow, trees, and life were obliterated, reduced to scorching sand and burning black ash. The shockwaves spread out like rampaging Sea Kings, roaring across the land, crushing everything in their path and shaking the heavens.
In a single strike, several mountain ranges vanished without a trace, wiped clean off the map by Roman.
As for the attackers?
Heh, what a nice day it is today...
"Wow, that was amazing!"
Luffy's eyes sparkled.
"My Devil Fruit can't do cool stuff like that~~"
The Gomu Gomu no Mi: Are you being serious right now?
"Hmph, too bad Roman refuses to focus on swordsmanship."
Imagine a duel at the peak of the world—it'd be exhilarating!
"Hey, are you guys even trying to act human anymore?"
Usopp was speechless. The main fighters casually unleashing attacks like this made life really tough for "normal people" like him!
Sanji silently lit a cigarette, starting to wonder if he should develop a "large-scale" move too...
"Well, Luffy, if you went into... Gear Fourth, you could easily pull off something like that."
To Gear Fourth Luffy, a mountain was just a few punches away from being flattened. It wasn't anything worth bragging about—especially since Roman's strike combined multiple Devil Fruit abilities. It was one of his "serious" moves, after all.
Clap, clap, clap.
The sound of calm applause made everyone turn their heads. From the nearby forest, Trafalgar Law stepped out, holding his sword, Kikoku.
"Impressive."
"Though I knew the 'Yeti Cool Brothers' were no match for you, I didn't expect them to be taken out by the White Knight without even showing their faces."
Having a strategist this strong—he knew he hadn't chosen the wrong people to work with.
"Yo, Tra-guy!"
Luffy cheerfully waved as Law nodded in return.
"Straw Hat, I have something to say to you:"
"In the New World, there are only two ways to survive: align with one of the Four Emperors, or take their place. You wouldn't settle for being beneath anyone, right?"
"Of course! I want to be the captain!"
Hearing Luffy's resolute answer, Law gave a meaningful smile.
"Then, form an alliance with me."
?
"I have a plan to take down one of the Four Emperors!"
!?
While the rest of the Straw Hat crew was still trying to process the audacious "alliance plan," Luffy gave a carefree grin.
"Sure!"
Seeing Law's smug, "everything's going according to plan" expression, Roman, clad in The White Knight armor, couldn't bear to watch anymore.
Poor Tra-guy, your cool and aloof persona is officially over. You'll regret this very soon—no, immediately!
---
----You can read 10 advanced chapters at my patreon.com/YeyeQiu