The North Blue was quiet that night. The sea stretched endlessly under the pale moon, the waves sighing softly against the hulls of fishing boats and merchant ships. But beneath the surface of peace, shadows moved.
A girl no older than fifteen stood atop the ruined remains of a noble's estate, her black cloak swaying in the night wind. Her face was calm, unreadable, though her crimson eyes reflected a storm of memories. Ada Wong. To most, she was just a child. To those who knew her in whispers, she was the Crimson Shadow, an assassin who never missed her mark.
Her parents had once been ordinary folk traders who dreamed of crossing into the Grand Line. But greed and politics had crushed those dreams. A corrupt king had seized their ship, their lives, and left Ada with nothing but grief. From that night, she trained herself to be something the world would not ignore, a marksman with hands steady as the tides and a heart colder than steel.
On this night, her rifle, blackened steel polished to silence, rested against her shoulder. Another job was complete. Another noble who preyed on the weak had fallen.
"Impressive."
The voice came from the shadows below, deep and commanding. Ada turned, sharp, eyes narrowing at the figure who stepped into the moonlight. He was massive, his aura suffocating, like the ocean pressing down from all sides. A mane of wild hair framed his face, and his grin was both menacing and amused.
"Who are you?" Ada's tone carried no fear, only calculation.
The man laughed. "The name's Rocks D. Xebec. Remember it. I'll be the king of this world one day."
Ada studied him carefully. She had heard that name before—muttered by pirates, feared by marines. A man who gathered monsters and misfits, who believed the seas themselves would bow to him.
"And what does a man like you want with me?" she asked, shifting her stance subtly toward her rifle.
Rocks' grin widened. "You're wasted here, girl. The way you move, the way you shoot—there's more in you than revenge. You've got the hunger of someone who lost everything, and the strength to take it all back."
Ada stayed silent.
Rocks continued, his voice like rolling thunder: "Sail with me. Join my crew. Be my vice-captain. I'll give you power, riches, freedom—hell, I'll give you the chance to put your bullets through the hearts of the world's so-called kings."
The night grew heavier, as if the sea itself waited for her answer. Ada's eyes narrowed, her finger brushing the trigger of her rifle. Vice-captain? At fifteen? The idea was absurd. And yet…
Her parents' faces flickered through her mind, then the memory of flames consuming their ship. She had hunted small men so far. But the world was much larger, and her vengeance could be endless.
Finally, Ada lowered her weapon. "If I sail with you, I'm no one's pawn."
Rocks threw back his head and laughed, the sound booming across the waves. "Good! I don't want pawns. I want wolves. And you, Ada Wong, are a wolf dressed in silk."
And so, under the cold stars of the North Blue, Ada Wong took her first step onto a path that would shake the seas. Beside Rocks D. Xebec, she would carve her legend not as a child, not as a victim—
but as the Crimson Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates.