One Piece: Burning the Sun God to Ash

North Blue.

A warship was slowly sailing forward, heading to the next island for resupply.

Two years ago, the legendary pirate Rocks fell at the Valley of Gods, plunging the New World into chaos.

Countless pirates, bloodthirsty and crazed, fought over the territories and influence Rocks left behind.

The remnants of the Rocks Pirates—Golden Lion, Whitebeard, Charlotte Linlin—began recruiting en masse, and their forces grew rapidly.

The Marines were unable to maintain control and pulled back their forces to the first half of the Grand Line, launching a heavy crackdown on pirates.

In a way, this indirectly weakened the pirate factions of the New World.

Some pirates who failed in their power struggles in the New World fled back to their hometowns.

There, they began recruiting large numbers of men, attempting to rise again.

Sakazuki filed a request: his mission as he patrolled the seas was to primarily strike down these pirates.

The pirates who failed in the New World returned to their home seas.

They took away masses of able-bodied young men—never to return. The consequences of this were easy to predict.

Islands already had limited populations. With the loss of so many of their youth, the aging population grew rapidly, birthrates fell, and productivity declined.

As productivity dropped, taxes remained the same. The burden on common folk doubled, forming a vicious cycle.

To train their forces, these pirates would even target villages and islands with past grudges, committing massacres and wiping them out entirely.

And this was only the beginning, as it was still just the defeated pirates returning to regroup.

Sakazuki's pursuit operations significantly curbed the spread of these disasters.

...

It was the era of great pirates sparked by Gol D. Roger that truly plunged the world into chaos.

The rise of the Revolutionary Army was directly tied to it.

Countless young people rushed headlong into the New World, while back home the elderly increased, the newborn dwindled, productivity collapsed, taxes grew heavier, and civilians couldn't survive.

Those young pirates, after experiencing a few slaughters and gaining massive wealth, gradually lost their minds.

Most islands were left with only the old, weak, and infirm, making the pirates' actions grow more and more violent.

Pillaging, burning, slaughtering—these became routine. Entire villages and towns were wiped off the map, countless lives lost.

Don't try to argue there are "good pirates." There are many ways to go to sea.

It's not like flying a pirate flag is the only option—no one would stop you if you sailed freely without one. But you chose to fly a pirate flag.

A thief is a thief. There's no such thing as a good thief or a bad one.

Saving a few people or towns doesn't make someone a good pirate. The consequences they bring are far-reaching and unpredictable.

Those who idolize them and set sail—how many of them can truly say they have no regrets?

In the original story, people admired so-called "good pirate" Luffy. But Bartolomeo, who set sail because of that admiration—why was he called the "Cannibal"?

Why did his brief criminal record include bombarding innocent civilians in a city and gleefully uploading footage of pirates being tortured and burned alive?

Even the influence of a "good pirate" isn't something ordinary people can bear...

...

The era of great pirates started by Gol D. Roger led to countless deaths.

And Monkey D. Dragon, founder of the Revolutionary Army, rallied the masses who couldn't survive because of Roger's actions.

They rose to resist their own nations and the World Government.

That thing called the Will of D… from 800 years ago until now, it has never stopped stirring the world.

But behind that word "stirring"...

Is Joy Boy's so-called ideal of freedom—a legacy for which countless have died.

Is Roger's ideal that turned the world upside down, ushering in an era where hundreds of thousands die every year by the hands of pirates.

Is Dragon's ideal of world liberation that launched a revolution which shocked the entire world.

That's why both the World Government and the people fear and hate the D lineage.

They act on impulse, with no regard for consequences.

Some ordinary people, blinded, live their whole lives without ever seeing hope.

As children, they lose family to pirates. In youth, they join the Revolutionary Army out of desperation. In middle age, they die resisting the government.

They might not even know what they're fighting for—only that it's a way to survive.

Those who can see the truth fear the D.

Those who can't keep joining the Revolutionary Army.

They believe D will lead them to a world without government, to freedom.

They blindly follow the D, keeping their eyes only on the government...

While ignoring the fact that the D is one of the sources of their suffering...

...

On the warship.

"Report! Pirates spotted at the supply island ahead!"

As he looked toward the island, already ablaze with smoke rising into the sky, Sakazuki's deep voice rang out.

"Full speed ahead."

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