Cover Page: Color Spread: Luffy, Nami and the other Straw Hats, who are miniature and riding on Luffy, appear on the center of the cover page with a background of Zoro, Sanji, Gol D. Roger, Silvers Rayleigh, and Scopper Gaban.

Four decades ago, the Kuja Pirates led by Gloriosa and Shakuyaku were one of the most prominent pirate crews in the world, and they came into conflict with the youthful Roger Pirates as well as the Marines under Garp's command. On Elbaph, a resentful Loki repeatedly tried to escape and asked Rocks to take him as a crewmate during the pirate's repeated visits to recruit Harald, but was always rebuffed. The Rocks Pirates had successfully taken over Pirate Island and continued attracting powerful members. Rocks was intent on getting Harald to accept his invitation in order to eat a particular Devil Fruit, and the crew was also interested in finding the Galleila giants as they plotted to utilize the might of Elbaph to overthrow Mary Geoise.

During this era, there was a particular group of pirates who were considered idols at sea, and that group of pirates were the Kuja Pirates. As the crew came from the woman-dominated island Amazon Lily, male civilians and even the Marines had trouble dealing with them because of how strong and beautiful they were. The captain of the crew at the time was Gloriosa, who was adored by everyone, even by members of her own crew, but the one person who out shown even her was her first mate, Shakuyaku. Sure enough, Shakuyaku was so beautiful that even the Roger Pirates sought her out to claim for themselves, though humorously, Gloriosa was head-over-heels in love with Roger, though the fact that he would not return her obvious feelings bothered her.

Even for a man like Roger, he stood no chance against Shakuyaku, as her beauty combined with her strength made her truly an undefeatable opponent, though she claimed that she will never belong to anyone. The only one among the crew who did not make a fool of himself in her presence was Rayleigh, which Shakuyaku took notice of. At that time, however, the only other person who could make Roger lose sense of reason was his rival Garp, as when he got close enough to the two crews, Roger immediately changed their order to retreat once he learned Garp was there, and the two clashed fiercely. Despite constantly ignoring her affection, Gloriosa's feelings for Roger remained strong. Eventually though, Gloriosa's Love Sickness forced her to step down as captain and have Shakuyaku take her place, which only made her popularity grow.

Meanwhile, in Elbaph, Loki tried to set sail to sea, but he nearly drowns, with the nearby people unsure about saving him due to his reputation. Incidents like these would bring Harald back to see him while Ida became furious at the thought of people letting Loki die despite his attitude, as she figured his belligerent nature as just a cover for how lonely he felt. Ida offered Loki come live with her and Hajrudin, but both of them refused, as Loki thought Ida just wanted to use him to live luxuriously, which enraged Hajrudin and Harald that Loki would insult her, but his words towards her never made Ida hate him, as she thought he was just adorable. Loki stated that he hates Elbaph and the people because of how weak they are, and he only wishes to set sail with Rocks and live freely, thinking it would be a win-win for both sides. Sadly, no matter how many times Loki asked Rocks to let him join when he visited Harald to recruit him, Loki was always rejected.

On Hachinosu, after Rocks conquered it, several powerful pirates started flocking to the island, one of them being a mobster and hitman named Kyo, who was known as Shiki's rival and would eventually become known as "Silver Axe". By that point, several other formidable people had joined the Rocks Pirates, including Charlotte Linlin and Streusen, Kaidou, John, and a catfish Fish-Man named Barbel. Rocks told his crew that his plan to become King of the World first involves two Devil Fruits he needs to acquire, one of which is in Elbaph, and which he wants Harald to eat in order for its power to truly show. John says that the second thing Rocks wants is the Galleila, with Linlin saying she has not heard anything about a frozen group of giants from her massive information network. Newgate figured even if they are found, they are probably all dead now, and Barbell adds that if by some chance they come back to life, they might have no reason to listen to Rocks, but Rocks says that is exactly why he needs Harald to join his crew. Kaidou suggests Rocks just make Harald submit to him by force, but Rocks attacks him in response, saying he would never do that to his friend.

Rocks tells his crew that Elbaph is the key to taking down Mary Geoise, and if they do not believe him then they can leave, but if they choose to keep following him, then he promises to take them all the way to the peak of the world.

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