One Piece: Chopping Ace Back to Foosha Village at the Start

Wayne crushed the newspaper into a ball and flung it onto the street.

Across from him, Crocodile wore an odd mixture of annoyance and fascination. Wayne had just left the Warlord standing there for three or four whole minutes an insult in its own right and now Crocodile very much wanted to know what could possibly rile his fellow Warlord like that.

With a lazy curl of his hooked hand, Crocodile summoned a thin dust‑devil. The whirlwind scooped the crumpled paper off the ground and delivered it neatly to his palm a quiet display of how finely he controlled the Suna‑Suna no Mi.

He smoothed the page and began to read. The farther his eyes traveled, the darker his expression became. By the final paragraph he was staring at Wayne with naked disbelief.

Headline:

Shocking! Warlord Wayne and Marine Admiral Aokiji Battle for Two Days and Nights The Reason Will Astonish You!

The article claimed that Wayne, "suspected to be of Great‑Swordmaster level," had fought Aokiji to a draw, leaving the Admiral with a wound across the abdomen. The supposed cause? Aokiji's bicycle had broken down and Wayne refused to fix it.

Of course, the real reason Nico Robin was deliberately omitted. Wayne doubted the reporter had missed her. More likely Morgans had no desire to make an enemy of him and so fabricated a ridiculous excuse.

Exposure brought trouble. Now the World Government would pry into Wayne, and Robin's safety would hang in the balance. That was enough to sour his mood completely.

Crocodile folded the paper. "You and Aokiji didn't fight over a bicycle. The 'Devil's Child' behind you… she's the reason, isn't she?"

Wayne's gaze sharpened. Robin was one of the people he had sworn to protect; anyone who threatened her touched his reverse‑scale.

Seeing Wayne's anger, Crocodile's lips curved. "A kindly Warlord how rare. So fierce when someone pokes your soft spot."

"What are you after?" Wayne snapped.

Crocodile advanced a step, lowering his voice. "You hold my secret, I hold yours. As long as we keep each other's mouths shut, both of us stay safe. You understand?"

Wayne understood perfectly. This was balance. He nodded once. "Fine."

He had never planned to meddle with Crocodile's coup; that was a job for the future Pirate King. Besides, killing another Warlord would only draw Navy wrath.

Crocodile exhaled slowly, then turned partially to sand, ready to depart. Before leaving, he glanced at Robin. "Girl, if this kid can't keep you safe, my desert is always open. No one beats me here."

"Just wait two years and even a rookie'll beat you, sand lizard!" Wayne shouted after the dissipating dust cloud.

Robin tugged his sleeve. "Let it go. He's gone."

Wayne forced a smile, though tension still rippled beneath. The world's ceiling the level of a Marine Admiral had to be broken. He needed power with no weaknesses: a top‑tier blade style, peak haki, monstrous physique, and a truly fearsome Devil Fruit.

His hand closed around the fruit‑shaped Ability Receptacle hanging at his belt. "Time to fetch that Devil Fruit I've had my eye on," he muttered.

Marine Headquarters, Marineford

"Gorogoro moshi‑moshi, Admiral Aokiji speaking."

"Kuzan!" Fleet Admiral Sengoku barked. "Explain yourself! An Admiral trading blows with a Warlord over a bicycle? The press is having a field day. Your leave is over report at once and file a full account!"

Aokiji sighed. "Yes, yes… heading back now."

Somewhere in Paradise

On a nameless island, a tall man in a burgundy coat closed the same newspaper. A thin smile tugged at the corners of his beard‑shadowed mouth.

"Warlord Wayne… interesting."

He reached back and rested a hand on the black blade slung across his back, then stepped into a tiny coffin‑shaped boat. Even among the fiercest oceans, Dracule Mihawk the world's strongest swordsman cut a straight path toward his next duel.