Zoro had no idea how many times he had changed directions, but after a labyrinth of wrong turns and backtracking, he had somehow stumbled his way into this sector.
Though he hadn't found Ace immediately, he had found high-grade sake, and in Zoro's worldview, once the wine was secured, everything else was a secondary variable. With a jug in hand, he finally linked up with the group and provided a comprehensive briefing on the current state of Wano Country.
"Are you claiming Oden's retainers are actually still alive!?" Marco asked, his face a mask of absolute shock as he stared at Zoro.
By now, everyone in the vanguard understood that Zoro was a core member of Luffy's crew. Since he was a trusted comrade of their captain's younger brother, the Drake Pirates harbored zero prejudice toward him. In fact, the group was already conversing with the swordsman as if they were old friends.
Armed with the intel regarding Oden's retainers, Ace and the others reached a synchronized decision: they would investigate the situation immediately before finalizing their next move.
"Splendid. I'll map the trajectory and lead the way," Zoro noted, throwing back a massive gulp of sake with a grin.
The Coast of Wano Country
The Thousand Sunny crested the towering waterfall, officially breaching the maritime perimeter of Wano Country.
As the vessel was suddenly ensnared by a gargantuan, violent whirlpool, Nami and Chopper shrieked in terror, clutching each other with a vice-like hold. Luffy and Sanji's expressions turned remarkably grave as they prepared to launch a high-intensity maneuver to stabilize the ship.
"Leave the structural transit to me," Drake interjected, stepping to the vanguard.
"Everyone, secure yourselves against the hull. We are initiating an immediate landing."
The crew held zero doubts regarding his data. Within seconds, they had braced themselves for the shift.
"Spatial Displacement!"
In the next microsecond, the Thousand Sunny—which had been on the verge of being swallowed by the crushing vortex—evaporated from the sea along with every soul on board.
Back on the physical coast of Wano, the colossal ship materialized out of thin air above the waves.
CRA-SPLASH!
The hull slammed into the water, sending a massive plume of spray into the sky.
"WANO COUNTRY! WE HAVE OFFICIALLY ENTERED THE GRID! Ahahahahaha!" Luffy vaulted onto the figurehead, throwing his arms wide as his voice boomed across the shore.
Drake and the others strolled slowly from the cabins, taking in the landscape of Wano. A collective sense of relief and renewed purpose washed over the group.
For the Straw Hat Pirates, this Tea Party deployment had resulted in a spectacular strategic profit. Not only had they successfully extracted Sanji, but they had also secured a Road Poneglyph. The captain's dream of claiming the mantle of King of the Pirates had never been mathematically closer.
A specialized note on the ledgers: Drake's individual "harvest" during the infiltration had resulted in a near-fatal economic deficit for Big Mom.
Utilizing his System Space, Drake had operated without the constraints of physical carrying capacity. He had systematically appropriated everything of value his sensors could lock onto, leaving Big Mom's personal treasury so hollow that not even a blade of grass remained.
In a single night, Drake had transitioned from a baseline budget to the tier of an absolute global tycoon. He now possessed the leverage to be as "arrogant" as his status dictated.
"I wonder where Zoro and the others are currently anchored?" Luffy asked, leaping onto the sand. His curiosity regarding the closed nation was at its peak.
"They likely left a trail of breadcrumbs or a beacon for us to track. Let's execute a diagnostic sweep of the area," Nami suggested as the rest of the crew disembarked.
"Mmm, it really has been a long timeline since we last regrouped! Shihihihi!" Luffy stood with his hands on his hips, his grin widening as he scanned the horizon.
"Agh... T-That... what the hell is that!?" Chopper suddenly shrieked, his hooves giving out as he collapsed onto his backside, staring at the sky in pure, unadulterated terror.
"Hmm?"
The group followed the trajectory of Chopper's gaze. Far above the upper atmosphere, hidden behind a dense, swirling vortex of dark storm clouds, a gargantuan biological entity was shifting through the sky.
The creature was tracking a direct intercept vector toward their coordinates.
As the distance closed, the suffocating, catastrophic aura radiating from the sky scaled exponentially. The expressions of Luffy, Kenshin, and the others hardened into masks of absolute, battle-ready focus.
"Hundred Beasts Kaido!"
Drake's eyes narrowed into sharp slits as he tracked the massive silhouette.
A Dragon.
The Yonko, Kaido, was the user of the Fish-Fish Fruit, Mythical Zoan Model: Azure Dragon!
Judging by the trajectory, Kaido had locked onto their signatures the exact microsecond they mapped back into reality. Had they been compromised the moment they landed?
As expected of an Emperor's sovereign crew, the Beast Pirates' intelligence grid was remarkably dense. Even though Luffy and the others had systematically deleted every scout and lookout encountered during their transit, Kaido had still initiated a high-priority reaction immediately.
This was the cadence of a total war initiating upon entry.
However, what Drake's unit omitted from their calculations was that Kaido wasn't actually tracking them—he was hunting for Ace.
Staring up at the peerless majesty of the dragon form, a flicker of intense battle lust flashed through Drake's eyes. This was the legendary dragon of lore, a creature that sat at the apex of the world's power metrics.
Since re-awakening from his alcohol-induced coma, Drake had felt a surge of near-infinite energy thrumming through his nervous systems for reasons he couldn't quite identify. His entire frame was vibrating with a restless urge to engage in a high-intensity duel and vent the excess output.
"Drake! Kaido is my assignment! I'm the one who's going to take him down!" Luffy suddenly bellowed. He stood tall, staring up at the descending dragon with a spirit that burned like a supernova.
Catching the unyielding heat in Luffy's voice, Drake slowly retracted the spatial energy he had been condensing in his palm.
He offered Luffy a calm, supportive smile. "Fine by me."
Internally, he logged a private directive: Let's see the exact extent of your evolution, Luffy!
He understood that Luffy had gained immense tactical data from his struggle against Katakuri; he had at least mastered the baseline mechanics of Advanced Conqueror's Haki Infusion and Future-Sight Observation Haki.
This confrontation with Kaido would serve as the ultimate geopolitical watershed. Following the fallout of Wano, the global architecture would officially begin to harbor extreme fear toward these four brothers!
Drake had already processed this trajectory. It was the natural law of the sea: when your power metrics scale past the control of the established order, the world stops trying to manage you and starts trying to delete you.
The Legendary Four Brothers were sailing straight into that storm. The incoming waves of enemies would be as relentless as the New World's tides—each surge more catastrophic than the last.
But Drake had already pre-calculated his counter-measures. Even if the entire world synchronized its offensive against them in a single microsecond, these four brothers would break every single tentacle the establishment reached out with.
"WORORORORORORO...!!"
The massive dragon in the sky suddenly unhinged its abyssal maw, releasing a colossal blast of pressurized air as it descended.
"FIRE EMPEROR ACE... SHOW YOURSELF!! WHERE ARE YOU HIDING!?"
The roar was earth-shaking, the sheer atmospheric displacement generating a series of localized hurricanes that blanketed the entire Kuri sector.
"Ace?" Luffy blinked, momentarily stunned. He whipped around to face the others. "Did that lizard just shout Ace's name?"
Nami and Chopper nodded frantically from behind Drake. "Mmm, we logged the same acoustic signature."
"Ace... so he really is here in Wano Country?"
Despite his bravado, it had been over two rotations of the calendar since Luffy had last locked eyes with Ace. To claim he didn't harbor a deep, brotherly longing for the reunion would be a lie.
"Correct. Ace's primary deployment coordinates map to Wano, and my core vanguard is currently reinforcing his position. Based on this data loop, Ace has definitely established a presence on the island," Drake confirmed.
"Drake, take Nami and the others to a secure zone outside the blast radius. I'm handling Kaido solo!"
Casting a long, meaningful glance at Luffy, Drake signaled for Nami and the rest of the crew to consolidate. He activated his spatial movement, shifting the non-combatants far from the epicenter.
Luffy stood alone on the desolate shore, his eyes fixed on the gargantuan frame of the dragon slowly descending from the clouds.
"You're Kaido, aren't you!?"
"HUH!?" Kaido extended his massive dragon head, his gaze sweeping the beach in confusion.
Because Drake had instantaneously vanished the entire group, Luffy was the solitary, glaringly obvious signature left in the sector.
"You are... the Straw Hat brat?"
"KAIDO! I'M THE MAN WHO'S GOING TO BEAT YOU INTO THE DIRT!" Luffy roared at the Emperor. He bit into his thumb, violently inflating his arm to massive proportions.
A colossal, haki-coated fist swung through the air, charting a lethal trajectory aimed straight for the center of Kaido's skull.
BOOM!!!