On the fourth day of their stay on Fish-Man Island, Caesar and his crew had completed everything they needed to do. There was no reason to remain any longer, and Caesar was eager to return to the New World.
Caesar informed Mars of his decision.
"Huh? Leaving so soon? I thought you'd stay a bit longer," Mars said, slightly surprised.
"Well, we've finished everything here. If we stay any longer, we'll just be wasting time. We need to return to the New World—there's still a lot to do," Caesar replied with a grin.
Although Mars wished to keep them for a while longer, seeing that Caesar had already made up his mind, he had no choice but to accept it.
The Next Day
Caesar and his crew departed Ryugu Palace under the escort of Mars and several Fish-Man guards. Without drawing attention from the citizens of Fish-Man Island, they quietly boarded the Rex and set sail from the island's port.
With that, their journey on Fish-Man Island came to a successful end, and they headed back toward the New World.
---
New World: Return of the King! The Never-Ending War
Unlike the first half of the Grand Line, known as Paradise, the New World was a place of chaos and merciless seas. The ocean was violent, with towering waves and unpredictable storms.
Above them, thick dark clouds loomed, occasionally flashing with massive bolts of lightning.
Suddenly, the sea bulged upward, and a dark shadow appeared beneath the waves.
The next moment, with an enormous splash, a massive ship broke through the surface of the ocean. The prow, adorned with a gigantic skull, cut through the roaring tides.
Water cascaded down like a torrential downpour, revealing the Rex in its full glory.
After nine long months, the Caesar Pirates had finally returned to the New World.
The King was back!
Despite the raging sea, excitement filled the crew.
Compared to the peaceful life on Fish-Man Island, this untamed ocean felt far more exhilarating.
"Haha! Finally, back in the New World! Back to the real sea!" Brad took a deep breath, as if savoring the salty air.
"Is this the New World? It's my first time here. I'm so excited!"
Eli's eyes gleamed as he observed the turbulent waters. He and Brook had never set foot in the New World before, and it was unlike anything they had imagined.
"After spending so long in the Florian Triangle, my brain was starting to rust. But this wild sea... now, this is interesting! Not that I have a brain—yohohoho!" Brook let out his signature laugh, his jawbone opening and closing.
"It's been a long time since I've felt such powerful waves. It feels great," Lily said with a smile.
"What sea are we in?" Caesar asked.
Lily glanced around, then looked at the sky.
"This is the Mobejamlu Sea. The climate here is erratic, and the waters are notoriously treacherous. Even though the Rex is strong, we can't let our guard down."
"Understood!" Arnold, who was steering the ship, responded.
However, just as he finished speaking, a deafening roar echoed from above.
"What's happening?"
Everyone instinctively looked up.
A massive white mass loomed over them, rapidly expanding.
"No way! It's an avalanche!" Brad shouted.
A gigantic avalanche was falling from the sky, directly toward them.
Compared to the sheer scale of the ice, the Rex was minuscule—like an insect facing an incoming mountain.
Everyone's expressions shifted.
"It's an avalanche?! Move, now!" Yakexi shouted.
"I'll accelerate with my Double-Speed Fruit!" Arnold called out.
"No, let me handle it!"
Before Arnold could act, Gnali leaped into the air.
"Sching!"
He unsheathed his blade in an instant. A flash of white light cut through the sky as Gnali unleashed a devastating sword strike.
"BOOM!"
With a thunderous crash, his blade struck the falling avalanche.
The force of the attack caused a brief pause in the avalanche's descent.
Then, unbelievably, the massive sheet of ice split in two, each half veering away from the Rex.
Most of the crew had seen Gnali's swordsmanship before, but for the newer members like Brook, the sheer power of the slash was astonishing.
Caesar smirked.
"Gnali's swordsmanship has improved significantly."
The avalanche crisis was averted, but they barely had time to breathe.
Ahead, the sea suddenly split apart, dividing into two massive walls of water.
The Rex had no time to react. It plunged straight into the abyss.
Darkness stretched below, with no visible end in sight. If they kept falling, even a ship built from Adam Wood wouldn't survive the impact.
The entire crew felt the crushing weight of gravity pulling them downward.
"Ahhh! We're gonna crash!" Lily screamed, instinctively trying to summon clouds to slow their descent.
But her power wasn't strong enough to support the Rex.
At that critical moment—
Caesar acted.
Using his psychic powers, he extended his influence like an invisible hand, enveloping the Rex entirely.
Gradually, the ship's descent slowed.
Then, with a powerful lift, Caesar's telekinesis pulled the Rex back up, returning it to the surface of the ocean.
"Hah… as expected of the New World," Brad muttered, gripping the railing. "This sea is insane. The weather is unpredictable!"
"Good thing Caesar was here. If we had fallen all the way down, who knows what was waiting below," Lily said, clutching her chest in relief.
In the distance, the remnants of the avalanche crashed into the ocean, sending massive waves surging forward.
Caesar quickly maneuvered the Rex back, avoiding the incoming surge.
The waves plummeted into the abyss, but no sound of impact followed.
This silence confirmed one thing—
The abyss was unfathomably deep.
Caesar frowned as he analyzed the constantly shifting sea. Even with his abilities, he knew this sea required extreme caution.
Soon, the ocean surface resealed itself, as if the abyss had never existed.
"Let's get out of here. Head left!" Lily instructed.
Arnold adjusted the Rex's course, just as another giant slab of ice crashed into the spot they had occupied moments before.
---
Half a Month Later
After sailing through unpredictable waters and passing a couple of uninhabited islands, the crew finally spotted land.
However, before they could even approach, they heard the sounds of cannons and battle cries.
From a distance, gunfire echoed from the island, the clash of steel ringing in the air.
"It looks like a war," Yakexi observed.
"Listen to those sounds… it's intense. Who could be fighting so fiercely?" Lily squinted toward the island.
Caesar, wasting no time, activated his Observation Haki, scanning the battlefield with an invisible wave of awareness.
What he sensed shocked him.
The island was engulfed in full-scale war. Two factions clashed violently, their hatred evident in every strike.
What disturbed him most, however, was the presence of children in the battle.
Boys and girls, some as young as seven or eight, fought with bloodthirsty expressions.
One child, no older than seven, had his arm severed—yet he leaped forward, sinking his teeth into an enemy's throat.
Caesar's eyes narrowed.
This wasn't just a battle.
This was a warzone of desperation.
Even for someone like Caesar, it was a shocking sight.
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