Morning fog clung to Fusha Village like a lazy blanket, drifting between the docks and the cliffs with the slow confidence of someone who knew it wasn't in a hurry. Fishermen shouted greetings, the smell of cooked fish drifted through open windows, and the seagulls argued loudly about absolutely nothing. But none of them were looking at the boy standing alone on the cliff.
Luffy's silver-and-gold hair glinted softly in the early light as he watched the horizon with an intensity far too sharp for a six-year-old. Yesterday, the outline of a ship had appeared — distant, small, but unmistakably bold. Red sails. Luffy felt it again now. That faint hum under his skin, a low whisper of recognition he couldn't name. It wasn't the manuals. It wasn't his memories. It wasn't even that sleeping, ancient thing in his bones. It was instinct. A tug. A promise. Something is coming. Behind him, the grass rustled as Dadan stomped toward him.
"There you are, brat. Thought you ran off to wrestle a boar again."
Luffy didn't look away from the horizon. "They're getting close."
Dadan squinted grumpily at the distant ship. "Hmph. Pirates. Wonderful. As if I needed more headaches."
Donden arrived a moment later, tightening the straps of a pack filled with tools. "I checked the path down to the east beach—stable enough for travelers. If they try to dock on the rocks, they'll break their ribs before their hull."
Dadan snorted. "Good. I hope they do."
Luffy grinned. "I wanna meet them."
"You always 'wanna' meet danger," Dadan muttered. "Stay behind me when they land. I don't trust pirates."
"You don't trust anybody," Donden added.
"Exactly."
The ship grew larger by the minute. Now the emblem on its flag was visible: a skull with three scars across its left eye. A grinning, fearless symbol.
Luffy's heart thumped with excitement he couldn't hide.
"That's them," he said softly.
Dadan crossed her arms. "And?"
"And I can feel them," Luffy whispered.
Donden frowned. "Feel?"
Luffy shrugged. "Just something in the air. Like they're loud even when they're quiet."
Dadan stared at him for a long moment. "You're a weird kid."
"I know."
He didn't mind. Weird meant interesting. Weird meant adventure. Weird meant open doors instead of closed ones.
Weird had kept him alive.
The red-sailed ship dropped anchor near the east cove, close enough that the crew could row in. Luffy leaned forward in anticipation, practically vibrating.
Dadan grabbed him by the back of his shirt. "Don't even think about jumping."
"I wasn't! …mostly."
"Brat."
But she didn't let go. The rowboat hit the sand with a crunchy thud. Luffy strained against Dadan's grip, eyes fixed on the tall, laughing men who stepped onto the beach. They carried crates and barrels, weapons strapped casually to their sides, clothes colorful and mismatched, but their steps had the ease of men who had danced on storms. One man in particular walked with the confident swagger of a king without a throne. Red hair. Straw hat. Three scars over his left eye. Luffy felt his breath catch.
"That's him…"
Dadan tensed. "So that's Red-Haired Shanks."
Donden swallowed. "He looks… friendlier than I expected."
Luffy couldn't hear their gossip anymore. His attention was entirely locked onto the man standing in the sand, laughing so loudly the birds took flight.
Shanks looked like someone carved from sunbeams and stupidity, wrapped in charisma, and dipped in danger.
His crew unpacked supplies with practiced ease, chattering among themselves.
"Hey! Look at this haul!"
"How much booze did we bring!?"
"Oi, you idiot, that crate is heavier than your skull!"
Shanks turned slowly, his eyes drifting up the cliff, Locking onto Luffy. Luffy's breath stopped. He felt seen not as a kid. Not as a villager. Not even as Dragon's abandoned son or Garp's experiment. Just… seen. Shanks broke into a grin so bright it felt like a sunrise.
"Oi! Who's that kid?!"
His voice carried across the entire cliff.
Dadan groaned loudly. "Great. He's loud."
Luffy raised a hand shyly, but Shanks just cupped his hands to shout louder.
"You look tough! Come say hi!" Dadan immediately pulled Luffy behind her. "Absolutely not. You're not meeting pirates." Luffy wriggled. "But—"
"No."
"But—!"
"NO."
Donden quietly coughed. "Dadan… the kid's going to chew through his shirt if you keep squeezing him."
"I don't care."
Luffy's eyes stayed locked on Shanks, even as Dadan barricaded him with her body. The pirate was stretching, talking to his men, smiling like someone who had never known sorrow. But there was strength under that smile real strength. Like the sea wearing a grin. Luffy felt something strange inside his chest. Not the hum of memories. Not the whisper of adaptation. Something else. a pull, a spark, A tiny voice inside him whispered: He will change your life. He didn't know how. He didn't know why but he knew. Shanks waved again, impatient. "Oi! Silver hair! Get over here already! Don't make me climb that cliff!" Dadan hissed. "He noticed your hair. Wonderful. Just wonderful."
Luffy tugged harder. "Dadan… I wanna go."
"No."
"I REALLY wanna go."
"No!"
"But I feel like I NEED to—!"
"NO!!"
Luffy inhaled sharply Then slipped out of his shirt.
"I'M GOING!"
"BRAT!!"
He bolted down the cliff path with a burst of speed that startled even Donden.
"…that was Soru," Donden muttered.
Dadan screamed and chased after him. "GET BACK HERE!"
Shanks watched the chaos with a giant grin. "Bwahaha! He's fast!"
Luffy slowed just before he reached the sand, suddenly shy. Up close, the red-haired pirate felt even bigger than the stories. His presence was warm and chaotic, like sitting too close to a bonfire. Shanks leaned down. "So what's your name, kid?"
Luffy swallowed.
"Luffy."
"Luffy, huh?" Shanks grinned. "Good name!"
Before Luffy could speak, Dadan stomped up, panting and furious.
"YOU—YOU LITTLE—! Sorry about him. He's a menace."
Shanks laughed. "That so? He looks more like a handful than a menace."
"Don't encourage him."
But it was too late. Shanks crouched to meet Luffy eye-to-eye.
"You got spirit. I like that."
Luffy beamed. Shanks beamed back. And that was the moment the world began to tilt. The pirates gathered around them like a pack of oversized, rowdy uncles.
"Woahhh look at his hair!"
"Silver AND gold? That's awesome!"
"He's tiny!"
"Tiny but fast! Did you see him run?"
Luffy stood in the middle of the chaos, overwhelmed but thrilled. Dadan looked like she was about to faint from stress.
Shanks rested a hand on Luffy's head. "So, Luffy, you from this village?"
"Yep!"
"You like pirates?"
Luffy nodded instantly. "You look fun!" Shanks threw his head back in laughter. "He's got good eyes!" Luffy's chest swelled with pride. Dadan facepalmed so hard the sound echoed. Shanks ruffled Luffy's hair again. "Alright, kid. Since you were brave enough to come say hi, how about you help us carry supplies to the village?"
Luffy gasped. "Really!?"
"Sure! If your guardian's okay with it."
Dadan opened her mouth to protest— Then froze. Luffy was looking at her with the deadliest weapon known to mankind: The sparkly, hopeful, eager kid face.
Her will shattered. "…FINE. But if he gets kidnapped, I'm blaming YOU."
Shanks saluted with a grin. "Aye aye!"
And just like that, Luffy was officially part of the chaos. He carried crates with the pirates. He listened to their stories with wide eyes. He laughed at their jokes and made them laugh back. He learned their names. He fell in love with the atmosphere instantly. Shanks watched him quietly between the laughter. That spark is real, he thought. That potential… it's dangerous. He had no idea how right he was. The walk back toward Fusha Village felt nothing like the usual stroll Luffy knew. Normally, the dirt road was a lazy thing—quiet, dusty, lined with soft grass and sleepy houses. But today it pulsed with life. Every footstep from the pirates thudded like a drumbeat, every laugh cracked the air open, and every crate they carried made the ground seem to sway with excitement.
Luffy walked between Shanks and a tall pirate named Bonk, carrying a sack of food almost as big as himself. The sack wobbled left and right, nearly tipping him over every three steps.
"You good there, little man?" Bonk asked with a grin.
"I'm SUPER strong!" Luffy puffed out his cheeks, adjusting his grip.
Bonk snorted. "Yeah, I can see that. You're practically wrestling that bag into submission."
Luffy took that as praise.
Behind them, Dadan marched angrily, keeping her eyes glued to Luffy like he was about to be stolen. Donden, more relaxed, walked alongside her with a smirk.
"He fits in with them surprisingly well," Donden whispered.
"That's the WORST part," Dadan hissed.
The pirates kept talking, loud enough for the whole mountain to hear.
"Hey Shanks, the kid's about to topple over!"
"Nah, look at him. That's determination right there!"
"Or stubbornness."
"Same thing!"
Luffy absorbed the banter, storing it away like treasure. He'd been around strong people before—Garp's presence was a storm in human form—but this was different. Shanks and his crew were strong, yes, but they carried it like a song instead of a weight.
It was intoxicating.
When they reached the first houses, villagers peeked out from windows and doorways, eyes widening.
"Oh no… pirates."
"Those flags… that's the Red-Haired crew!"
"Everyone, be polite. And hide anything expensive!"
Shanks laughed loudly as if hearing all of it. "Relax! We're friendly pirates!"
The villagers did not look convinced. Naturally, the crew made a beeline for Makino's bar. It was the only place in town big enough to handle them—and Makino had liquor, which made it the perfect basecamp. Makino stood at her doorway with her hands on her hips, prepared for the worst. When she spotted Luffy in the middle of the pirate group, her eyes widened.
"LUFFY?! What did you get yourself into now?"
Luffy grinned proudly. "I helped them carry stuff!"
Makino looked at Dadan with betrayal in her eyes. "You LET him!?"
Dadan growled. "Do I LOOK like I let him?!"
Shanks stepped forward, tipping his straw hat. "Afternoon, Makino. Mind if we borrow your place for a while?"
Makino exhaled a long, resigned sigh. "You're going to come in anyway. Just don't break anything."
Shanks winked. "No promises!"
The pirates poured inside like a flood.
Ben Beckman lit a cigarette and leaned casually against the wall.Lucky Roo shot straight for the food counter. Yasopp twirled his gun and winked at a few kids who squeaked and ran. Others took seats, banged their mugs, and demanded drinks. The bar filled with noise and warmth instantly. Luffy climbed on a stool, feet dangling, eyes sparkling as he watched the chaos unfold. Makino poured drinks at lightning speed, while complaining just as quickly.
"Don't you dare put your boots on that table!""Who spilled the fish?!""I JUST cleaned that floor!"
But she was smiling. She always smiled when Luffy smiled. Shanks sat next to Luffy, leaning his elbows on the counter. "So. Luffy. You like pirates, huh?"
Luffy nodded without hesitation. "Yep! They're cool!"
"What's cool about 'em?"
"They go everywhere! They see everything! And they laugh a LOT!"
Shanks grinned. "That's not wrong."
"And…" Luffy said softly. "They're free."
Shanks paused, eyes sharp for a brief heartbeat.
Free.
That word meant something to him. He wasn't expecting a child to say it with such certainty.
He knocked his knuckles lightly against Luffy's head. "You've got good instincts."
Luffy beamed. Ben Beckman walked over, exhaling smoke. "Shanks. You're getting attached already."
"I'm not attached," Shanks said, sounding like someone who was very attached. "Just impressed."
Makino placed a bowl of food in front of Luffy. "Eat before the pirates steal your plate."
"They WOULD steal it," Luffy agreed solemnly.
Lucky Roo grinned from across the room, mouth full. "No promises!"
Luffy protected his plate with his arms.
By noon, the bar was full to bursting. The pirates had unpacked instruments—fiddles, drums, something that looked like a mutated guitar—and music filled the air. Villagers filtered in slowly. First out of fear...Then curiosity...Then because the music was too good to resist. Kids danced between tables.Old men argued drunkenly with Yasopp.Donden tinkered with a pirate's broken compass.Dadan sat in the corner, arms crossed, pretending she wasn't enjoying the spectacle. Luffy watched everything with shining eyes. This… was fun. More fun than anything in his training. More fun than the cliffside experiments. More fun than even his memories. He leaned closer to Shanks. "Do you always have this much fun?"
Shanks tilted his head thoughtfully. "Not always. But when we can… yeah. A pirate's life should be fun."
"That's so cool…"
Shanks laughed. "You keep saying that."
"It's TRUE."
Luffy didn't realize his feet were tapping to the beat. His chest felt light. His mind, usually crowded with techniques and potential and strange memories, felt calm for once. Happy Free. He didn't even notice the faint glow under his skin—tiny pulses of energy responding to his excitement—because it was so subtle only someone who knew what to look for would see. Ben Beckman saw it. He stared at Luffy for a long moment. That wasn't normal. But he said nothing. Not yet. As the music roared and the drinks flowed, one pirate slammed a barrel on the table.
"HEY SHANKS! The kid's been staring at your sword for an hour!"
Shanks blinked. "Has he?"
Luffy snapped his head away instantly. "N-No I haven't!"
Shanks grinned. "You wanna hold it?"
Makino gasped. "SHANKS—!"
Dadan slammed her hands on the table. "ABSOLUTELY NOT!"
Luffy's heart was pounding. Hold Shanks' sword!? Shanks ignored the adults entirely. "You scared?"
Luffy shook his head fiercely. "I'm not scared of ANYTHING!"
"Oh yeah?" Shanks leaned forward. "Then hold it." He unhooked the sword from his belt and placed it on the table in front of Luffy. The bar went silent. Even Ben raised an eyebrow. Luffy stared. The blade's presence felt different. Heavy, sharp, dangerous… but alive somehow. He reached out. His fingers brushed the hilt. A faint pulse of energy ran through him like a spark flickering awake. The sword hummed. Luffy's breath hitched— Shanks immediately grabbed it back.
"Okay that's enough!"
Ben groaned. "You idiot, you scared him half to death."
"Nah," Shanks said, ruffling Luffy's hair. "He's braver than you think."
Luffy flinched from the shock but didn't pull away. In truth… he wasn't scared. He was thrilled. Something inside him had responded to that sword. Something old. Something sleeping. And once more… something inside his bones stirred.
The afternoon sun poured through Makino's windows, catching dust motes in golden strands as the celebration surged onward. The music softened into a wandering, cheerful rhythm—pirate shanties that made the villagers tap their feet even if they pretended not to like them. The smell of roasted fish, spilled ale, fruit, and wood polish mixed into a warm haze that wrapped the bar in life.
Luffy sat perched on his stool again, rocking back and forth with leftover excitement, while Shanks leaned beside him, watching the room with a lazy grin.
Dadan grumbled in her corner seat, still suspicious of everything with a pulse and a pirate flag. Donden tinkered away at a weird compass that now spun in three directions at once, showing it proudly to any pirate curious enough to look. Ben Beckman smoked quietly while keeping an eye on his captain—and on Luffy, who was radiating curiosity like a lantern.
Kids from the village pressed their faces to the windows. Every time Luffy waved at them, they leapt back as if caught doing something scandalous. Eventually, the music wound down and the crew drifted into quieter amusements. Bonk the hammer-wielding pirate sat across from Luffy with his arms crossed, studying him like he was some new species.
"So," he said finally, "what are you training for, kid?" Luffy blinked. "Training?"
"Yeah. Training." Another pirate leaned over Luffy's shoulder. "We saw you kicking boulders earlier."
"Ohhhhh," Luffy said. "That."
"Yes. That. Normal kids don't kick rocks so hard they split."
Luffy shrugged like this was completely expected. "I'm practicing for later!" Shanks snorted into his drink. "What's 'later,' Luffy?"
"When I'm older," Luffy declared confidently. "I'm gonna need strong legs, strong arms, strong everything!"
"Everything?" Lucky Roo echoed.
"Everything!"
Ben approached and leaned down to Luffy's level. "What exactly are you planning to do when you 'get older?'"
Luffy's eyes glittered the pirates leaned in even Makino paused mid-wipe. Dadan groaned into her hands Then Luffy shot to his feet, fists on his hips
"I'm gonna be stronger than everyone!"
Shanks choked slightly on his drink. "Everyone?"
"EVERYONE!"
Lucky Roo burst out laughing. "You've got guts!"
"You'll need 'em," Yasopp chuckled.
Ben exhaled smoke. "Ambition isn't a bad thing."
Shanks tipped his head back, smiling warmly. "You remind me of someone."
"Yourself?" Ben muttered. Shanks kicked him lightly under the table.
Shanks rested his chin on his hand. "Hey, Luffy. Tell me something."
"Okay!"
"Why do you want to be strong?"
Luffy blinked. Most kids would say something easy—"because it's cool," or "so people don't pick on me."
Luffy didn't after a pause, he said:
"So I don't lose anything."
The room quieted.
"That's… unusual," Ben murmured.
Shanks's eyes sharpened faintly. "Lose what?"
Luffy looked down into his hands. The silver-gold strands of hair fell over his eyes. He didn't remember everything from his past lives—much of it was fragmented, emotions more than facts—but he remembered loss. A planet collapsing. People dying. A war that tore skies apart. A world he tried to build and another he tried to save. He remembered… failure, too. Flashes. Blurs. Haunting silhouettes of regret. He lifted his head again, smiling as if the heavy thought had never existed.
"Everything's fun when you're strong!" he said cheerfully. "And I wanna have lots of fun!"
Shanks let out a breath, relieved by the shift. "There's the kid in you. Good."
The pirates laughed again, the moment smoothing over like waves erasing footprints. But Shanks kept watching him with a deeper understanding, something that mixed amusement with faint unease. Later, someone set a barrel on the floor. Inside was a heap of oranges.
Lucky Roo pointed. "Hey kid! Bet you can't finish these chores as fast as we can!"
"Chores?" Luffy tilted his head.
A pirate shoved a broom into his hands. "Clean under the tables!"
Another handed him a rag. "Wipe the bar!"
A third dropped crates beside him. "Sort these!"
Luffy blinked. Then grinned.
"I can do ALL of that!"
Makino raised a warning hand. "Wait—Luffy—"
But it was too late. The pirates had issued a challenge. Luffy went feral. He zipped under tables, sweeping in perfect spiraling arcs. He wiped the counter so fast Makino's eyes widened. He sorted crates by size, weight, content, and probably color, finishing before the pirate who assigned the task even reached the other side of the room.
Everyone stared. Lucky Roo whispered, "Is he… a gremlin?"
"No," Ben said. "He's efficient."
Shanks burst out laughing. "Well done, Luffy!"
Luffy puffed his chest proudly.
Dadan pointed accusingly. "DON'T praise him when he's being weird!"
"This is normal," Donden said. "For him."
"That's what worries me!"
After the chores challenge, Luffy flopped onto a stool, panting dramatically even though he wasn't actually tired. Makino poured a glass of juice and slid it over. "Here. You earned this."
He drank with relish, juice dribbling down his chin. As he did… something flickered. Under his skin. A pulse.
A shimmer. A fraction of a heartbeat of golden-silver glow. Ben Beckman froze mid-smoke. He watched closely. The glow vanished as quickly as it came.
"Captain," Ben murmured quietly. "Something's off about that boy."
Shanks exhaled slowly. "Yeah. I noticed earlier."
"Should we… intervene?"
Shanks shook his head. "Nah. He's not dangerous."
Dadan stiffened. "What are you two mumbling about?"
"Nothing!" Shanks said instantly.
Ben added, "Nothing at all."
Dadan narrowed her eyes. "You're bad liars."
Makino placed another bowl of food in front of Luffy. "Eat slowly this time."
"I'm eating super slow," Luffy said, devouring it instantly.
As the evening light dimmed and lanterns flickered on, the pirates settled into storytelling. Some exaggerated. Some bragged. Some dramatized their scars in ways Makino absolutely did NOT approve of. Shanks nudged Luffy. "You ever want to go out to sea?"
Luffy nodded vigorously. "YEAH!"
"What do you want out there?"
"Everything!"
Shanks laughed loudly. "Everything is a lot."
Luffy shrugged. "Then I want MORE than everything!"
The pirates roared with laughter. But Shanks leaned in closer, voice softer.
"Out on the sea, Luffy… there's danger everywhere. People stronger than you. Monsters bigger than ships. Storms that tear islands apart."
Luffy absorbed every word. Shanks placed a hand on his head. "You think you can handle all that someday?" Luffy looked up at him, eyes blazing.
"Yes."
No hesitation. No doubt. No fear.
A spark flickered in the air—like the very air leaned closer to listen.
Shanks smiled slowly. "Then someday… I want to see that."
Luffy grinned back. "You will!"
Shanks ruffled his hair again. "I'm counting on it."
Makino smiled. Dadan rolled her eyes. Donden hummed thoughtfully. The villagers listened in silent awe. And the pirates exchanged looks—many amused, others respectful. This kid… He had something. Not just guts. Not just ambition. Something deeper. Older. Wilder. Something that made the room hum faintly whenever he laughed. Shanks felt it. Ben felt it.Even Makino, who didn't understand Haki or power, felt something. And far beneath Luffy's skin…The adaptation seed—still silent, still dormant—shifted once more. Just a twitch. Just a whisper. As if sensing that the world was beginning to change around him.
Evening settled over Fusha Village like a warm blanket, shadows stretching long across the dirt road as lanterns flickered awake. The celebration showed no signs of slowing. Pirates played cards, villagers swapped stories, and Makino worked tirelessly behind the counter, pouring drinks and cleaning spills she pretended not to notice. But outside the bar—past the fence line, past the tide-washed dunes, past the cliff where Luffy trained—lay a world far larger than any child, any villager, or even most pirates understood. A world twenty times larger than the seas in ordinary tales. A world where islands sprawled across horizons like scattered jewels. A world where monsters roamed the oceans openly, where some beasts grew taller than mountains and some could swallow ships whole. A world where powers slept in people's bones—some obvious, some hidden, some so rare even the Pirate Kings of old never touched them.
Somewhere out there, ancient beasts glowed like embers under the sea.Somewhere out there, tribes untouched by the World Government guarded powers older than the Void Century. Somewhere out there, beneath layers of Haki and will, a deeper force lay dormant inside every living creature like a locked door.
Nen.
But almost no one knew that. Almost. Back inside Makino's bar, Shanks watched Luffy with narrowed eyes, swirling his drink absently.
"You're thinking too hard," Ben Beckman murmured beside him.
Shanks didn't deny it. "That boy… there's something humming inside him."
"Haki?"
"Not exactly."
Ben took a slow drag from his cigarette. "You're thinking of that other thing."
Shanks's voice dropped to a whisper. "Nen."
Ben stiffened just slightly. "Captain—"
"Relax," Shanks said. "He's nowhere near that level. Nobody unlocks Nen without pushing their Haki to the absolute brink. And he's just a kid."
Ben exhaled. "Still. His Haki… there's something strange. It's not raw. It's focused. Like a door is already half-open."
Shanks watched as Luffy tried to steal a piece of fruit from Lucky Roo and got caught instantly. The boy laughed. Roo laughed. The whole table laughed. But beneath Luffy's skin, something pulsed faintly—silver one moment, gold the next—quick and subtle, like a heartbeat out of sync with the rest of the world.
"He's either blessed," Ben said, "or cursed."
"Maybe both," Shanks replied.
After the rowdy energy in the bar reached a peak, Luffy slipped out the back door for fresh air.
The night breeze cooled his cheeks as he walked barefoot across the grass. The village lights glowed behind him, warm and gentle. In front of him stretched the ocean—dark, endless, whispering with waves softly brushing the sand. He stood there, breathing deeply. The world felt big tonight. Bigger than it had ever felt before and Luffy could feel it. All around him, like an invisible web.
The pressure of distant storms. The pulse of the sea. The faint tremor beneath the earth where giant creatures moved in their sleep. A ripple of life from distant islands he could barely imagine. It wasn't Observation Haki Not yet. It was something older—some instinct from his past lives, mixed with the growing potential inside his bones. He felt… connected. Luffy crouched and drew a line in the sand with his finger.
"This world is HUGE…"
He didn't know how he knew. But he knew. Far to the south, on an island they'd never see on ordinary maps, a massive creature roared and sent birds scattering. Far to the west, an ancient mountain blinked awake, molten eyes opening for the first time in centuries. Far to the north, a tribe meditated in silence, aware of the sea's shifting aura. All of them emanated will. Raw will. Haki at its highest. And beyond that… Something deeper. Something resembling a color he couldn't see yet.
Luffy frowned. "What… is that?"
He couldn't understand it. He couldn't name it. But he felt it. And inside him, something responded. A faint thrum. Silver and gold swirling under his skin, like threads being pulled together.His body felt warm—strangely warm—as if adapting to the pressure of this massive world by instinct.
He rubbed his arm. "Weird…"
"Kid."
Luffy turned. Shanks stood behind him in the doorway, straw hat tilted slightly back, silhouette outlined in the warm tavern light.
"You okay out here?" he asked casually.
Luffy nodded. "Just thinking."
"Dangerous for a kid," Shanks teased.
Luffy pouted. "I'm not a kid!"
Shanks walked over, hands in pockets. "What are you thinking about?"
Luffy scratched his cheek. "…The world."
"The world, huh?" Shanks sat in the grass beside him. "What about it?"
"It's big."
Shanks laughed. "That's an understatement."
"No… I mean really big. Bigger than anyone around here knows."
Shanks's laughter quieted. He gave Luffy a careful, searching look.A pirate's look. The kind trained to spot talent, danger, lies… or fate.
"What makes you say that?" he asked gently.
Luffy opened his mouth—then closed it. How could he explain the sensation of monsters breathing across continents? The pressure of far-off wills brushing against him? The strange internal warmth that felt like something preparing itself?
"…Dunno. Just feels like it."
Shanks leaned back on his hands. "Some people have good instincts. You might be one."
"Really?"
Shanks nodded. "There are islands out there bigger than entire seas. Places where monsters walk like they own the sky. Waters where the currents run upward instead of down. Areas where the sea glows at night because the creatures beneath it breathe light."
"WHOA!"
Luffy's eyes sparkled.
Shanks smiled. "This world is twenty times the size most people imagine. Even ten times the danger."
Luffy's heart raced.
"I wanna see ALL of it!"
Shanks grinned. "I figured you'd say that."
The pirate captain let the waves crash gently, giving the boy a moment to dream.
Then, with a more serious tone, he added:
"And somewhere out there… are people who've pushed Haki to its peak. So far that they awakened something else. Something older than the Pirate Era."
"Nen?" Luffy asked instinctively.
Shanks froze.
Luffy tilted his head. "Nen…?"
Shanks's expression sharpened, almost imperceptibly.
"…Where did you hear that?" he asked quietly.
Luffy blinked innocently. "I dunno. Just popped in my head."
Shanks watched him carefully.
A kid with instinctive connection to a power most adults couldn't even sense? A kid who reacted to swords like they were tuning forks? A kid with a presence far too calm for a six-year-old?
He exhaled softly. "Dangerous head you've got there, Luffy."
Luffy blinked. "Huh?"
"Nothing." Shanks regained his grin. "Nen is… a legend to most. A myth to others. A secret to the very, very few who've touched the far edge of their Haki."
"Like you?" Luffy asked with wide eyes.
Shanks snorted. "Maybe. Maybe not."
"You definitely have!"
Shanks laughed. "Not telling."
Luffy frowned dramatically. Shanks ruffled his hair. "If you want to know more about Nen, then grow stronger. Push your Haki to its limits. Then break those limits."
Luffy clenched his small fists. "I will!"
"I believe you," Shanks said softly. And he meant it.
Night deepened over Fusha Village, the sky stretching into a vast canvas of indigo and silver. Stars blinked awake across the heavens, scattered like jewels from a toppled chest. The great world—twenty times larger than the seas that old tales whispered of—felt unusually still, as if watching the village with one colossal, unseen eye.
While Shanks and Luffy sat in the grass overlooking the ocean, while their silhouettes merged with the darkness and their voices danced on the wind… something was happening on the Red-Haired Pirates' ship.
Something small. Something pink. Something loud. Something named Uta. Uta Wakes Up
Uta yawed herself awake with a squeak, sitting upright in her hammock so suddenly that the guards nearby nearly dropped their lanterns.
Her hair—white and pink with a curl that defied gravity—sprung in every direction. Her Headphones dangleding. She rubbed her eyes blearily.
"…Wh… what time is it…?" she muttered, voice hoarse from sleep.
One of the guards, a broad man named Hongo, answered softly.
"Uh… about halfway through the night hours, Uta."
"But… that means I slept…" she paused, counting on her fingers. "…Eighteen hours!?"
The guards exchanged looks.
"More like twenty-two," one admitted.
Uta froze.
Then let out a scream that echoed across the harbor.
"TWENTY-TWO HOURS!?!? WHY DIDN'T ANYONE WAKE ME!?!?"
"You bite," Hongo said with a straight face.
"You throw things," the other added.
"You kicked Shanks in the face last time."
Uta's expression flickered through disbelief → guilt → confusion → acceptance → indignation.
"That was ONE time!"
"No, Uta. That was thirty-seven times."
She huffed, cheeks red, but quickly shook the embarrassment off like dust.
"Anyway!" Uta clapped her hands. "Where is everyone!? The ship is empty!"
"A few of us stayed to guard you," Hongo said, gesturing to the five remaining pirates.
"Guard ME? I'm not a baby!"
"You tried to eat a candle last week."
"That candle looked DELICIOUS!"
"It was burning."
She puffed her cheeks again.
But she was already glancing toward the village lights.
"Where's Papa Shanks?"
The guards pointed toward the shore. "They went into the village, for exploration, drinks, and trouble."
Uta blinked. Then puffed out her chest proudly.
"Well! I'm part of the crew too—the songbird of the Red-Hairs! So I should be there too!"
"Then… shall we escort you?" Hongo asked.
"Obviously!" she said with a grin.
And so, the small group descended the gangplank, heading toward the town.
Uta had no idea she was about to meet someone who would change her entire destiny.
Shanks Teaches Luffy About the World
Back on the cliff, the wind brushed the grass like a giant hand smoothing fur.
Shanks and Luffy sat quietly, but not silently.
The ocean hummed.
The world pulsed.
And knowledge—ancient, dangerous, thrilling—hung between them like sparks.
"You said you want to see the entire world, right?" Shanks asked gently.
Luffy nodded hard. "Mm-hm!"
"Then you better know what you're getting into." Shanks stretched out, arms behind his head. "This world doesn't run on fairy tales."
"How does it run?"
Shanks pointed upward. "Time works differently here."
"Time?"
"This planet is twenty times bigger than what you'd expect," Shanks explained. "The rotation is long. A full day is forty-nine hours."
Luffy blinked. "That's… weird!"
"Sure is. Most lands get twelve hours of daylight…" Shanks continued.
"And then twenty-one hours of night?" Luffy guessed.
Shanks grinned. "Exactly. And after that? The sun rises again for the remaining daylight."
"So… two mornings every cycle?" Luffy's eyes widened.
"Sometimes. Depends on where you are. But the seas… oh, the seas…" Shanks whistled. "They change faster than the sky. Currents move in colors. Weather has moods. Some islands have night for weeks. Some have storms that never stop."
"COOL!"
"Terrifying," Shanks corrected. "But yes. Cool."
He plucked a piece of grass. "Now, about power."
Luffy leaned in, interested immediately.
"There are three big systems you'll deal with in your lifetime," Shanks continued.
Pirate Powers
"Pirates rely on Haki, devil fruits, training, willpower, luck, stupidity—usually in that order."
He winked. "Especially the stupidity."
Luffy giggled.
World Government Powers
"The Celestial Dragons and the World Government rely on science, special weapons, forbidden techniques, and a few secret power systems they don't admit exist. They hoard power like dragons hoard treasure."
"What kinda secret stuff?"
Shanks smirked. "Things not even I've seen. But some say they're built from ancient tech."
Luffy remembered flashes of other lives—blueprints, reactors, metal that hummed like hearts—and shivered a little.
Marines
"Marines use discipline, unity, and a very rigid Haki system. Most never get past the basics, but the Admirals… they've seen the edge of the world. Some of them touched power that wasn't meant for humans."
"What kinda power?"
Shanks lowered his voice. "Something like Haki… but deeper. Stronger. Rare."
Nen.
Luffy didn't need the word.
He recognized the feeling.
Something in his bones responded again—softly, like a beast stirring.
Shanks saw it.
And decided not to mention it.
Not yet.
Uta Finds Them
Footsteps echoed behind them.
A familiar humming voice drifted closer—a little off-key, still groggy from her epic nap.
Shanks grinned before he turned around. "Ah. Finally awake."
"Paaaapaaaa Shanks!" Uta cried, running forward with arms wide.
Shanks caught her in a hug that lifted her off the ground. "You sleep more than a sea lion."
"I do NOT!"
Hongo and the other guards arrived behind her, panting from the chase.
"She ran," Hongo explained simply.
"We tried to keep up."
"We failed."
Uta puffed her cheeks again. "I jogged, okay!? I JOGGED!"
Then she noticed Luffy.
Their eyes met.
Uta blinked.
Luffy blinked.
Uta blinked again.
Then she dramatically stabbed a finger at him. "WHO'S THIS!?"
Shanks smirked. "This? This is Luffy."
"Why is he glowing?"
Luffy froze. "I'm glowing!?!?"
Hongo whispered loudly, "Kids notice the weirdest things."
Shanks brushed it off. "Probably just the moonlight."
Uta narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
She didn't buy that.
But she grinned anyway. "Hi! I'm Uta! I'm gonna be the world's greatest singer!"
"I'm Luffy!" he said proudly. "I'm gonna be the strongest!"
"Strongest WHAT?"
"Everything!"
She nodded thoughtfully. "Ambitious. I like that."
Shanks put a hand on both their heads. "Good. You two should get along."
The guards stepped forward.
"Captain, the crew told us to bring Uta back. Are we staying with Luffy too?"
Shanks shook his head. "No. Go join the party. Tell Yasopp to stop teaching the villagers how to cheat at cards."
The guards groaned. "Yes, Captain…"
They trudged back to the village.
Shanks looked at Uta. "Go with them. Find Makino's Bar."
"But—"
"No buts." Shanks's voice softened. "I want you to meet the rest of the village properly."
Uta scrunched her nose but nodded.
Then Shanks leaned down and whispered something important into her ear.
When he leaned back, Uta's eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Yes, Papa! I'll do it!"
"What'd he say?" Luffy asked, curious.
Uta leaned down, whispering dramatically:
"He said I should join you!"
"Join me!?"
"As a training partner!"
"TRAINING PARTNER!?"
Uta nodded vigorously. "I'm good at singing! But I'm also good at… um… running away! And hiding! And confusing people with music! And I can fight a LITTLE!"
Luffy's eyes widened.
A partner.
Someone to train with. Someone to share tricks with. Someone who might even understand his strange memories. And…
(someone who might one day share the Force.)
His skin tingled again. The world's enormous weight pulsed. The future opened like a new map.
Shanks watched both of them—his smile wide, his eyes sharp.
"You two will become monsters someday," he said softly.
Neither child understood.
But the world did.
And it listened.
The night that wrapped the world in shifting layers of darkness—thick, alive, and glittering with stars that seemed to pulse with their own hidden wills. The sea mirrored them in scattered fragments, each wave catching the sky and breaking it into silver shards. Fusha Village glowed far behind them, a warm, fragile ember on the rim of a world that dwarfed any map, any legend, any story still remembered.
On the cliff overlooking the endless horizon, Shanks stood with Luffy and Uta—two children who felt small, but whose fates tugged at the world like invisible tides.
The wind howled across the grass like a messenger from distant realms.
Shanks looked down at them, at one boy who buzzed like a storm trapped in a body, and one girl whose voice could charm the air itself. He exhaled slowly.
They needed to understand the world.
Even if the world is far too large to ever fully understand.
Uta planted her feet stubbornly into the soft cliffside turf, folding her arms so tightly her small shoulders rose and fell. The moonlight caught the scarlet and white bands of her hair and turned them into two bright flags against the dark. Her face was all exaggerated pouts and crossed brows—an actress putting on a show for an audience of two.
"Why can't I stay?" she demanded again, voice above the hush of the grass. "Why do I have to go back to the bar? I wanna hear the world stuff too. Don't you trust me?"
Shanks crouched down until his face was level with hers. Up close, his smile softened and the lines at the corner of his eyes moved with it—years of laughter folded into a look that was more tired than scolding. He reached out and tapped her forehead with a single finger, a tiny, ridiculous gesture that only made Uta glare harder.
"Because," he said, voice warm but flat as a plank, "if you don't go back, the crew will burn Makino's place down by accident."
Uta's protests began in earnest—an outraged, theatrical barrage of reasons why she should be allowed to stay. Shanks let her run through them like a river through reeds, patient, listening. When she paused for breath, he cut her off.
"That was ONE time," she insisted, indignation turning her cheeks a bright pink.
"That was sixteen," Shanks corrected without missing a beat, and the joke landed with Luffy, who snorted and covered his mouth.
"I was practicing!" Uta shot back, defensive now. There was a flash in her eyes—too quick to be mere temper. It was pride, and something fiercer than pride; a raw, bright confidence that had kept her alive when everything else might have failed.
"Exactly," Shanks sighed, and the word took on weight. He leaned forward, the easy humor sliding away, replaced by an insistence that made the air between them narrow and still. "Also… I need you to watch over the village. Over Makino. Over Luffy's home."
The joke was gone. Uta's face changed in an instant: the pout folded into something like a shutter closing. Those weren't the orders given to a child to keep her entertained. Those were the orders of a captain giving a post to a lieutenant.
She froze—small, sudden as a stone dropped into still water. Her throat worked; she swallowed. Then, with the simplicity of someone who had never been allowed to be small for long, she straightened, nodded once, and took the duty with the same breath she would have taken a bow on stage.
She made no speech. Instead she gave Luffy an exaggerated, conspiratorial wink—the kind she'd invented to unnerve him—and then she darted off down the worn path toward the village. Her red-and-white hair bounced like pennants as she moved. Lantern light caught it and scattered in fragments across the grass; her silhouette winked out as she passed the first clump of trees.
Shanks watched her go until she vanished between two houses, until only the faint sound of her hum reached them—less a tune than a thread of bright noise carrying off into the night. The corner of his mouth quirked, but his shoulders did not relax as much as Luffy might have expected. Instead, they remained just a little tight, as if braced for a punch that might never come.
"She's not from here," he murmured into the space where her laugh still lingered.
Luffy blinked slowly, as if a new idea had just burrowed into him. "I know," he said. "She feels… different."
"Good instinct." Shanks let the words hang. He didn't explain why that was a compliment. He didn't detail the strange nights he'd seen when Uta's song had calmed a storm and made the crew hesitate at the exact right second, or the time her voice had put a young, wandering sea-monster to sleep before it discovered the coastline and panicked. Some things a captain keeps in the tightest fold of his chest—the things that justify trust and breed a little private fear.
"She's learning who she is," he said finally, quieter now. "But the kinds of things she can awaken? She doesn't understand them yet."
Luffy frowned. The word awaken settled between them like a seed in winter. "Like me?" he asked, small and earnest.
Shanks laughed then—a short, almost startled sound that didn't reach his eyes. The laugh was a shield; it deflected the question away from the place it had started to probe. "Yeah. Like you," he answered, but the answer alone was a map of worries he chose not to unfold.
He let the silence spread a moment, watching the village lights blink. From where they stood, Makino's bar was only a smudge of yellow behind a row of houses, but in Shanks' mind it was a hub, a delicate, stubborn thing that had to be protected—less for wood and nails than for the people who treated it like home. He thought of Makino wiping the counter until it gleamed, her laugh when the crew was particularly rowdy, the children who slipped in to beg for scraps and left with stories and sticky hands. He thought of how a single poorly timed song could stir curiosities beyond a fishing cove: stray beasts that smelled the pitch of Uta's voice, or Government men who tracked whispers like hounds. He saw, in a flash more vivid than he liked, headlines that might read of a "singer" whose voice birthed miracles or monsters, and the men who would come to study, weaponize, or lock that voice away.
It made his chest tight in a way he rarely admitted to anyone.
"Keep them safe," he said more to himself than to Luffy. "Keep them from knowing too much too soon. And keep her close enough that we can pull her back if she tips."
Luffy's expression shifted—the usual bright, careless grin folding into an open, solemn resolve. "I will," he promised. He sought Shanks' eye and found in it something like a mirror: the weight of a promise.
Shanks rested his hand on Luffy's small shoulder, fingers heavy and steady. He didn't reach for Uta's absence with words. He didn't have to. Watching her go, he felt that old, private fear—fear not of the girl herself but of the way the world could take a strange, powerful thing and make it someone else's instrument. He trusted her instincts and her mischief; he trusted the odd salvations her singing had brought them. But trust, in a world like theirs, always came with a caution—a margin accounted for bad luck, loud men, and the deep things beneath the sea.
"You'll have to keep her laughter out of trouble and her singing out of reach of the wrong ears," he added finally, low enough that it might have been advice or a plea.
Luffy puffed his chest, big with the kind of promise that can topple cliffs in the making. "I'll make sure no one takes her song!" he declared, fierce and simple.
Shanks let that be enough for the night. He watched the path where Uta had gone, saw for a heartbeat the memory of another night—years ago—when a small, fierce voice had turned the deck of a ship into a safer place to be. He didn't say the memory aloud. He only tightened his fingers on Luffy's shoulder, a captain anchoring two loose things to keep them steady against tides no map had named yet.
The Cliffside Lesson Begins
The cliffside air carried a cold bite—sharp enough to wake the senses, gentle enough to feel cleansing. A salty spray drifted upward from far below where the crashing waves pounded the rocks like an ancient drumbeat marking the rhythm of the world. Overhead, seabirds circled in broad, slow spirals, quiet for once, as if even they sensed a conversation of weight was about to unfold.
Shanks lowered himself to the ground in one smooth motion, crossing his legs with the casual grace of someone who had meditated on storm-torn decks and slept on swaying masts. The grass bent under his weight, dew shimmering beneath him like tiny captured stars.
He patted the earth beside him.
"Come on. Right here."
Luffy hurried over so quickly he nearly tripped on his sandals. He dropped into the grass with a thump, folding his legs and hugging his knees as if that would help him absorb every word Shanks was about to say. His eyes were already huge—shining with eagerness, curiosity, and that wild spark Shanks had recognized from the moment he met him.
There was a stillness between them then—not empty, but charged. The kind that only settles when someone older and wiser is about to reveal something the world works very hard to keep hidden.
Shanks reached out and plucked a blade of grass. His fingers worked it absently, rolling it between calloused fingertips—hands shaped by decades of ship wheels, swords, ropes, and storms. The small motion made the moment seem almost gentle, but the shift in his expression didn't escape Luffy. Shanks's usual grin softened, then faded into something contemplative. Serious.
"Now…" Shanks murmured. "Sit properly. Back straight."
Luffy straightened instantly.
"Good. You asked for the world—so I'll give you what I can."
The grass rustled as a breeze pushed past them, carrying scents from places far beyond the village—salt, iron, wet stone, drifting pollen from sea plants that grew nowhere near human homes. Luffy inhaled deeply without realizing it.
"Ready?" Shanks asked.
Luffy's head bobbed so fast it looked like he was trying to shake something loose from his skull. He had no idea what he was about to hear. He didn't even care. Shanks was going to explain something big—bigger than pirates, bigger than treasure, maybe even bigger than the sea itself.
Shanks exhaled—a long, steady breath that seemed to push years of memory through his chest. He leaned forward, elbows resting loosely on his thighs.
"Good," he said at last. His voice dropped—lower, steady, touched with a rare gravity. "Because most grown men can't handle this talk."
The words hung in the air like a drawn bowstring.
Luffy blinked.
Shanks wasn't teasing.
Not even a little.
For a moment the world around them felt unusually still—like even the waves had paused to listen.
Shanks flicked the reed of grass into the wind, letting it sail away into the darkness.
"What I'm about to tell you," he continued, "is something men twice my age still don't believe. Something the World Government tries to bury. Something sailors whisper about in the corners of bars because they're afraid the sea might hear them."
Luffy swallowed, the sound loud in his own ears.
Shanks angled his face toward the horizon, where the moon's reflection trembled across the water.
"You're young enough and dumb enough," Shanks said with a faint smile, "that it won't scare you off."
Luffy grinned proudly at the insult.
Shanks's smile faded again.
"But listen closely, Luffy. Because this—"
He tapped the ground beneath them.
"This planet… this sea… this world… isn't what you think it is."
A distant wave thundered against the cliffs below.
"And if you want to survive what's really out there, you need to understand the truth long before you ever set foot outside this village."
Shanks shifted his posture, spine straightening, attitude focusing—like a warrior readying himself for a story that carried the weight of battle.
"Ask questions whenever you don't understand," he said. "And don't lie if something scares you."
Luffy bristled. "I'm not scared!"
"You will be," Shanks said softly. "But that's fine. Fear is the start of wisdom."
The wind whipped around them again, this time colder, as if the world had opened an ear to listen.
Shanks laid his hands on his knees.
"Alright, Luffy," he said.
"Let's talk about the real world."
"The true world" Shanks let his hand fall slowly, deliberately, sliced against the horizon like a blade dividing the known from the impossible. The ocean stretched before them—black, endless, breathing. Each wave rose and fell as though some massive, unseen heart slumbered beneath the surface.
"What people call the Four Blues, the Grand Line, and the New World?" he said. "All of that is only one-tenth of the world humans know. And humans only know a fraction of what actually exists."
Luffy felt the words hit him like a punch. His mouth opened, but Shanks raised a finger, signaling silence.
"There are islands you've heard of," Shanks went on, "and islands you haven't. Maps sailors cling to like holy scriptures… but they only show the safe threads of the world. The calm places. The predictable seas. The pathways where the earth doesn't try to kill you."
He made a slow circle in the air, tracing something invisible—something ancient.
"Beyond those comfortable borders lie realms ignored by kings, feared by pirates, and denied outright by the World Government. Waters where nature isn't just rough… it's sentient. Aware. Sometimes curious. Sometimes hostile."
A chill raced down Luffy's spine. Even the wind seemed to hush.
Shanks leaned forward, voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.
"Ever heard of the Thunder Reaches?"
Luffy shook his head, eyes wide.
Shanks almost smiled—a haunted sort of smile.
"It's a storm belt that wraps around the entire planet. Not once. Not twice. Three times. A spiraling wall of lightning, wind, pressure, and clouds so thick they block out the sun for months. And inside that endless cyclone… people live."
Luffy blinked hard. "People?!"
"Oh yes," Shanks said. "Whole nations. They build their homes on drifting cloud-continents—massive floating landmasses made of hardened vapor and ancient storm minerals. They harvest lightning like we harvest fish. They use thunderbirds as mounts. Some of their cities date back thousands of years before the first World Government flag ever flew."
Luffy's jaw hung open, glittering with awe.
Shanks wasn't done.
"And that's just one region."
He shifted his weight, pointing deeper into the black horizon.
"There are the Jewel Trenches, underwater canyons so deep that light turns solid. Not metaphorically—literally solid. Crystallized sunlight forms structures that move like glaciers. Whole ecosystems thrive down there, glowing with colors humans don't even have names for."
Luffy felt his heart thundering. "COOL!"
Shanks chuckled. But his tone remained serious.
"Then there are the Crawling Archipelagos."
"Crawling…?"
"Islands," Shanks said, "that aren't islands. Massive beasts—some older than entire civilizations—so big that soil forms on their backs. Trees root in their shells. Rivers carve paths across their hides."
Luffy nearly fell over.
"They move once every few decades, shifting whole ecosystems with them. Entire communities live their whole lives on them without realizing the 'island' beneath their feet is breathing. Sleeping. Dreaming."
Luffy made a strangled sound somewhere between a gasp and a squeal.
"And if someone wakes one?" Shanks added. "The tremors can trigger tsunamis across whole seas."
The boy's eyes were the size of dinner plates.
Shanks looked toward the horizon again, expression somber.
"And those are the places we can talk about."
Luffy swallowed. "What about the places you can't?"
Shanks paused—long enough that the waves filled the silence.
"There are oceans where time… doesn't behave. Where day and night alternate every few minutes. Where travelers come back to the surface with memories that don't match their own timelines."
Luffy's breath hitched.
"There are islands swallowed by permanent fog—fog that whispers. Fog that listens. Fog that remembers you even after you leave."
He lowered his voice further.
"And deeper still… there are realms where reality thins. Places where people claim to have met living shadows. Lands where gravity falls sideways. Currents that drag you into skies instead of seas. Some say that's where Devil Fruits came from. Some say that's where the world itself was born."
The cliff wind roared, almost as if reacting to the words.
Luffy's heartbeat was pounding so hard it felt like his ribs might burst.
Shanks looked at the boy, eyes crinkling with a mix of warmth and warning.
"The world, Luffy," he said softly, "is far bigger than the stories told in taverns. Bigger than the seas drawn on maps. Bigger than the dreams even the bravest pirates dare to chase."
He rested a hand on Luffy's shoulder.
"And if you really want to see it all? You'll have to be ready for more than storms. More than monsters. More than the Marines."
He pointed at Luffy's chest.
"You'll need a will strong enough to make the world notice you—and strong enough to survive when it does."
Luffy exhaled shakily.
Then grinned.
"I'll see it all," he said, almost trembling with excitement. "Every last bit."
Shanks laughed—a low, knowing, almost proud sound.
"I know you will."
Shanks leaned back farther, palms pressed into the cool cliffside grass. The stars seemed brighter now—like they were listening, waiting, almost wary. When he spoke again, his voice carried a weight that didn't belong to sailors or pirates or rowdy bar nights. It belonged to old things. Things with memories.
"There are continents erased from history," he said, eyes fixed upward. "Not lost. Erased. Removed so thoroughly that even speaking their names is considered treason in some kingdoms."
Luffy's breath hitched.
Shanks continued.
"Some of these lands aren't just hidden. They fight against being found."
"There's a place called Korvus," Shanks said. "Or… that was its name before the records were burned."
"Was it an island?" Luffy asked.
"A continent once," Shanks corrected. "Bigger than the entire New World combined. It sank slowly over a thousand years, swallowed piece by piece, until only its metal bones remain beneath the waves."
"Metal… bones?" Luffy tilted his head.
Shanks nodded.
"The people of Korvus used alloys no modern craftsman can reproduce. Their towers still stand under the sea—black spires taller than mountains. Creatures nest in them now. Leviathans shaped by drowning cities."
Luffy's eyes sparkled.
"CAN I GO THERE?!"
"If you want to be chewed on by a skyscraper," Shanks said, shrugging. "Some of the buildings… move."
Luffy flinched. "Buildings can't move."
"Korvus ones can."
"And then," Shanks went on, "there are the Beast-Kingdoms. Deep inland, far from any coast, surrounded by mountain rings sharper than steel."
"Beasts run their own kingdoms?" Luffy gasped.
"More than run them," Shanks said, smirking. "They thrive. They build. They use tools. Their chiefs and warlords wield Haki strong enough to split glaciers."
"GIANT strength?" Luffy asked.
"Stronger than giants," Shanks replied. "Some Beast-Kingdom warriors fight barehanded against creatures ten times their size. They don't use metal. Their weapons are grown—fangs, bones, natural alloys hardened through generations."
"Wow…"
"Most humans who wander in never return. But not because the beasts kill them." Shanks's voice grew thoughtful. "The beasts only value people who can survive their trials. The rest… the land takes."
"The land!?"
"You'll see," Shanks said cryptically.
"Now, the worst regions…" Shanks's expression darkened. "There are places where the air itself is hostile."
Luffy blinked in confusion.
"Air… is mean?"
Shanks held up a finger.
"In the Mournwind Valleys, the atmosphere is so loaded with emotional residue that it weighs on you. Fear. Anger. Regret. All drifting like fog."
"I thought fog was water," Luffy said.
"This one isn't," Shanks replied. "Breathing it pulls at your soul. Makes your thoughts louder. Makes your doubts heavier. The weak-willed go mad, trapped in their own memories."
Luffy shivered.
"What about strong people?"
"Strong people hear the whispers," Shanks said. "Some learn from them. Some gain strange visions. Some awaken abilities they didn't know they had. And some…" he trailed off.
"Some…?" Luffy insisted.
"Some become part of the fog."
Luffy swallowed, eyes wide.
"And further east," Shanks continued, "there's an entire forbidden landmass trapped in a temporal loop."
"Tempo… what?"
"Time repeats," Shanks said simply. "The sun rises twice. Then reverses. Then rises again. Days fold into each other like pages in a broken book."
Luffy's face twisted. "How can the sun go backwards?"
"No one knows," Shanks answered. "But the people living there don't age normally. Some children remain children for decades. Some elders become younger. Some days—literally vanish."
"That's so cool!"
"It's also incredibly dangerous. Time loops are unstable. You could enter the region and come out before you went in."
Luffy nodded solemnly. "Okay. That's weird."
"Very weird," Shanks agreed.
"But the worst of all…" Shanks said, lowering his voice as if the night itself could overhear.
"…is the continent they call Nocturna."
Luffy whispered the name back. "Nocturna…"
"It existed in old logs, ancient world maps, and legends before the Void Century. But someone—or something—erased it from every official record. No one knows what lives there now. Some scholars claim it still exists but is cloaked behind a perpetual shadow. Others say it only appears during eclipses."
"Why would they erase a whole continent?" Luffy asked.
Shanks didn't answer for a long moment.
Then:
"Because whatever was there scared the World Government so deeply… they decided pretending it never existed was safer than dealing with it."
Luffy shuddered in delight.
"I WANNA GO THERE!"
Shanks burst out laughing. "Of course you do."
LUFFY'S QUESTION
"But…" Luffy said, gripping the grass. "Can I survive all that?"
Shanks snorted loudly. "Maybe. If you stop eating dirt."
"I only did that ONCE!"
"You did it today."
"Oh."
The wind howled like it was laughing along with Shanks.
And the world beyond the sea waited—silent, ancient, dangerous, and impossibly huge.
"Now The three great dangers"
Shanks held up three fingers.
The Colossal beasts and there types
Shanks didn't speak immediately.
He let the silence stretch over the cliffside like an invisible blanket—
heavy, ancient, full of the weight of worlds beyond sight.
Even the wind seemed to quiet down, as if it didn't want to interrupt what came next.
When Shanks finally spoke, his tone sank deeper, older.
"Colossal Beasts," he said, "are not monsters."
He looked at Luffy.
"They're landmarks."
He looked at the ocean.
"They're ecosystems."
He looked at the sky.
"And some are… borders."
Luffy's eyes widened until they were almost full moons.
Shanks continued.
"There are creatures wider than whole islands—creatures so massive they create their own weather. Forests grow on their backs. Cliffs form along their sides. Rivers run from one end of them to the other."
Luffy tilted his head. "Like… walking mountains?"
Shanks smirked. "Walking. Swimming. Flying. Crawling. Drifting. Choose a form of movement—you'll find a beast doing it."
He raised two fingers.
The Leviathans
"There are Leviathans that sleep beneath continents. Entire tectonic plates formed on their backs. Some people think they're just underwater mountain chains… until they start moving."