The merchant ship sailed on, cutting through the waves.
All around — nothing but an endless expanse of rolling blue.
It had been one day since they left Goat Island.
At dawn, Kaos stepped out onto the deck, breathing in the briny sea air. He took a deep breath, stretched, and — for no good reason — a strange poetic line came to mind:
> "Ah...
The sea — you are… all water."
It sounded profound in his head.
Out here, surrounded by the vast, wild ocean, the ship looked like a lonely leaf adrift on a stormless sea.
In the past day, they hadn't encountered any pirate ships or even other vessels.
Kaos's eagerness to witness pirates in action had... dulled significantly.
This wasn't like the anime.
After standing in the sea breeze for a bit, he realized there was no room on deck to train. With nothing else to do, he returned to his tiny cabin.
The ship had some entertainment — like gambling — but Kaos wasn't interested.
What was interesting, though, was how much gold he could sense onboard.
This merchant ship was... well-stocked.
Back in his cramped room, Kaos defaulted to his routine.
Push-ups, body training — the usual.
He'd done it for so long now that skipping even a day made him feel off.
Around noon, he pinched off a tiny fleck of gold — barely the size of a grain of rice — and traded it in the ship's galley for a basic meal. Then he returned to his little cabin, sprawled out on the floor.
Time for a nap.
But as fate would have it — that nap went sideways.
---
He was dreaming.
Or at least, it felt like he was being rocked gently in a cradle.
Someone was whispering nearby. Softly. Like a lullaby from childhood.
Then suddenly — BANG!
The cradle flipped, and Kaos crashed to the floor, heart pounding.
He jolted awake.
The entire ship was shaking violently.
From outside his window — barely the size of a basin — he saw muzzle flashes, smoke, and explosions.
And right alongside the ship: a massive pirate vessel, sails full, flying a skull flag.
Its deck swarmed with pirates — grizzled, bloody, armed with swords, flintlocks, and murderous smiles.
> "FIRE!!"
"Don't let them get away!"
"That's a big merchant ship — must be loaded with supplies and treasure!"
Whistle—BOOM!
Cannonballs roared across the sea. The merchant ship retaliated with its own firepower.
Welcome to the Grand Line.
Kaos's face twitched as he stared at a cannonball hurtling directly toward his cabin.
He wasn't worried.
He'd checked earlier — even a direct hit wouldn't kill him.
Still… best not to test that today.
In one smooth motion, he opened the cabin door and closed it behind him just as—
BOOM!!
A thunderous explosion shook the ship. Firelight flared behind him.
Kaos stood in the hallway, casually holding the door shut with one hand, as chaos erupted around him.
People were panicking — running, screaming, clutching their belongings.
> "Run! Pirates are attacking!"
"We're gonna die!"
"This ship has guards — we'll be fine, right?"
"My goods — that's everything I own!"
"Save me—!"
The whole ship had become a portrait of desperation and terror.
Kaos calmly made his way toward the upper decks.
---
The destruction worsened as he climbed.
Some rooms were blown apart by cannonballs. Flames licked through splintered walls. Through the gaping holes, Kaos could see the churning, red-tinged sea outside. Some poor souls had been shredded by explosions — limbs, guts, blood, burned meat and metal all painted across the corridors.
Kaos wrinkled his nose at the smell — a mix of blood and charred flesh.
It was his first time seeing the horror of death up close.
But surprisingly, he didn't puke.
Didn't flinch.
Just… noted the discomfort.
On the first deck, guards rushed past him — rifles, sabers, and armor flashing. Some passengers, grizzled from their own travels, were fighting too.
Life or death.
Nobody stayed neutral in moments like this.
Among the chaos, Kaos saw something that froze him.
A woman — at least 300 pounds, wearing a chef's apron — storming past the guards wielding a one-meter-long boning knife like a berserker.
Her face was pure rage.
She wasn't running from danger.
She was the danger.
Kaos blinked.
> "Is she going to kill pirates… or pigs?"
Either way, he wasn't getting in her way.
---
> "Get back to your rooms!"
"Don't block the corridors — we'll protect you!"
"We are the ship's guards! We will hold the line!"
A few armored guards shouted over the chaos, trying to maintain order, but panic had already taken root.
Outside, the sea was in full turmoil.
The pirate ship had pulled alongside them. Gunfire and steel clashed as pirates boarded. Waves crashed against the hull. Blood stained the deck. The two ships rocked with each explosion.
Screams and gunshots filled the air. The scent of blood was thick.
And bullets?
Flying everywhere.
Walls cracked. Splinters flew.
Kaos ducked instinctively as a bullet whizzed past his shoulder and shattered part of the bulkhead.
His heartbeat quickened. Just slightly.
> The ship can't go down.
I need this ride — I've got plans.
Not far ahead, a guard was engaged in a losing fight with a pirate. Smaller in stature, he couldn't match the brute's strength.
In seconds, the guard's arm was hacked clean off, and he collapsed screaming.
Kaos's eyes flicked.
A twitch of his finger —
And a tiny piece of his golden inner armor peeled away, shaped into a golden spike.
Thwip!
The spike shot forward with the force of a sniper round, curving mid-air and piercing the pirate's skull from behind.
He dropped like a stone, his face frozen in shock, blood and brain leaking onto the deck.
One hit kill.
Kaos didn't even blink.
It felt no different than killing a chicken.
The guard who should've died looked up at Kaos in disbelief, cradling his severed arm, before dragging himself into cover, pale and shaking.
Fear of death is universal.
Kaos remained at the corridor entrance, calm and controlled.
Four more golden needles formed at his fingertips.
With barely a thought, they shot off in different directions.
Silent. Precise. Deadly.
Like a ghostly sniper, Kaos began cleaning the deck.
In the chaos, no one noticed.
Golden needles zigzagged between burning wreckage and flying bullets, piercing pirate after pirate. Some who sensed danger rolled or ducked behind crates.
It didn't matter.
Kaos could curve his shots.
The needles would twist around cover, slamming into necks, spines, skulls.
> "Damn it! There's a sniper on board!"
"Fall back! Form up!"
"Tell the captain — there's a strong one here!"
As the deck became littered with corpses, pirates and guards alike started pulling back, regrouping into defensive formations.
Both sides fired sporadically now, tension thick in the air.
The once-pristine deck was a slaughterhouse.
Blood soaked the planks.
Organs and limbs scattered in pools of salt and gore.
And at the heart of it all stood Kaos — calm, unreadable —
not yet a hero,
not yet a villain,
but clearly no longer a bystander.