Chapter 282: NEO Marines!
Aboard the warship,
white smoke continuously billowed from Smoker’s mouth, but his gaze remained locked onto the newspaper clenched in his hand.
“Straw… Hat… Luffy!!”
His thoughts uncontrollably drifted back to that hellish battlefield.
The shattered frozen bay.
The collapsing execution platform.
The roaring heroes and the fallen legends…
It wasn’t just his overwhelming strength.
There was also that terrifying charisma… the ability to turn enemies into allies.
Within the hell of “Absolute Justice” constructed by the Fleet Admiral, the Hero of the Marines, the Admirals, and even the Five Elders who stood atop the world’s power…
he had miraculously survived.
And reclaimed his brother.
What an absurd—yet undeniably real—legend.
Smoker’s fist tightened, causing the edges of the newspaper to crumple under the strain.
“I won’t allow it…”
he muttered in a low voice, nearly drowned out by the roar of the engines.
“This world must never give birth to a second Pirate King!!”
“Ah la la… Smoker, talking to yourself like that makes you sound like a sore loser.”
A lazy yet unmistakably commanding voice came from a reclining chair on the deck nearby.
The tall man was nearly sprawled across it, his sleep mask pushed up onto his forehead, revealing weary eyes that seemed to have seen through the world itself.
“Kuzan!”
Smoker suddenly turned around, his silver hair practically bristling with anger.
“Don’t stand there talking nonsense!! You’ve got no right to judge me!”
“Judge you? No, I’m just stating facts.”
Kuzan shifted into a more comfortable position while staring at the drifting clouds overhead.
“That kid and the storm surrounding him… you can’t catch something like that with brute force and determination alone.”
“What exactly are you trying to do?!”
Smoker practically growled, visibly irritated by his former comrade whose loyalties had become impossible to read.
“You left the Marines, wandered around doing whatever you want, and now you’ve shown up on my— no, on this ship!”
Kuzan slowly raised a finger.
“This isn’t your battleship.”
“I’m just a drifter hitching a ride.”
“The sea’s huge. What’s wrong with traveling the same direction for a while?”
“A drifter?”
Smoker stepped closer, smoke swirling around him as his sharp gaze bore into Kuzan like a blade.
“You abandoned the name ‘Aokiji’ and the justice you carried. So what are you now?!”
Kuzan fell silent for a moment as the sea breeze stirred his curly black hair.
When he finally spoke again, there was something deeper hidden beneath his usual laziness.
“I’m just me, Smoker. Nothing more.”
“Some sights… can only truly be seen once you step off the predetermined path and stand at the edge of it.”
Their eyes collided in midair.
One burned like an unextinguished white flame.
The other resembled ice that appeared calm on the surface while concealing unknown currents beneath.
“…Fine.”
Smoker finally snorted heavily and turned away.
“Just remember what you said.”
Meanwhile, at the bow of the ship—
A towering figure stood there like a mountain, allowing the violent sea winds to whip his coat straight behind him with explosive force.
The bold black kanji for “Justice” on the broad white coat twisted violently in the wind pressure like two furious black dragons battling across the sea.
His short purple hair danced wildly like flames.
At his side hung the mechanical arm known as the Crusher, gleaming coldly beneath the sunlight.
“Teacher Zephyr,”
his adjutant Ain stepped forward quickly and saluted respectfully, her blue hair fluttering in the wind.
“Punk Hazard has entered visual range. Estimated arrival in thirty minutes.”
“Tch…”
Zephyr snorted through his nose, though his face carried a complicated expression bordering on amused irritation.
“That damn old Sengoku… even after retirement, he still won’t let me rest! Always throwing trouble at me!”
The Neo Marines under his command had already almost completely severed ties with Marine Headquarters and the World Government.
Fleet Admiral Sakazuki’s orders?
The World Government’s commands?
To them, those were nothing more than passing sea winds.
This was a fleet that roamed independently through the New World, existing solely to uphold its own “Burning Justice.”
And yet, with nothing more than a personal letter, the former Fleet Admiral Sengoku had summoned him to these waters.
For only one reason—
Rumors had quietly leaked regarding experiments involving “Artificial Devil Fruits” being conducted deep within the mysterious island known as Punk Hazard.
———
Punk Hazard.
Once an island overflowing with life and greenery, it had now become a hellscape where ice and fire coexisted.
And the area Luffy’s group had stepped into was the “Burning Land,” ruled by eternal flames.
The air distorted beneath the intense heat.
Everywhere they looked was cracked scorched earth and endless orange-red fire.
Waves of heat pressed against them like solid walls, scorching their throats with every breath.
“So hot… it’s seriously hot…”
Uta looked like she was about to melt from the temperature, her red-and-white hair damply clinging to her flushed neck and cheeks.
Sweat rolled down her delicate jawline, evaporating into white steam before it could even fall.
“You still won’t let go even in this heat?”
Luffy turned his head slightly, firelight reflecting in his eyes as he grinned teasingly.
“Absolutely… not!!”
Uta lifted her sweat-soaked face and glared fiercely at him with her beautiful violet eyes, yet her arms tightened even more around him, practically hanging off his arm.
“Sigh…”
Luffy scratched his cheek awkwardly.
The incredible softness and elasticity pressing through the thin fabric of her clothes, along with the warmth of her body from the heat…
made him feel strangely restless.
His childhood friend really could be unbelievably adorable sometimes.
With a thought, an invisible force quietly spread outward from his body.
Like a transparent membrane, it rapidly expanded and enveloped all of his companions with perfect precision.
“There.”
Luffy turned toward the others and flashed his signature bright grin.
“Not hot anymore, right?”
The moment the coolness descended—
“Luffy, you’re so reliable.”
Robin’s elegant voice sounded beside him, carrying a faintly amused warmth.
She naturally moved closer and gently leaned against his side.
Her snow-white slender arm wrapped around his waist in a gesture that was both intimate and graceful.
The coolness of her body seeped faintly through the fabric of their clothes, carrying a calm warmth of its own.
Luffy blinked.
On one side was Uta clinging tightly to his arm with a relieved expression.
On the other was Robin quietly embracing his waist.
In the end, his grin only widened as he scratched his head.
Zoro walked at the front of the group and glanced back at the sluggish trio behind him.
“You guys should hurry up already.”
He clicked his tongue and nudged his thumb against his sword guard, exposing a glint of cold steel.
“If you keep fooling around in a place like this, then something bad might—”
“Zoro! Shut up! Please!!”
Chopper and Usopp were already hugging each other in terror while frantically scanning their surroundings.
“Don’t say stuff like that!!”
Usopp looked close to tears.
“If you mention scary things in a place like this… they’ll actually appear!”
Before he even finished speaking—
“ROOOOAAARRRR—!!!”
The sound surged from deep within the burning ruins.
Low. Heavy.
It rumbled like boiling magma.
The atmosphere instantly grew oppressive, as though all the flames across the island had bowed toward the source of the roar.
The ruins exploded apart.
Burning beams and molten metal were hurled into the air by overwhelming force, scattering sparks throughout the blazing heat.
Then the creature stepped out from behind the curtain of flames—
and everyone froze.
It stood over ten meters tall, its body covered in crimson scales.
Two curved horns rose from its head while enormous bat-like wings slowly spread open behind it.
Its massive tail dragged along the ground.
Every breath it exhaled distorted the air into rippling waves, causing the surrounding flames to surge violently.
“A… dragon?!”
Robin’s eyes widened in rare shock, one finger unconsciously touching her lips.
“That’s impossible! Dragons are just legends!”
“But it’s moving…! It’s looking at us!”
“Zoro!”
Luffy’s voice shattered the frozen atmosphere.
He released the arms wrapped around Uta and Robin and slowly clenched his rubber fingers, his knuckles cracking softly.
“It’s a dragon!!!”
He grinned widely, baring his teeth.
“I wanna fight it!!!”
“ROOOOAAARRRR—!!!”
The dragon seemed to understand the provocative declaration.
Its burning pupils suddenly narrowed as they locked onto the black-haired Straw Hat.
One enormous claw rose into the air, its talons glowing like red-hot blades.
“BOOM!!!”
The claw slammed downward.
The earth exploded apart like fragile crackers as rocks and magma erupted everywhere.
The shockwave instantly flattened nearby ruins, while a massive fan-shaped fissure tore across the ground straight toward the Straw Hats.
At the final moment, Zoro leapt backward, his right hand already gripping the hilt of Wado Ichimonji.
The smoke slowly cleared.
Luffy remained standing exactly where he was, the brim of his straw hat fluttering in the scorching wind.
He looked up at the mythical beast before him—
and his grin only grew wider.