If one were to ask which of the four great seas in the world of One Piece was the weakest in this era, perhaps no one could give a definite answer. But if asked which sea was the most chaotic, everyone would give the same answer: the North Blue.
The reason was simple. During the World Government's eight hundred years of rule, the North Blue was the only sea that had ever truly broken free from its control.
And the cause of all that was a name feared throughout the entire North Blue: the Vinsmoke Family.
Around three hundred years ago, the Vinsmoke Family, born in the North Blue, once ruled the sea with overwhelming military might, terrifying even the Marines and the World Government and becoming a legend of fear in the North Blue.
Only after being betrayed by the royal families of the major kingdoms in the North Blue did the Vinsmoke Family's rule completely collapse. Even their territory was stripped away, leaving them as a ghost nation drifting on the sea.
As the current head of the Vinsmoke Family, Vinsmoke Judge's dream was to rewrite the Vinsmoke Family's legend and rule the North Blue once more.
For that goal, he devoted himself to science, joined Vegapunk's illegal research team MADS, and mastered the power known as the Lineage Factor.
Later, after MADS's research was discovered by the World Government and Vegapunk was absorbed into the World Government, becoming one of its hounds, Judge escaped. Using the power of the Lineage Factor, he created a vast army of modified humans, built a mighty kingdom on the sea, and restored the Vinsmoke Family.
Even so, Judge still did not dare provoke the World Government.
Because he knew very well that before true monsters, numbers were meaningless.
If his crushing defeat at Water 7 had not been enough to prove that, then the scene he still could not forget even now had made it perfectly clear. After attending BIGMOM's tea party, on the outer edge of the Totto Land waters, Fire Dragon Yemu and his younger brother, Thunder God Enel, had destroyed a great pirate fleet of fifty ships with a single disaster-like Raigo. That sight made him deeply glad he had made the right choice and allowed his daughter Reiju to become a member of the Sky Pirates.
That earth-shaking power was not something numbers could make up for.
However, Vinsmoke Judge was not the sort of man who would place his hopes in others. He was a cold-blooded schemer, and the Sky Pirates were only a protective umbrella he had found for himself.
After returning from Totto Land, he became even more obsessed with researching the Lineage Factor, all to create even stronger descendants.
His eldest daughter, Reiju, was his experimental subject, but she was not very successful. She still retained fragile human emotions. But among the four sons his wife had newly given birth to, the powerful genes he had hoped for had appeared. Aside from his third son, Sanji, the other three children, though not even half a year old, had already shown incredible intelligence and strength.
As someone devoted to science, he was well-informed and had once heard that Charlotte Linlin, captain of the BIGMOM Pirate Crew, had possessed strength surpassing giants at the age of six and destroyed one country after another.
His dream was to make his own children into monsters like that.
If that happened, then forget the World Government. Even ruling the entire world would no longer be a dream.
And now, his dream had a chance of coming true...
He had originally calculated everything perfectly. But just then, after Fire Dragon Yemu declared war on the Celestial Dragons and the World Government, the voice that came through the Den Den Mushi threw everything into uncertainty.
"Vinsmoke Judge, it's time for you to make your choice..."
...
On the North Blue's sea, within the territory of the Vinsmoke Kingdom, carried by giant snail ships and drifting across the waves.
Inside the palace of Vinsmoke Judge, ruler of it all,
Vinsmoke Reiju, only four years old but already stronger than an adult and possessing poison abilities, leaned beside a pink bed. With tenderness and worry, she looked at her four younger brothers lying in their mother's arms.
They had clearly only just been born not long ago, but aside from her third younger brother, Sanji, the other three little ones all looked like tiny adults. They neither cried nor fussed, and their expressions were serious.
The reason was that their father, Judge, had stripped the power known as emotion from their genes when these younger brothers were born.
Lying on the huge pink princess bed, besides her four younger brothers, was her mother.
Because she had gone against her father's wishes and taken medicine that might affect the Lineage Factor, her body had grown weaker by the day. Now, even getting out of bed was difficult for her.
This had always tormented Reiju.
The power in the Lineage Factor made it impossible for her to disobey her father's orders.
Her dissatisfaction with everything her father had done could only continue to torture her like this.
It was not that she had never thought of using the Den Den Mushi Yemu had given her to beg Yemu-sama to descend from the sky and save her from all this, but she truly did not have the courage.
In her view, back then, after just one meeting, the reason Yemu-sama had been willing to treat her as a future companion was only to thank her father for providing the Devil Fruit encyclopedia.
If she failed to understand her place and casually wasted that kindness, then her last hope would disappear as well.
That was what she had thought until four days ago, when the Den Den Mushi that had never rung since she received it suddenly carried Yemu's voice, telling her he would soon come to the Vinsmoke Royal Family.
She felt as if hope had truly appeared.
However, although she had already made up her mind, her hesitation toward the unknown outcome and her fear of the anger her father might bring down on her left this four-year-old girl deeply restless.
Just then, a gentle hand pressed down on her head and softly stroked her hair. A tender voice followed.
"What's wrong, Reiju? You don't look happy. Can you tell Mama?"
Reiju was startled and looked up, only to find that her weak-looking mother had woken at some point and was gazing at her gently.
At that moment, seeing her mother look at her with such tenderness and a smile on her face, the emotions in Reiju's heart nearly burst free. But in the end, she held them back.
Because she knew that what her father hated most were those fragile emotions humans showed. Because of that, she had always made herself appear very cold.
"It's nothing, Mama. I'm just a little nervous."
"Nervous?"
Her beautiful blond mother, Vinsmoke Sora, seemed to think of something and smiled.
"That's right. Reiju-chan's captain is coming to pick her up today..."
Just as Sora finished speaking, a plump maid hurried in.
"Your Highness, Lady Reiju, His Majesty Judge asks Lady Reiju to come over. Captain Yemu has arrived..."
***
...
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on p-@-treon.
[email protected]/PinkSnake (50 Chapters Ahead).
You can also follow as a free member to read a few advanced chapters.
***