Ten years had passed.
Raen D. Kael stood atop the cliffs overlooking Foosha Village like a giant carved from storm clouds and iron.
The cliff groaned beneath his weight as morning mist drifted through the forest below.
His long black coat snapped violently in the sea wind like an unshakable battle flag, revealing arms layered in muscle and old scars earned through ten merciless years of survival.
Birds scattered instinctively as his shadow passed over them.
He wasn't trying to intimidate anyone.
He just simply existed.
That was enough.
His black hair had grown wild and heavy, spilling past his shoulders with pale white streaks curling near the tips, a mark of his Oni lineage. Tribal markings stretched across his chest and arms in jagged patterns resembling ancient war script burned directly into flesh.
Curved golden horns rose proudly from his temples.
They weren't the same stubby horns of childhood anymore.
They looked regal.
Dangerous.
Like crowns hammered into place by war itself.
A rough goatee framed his jaw, giving him an appearance unsettlingly similar to Garp whenever he grinned.
And Kael grinned often, especially on a day like today.
Today wasn't just another morning. It was the first day of Luffy's adventure.
Makino had already been awake for hours.
She hurried between the bar and the dock carrying supplies while muttering to herself.
"No... he'll need more bandages."
She added another bundle.
"...And another blanket."
Another.
"...More dried meat."
By the time she finished, the little boat looked ready for a six-month voyage instead of a teenager's first adventure.
Luffy scratched the back of his head.
"...Makino."
"Hm?"
"I don't think the boat can float anymore."
"It'll float."
"It definitely won't."
"It will if you believe in it."
"...That's not how boats work."
"It is today."
Kael couldn't help laughing.
Some things never changed.
Makino tried to hold back her tears as she carried the last of the supplies to the docks. But failed as tears started to fall.
Makino still couldn't believe the little boy she taught manners to was leaving the island.
Dadan cried even louder.
Luffy adjusted the straw hat resting atop his head.
Kael reached over.
Without warning...
He flicked Luffy's forehead.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"That's for nearly blowing up our ship."
"I only blew up one side!"
"You blew up lunch."
"I was hungry!"
"You were cooking!"
"Exactly!"
Makino sighed.
"...You boys really are hopeless."
Kael smiled before reaching into his coat.
He pulled out a small wooden charm.
A compass.
Crude.
Uneven.
The carving wasn't perfect.
It never had been.
Luffy's eyes widened immediately.
"...We made that."
Kael nodded.
"When we were kids."
Flashback.
Ace carved one side.
Luffy accidentally carved his initials upside down.
Sabo spent hours fixing both mistakes.
Kael had carved the compass rose.
It still leaned slightly to one side.
None of them had wanted to remake it.
Because then...
It wouldn't be theirs anymore.
Kael tossed it toward Luffy.
Luffy caught it easily.
"Bring it back someday."
Luffy grinned.
"You got it!"
Kael led Luffy to the Viking‑style longboat he'd crafted as a personal gift for him.
"...It's huge. It's like a mini version of Shanks ship."
Kael smiled as he placed a hand on Luffy's shoulder.
Luffy smiled.
"I'm going to find the One Piece."
"I know."
"I'm gonna be King of the Pirates."
"I know."
"I'll punch anyone who laughs at my dream."
"...That one I definitely know."
Luffy laughed so hard he nearly fell into the water.
Then he became unusually serious.
"What about you?"
Kael looked toward the horizon.
"I'm still building the ship that'll carry my own dream."
Luffy smiled.
"Then hurry."
"I plan to."
"I'll be waiting for you at sea."Luffy untied the rope.
The tiny boat drifted away from the dock.
Makino waved with both hands.
The villagers cheered.
Even Woop Slap smiled.
Dadan stood with her arms crossed.
She refused to wave.
"...Go make some trouble."
Luffy laughed.
"I will!"
"...Not too much."
"No promises!"
She snorted.
"...Idiot."
The boat drifted farther.
Smaller.
Smaller.
Until only the straw hat remained visible against the endless blue.
Kael raised one hand.
Not waving.
Just...
Watching.
The sea swallowed the boat beyond the horizon.
Silence settled over the harbour.
For the first time in years...
There were no brothers left on Dawn Island.
Kael smiled anyway.
"Fly high, little brother."
"The world's finally yours."
The wind carried his words out across the ocean.
Whether Luffy heard them...
Didn't matter.
Kael believed the sea would.
Neither woman seemed willing to accept that the reckless little gremlin they raised had finally sailed away.
Kael watched silently from the dock, one hand resting against the massive wolf-headed claymore strapped across his back.
Fenrir.
Bekka had laughed the day she told him the story of the sword's name.
"A wolf doesn't protect the weak because it's gentle. It protects its pack because they're its own."
Every morning since Aetheron fell, Kael had trained with Fenrir until his hands bled.
Every evening, he apologised to it for still being too weak.
The memory hit harder than he expected.
Ten long years.
And some wounds still refused to scar over properly.
Kael watched the tiny boat drift farther into the sea.
"…Shake the world apart for me," he murmured.
Behind him, boots crunched against dirt, kicking up dust.
Dadan stood there, brushing tears from her face with shaky anger, unable to muster the intimidating glare that she had perfected over the years.
"You brats…" she muttered hoarsely. "Every damn one of you leaves eventually."
"Ace left.
"Sabo disappeared."
"Now Luffy is gone."
She took a long drag of her cigarette
Daddan placed a hand on Kael's shoulder.
"If you leave too…," she let out a forced laugh, "Then who is going to keep eating all my food?"
For all her screaming and violence, Dadan suddenly looked older than he remembered.
Smaller too.
That hurt in ways he didn't expect.
She sniffed once before glaring at him. "...This mountain's gonna get awfully quiet."
Dadan looked away before he could see her crying.
Kael stepped forward.
Without a word...
He hugged her.
Kael's smile softened as he shook his head. He grabbed a crate of sake, looking at her with the firelight reflecting in his golden eyes. "Not yet, Dadan." His voice was low, resolute.
Dadan blinked.
"There are still some things I need to finish first, Mamma D."
Without another word, he turned and walked deeper into the forest.
With that, he turned and walked to the coast. He swam toward the island where Garp used to toss them for training. Kael turned the jungle into his makeshift shipyard, where he had spent countless hours with Ace, Sabo, and Luffy.
The sea stretched endlessly beneath the morning sun.
The jungle swallowed him whole.
Massive trees towered overhead while sunlight filtered through the leaves in fractured gold streams. Giant beasts roared somewhere in the distance before wisely deciding not to challenge whatever monstrous thing currently walked through their territory.
The jungle slowly gave way to a familiar clearing.
Kael stopped at its edge.
For a long moment...
He simply stood there.
The afternoon breeze rolled through the towering trees, carrying with it the scent of fresh pine, seawater, and old sawdust.
Sunlight spilled through the canopy in scattered beams, illuminating thousands of drifting wood shavings that floated lazily through the air like tiny golden feathers.
Waiting for him...
was his ship.
Even unfinished, she dominated the clearing.
Her broad hull rested upon enormous wooden supports driven deep into the earth years ago. Massive ribs curved toward the sky, waiting for the final deck to bind them together. Thick masts leaned nearby, still untouched, while coils of fresh rope rested beneath waterproof canvas.
She wasn't beautiful.
Not yet.
But Kael had never cared.
Ships weren't born beautiful.
They earned it.
He walked slowly toward her.
Every step felt strangely familiar.
Like returning home.
His massive hand rested against the hull.
The rough Adam wood felt warm beneath his fingertips.
"...I'm almost done," he whispered.
The words weren't for him.
They were for everyone who had built her.
His fingers drifted farther along the starboard side until they stopped over a long black scorch mark running nearly halfway across the hull.
Kael smiled despite himself.
"ACE!"
"Relax!"
"YOU SET THE SHIP ON FIRE!"
"Technically..."
Young Ace scratched the back of his head.
"...it was already made out of wood."
Luffy nodded enthusiastically.
"That makes sense."
"It DOES NOT make sense!"
Sabo pinched the bridge of his nose so hard Kael thought he might actually break it.
Ace proudly kicked over the burning bucket.
Unfortunately...
The bucket had been holding water.
The flames doubled.
"ACE!!"
"I PANICKED!"
Kael chuckled.
"...You idiot."
He had sanded that scorch mark away three different times.
Every single time...
He stopped halfway.
Some scars deserved to stay.
His hand continued farther along the railing.
One section immediately dipped several inches lower than the rest.
Crooked.
Uneven.
Completely wrong.
Kael laughed.
"Luffy..."
"I built it!"
"You nailed the railing upside down."
"So?"
"So..."
Kael stared.
"...people are supposed to lean ON the railing."
Luffy folded his arms.
"They still can."
"They'll fall into the ocean."
"They'll lean carefully."
Ace burst into hysterical laughter.
Sabo quietly walked away before he lost what remained of his sanity.
They had offered to rebuild it dozens of times.
Luffy refused every single attempt.
"It's MY railing!"
So...
It stayed.
Even now.
Crooked.
Perfectly imperfect.
Exactly where his little brother left it.
Kael reached the stern.
His fingers slipped beneath an ordinary-looking plank.
Click.
The wood shifted sideways.
A hidden compartment opened silently.
Inside rested several weatherproof maps.
An old spyglass.
Three bottles of emergency water and a tiny notebook protected beneath a meticulous wrap of oilcloth.
Kael smiled.
"...Only you, Sabo."
"If someone boards your ship..."
Sabo tapped the hidden compartment proudly.
"...they'll search the obvious places first."
Ace frowned.
"Why would anyone search the ship?"
"...Because pirates get robbed."
"We're stealing first."
"...That's..."
Sabo sighed deeply.
"...not how strategy works."
Kael carefully closed the compartment.
Every inch of the ship carried someone.
Every beam.
Every nail.
Every mistake.
Every laugh.
This wasn't just wood.
This was childhood.
He looked upward toward the unfinished figurehead.
Still blank.
He'd waited years to carve it.
Because somehow...
None of the designs had ever felt right.
Until now.
His hand drifted unconsciously toward the wolf-headed claymore resting across his back.
Fenrir.
His mother's sword.
The guardian of the pack.
Kael smiled faintly.
"...Maybe..."
Maybe he finally knew what the figurehead of his ship should be.
Not a lion.
Not a dragon.
A wolf.
Not because wolves were feared.
Because they never abandoned their pack.
One who guarded everyone aboard.
Just like Bekka always had.
The thought settled warmly inside his chest.
The ship...
Finally felt ready.
Kael didn't sing.
Not immediately.
Instead...
He worked.
Hammer.
One strike.
Another.
Another.
The rhythm echoed softly through the clearing.
He drove fresh nails into the deck with practised precision before setting the hammer aside and reaching for a sanding block.
Back.
Forth.
Back.
Forth.
Wood curled away in thin ribbons.
The repetitive motion quieted his thoughts.
Eventually...
Without realising it...
He started humming.
Softly.
Almost absentmindedly.
"Leave her, Johnny..."
The melody drifted across the clearing with the wind.
His hands never stopped moving.
"Leave her..."
Another memory surfaced.
A much smaller Kael sitting beside Shanks around a roaring campfire.
Lucky Roux was dancing terribly.
Yasopp somehow knew every verse.
Benn Beckman pretended he wasn't singing.
Everyone knew he was.
Kael smiled.
The humming grew louder.
"For the voyage is long..."
His hammer slowed.
Ace appeared in his memory next.
Standing dramatically on an overturned barrel while pretending to conduct an invisible orchestra.
He forgot half the lyrics.
Invented the rest.
Nobody cared.
Luffy shouted every chorus completely off-key.
Shanks laughed until tears rolled down his face.
Kael's smile widened.
"And it's time..."
His voice caught.
The next words refused to come.
He frowned.
"...What came after that?"
Silence.
He searched his memory again.
Nothing.
Then he remembered why.
Shanks always sang the final verse.
Not him.
Not Ace.
Not Luffy.
Not Sabo.
Shanks.
The clearing became impossibly quiet.
Even the wind seemed to pause.
Kael lowered the sanding block slowly.
"...Guess I'll have to ask you someday."
A small smile returned.
Not because the sadness disappeared.
Because it hadn't.
Some songs weren't meant to be finished alone.
He rested one hand against the unfinished hull.
Then looked toward the endless sea beyond the trees.
"...Guess it's my turn to finish the song."
Leave her, Johnny...
Though old friends drift beyond the tide...
Their fire still lights the way...
So raise the sail...
We'll meet again another day.
The promise wasn't made to Shanks alone.
It was for Ace.
For Luffy.
For Sabo.
Kael rested one hand against the unfinished hull.
"...We'll finish this."
The words disappeared into the evening breeze.
Then...
The breeze stopped.
Not slowed.
Stopped.
The trees stood perfectly still.
The ocean became glass.
Even the gulls circling overhead suddenly scattered inland, shrieking as though fleeing an unseen predator.
Kael frowned.
"...What?"
A faint warmth spread beneath his boots.
Not heat.
Recognition.
Golden cracks appeared across the earth, branching outward like veins beneath the forest floor.
They weren't made of light.
They looked like burning memories.
One by one...
Ancient symbols surfaced from the soil.
Symbols no language should have remembered.
Kael instinctively rested a hand on Fenrir's hilt.
The wolf-shaped guard vibrated softly.
Almost...
Like it recognised him.
Then a voice echoed through the silence.
Not loud.
Not quiet.
Simply...
Everywhere.
"Raen D. Kael."
The forest held its breath.
"Bearer of the Fourth Flame."
Then the memories came crashing back.
Not gentle memories.
Not nostalgic ones.
Marineford.
Flames swallowed the sky.
Ace collapsed forward.
Whitebeard's final roar shook the sea itself.
The war.
The deaths.
The unbearable feeling of helplessness.
Kael clamped down on the railing, the wood splintering under his fingers with a sharp crack.
"…No more," he whispered..
Kael frowned.
The jungle had gone silent.
No insects.
No waves.
No birds.
Then out of nowhere.
Kael's breath caught instantly.
Kael stared at the burning symbols.
His breathing became uneven.
Then...
He laughed.
Short.
Dry.
Disbelieving.
"...Now?"
There was silence.
Another dry laugh escaped him.
"...You choose now?"
His fingers tightened around Fenrir's hilt.
His knuckles turned white.
"So that's it?"
"Ten years..."
"...and now you decide to speak?"
The smile disappeared.
His shoulders trembled.
"Were you watching?"
His voice cracked.
"When Aetheron burned..."
Silence.
"When my mother stood between me and those monsters..."
Bekka's smile flashed across his mind.
"When my father told me to run..."
Bjorn's final roar echoed in his ears.
"When children cried..."
His breathing became ragged.
"When I buried people who never even got to see tomorrow..."
Fenrir's point sank into the earth.
His Conqueror's Haki leaked unconsciously.
Leaves exploded from the surrounding trees.
The sea in the distance trembled.
His voice finally broke.
"WHERE WERE YOU?!"
The echo rolled across the island.
Then...
Nothing.
Only silence.
Kael lowered his head.
"...Figures.Just stay quiet like the past ten years."
He turned away.
The voice returned.
Older this time.
Almost...
Sorrowful.
"The Fourth Flame does not answer desire."
Kael stopped in his tracks.
"It answers resolve."
The burning symbols pulsed once.
"Power granted before purpose creates tyrants."
A long silence followed.
"History remembers kings."
"The sea remembers conquerors."
"But the world itself remembers those who kept another's fire alive."
Kael slowly looked up.
The voice continued.
"The First Flame burns with ambition."
"The Second Flame burns with conquest."
"The Third Flame burns with legacy."
The forest became impossibly still.
"The Fourth Flame..."
There was a long enough pause that Kael could hear his own heartbeat.
"...exists so that no worthy fire is extinguished before its time."
A long silence followed.
"A flame shared is never diminished."
The words settled over the clearing like the last embers of a dying campfire
\
The words settled over the clearing like the last embers of a dying campfire.
Kael said nothing.
Yet somehow...
He understood.
Kael's eyes widened slightly.
Then came the line that changes everything.
"You were not chosen because you survived."
"You were chosen because, even in despair..."
"...you chose another's tomorrow over your own."
Kael froze.
Nami.
Nojiko.
Luffy.
Ace.
Belle-mere.
Bekka.
Bjorn.
Every decision.
Every sacrifice.
Every loss.
None of them had been for himself.
For the first time...
The anger began to fade.
Not because the pain disappeared.
Because it finally had meaning.
The ancient voice faded.
Silence returned.
Then...
A familiar chime echoed softly.
Unlike the voice...
This one sounded almost human.
The burning symbols folded into streams of crimson light.
A translucent interface slowly formed before Kael's eyes.
No fanfare.
No celebration.
Just a quiet acknowledgment.
[The Fourth Flame has accepted its bearer.]
[System Core Initialised.]
[WELCOME, RAEN D. KAEL.]
It sounded ancient.
Like something born from inherited will itself.
New symbols spread outward.
[FUNCTIONS UNLOCKED:]
• Summon System
• Quest Log
• Ship Evolution Tree
• Treasure Archive
• Inventory
[SUMMON SLOTS AVAILABLE:]
• One From The Dead (Locked)
• One Prime Era Summon (Available)
• Three Current Era Summons (Available)
Then another screen appeared.
[STARTER QUEST:]
IGNITE YOUR PATH
Leave Dawn Island.
Summon your first ally.
Reward:
• Random Mythical Devil Fruit
• Ship Upgrade Card
Kael slowly clenched his fists.
The air around him crackled faintly.
"No more deaths," he whispered.
Bekka's smile flashed through his mind.
Bjorn's laughter.
Ace dies in Luffy's arms.
Kael's golden eyes hardened.
"Not this time."
The system pulsed once more.
[PRIME ERA SUMMON AVAILABLE.]
Options appeared before him in burning crimson text.
Gol D. Roger [LOCKED]
• Edward Newgate [UNAVAILABLE: STILL LIVING]
• Shiki the Golden Lion [AVAILABLE]
• Silvers Rayleigh [LIMITED]
• Rocks D. Xebec [SEALED]
The moment Kael's eyes landed on Rocks' name—
The forest shook.
An overwhelming pressure slammed into him like invisible killing intent.
Not hostile.
Kael's instincts screamed immediately.
Every hair on his body stood upright.
Even the system symbols distorted around the name itself.
[WARNING.]
[ENTITY DESIGNATED EXTREME THREAT.]
Kael exhaled slowly.
"…Absolutely not."
The pressure vanished instantly.
Kael rubbed the back of his neck.
"Hell no."
His attention shifted lower.
[CURRENT ERA SUMMONS AVAILABLE:]
Portgas D. Ace
Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates Trafalgar D. Law
The Surgeon of Death Yamato
Oni Bloodline | Son of Kaido
Kael's hand stopped over Ace's name.
A hundred memories collided at once.
Ace's laughter as he set half the shipyard ablaze.
Kael thought back to Ace and himself shielding Luffy without hesitation after Sabo's disappearance.
Ace's final smile at Marineford.
His chest tightened.
His thumb hovered over the name.
"You've still got your own journey."
He smiled.
"I'm borrowing your future drinking buddy. I hope you don't kill me when we meet again."
Small laugh.
"I owe you one."
Another pause.
"I'll make sure you find Isuka."
"Someone has to stop you from flirting with every waitress in the Grand Line."
He took a slow breath.
"And this time..."
"...I'll make sure you're still around to embarrass yourself."
The smile faded, replaced by quiet determination.
"No more graves."
"No more brothers dying in my arms."
Kael needed to become strong enough to save himself first.
His gaze shifted downward.
Yamato.
Kael closed his eyes briefly.
A prisoner born from bloodline and violence.
A monster yearning for freedom.
Someone who understood chains.
Someone who understood inherited suffering.
Kael smiled slowly.
"…Yeah."
That felt right.
The system pulsed.
[SUMMON TOKEN AVAILABLE.]
[CONFIRM SELECTION?]
Kael rolled his shoulders.
A storm seemed to gather around him naturally.
"Let's see what destiny looks like when it finally fights back."
[CONFIRMED.]
[SUMMONING YAMATO…]
The world exploded.
A shockwave tore through the forest hard enough to uproot trees. Crimson fire spiralled skyward while black lightning crackled violently through the clearing.
The crimson symbols beneath Kael's feet ignited.
Not with heat.
With memory.
The air rippled as though reality itself had become the surface of disturbed water.
Far across the sea...
Beyond the Red Line.
Beyond the Grand Line.
Beyond Wano.
Something answered.
The crimson symbols ignited.
Reality rippled.
A pillar of scarlet fire tore into the sky.
Chains rattled within the inferno.
Then...
The flames burst outward.
Chains rattled.
A woman's voice echoed through the flames.
"...What?"
The fire exploded.
Standing in the centre of the clearing was a tall woman with white hair that faded into sea-green, two crimson horns curving from her head, and heavy iron shackles hanging broken around her wrists.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly.
Her kanabō was already in her hands.
Her eyes darted across the unfamiliar forest.
Then...
They locked onto Kael.
Her presence hit like a hurricane wrapped in rebellion.
Yamato's sharp eyes snapped across the clearing instantly.
"What the hell…? Who are you?!"
She vanished.
Kael barely had time to draw Fenrir.
Before he was attacked with a thunder bagua!
The collision split the clearing.
Ancient trees bent under the shockwave.
Birds scattered into the sky.
Kael slid backward, boots carving trenches through the earth.
His arms trembled from the force.
Yamato landed several paces away.
"...How did you block that?"
The impact flattens trees.
Lightning erupts.
Neither moves.
Then…
Golden eyes met golden eyes.
She smells him.
She frowned.
"...Wait."
Her nose twitched.
She stepped closer.
"...You're..."
Her eyes moved to his horns.
"...Oni."
Kael lowered Fenrir.
"So are you."
She laughs bitterly.
"No."
She points at herself.
"I'm Kaido's daughter."
Then points at him.
"So who the hell are you?"
Kael met her gaze.
"I'm Raen D. Kael, someone who lost everything."
Yamato narrowed her gaze immediately.
"And I just summoned you."
"…You WHAT?"
The air cracked.
Conqueror's Haki leaked from Yamato instinctively, splitting nearby trees apart.
Kael didn't move.
Didn't flinch.
Instead—
He grinned.
Not mockingly.
Not arrogantly.
Like someone finally meeting another person who understood what it meant to be born too large for the cage meant to hold them.
"I'm not one of Kaido's men," Kael said evenly.
"And I'm not interested in controlling you."
Yamato's stance loosened slightly.
But only slightly.
Kael pointed toward the unfinished ship resting behind him.
"What I need…"
The sea wind roared through the clearing.
"…is a first mate."
Yamato blinked.
Kael's grin widened.
"I need someone insane enough to challenge the world beside me."
His voice lowered.
Steadier now.
More dangerous.
"Someone strong enough to help me protect the people I refuse to lose."
For a moment, silence settled across the clearing.
Only the sound of waves crashing against distant cliffs remained.
Yamato studied him carefully.
The scars.
The horns.
The sword.
The grief is hidden behind his smile.
And the fire burning inside his eyes.
Not ambition.
Not greed.
Resolve.
Then Yamato laughed.
Sharp.
Wild.
Free.
"Tch… you've got guts, Captain."
She rested the kanabō across one shoulder.
"I like that."
Kael chuckled softly.
"So?"
Yamato grinned.
"Alright then."
Black lightning crackled briefly around her horns.
She looks toward the sea.
For a long time...
She says nothing.
Then smiles.
"...I've dreamed about this ocean my whole life."
"Captain."
[Crew Bond Established :]
[YAMATO – FIRST MATE]
The system symbols faded slowly into embers.
The sea breeze returned.
Kael looked toward the unfinished ship.
"I can't promise easy days."
"I can't promise victory."
"I can't even promise we'll survive."
He smiled.
"But I can promise this."
"You'll never wear chains again."
Yamato looked down at the broken iron still hanging from her wrists.
Then toward the endless sea visible beyond the trees.
A slow smile spread across her face.
Not because she'd been convinced.
Because someone had finally offered her the one thing she'd dreamed about since childhood.
Freedom.
She rested the kanabō across one shoulder.
"...Captain."
Kael blinked.
"I guess..."
She laughed.
"...I've got a ship to help finish."
Wano
Night had already fallen over Onigashima.
Torchlight flickered through the stone corridors beneath the Skull Dome.
Footsteps echoed.
Page One frowned.
"...Yamato?"
No answer.
He pushed open the heavy wooden door.
The room was empty.
Chains lay scattered across the floor.
One shackle still swung gently.
As though someone had vanished only moments ago.
His eyes widened.
"...What?"
He searched every corner.
Nothing.
Only silence.
Slowly...
He reached for the Den Den Mushi clipped to his belt.
"...King."
Static crackled.
"...We've got a problem."
Another pause.
"...Yamato's disappeared."
The line went silent.
Far above...
Thunder rolled across Onigashima.
Whether it came from the storm...
Or Kaido...
Page One felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise.
He didn't hear a reply.
He didn't need one.
Somewhere above him...
Someone had stopped laughing.
Back in the East Blue.
Moonlight reflected across calm water.
The unfinished ship rested quietly within the clearing.
Kael stood at her bow.
Yamato stood beside him.
Neither spoke.
The wind filled the loose canvas draped over the mast.
Kael rested one hand on Fenrir.
Beside him...
Yamato smiled toward the horizon.
The unfinished ship creaked quietly beneath the evening wind.
Somewhere beyond the sea...
A new era had already begun.
They simply hadn't reached it yet.
The dawn that would shake the world had already begun.
It simply didn't know their names yet.
The dawn that would shake the world had already begun.
It simply didn't know their names yet.