Sea Calendar Year 1507, November 28.
In the Xita Sea, located at the heart of West Blue, lay the famous "Western Peak" region. Situated between the territories of the Gambino and Camorra families, it served as the ideal location for a secret meeting.
To reassure Off and ease any suspicions, Harry specifically chose Red Coral Island, which was closer to Gambino territory, as their meeting place.
Eastern waters of Red Coral Island.
A fleet flying the Camorra Family's flag slowly approached the Coral Town port on Red Coral Island.
Don Off of the Gambino Family, who had arrived ahead of time, had brought along several expendable members, intending to use them as cover. To avoid drawing attention, he had evacuated the local residents from the port area.
Aboard one of the approaching Camorra ships, an elderly man in a bowler hat stood at the bow, watching as the dock and the Gambino Family members on it grew nearer. Beside him was the bald lieutenant, Mole, who observed the dock through binoculars.
"Mr. Hanover, that's Off on the dock," Mole said, pointing.
"Patience, patience… gahaha!" The antique dealer Hanover let out a strange laugh, fiddling with the pistol in his hands.
Despite Hanover's confidence, Mole was more concerned about whether Hanover could indeed eliminate Off and his guards. Failure here could result in disastrous losses for the Camorra Family.
Ten minutes later, the fleet reached the dock, coming within two hundred meters.
"Where is that coward Harry hiding?" Off shouted impatiently.
Mole, not wanting to reveal anything too soon, quickly responded, "Don Off, our Don will be along shortly."
Hidden behind several Camorra thugs, Hanover suddenly raised his pistol and fired.
"Corrosive Bullets!"
In an instant, six rounds flew toward Off.
Sensing danger through Observation Haki, Off quickly dodged, disappearing in a blur. However, a few nearby henchmen took the hits, their bodies instantly dissolving into smoking piles of bone amidst agonized screams.
"Open fire!"
The hidden cannons aboard the ships swung into position as gunmen rushed out, bombarding the Gambino men on the dock.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The dock descended into chaos. Gambino soldiers scrambled for cover, while others fired back in desperation.
On a rooftop overlooking the dock, Off and several Noah Family operatives watched the destruction with calm detachment.
Hanover continued to fire at the dock below, and wherever his bullets landed, they dissolved everything in their path, leaving gaping, steaming holes.
Before long, most of Off's expendable soldiers had been wiped out, and the remaining Camorra thugs began advancing on the building where Off and his allies stood.
"Your end is here, Off!" Mole shouted, laughing maniacally as he watched his forces close in.
"You're quite confident, aren't you?" Off replied with icy calm, his eyes fixed on the smug Mole and Hanover.
Without warning, Off's shirt tore as his body swelled, morphing into a towering hybrid beast-man form—a monstrous Rottweiler.
"What?! A Devil Fruit user?" Mole's face paled.
Hanover, however, sneered. "Is this your ace? How pathetic. Corrosive Bullet!"
Hanover fired another round, but it passed clean through Off, striking the tiles behind him and leaving a smoking crater.
Hanover's face grew serious. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled a cloud of green vapor. "Corrosive Mist!"
"Aahhh!" Several Camorra members who were too slow to flee were caught in the deadly mist, their bodies disintegrating as they writhed in agony.
But when the corrosive gas met Off's body—now shielded by Armament Haki—Off lunged forward, appearing in front of Hanover in the blink of an eye.
"What? Armament Haki? Damn it! Corrosive Fist!"
Boom! Off's punch landed squarely, sending a powerful shockwave through the air.
Hanover's eyes widened in shock as he was blasted hundreds of meters backward, crashing through a ship and plummeting into the sea.
"Pathetic. Just another one-trick pony who relies on Devil Fruit powers without training the body," Off muttered with disdain.
The entire exchange—from Off's transformation to Hanover's defeat—took only seconds.
Realizing the dire situation, Mole's body shook uncontrollably as he stumbled backward. "I... surrender—"
With a swift movement, Off ripped Mole's heart out, crushing it in his hand as Mole collapsed, dead. "The family has no use for trash."
The remaining Camorra thugs were swiftly and brutally eliminated.
As for Hanover, the Antique Dealer, who was eventually fished out of the water, his Corrosive-Corrosive Fruit had allowed him to survive the sea but at great cost. His powers were somewhat like those of the Marine rust-rust user Shu.
While Off was dealing with Mole and the Camorra soldiers, the Capone Family, led by Bege, launched an assault on the Camorra Family's main headquarters.
Within hours, the Camorra Family's leadership, including Harry, was decimated.
With three of the Five Great Mafia Families annihilated, only the Capone and Gambino families remained in West Blue.
Though the two families engaged in frequent skirmishes on the surface, in truth, they were coordinating efforts to eliminate rivals and rapidly absorb the territory of the fallen families.
Observing the "stalemate" between the Capone and Gambino families, West Blue's other factions realized the situation was far from exploitable and reluctantly abandoned their plans to seize power.
Meanwhile, as the Noah Family continued its conquest of West Blue's underworld—
Grand Line, Paradise.
Mary Geoise on the Red Line.
Chaos reigned in the Holy Land as flames and turmoil erupted throughout Mary Geoise. In the midst of the blaze, a large number of slaves seized the opportunity to escape.
Beneath the Red Line, ships were ready and waiting, ferrying thousands of freed slaves to safety.
Fishman Tiger, the catalyst behind the escape, was fortunate. On this night, the Five Elders were away from Mary Geoise, having traveled to Egghead Island.
Borsalino was also busy in the New World, assisting Sengoku in subduing the rampaging Kaido.
Meanwhile, Kuzan was scouring the South Blue, tracking Noah and his associates, which left him far from Marineford.
Garp, as usual, had returned to East Blue to visit his grandson, and Tsuru was in the North Blue hunting down the Donquixote Family.
At Marineford, only Fleet Admiral Kong, Chief Instructor Zephyr, and Vice Admiral Onigumo remained, and one of them had to stay behind to protect Marineford.
Thus, only Kong and Onigumo were available to respond, and despite their best efforts, they lacked the crowd control skills necessary to contain the escape. With Rayleigh and Shakky secretly aiding the escapees, the ships quickly completed their coating process and dove beneath the sea, leaving Kong and Onigumo powerless to pursue.
This incident sent shockwaves through the world.
The ever-dramatic Morgans plastered the event on the front page of every newspaper the next morning.
The incident couldn't be hidden, so the World Government had no choice but to issue a public bounty for the Sun Pirates and their leader, Tiger.
Luckily, Tiger had the foresight to sever ties with the Ryugu Kingdom ahead of time, becoming a wanted criminal there as well. Otherwise, the World Government would likely have turned its wrath upon Ryugu Kingdom.
The Five Elders, upon their return to Mary Geoise, maintained their stoic facades but silently began plotting a response against Ryugu Kingdom.