Prosius Island.
On the streets of the island's small town.
Sora and Kuina joined Ahua, laden with bags, heading toward the port.
Behind them, Big Beard Colonel and his Marine squad trailed at a distance.
They only monitored, not interfering.
Sora's tavern promise had clearly sunk in.
Sora carried a sack of fruit in his left hand, his bounty poster in his right, glancing at it as he walked.
The Navy's half-hearted epithets irked him.
"What's this nonsense?"
"Silver-Haired, Blue-Haired? Could they be any lazier?"
Did the Navy think him unworthy? Or was his strength too trivial for a proper title?
They'd slapped on something generic.
Rubbing his chin, he pondered.
Or was this a Navy plot?
Maybe they wanted him to clash with Red-Haired Shanks for the "Best Hair Pirate Crew" crown.
"Hmm!"
Sora nodded, convinced he'd cracked their scheme.
"So sneaky, Sengoku-san."
This had Sengoku's scheming stench all over it.
If Sengoku heard this, he'd cough up decades-old blood in rage.
His reputation, tarnished!
Sengoku, the Navy's most upright man, wasn't plotting—this was just lazy paperwork!
"Hm!"
Sora suddenly froze, looking skyward.
His cheeky grin vanished, face darkening.
The trailing Marines, seeing Sora's crew halt, panicked.
"What's up?"
"No clue."
"Silver-Haired's gang stopped."
"They're not planning to rob the town, are they?"
"Quiet!"
Big Beard barked, eyes fixed on Sora, sensing his grim aura.
He couldn't fathom why Sora's mood had shifted.
Nervously, he followed Sora's gaze upward.
Kuina and Ahua, noticing Sora's change, looked skyward too.
Something big enough to rattle Sora had to be massive.
Sure enough, a fiery red-tailed fireball emerged from the clouds.
Its trajectory? Straight for their island.
"No way!"
The Marines behind Big Beard spotted it too.
"In broad daylight? Am I dreaming?"
Some rubbed their eyes, disbelieving.
But as the fireball loomed closer, they collapsed, paralyzed with fear.
Eyes wide, they muttered, "Impossible, impossible."
"An illusion, gotta be an illusion."
Big Beard clung to a shred of composure, shouting, "Stop dawdling! Get up, warn the villagers—save who you can!"
He bolted toward nearby houses.
No time to waste—the "meteor" would hit soon.
They couldn't stop it, only evacuate.
Sora's face was grim enough to drip water.
That wasn't a meteor—it was an island.
Broken houses and trees clung to its surface.
"This is no accident. Skyward currents don't chain like this!"
He recalled joking about Corgi Island's bad luck days ago.
Now, karma had come knocking.
He could ensure his crew's safety when it hit.
But…
He glanced at the Marines behind him and the villagers rushing out like headless flies.
Children's cries, adults' frantic shouts, and chaotic collisions echoed from deeper in town.
He couldn't let this island fall.
"Sora!"
Kuina's call snapped him back. Her eyes held panic—not for herself, but for the town.
If that island hit, nine out of ten residents would die.
"Got a plan?"
She always believed Sora could do anything.
She trusted he'd pull through.
Sora ruffled her hair, staring at the nearing fireball, voice resolute. "I'll do everything to keep it off the town."
His tone hardened. "It can't get closer. Even if I shatter it, fragments could kill too many."
In a flash, he vanished, leaving the fruit sack on the ground.
No one cared about fruit now, all eyes on the sky.
Sora teleported beside the island, eyeing the massive thing, mind racing.
Catching it was simple—holding it wasn't.
This was a full island, not a small meteor. His 20-meter spatial domain couldn't contain it.
With top-tier Haki, smashing it would be easy.
His Haki reserves were vast, but quality and technique fell short of mastery.
At its peak, Haki could flow like gas, striking enemies' internals—a technique called "Ryuo" in Wano.
But that required grueling combat experience.
Stuck at the dojo, he'd never honed such mastery.
He'd gotten Ryuo's training method from Koshiro long ago.
Useless without real fights.
Even Luffy couldn't master Ryuo without battles.
Only one option: brute force—slice the island apart.
He could teleport around it hundreds, thousands of times in a second.
Unleash Hundred Slashes, Thousand Slashes to shred it.
But this plan gave him pause.
It'd drain his stamina heavily.
Teleporting skyward, he'd sensed more islands in the clouds.
At their center, a lion-like presence radiated regal dominance.
The moment he felt it, he knew who it was.
In East Blue, a lion's aura and floating islands?
He'd be a fool not to recognize Shiki after years of One Piece fandom.
That old bastard, showing up now of all times.
Probably hunting him.
"Damn bad luck."
Anger flashed across Sora's grim face.
Want a fight? Come straight at him! Dropping an island as a greeting? And on a populated town?
Pushing aside his grudge against Shiki, Sora focused.
No time for gripes.
He'd deal with Shiki later. Even drained, he believed he could win.
Staring at the plummeting island, Sora's pupils shrank, nebulae swirling in his eyes.
Gripping Zankuu's hilt, he activated teleportation.
Time seemed to freeze as countless Soras appeared around the island.
They drew their blades, unleashing a storm of massive silver-gray slashes.
The Soras merged back into one, standing still, as if he'd never moved.
His quickened breaths betrayed the effort.
Clink!
The sound of Zankuu sheathing.
"Shun: Thousand Slashes!"
His voice shattered the frozen moment.
The falling island halted, radiant beams bursting from its core outward.
With a deafening boom, it exploded, shattering into countless tiny stones, streaking outward with fiery red tails.
Sora stood calmly, steadying his breath, ready for Shiki's approach.
The explosion's shockwave parted around him, like water split by a blade.
On the island, fleeing villagers and Marines froze at the blast, looking up.
They witnessed a sight they'd never forget.
The "meteor" exploded, dust cloaking the sky, plunging the world into darkness.
From the haze, countless small stones shot out, trailing fiery tails like meteors.
It was a colossal firework, breathtakingly beautiful.
Where the "meteor" had been, a figure flickered through the dust.
"Wow! A sky god?"
"Gotta be! Only a god could do that!"
Survivors sobbed, laughed hysterically, or slumped, gasping.
Big Beard stared, then collapsed, drained.
This brush with death stirred memories of twenty years ago.
Snapping back, he scanned for Sora's crew, noticing Sora's absence.
Looking skyward at the shadowy figure, he muttered, "Terrifying… 'Silver-Haired Sora.'"
(End of Chapter)
---
Translator's Note:
Prosius Island (普罗修斯): Loguetown's alternate name in this context, site of the crisis. Small town with port and tavern.
Loguetown (羅格鎮): Canon town, March 1520 (pre-Luffy). Synonymous with Prosius here.