"Did you hear!? That pirate-Navy battle from just the other day apparently isn't in the papers!"
"You're so loud... I already knew that. Did you come all the way here just to tell me that?"
While the man in the black silk hat and white coat—Hiriluk, notorious as a quack doctor—made a big fuss, Kureha sighed while preparing tea.
Waving the newspaper around with exaggerated gestures, Hiriluk continued talking, oblivious to Kureha's cold gaze.
"The sea froze in an instant! Explosive sounds and roars! Giant Marine soldiers and a monster several times larger! I've lived a fairly long time, but I'd never seen anything like that even in this vast ocean!"
He'd apparently watched from a high hill with binoculars.
Since it was a battle right near Drum Island, it wasn't someone else's problem, but Kureha knew that whoever won, no harm would come to her. She had little interest in the outcome itself.
However—
"...Hihihihi. Things certainly got serious, didn't they?"
Looking at the bounty poster of the girl with a 1.2 billion bounty, she recalled a nostalgic face.
That woman who used to visit whenever something came up, causing trouble and being a nuisance.
"Someone you know?"
"Someone whose face I know."
She didn't remember when they first met, but until a few years ago, even without knowing what she'd done, her name had echoed across the seas.
Remembering made her think it might be nice to meet again after so long.
If they met, she'd surely get dragged into some kind of trouble, but that would at least make for days that weren't boring.
While grumbling "getting me involved in such troublesome things," she'd end up lending a hand anyway.
It had always been that way.
"...A girl whose face you know is worth 1.2 billion? What kind of connections do you have?"
"Shut up. How are my relationships any of your business?"
"Well, they're not, but..."
"Then stay quiet."
Don't go trampling into people's memories uninvited.
She'd lived longer than Hiriluk, so naturally she had many more memories.
"Everyone's anxious. That pirate crew that shook the world for a while completely vanished, but lately there are plenty of other pirates too. But! Even if everyone gets tired and worn down! Once my research is complete, I'll blow all that anxiety away!"
"...You're not making something weird, are you?"
"Weird is rude! I'm seriously trying to make a cure-all!"
"There's no such thing as a cure-all. That's why doctors exist."
"No, there is! Even incurable diseases have been cured! Miracles definitely exist!!"
Kureha sighed at Hiriluk, who wouldn't listen, and sank deep into her chair.
However, Hiriluk looked at one corner of the room.
Supplies were piled mountain-high, crammed into every available space. Everything from daily necessities to food and clothing.
"What's with all this cargo? Did you steal from patients again, you greedy old hag?"
"They were properly compensated. Besides, that was sent by my apprentice. Don't touch it without permission."
"...Apprentice? You had an apprentice? Come to think of it, I have seen unfamiliar people coming and going lately."
"Hihihihi. A far better doctor than you. I couldn't teach them everything, but I taught the basics. The rest is up to them."
"They're gone? ...Wait, don't tell me, you..."
"Who knows?"
Hiriluk's eyes seemed to want to say something, but Kureha had no intention of answering and started reading the newspaper.
Hiriluk mumbled for a while, but eventually gave up, said "I'm leaving!" and went home.
After a while, she noticed the fireplace was about to go out and almost called for someone before closing her mouth.
There was only Kureha left in this house now.
"...Was this house always this spacious?"
Even with supplies crammed everywhere, somehow the house felt more spacious inside.
☆
An island in the West Blue.
From a small ship, a single shadow disembarked at the harbor and walked straight toward the orphanage.
This island had no major industries—the only notable building was a large orphanage that gathered abandoned children and lived modestly day to day.
The director was a person of character, and occasionally children who'd left the orphanage would return to talk with them.
She was probably one of them, thought the harbor men, watching warmly as she departed.
Under their gazes, the woman with her face hidden behind a golden skull mask headed unerringly toward the orphanage.
"...Who are you, lady?"
A wary child spotted the woman at the orphanage entrance.
A tattered cape, a cheap dress frayed at the seams, and a golden skull mask—the boy who'd been at the orphanage for quite some time didn't recognize her.
"I have business with the orphanage director. Are they here?"
"...They're here. But who are you? Can't even give your name?"
The boy laughed through his nose provocatively.
The woman didn't seem to care and reached for the orphanage door, but the boy tried to knock away her hand with the broom he was holding to prevent her from touching the doorknob.
Glancing at him with annoyance, she knocked him unconscious with Conqueror's Haki.
As if saying dealing with more would be troublesome, the woman entered the orphanage while still emanating Conqueror's Haki.
The pressure alone made the building groan, and all the boys and girls who appeared collapsed.
Reaching the director's room, the woman opened the door carelessly without even knocking.
The room's occupant showed no particular signs of panic, staring at documents through glasses. Beside them lay boys and girls who'd collapsed while holding weapons.
Paying no attention to any of it, the woman removed her golden skull mask, revealing her true face.
Flowing lustrous black hair, and jade-green eyes aside, there was a face the director recognized.
The director sighed, removed their glasses, and rested their chin on clasped hands with elbows on the desk.
"...It's been a while, Octavia."
"Novem has a bounty. I entrusted her to you, so why isn't that child here?"
"Simple. Because I sold her to slavers."
The moment the woman—Octavia's—eyebrow twitched, a flash of light burst forth, accurately piercing the director's heart.
Thunder roared in the room, shattering the windows. But the director bore no wounds—instead, the body of a boy collapsed nearby was charred and convulsed violently before going still.
"You haven't changed—still impatient as ever."
"I didn't come here to listen to your boring jokes."
"Even so, facts are facts. I sold Novem to slavers. There's no other truth."
"..."
"You look like you want to know why. Hehehe... There's no particular reason, but let's see. Because she resembled you as a child, perhaps?"
The director continued speaking without being cowed by Octavia's intensifying bloodlust, even smoothing their white hair with a smile.
"It pained my heart when I sold Novem. She was my beloved granddaughter, after all. But more than that, I couldn't bear how much she resembled you—how she looked so much like you, who killed her mother."
The director's eyes, showing a gentle smile, were downright insane.
The daughter who strongly retained the image of the woman they'd once loved had killed her mother and brought her grandchild. The grandchild naturally had similar features as a blood relative—and love and hatred mixed together in a mess, finally deciding to distance her.
Looking at the bounty poster, the director felt relieved their judgment hadn't been wrong.
If they'd kept her close, they surely would have killed her.
"...Is that all you wanted to say?"
"Ah, that's it. I knew you'd come to kill me, so I've finished settling my affairs. But I have no intention of dying."
"Think you can win?"
"It's not zero. You haven't fully healed from your wounds, have you?"
The director pointed at Octavia.
As if to say they saw through everything.
"The government hid the God Valley incident, but the annihilation of the Rocks Pirates, the strongest at the time, was shocking to the underworld. You participated in that battle too, didn't you? There's no way you could abandon Rocks. Considering the intensifying battles, the comrades who could start killing each other at any moment, Rocks' ambition—you entrusted Novem to me, the only one you could rely on. Thinking it would be safe because we shared blood."
The director stood up, walked around the desk, and stepped over the collapsed boys and girls without concern.
"I don't know the exact reason, but you didn't come to get that child immediately after that incident. Though I'd already abandoned her before then, so it would've been pointless even if you'd come."
"..."
"Don't get so angry. Even if you'd come, I was prepared to fight. But you didn't come—quite a severe injury, wasn't it?"
The floor rustled and transformed.
The wooden building turned to straw. And the director themselves was covered in straw, generating numerous dolls from their feet.
"Aspect of the Demon Subduer—"
Five-inch nails were gripped between the fingers of both hands, and those Haki-clad projectiles were swung at Octavia with tremendous speed.
She dodged them all effortlessly and drove her right fist into the director's chest.
Instantly, one of the collapsed girls' chest burst, killing her instantly.
"Such a strange ability every time I see it. Creepy."
"Straw Man. If ten are housed, I can die ten times. Now, how many have I housed?"
"I'll just kill you until you're dead. Boring ability."
Judging it not a threatening ability, she began converging lightning in her right hand.
But the director already knew how strong she was. They hadn't come without countermeasures.
"Straw Man Legion—Masquerade."
The straw floor spreading from their feet swallowed the collapsed boys and girls, covering them in straw as they shakily stood up.
Stumbling with uncertain steps like ghosts, the moment they recognized Octavia as an enemy, they attacked with nimble movements.
They bore faint Haki. Whether they could use it originally, or the director was cloaking them with their own Haki.
As if even that didn't matter, Octavia casually swung her right hand sideways.
"Is this all?"
The surging lightning struck without hesitation through their contents, burning to death the straw-clad boys and girls inside.
Thunder roared a beat late.
"Hehe, no hesitation at all in killing innocent boys and girls? You're like a demon."
"I don't want to hear that from someone running an orphanage as a stockpile for their own lives."
"That's true—but even corpses have their uses."
Straw wrapped around again from the feet, and the charred corpses stood up and came at her.
A horrifying ability that manipulated even the dead. Among abilities that controlled corpses, none surpassed this for unlimited use.
The director laughed while expanding their range, and screams began flying from all parts of the orphanage.
They didn't know how far it would spread—but this man was using everything to kill Octavia.
"You've been attacking with just your right hand this whole time—can't move your left arm, can you?"
Countless five-inch nails were released from the giant straw doll appearing behind the director, and Octavia deflected them.
A Rumble-Rumble Fruit lightning human—among Logia types, an ability user boasting overwhelmingly massive energy. Like other Logia types, being something like lightning that held physical form, deflecting attacks was effortless.
Octavia neither denied nor confirmed the director's words, swinging her right hand again to mow down the surrounding straw dolls.
"Seems I'm right. Did a Navy Admiral get you, or was it a comrade from the Rocks Pirates... Either way works for me."
Not satisfied with just straw dolls, straw extended from the floor and began wrapping around Octavia's body.
Those bearing Haki wouldn't release even a Logia body, binding and immobilizing her.
Meanwhile, the straw dolls rushed at Octavia, stabbing and pulling out the five-inch nails held in both hands over and over.
"...?"
Her reaction had been thin from the start, but this was far too anticlimactic.
A 3.5 billion bounty wasn't an ordinary amount. In the vast ocean, it was overwhelmingly faster to count from the top.
She who boasted such ability would fall to attacks of this level? Sensing an atmosphere like the calm before a storm, the director played their trump card, knowing nothing would change by waiting.
The straw became sharp needles, and those dyed black with Haki targeted every gap in Octavia's body.
"Die, Octavia."
Even before the aimed straw spears rushing at her, Octavia didn't move an inch, receiving the spears with her entire body.
Yet still—her body bore no wounds.
Not a drop of blood flowed, not a scratch of injury remained.
Why? The reason was quite simple—she was sensing all attacks with Observation Haki and deflecting them.
"Your Observation Haki can't break through mine. You could try for hours and not land a single wound."
"Impossible... Then I'll crush you without leaving any room to escape."
"I don't mind fighting for hours, but—you're annoying."
Lightning on a completely different scale from before radiated from Octavia in all directions.
The clinging straw and the straw covering the boys and girls all charred, burned up, and carbonized. The director hastily defended with Armament Haki, but even this carelessly released strike had such power.
Little wonder the government judged her a threat.
"Ugh—!?"
"My clan has inherited everything under the 'Dark Moon' name. My mother and I were no exceptions."
There was no room for others to intrude.
Discerning the era, lending a hand to or opposing the 'D Clan' of that era.
Octavia had judged Rocks as the one to change the era and lent her hand, but with his defeat by Garp, it all came to nothing.
Still, not everything she'd fought for was in vain.
"I inherited everything by killing my mother. Even if my mission is to continue fighting, I've fought so as not to burden my child with this weight."
"...But even so! I didn't want to lose her!"
"Everyone's the same. We fight because we don't want to lose."
And Octavia pointed her right index finger toward the heavens.
"800 Million Volts—Deus Arcus Tonitrus!"
From the heavens, countless thunderbolts, enough to saturate all sound, exploded in succession.
The director was pierced by one strike, but this wasn't aimed at him alone.
(Impossible!? That single strike erased all my Straw Men!?)
Even searching with Observation Haki, all life signs had vanished except at the harbor.
The lightning that fell from the sky had killed every living creature on this island. Though not a large island, with just one attack, she'd precisely targeted every single resident without error.
"Your ability is useful for survival, but it won't activate if there's no one left to push the wounds onto, will it?"
"...So you saw through even that..."
Charred Straw Men were expelled one after another from the body.
They'd thought they'd be the last to die on this island—but being defeated so easily, they almost wanted to smile. No chance to use the measures prepared over time.
Their body, charred and battered, screamed in protest. Their legs couldn't even support their weight, and they fell to their knees.
"...I am powerless."
Collapsed face-down, the director muttered quietly among the ruins of what was once an orphanage.
"I couldn't become a god. Couldn't save her, couldn't avenge her... couldn't do anything."
"..."
With trembling hands, they pulled an old photograph from their chest, and spilled tears wet the ground.
Without delivering a finishing blow, Octavia turned her back and headed toward the harbor.
Along the way, in part of the orphanage that hadn't been converted to straw, there was a single undamaged desk. In its drawer were two photographs carefully placed in frames.
One was a family photo from long ago, faded with age, showing Octavia, the director, and her mother.
The other... was Novem—Kanata—who'd grown much larger than in memory, looking bored while reading a book.
"..."
Taking just one photograph, Octavia left the orphanage behind.
No regrets remained.
☆
"Welcome back. How'd it go?"
"Finished everything."
"I see. What's that photo you're holding so carefully?"
"...The only remaining photo of that child."
Arriving at the harbor, Octavia boarded the small ship and plopped down heavily in a chair.
Her traveling companion, a girl, laughed while pouring water into a cup and placing it before Octavia.
"What's the next destination?"
"We're going to Drum. I need to do something about this immobile arm."
"That former Navy Admiral must've been amazing. To leave you with such aftereffects."
"A poison-using ability user. I killed him, but taking on two Admirals simultaneously was apparently a bit much."
"Well yeah. Normally even facing one is difficult."
Perhaps concerned about the exhausted-looking Octavia, the girl spoke cheerfully.
The battle itself ended quickly, but given the opponent, she must have some thoughts about it.
"But well, if Drum doesn't work, leave it to this all-capable genius. I'll figure something out within a few years!"
"How reassuring. From the little girl who was crying after being attacked by pirates just recently."
"Ugh... I'd rather you not mention that."
"Hehe... Let's set sail. I have no more business here."
Raising the anchor and leaving the harbor shortly after.
Octavia raised her hand toward the sky.
"What are you doing?"
"Leave no trace—Kandachi."
When she fired lightning into the center of the gathering dark clouds, it triggered countless bolts to rain down on the island.
Even if she couldn't destroy the island itself, everything on its surface would return to ash and dust.
She didn't favor needless destruction, but she'd rather bury what she left on this island with her own hands than let it decay naturally.
Where Octavia had rampaged became scorched earth, with only thunder echoing in the void.
Thus, she was called "The Echo."
***
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