Great Route Entrance – Twin Capes, Year 1507 in the Haien Calendar
The girl stood up from the wooden tub, wrapping a towel around herself. Water dripped from her cherry-blossom pink hair onto the floor.
After drying her hair and slipping into the yukata that Uncle Kulocas had brought back on a merchant ship, Haruno Sakura pushed open the lighthouse door.
White waves crashed against the red-earth continent's reefs, the salty tang of the sea riding the breeze straight into her nose.
In front of her, a bonfire roared. A fresh king squid was roasting over the flames, fat dripping into the fire and popping sparks. The two men sitting beside it didn't seem to care.
When the girl appeared, the man in the straw hat and patterned cape raised his sake cup.
"Hey, little Sakura, wanna drink?"
"Uncle Jaba, wasn't getting you wasted the night before last enough?"
Sakura smoothed the hair sticking up at the back of her head, walked over, and plopped into the third beach chair they'd saved for her.
The man tending the squid sliced off a big chunk, put it on a plate, and handed it over.
"Thanks, Uncle Kulocas~"
Sakura smiled sweetly, then eagerly dug her fork into the fragrant grilled meat.
"By the way," Kulocas said, pushing up his glasses with a flash of cold light, "in your paper 'A Brief Discussion on How Benzodiazepines Interfere with Zoan Devil Fruit Wavelengths,' how exactly did you map those animal experiment data sets?"
Falsifying data was something this dual-master of pharmacology and surgery absolutely could not tolerate.
"Uh… cough cough!"
Sakura's face froze mid-chew, and she coughed out the meat she'd just stuffed in her mouth.
Truth was, she'd secretly dragged the Slug Sage into those experiments…
But because of the slug's unique nature, even after it ate the Devil Fruit, it didn't gain any powers.
Right before the fruit's wavelength vanished, Sakura detected traces of benzodiazepines—sedatives—that interfered with the fruit.
She compiled all that data into the paper.
The problem? She had no idea how to tell Kulocas.
She couldn't just blurt out, "Hey, Uncle, I fed your one-hundred-million-Berry Devil Fruit to a slug!"
She'd get her legs broken!
"Ha ha ha! Told you to study medicine!"
Jaba, watching Sakura squirm, burst out laughing, like he was finally getting revenge for being drunk under the table a few nights ago.
Luckily, his outburst gave Sakura an out.
"…"
Kulocas said nothing, just stared at Jaba with a perfectly polite smile.
Jaba's grin faltered. He threw up his hands. "Medicine is great! Medicine is wonderful!"
After a string of obviously fake oaths, Jaba grabbed his bottle and chugged—glug glug glug.
Oh no, here we go…
Sakura's eye twitched. Once this guy got going, he'd start spouting nonsense. She had to change the subject now.
"Speaking of which, how's your son doing, Uncle Jaba?"
"He's walking now! Same hair color as you, and super cute!"
Jaba's eyes glazed over, bottle still in hand, but his face glowed with pride.
"I'm gonna raise him to be the greatest Elbaf warrior!"
"You won't live to see it," Kulocas deadpanned, crushing Jaba's dreams without mercy.
"Mind your own business, you quack doctor!"
Sparks flew between their glares, but with Sakura there, they both huffed and turned away.
Jaba snatched a piece of grilled squid from Kulocas's plate, chewing as he mumbled, "So, Sakura, you really turning down Shanks? The guy's complained to me about it multiple times."
Sakura snorted. "Nope. That idiot can't even beat me. Why would I be his vice-captain? If anything, he should be my vice-captain!"
"Heh heh, give it a few years. Once that kid's Haki gets stronger, we'll see who's beating who," Jaba teased, cracking open another bottle and chugging.
"Sakura's situation really isn't suited for joining any crew," Kulocas cut in, backing up his student. He pulled a wanted poster from his pocket and handed it to Jaba.
In the firelight, the printed photo of Sakura was crystal clear.
Witch · Haruno Sakura
Bounty: 220,000,000 Berries
Crimes: Mastery of ancient texts, attempting to revive ancient weapons, plotting to overthrow the World Government
—Alive only.
"Ohara…" Jaba sighed, his expression complicated. "The World Government's scum really…"
"That stuff doesn't matter," Sakura said lightly. "The scholars are alive, the books are safe.
"But you need to warn the Elbaf folks—the World Government's watching them. Don't spread that knowledge openly, and don't let your guard down on training!"
Worried the big-hearted giants would repeat history and abandon their warrior ways for knowledge, Sakura had nagged Jaba about it over and over.
"It's no use. Harald's dead set on cozying up to the World Government. Lately, he's even trying to end the warrior traditions in Elbaf."
"I can barely sway any warriors myself. Even Lipri's fought with me over this," Jaba grumbled, wiping sake from his mouth and rolling his eyes.
"Whatever. Let's not talk about it. Rare night with old friends—drink! Drink!"
Glasses clinked, and Kulocas's homemade sake went down smooth.
Jaba got properly hammered and tried dragging Sakura into drinking. The last thing the two men remembered before blacking out was the sharp glint in her emerald eyes.
The Next Day
Jaba, hungover and wobbly, climbed onto his little sailboat.
"You sure you don't wanna come to Elbaf with me? I've got a feeling you've got deep ties there."
"Nah, that's my future adventure. Following you would ruin the fun."
Sakura waved him off, tossing the food she'd packed onto his boat.
"Fine. I'll be waiting for you in Elbaf!"
Jaba yanked the ropes, hoisted the sail, and rode the Great Route's winds out to sea.
Sakura watched until he vanished over the horizon, then turned to pack.
Kulocas was still sleeping off the hangover. Sakura cleaned the lighthouse one last time—inside and out.
She left a letter, sealed the special medicines she'd developed while studying surgery and pharmacology into storage scrolls, and stepped out of the tower.
Off the coast, a massive whale surfaced, spraying water from its blowhole in greeting.
"Morning, Rab."
"Woooo—!"
The whale's song rang out, rippling the sea.
Sakura walked over and patted the scar on its forehead.
"Rab, I'm going home. Look after the old man for me, okay?"
"Woo?"
The whale didn't get it. Wasn't the lighthouse her home?
"No, my home's not here."
"Just like you're waiting for the Rumbar Pirates, the place waiting for me—that's my home."
Sakura shook her head gently, teaching the whale with human emotions.
"Woo woo woo!"
"Haha, yeah, you're family to the Rumbar Pirates."
"Don't worry. This ocean's huge. One day, we'll meet again at the end of the road."
Sakura stood, giving Rab one final goodbye.
'System!'
[Report: Survival mission settled. Achievement points issued: 280]
[Current achievement points: 420. Status: Adolescent phase]
[Deducing points for traversal… Function activated!]
A near-invisible flash of light, and the girl vanished.
Only crashing waves and howling wind remained.
From the lighthouse roof, a figure clutching her letter watched her disappear.
Hot tears fell, soaking the paper in his hand.
"You little brat…"