Skill Tree Chronicles: One Piece

"Reporting to battlefield command! An enemy stronghold has been sighted up ahead—coordinates align with an outpost of the Beasts Pirates! Do we initiate combat maneuvers?"

In the vast stretch of Grand Line waters, an ominous island loomed—like a silent beast resting atop the sea's surface, its shadow cast long and foreboding.

Fortified with anti-air cannons and sea-stone-lined watchtowers, the island had a ring of armed patrol vessels circling its perimeter—alert as Cerberus guarding Hades' gates.

Shen Yuan narrowed his eyes and locked on to the fluttering Jolly Roger emblazoned with a fearsome horned skull: the flag of Kaido's Beasts Pirates.

"Hmph, there's plenty of oil and water here," Shen Yuan sneered. "Time to raid."

With just a casual wave of his hand, a silent operation began.

Responding like trained shadows, Marco's elite squad vanished into formation, executing a pre-dawn infiltration under cover of cloud and flame.

Without a word, Jozu, the Diamond Human, bent his knees, then erupted into the air like a ballistic comet. His right arm crystallized into pure diamond, gleaming beneath the rising sun, and came smashing down toward the island's northern watchpoint like divine judgment!

BOOOOOOM!!!

The coastal cliff cracked like brittle stone, an impact thunderous enough to shake awake the sea kings below.

Sirens wailed. Pirate spotters cried out in chaos.

"Enemy assault! The island is under siege! Deploy all units!!"

But it was too late.

Trained for war since Shen Yuan began reshaping Whitebeard's remnants into a disciplined fighting force, Marco's Phoenix Regiment descended with the precision of veteran commanders.

CRACK—BOOM—CRASH!

Jozu glowed with radiant light, his diamond-armored fists sending tremors through the island's core as beast-aligned pirates fell like wheat.

Above, Marco the Phoenix spread his fiery wings and soared like a resurrected deity. Ethereal blue flames wrapped around his talons and beak.

"This is the sky's judgment! Feel the wrath of rebirth—Blue Phoenix Justice!"

The Beasts Pirates looked up in horror as a celestial flame-bird plummeted down.

"Report to Commander Holdem!!"

A panicked comms officer stumbled into a tent—only to freeze.

A man sat inside with a calm demeanor, twin sabers across his lap, and a neatly trimmed mustache.

"You—You're Flower Sword Vista?!"

"Correct," Vista replied coldly.

Before the grunt could even turn, a flash of sword light sliced through the air.

Thump. The man's head rolled onto the carpet.

Vista exhaled. "Now that's what I call cutting a line of communication."

He calmly picked up the Den Den Mushi, then crushed it in one hand.

Meanwhile, the outer battlefield was drenched in smoke and blood.

Dozens of Beasts Pirates lay unconscious or dead around Jozu, whose body still sparkled like a gem of war.

"Push forward! Claim this island in the name of Whitebeard!"

But unbeknownst to them, their arrival had already been logged by a surveillance snail.

Back at the stronghold, Holdem, a headliner of the Beasts Pirates, received the emergency feed.

"What? Who's attacking?"

A terrified pirate relayed, "Sir! It's the Whitebeard remnants—possibly Shen Yuan's elite division! Our comms with the main relay unit are... offline."

"Offline"?

Holdem's eyes twitched. He tried calling again—but static.

He swallowed and picked up the Golden Line Den Den Mushi, dialing directly to his superior.

Blu-blu-blu… KACHA!

"Jack speaking," came a deep voice.

Jack the Drought sat soaking in an industrial hot spring, his tusked mask hung loosely beside him.

"Jack! Sir! Our forward island outpost has fallen into enemy hands! We suspect Whitebeard's revival forces are active again—"

Jack jolted upright, water splashing everywhere.

"Say that again?!"

"They… they wiped the island clean, sir. Shen Yuan might be leading the assault. Should we report to Lord Kaido—?"

"IDIOT! Of course you report to Kaido if Whitebeard's men are on the move!"

Jack paused, then snarled.

"Listen. I'm mobilizing a Shin Uchiha squad now. Prepare your defenses and don't die before backup arrives!"

KACHA!

The line cut.

Holdem exhaled shakily.

"…That's not just any crew. If Shen Yuan's here, it could destabilize our whole quadrant of the New World."

The lion on his belt suddenly quipped in annoyance.

"Oi oi! You get paid how much? Yet you care about Kaido's turf like it's your grandma's garden?"

"SHUT IT, LION!"

"Stop yelling! We've got enemies at the gates!"

Holdem gritted his teeth and barked orders. "Man the north wall! Lock down our weapons cache! Get artillery to point Gamma-9!"

Back on the island, the battle was over.

All Beast-aligned pirates had been rounded up—dozens now tied and groveling in their own HQ tents.

Shen Yuan stepped forward, donning the Whitebeard cloak draped over his shoulders like a mantle of retribution.

"Who's your commanding officer?"

No one answered.

"You don't want to speak?"

Shen Yuan turned to Enel, whose earlobe drums twitched in understanding.

He stepped forward, golden staff in hand. "200 million volts: Judgment!"

A golden arc slashed down like divine thunder.

One pirate's head separated cleanly from his body—he never even screamed.

The rest of the captives shivered in terror.

What kind of monsters were these?

Even the Marines don't kill this cleanly!

"I—I'll talk!" cried one. "We answer to Holdem! He's Jack's direct subordinate!"

Shen Yuan nodded slightly.

"And where's Jack now?"

"No clue! He's a calamity-class officer—we've never met him directly!"

Enel looked to Shen Yuan.

With a silent nod, lightning danced once again.

FZZZZZT— Like stalks under a reaper's scythe, every remaining captive was eliminated in a blink.

Marco landed nearby.

"Reporting in! Zero fatalities, only two minor injuries. Cargo secured: 19 high-value goods, 3 Zoan-class Devil Fruits, 1 unlisted Paramecia."

Shen Yuan lit a cigar, flipping through the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia.

His eyes narrowed at a curious pattern.

"How did Kaido acquire so many Devil Fruits before Doflamingo's trafficking network peaked?"

Were there secret suppliers before Punk Hazard? Or another unknown auction chain?

Something didn't add up.

But there was no time to dwell.

"Load all goods. Prepare to set sail."

"Aye, sir!"

Their ship once again cut across the waves.

Meanwhile, at the forward garrison island…

Holdem barked orders while pacing—coastal turrets active, sniper positions locked in.

Then the Den Den Mushi rang again.

Buru buru buru… Buru—KACHA!

"Holdem, what the hell are you doing? You think this is nap time?"

Holdem's face went pale. The voice was unmistakable.

"Lord Jack! Apologies—I was just about to reinforce our line—"

His sentence halted mid-way.

FWOOOOOOOM!!

A colossal pillar of blue-green fire exploded from the sky, engulfing the entire eastern cliff of the island in a sea of flames!

Above the chaos, a voice roared:

"Come and witness my newly awakened Phoenix Flame Skill Tree—Emperor Flame: Azure Wing Judgment!!"

The island trembled.

Shen Yuan had just begun awakening his inherited Devil Fruit potential.

The New World would never be the same again.