The pirates' laughter and the moment of silence inside the tavern were sealed off by the heavy wooden door. Katsuo (the foreign soul inside Luffy's body) staggered onto the rocks by the coast. The cold sea breeze poured into his collar, cooling his burning head for a moment.
Escaped… the fate of the Gomu Gomu no Mi (Rubber Fruit)?
Before he could catch his breath, mocking shouts erupted from the tavern, tearing through the sea wind—words dripping with malice, sharper than drunken pirate jeers:
"Red-Hair? Just trash who doesn't even dare fight back after taking a bottle to the head!"
"That stupid straw hat should be tossed away! Compared to our leader Higuma…"
"Let's go! This poor village isn't worthy of us!"
Higuma!
Katsuo whipped around. The short, stocky bandit leader strode out with his men, clutching the scarlet straw hat. Luffy's body tensed instantly. Rage like a volcano boiled up—these scum dared insult Shanks!
Just as Higuma's group stepped onto the path toward the cape, a cold voice cut through the air from the shadows of the mountain road:
"Stop, Higuma."
Three figures emerged. Leading them was a burly, curly-haired woman with eyes sharp as a hawk—Curly Dadan, the true ruler of Mt. Colubo. Behind her stood Dogra with his brutish face and Magra with his lanky frame. Dadan's gaze swept over the red hat before locking on Higuma. "Cause trouble on my turf and think you can walk away?"
The atmosphere tightened. Dadan's gang outclassed Higuma's by far. Higuma's bounty was only 8 million, while Dadan's group could fight the Navy itself. His arrogance shrank instantly. He forced a smile. "Heh… Dadan-neesan, we were just drinking, just joking around…"
Dadan spat. "Leave the hat. Get lost."
Higuma's eyes flashed with hatred, but he didn't dare resist. He tossed the straw hat down and slunk away with his men toward the boats.
Seeing the hat returned, Katsuo's rage cooled. Dadan knows me… I can't expose myself. He turned to slip back into hiding—
"Oi! Isn't that Garp's brat?" Dadan suddenly spotted Luffy. She barked a laugh. "Sneaking down the mountain again? Careful or your gramps will smash you flat!" Dogra and Magra chuckled too. They saw the boy, always beaten black and blue by Garp, as their "little jinx."
"I…" Katsuo began—
"ROOOAR!!!"
A deafening roar split the air. The sea exploded as a colossal, scale-covered head burst from the waves. Yellow eyes glared at the figures on shore.
The Sea King.
Dadan's face paled. "Damn it! That beast! Magra, cover me!" They drew weapons, forming a stance, but against such a monster humans were insects. The pull of the sea dragged at the beach, the ground crumbling beneath Dadan's feet.
Then—
"Give back… the hat!!!"
A piercing child's cry split the air. Katsuo's pupils shrank—Higuma had doubled back in the chaos, snatching up the straw hat and sprinting toward his boat!
"You bastard!" Dadan cursed, but couldn't move.
The monster's pressure froze Katsuo. Yet seeing the hat defiled again, Luffy's soul erupted. That hat symbolized freedom and adventure—worth more than life!
"Gramps said… if something's important, fight to take it back!!!"
The childish scream carried a blood-red madness. The seven-year-old body burst with speed beyond its limits, a black flash streaking forward. Before anyone reacted, he shot down the pier straight toward Higuma!
"Brat, get back!" Dadan roared, eyes wide.
Too late.
The Sea King's focus shifted. Its abyssal jaws opened, fangs like mountains. The tiny figure dared leap before its mouth? The stench of death engulfed Katsuo, the suction pulling him off the pier straight toward the beast's gullet.
"No—!!!" Dadan's scream was drowned in the crashing waves.
He fell. Salt water flooded his nose and throat. His vision filled with the beast's writhing scarlet gullet.
The chill of death pierced his bones—but deep in his soul, fire ignited. Beyond fear, fury roared.
Why should my future be stolen?!
Buzz! CLANG—!!!
The void trembled. His spiritual core tore open. From the depths surged a colossal black blade wreathed in ancient stardust. Its massive hilt and broad, jagged crescent edge radiated the will to cut fate itself.
The Zanpakutō: Zangetsu.
"GET OUT!!!!"
The will to live resonated with Zangetsu. Katsuo's small body curled mid-fall, his right hand clenched like gripping a hilt. He slashed at the abyss.
Though no blade existed, the strike ripped reality itself. A crescent of black light burst from his fist.
Shrrk—!!!
With a sound like vibrating steel, a volcanic spray of blood erupted. The beast's iron scales, its thick bones, its sinew—everything along the arc dissolved.
CRACK. SPLASH. BOOM.
The monster's head split cleanly in two, from brow to jaw to shoulder. Guts and boiling blood rained down, painting the pier scarlet.
Silence.
Half the head crashed into the sea, waves surging skyward. The rest sank, twitching.
On the blood-soaked pier stood the tiny figure. His right arm still outstretched, his black hair dripping gore.
On the shore, Shanks stood frozen, the straw hat slipping from his shoulder. In his crimson eyes, the child's silhouette glowed through the mist of blood. For the first time, he looked truly shaken.
From the cliff above, Garp's cloak whipped in the storm winds. His fist shattered stone. His voice thundered like the sea: "My grandson… is the blade that can cleave the ocean!!!"
Dadan collapsed in the blood, staring at "Luffy" on the pier. In the boy's eyes pooled a bottomless darkness.
"A… a monster!!" Higuma's men screamed, fleeing in terror. Higuma himself had collapsed in his boat, wetting his pants in fear.
The first roar of Zangetsu, written in the Sea King's blood, had carved the prologue of a new legend.
(End of Chapter)
[50 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
[Thanks for your support!]