Koby was a rare exception — he became the disciple of Marine Hero Garp.
In just two short years, he grew into a Marine powerful enough to match the times, and later, in the manga's storyline, he shone brilliantly.
In simpler terms, you could call him The Superman Who Worked a Hundred Times Harder — Koby!
The kind that even fan forums officially recognize!
"It's like this," Captain Saren began respectfully, glancing in awe at Zoro before pointing toward the pink-haired boy surrounded by sailors."Koby — that's the name he claims. Says he was captured by Alvida and forced to serve as a cabin boy on her ship.
He used to live on an island under the jurisdiction of the 56th Marine Branch before being taken.
We were wondering if he might be lying just to survive, but now that you're here, sir, we'll leave it to you to decide."
After saying that, Captain Saren stepped back.
The smell of blood radiating from Zoro made his scalp prickle, but he still managed a polite smile.
At least this was a huge improvement compared to his earlier attitude.
"Koby, huh?"
Ren walked over with interest, and the sailors of the Gus instinctively parted to make way.
"I-I'm really not a pirate!"
Koby trembled, keeping his hands raised in surrender as he desperately tried to explain himself.
"Explaining means you're hiding something, and hiding something means it's true. Which means you are a pirate. Should probably drag you out and shoot you for five minutes."
Ren grinned wickedly, deliberately intimidating the frightened boy.
A kid?
No — he was even smaller than that. Koby looked fragile, almost pitifully thin.
It was hard to tell his exact age. His whole posture screamed fear, and bruises covered his body.
Maybe that pathetic look was the only reason Saren's crew hadn't already killed him.
"I-I really am not!"
Koby's knees gave out as he collapsed to the deck, tears welling in his eyes.
Out of the wolf's den and into the tiger's mouth, huh?
The bigshot had arrived, slaughtered the pirates, and Koby thought he'd been saved — only to find that his "rescuer" wanted to execute him instead.
So was this a rescue, or a resolution?
Either way, he was dead — wasn't this bigshot's arrival pointless then?
"I swear! I really am not a pirate!"
Koby pleaded, his voice cracking. The young man before him — Ren — chuckled.
"Alright, no need to explain anymore."
Ren waved his hand, his smile fading into a chilling calm. "You've got two choices. One — I kill you right now. Two — you switch sides and become my subordinate."
He raised his silver Desert Eagle, pressing the barrel against Koby's forehead, watching the boy's face go pale as paper.
Then—Ren burst out laughing. "Haha, you really are timid. Relax, I know what happened. You're that unlucky guy who went fishing and got kidnapped by pirates to scrub decks."
"..."
Koby didn't dare reply, trembling uncontrollably.
After a long silence, he finally stammered, "Y-yeah... that's right... so... I don't have to die, right? I still want to see my family again..."
"If you're not a pirate, there's no reason for you to die."
Ren holstered the gun and stroked his chin, eyeing Koby thoughtfully.
"But you could consider joining me. Name's Ren — an adventurer out at sea.
I happen to need someone who knows navigation. You fit perfectly. Think of it as repaying me for saving your life."
Truth be told, he was genuinely tempted to take Koby in.
Because — well — the kid was a monster-tier talent.
To put it into perspective: this was a guy who, with a "100x to 200x Effort Buff," trained for two and a half years and went from an ordinary Marine to a potential admiral-level officer. A truly mediocre genius!
At least, that's how Garp described him in the story.
If Ren were in Garp's shoes, though, he wouldn't believe a damn word of it.
According to the anime's data, a Marine Headquarters soldier's daily routine included:
2,000 push-ups
100 rope climbs
200 laps around the training field
Plus hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship, and endurance training
Now multiply all that by 200. Ren's brain nearly short-circuited.
Even just the time required made no sense. A day has 24 hours — not 2,400!
So either those two years and a half hid some supernatural secret… or Koby had an unknown cheat ability.
Two and a half years!
From a rookie Marine to a Headquarters Rear Admiral with the potential for admiral-level strength.
Even Luffy didn't pull off something that insane!
At best, Luffy just did infinite sit-ups until his Paramecia Rubber-Rubber Fruit awakened into the Mythical Zoan: Sun God Nika form.
And even he needed two years of training after the Marineford War before he could challenge Doflamingo!
Yet Koby, through "100 to 200 times the effort," basically skipped the entire level system.
Who could believe that?
Ren, who was living in this real-life world of One Piece, sure as hell didn't. He'd rather believe Koby was naturally gifted than buy into that "hard work miracle" nonsense.
In short — whatever the truth was, Koby had immense potential waiting to be realized.
Right now, he was weak, helpless, and desperate — the perfect state for recruitment.
And since he knew navigation, he was exactly what Ren and Zoro needed.
The Gus would only take them part of the way, and Ren would soon need his own ship for future voyages.
"Eh? But I wanted to report to the nearest Marine base..."
Koby hesitated — until he saw Ren smiling, eyes narrowing, hand reaching for the pistol again.
The dark muzzle pointed straight at him.
"I understand!"
Koby instantly nodded, eyes shining with sincerity. "I'll repay your kindness, Mr. Ren!"
"Good. Stay here for now. Keep an eye on him, men. Zoro, let's go."
"Yes, Mr. Ren."
Ren didn't intend to linger. After exchanging a few words with Captain Saren, he headed for the captain's quarters.
That's where Alvida's treasure would be — not buried on some deserted island like in the movies.
After all, Alvida was a rising pirate, not some old veteran who needed an escape plan.
The valuables were all stored right there in the captain's cabin.
Whoosh!
A flash of steel — Zoro sheathed his sword with an emotionless face as the iron door fell open.
Ren stepped forward and kicked it wide, entering to inspect the loot.
There was a lot — far more than he'd expected.
Piles of gemstones and golden jewelry, some still stained with dried blood.
A chest full of coins — the dazzling golden glow nearly blinded Ren's 24K eyes.
And scattered bundles of Beli, totaling several hundred thousand.
It seemed the Alvida Pirates had just finished a big raid and hadn't had time to cash in and splurge yet.
The smaller piles of Beli were probably advance payments — even Alvida couldn't make pirates work for free.
"They hit the jackpot, huh? Zoro, any idea how much all this is worth?"
Ren rubbed his hands, turning to Zoro expectantly.
Zoro shrugged. "No clue. I'm only good at catching pirates for bounties."
(End of Chapter)