Chapter 2
The East Blue was rarely as calm as it appeared on a map. For most, the vast stretch of azure was a source of livelihood or a barrier to be feared. But for the small crew of the Going Sepharot—a name Luffy had insisted on because he thought "Sepharot" sounded like a cool type of meat—the ocean was a playground.
Aryan sat on the railing of the caravel, his legs dangling over the side. He wasn't looking at the water with his eyes; he was looking with his mind.
[Ding! Constant Observation Active.]
[Comprehending: The Rhythm of the East Blue...]
[Progress: 45%]
Since leaving Shells Town, Aryan had felt his senses sharpening at an exponential rate. The 10% integration with the Shadow Monarch's Authority had changed something fundamental in his biology. His skin felt cooler to the touch, and his shadow seemed just a bit darker, a bit more "solid" than it had any right to be.
"Aryan! I'm hungry!" Luffy groaned from the center of the deck. He was sprawled out like a starfish, his stomach let out a sound like a dying Sea King.
"You ate an hour ago, Luffy," Zoro muttered, sitting cross-legged near the mast, fastidiously sharpening Wado Ichimonji. He paused, looking up at Aryan. "Hey. You mentioned something back at the docks. About the 'breath' of things."
Aryan hopped down from the railing, landing without a sound. He walked over to a thick iron stay-bolt fixed to the deck. "Yeah. Everything in this world has a soul, Zoro. Not just people. The wind, the wood, the steel. If you can hear the breath of the steel, you know where to strike so it doesn't resist you."
Zoro's eyes sharpened. "And if you don't want to cut it?"
"Then you don't," Aryan smiled. He picked up a piece of discarded paper from the deck. He held it out and asked Zoro to cut it. Zoro flicked his wrist, and the paper was sliced in two.
Then, Aryan placed the same paper on top of the iron bolt. "Now, try to cut the paper, but not the bolt."
Zoro frowned. He swung with precision, but the blade sparked against the iron, leaving a shallow notch. The paper was cut, but the resistance was there.
"You're forcing the blade," Aryan explained, his voice taking on that calm, Uji-like cheerfulness. "Don't think of the iron as an obstacle. Comprehend its existence. It doesn't want to be cut. Respect that, and the blade will pass through the 'nothingness' within the iron to reach the paper."
Zoro stared at the bolt. He looked like he was trying to glare the metal into submission.
[Ding! Observation triggered.]
[Comprehending: Zoro's Growth Path...]
[Skill Shared: Basic Rhythmic Awareness (Passive).]
Aryan didn't just tell him; he used his system to subtly broadcast the "vibration" of the world to Zoro. It was a perk of the Supreme Comprehension System—he could act as a bridge for others to understand the impossible.
Suddenly, the sky darkened. Not with clouds, but with a massive shadow.
"Is that a bird?" Luffy asked, shielding his eyes.
A giant, pink-billed bird was soaring overhead, and gripped in its talons was... a person? No, it was just a very small boat being carried away.
"Wait, that bird is huge!" Luffy laughed. "I bet it tastes great!"
Before Aryan could stop him, Luffy's neck snapped back. "GOMU GOMU NO... BELL!"
He launched himself into the air, aiming for the bird's neck. Instead of grabbing it, he somehow got his head stuck in the bird's beak. The giant creature, panicked, flapped its wings and soared away toward the horizon, carrying a muffled, shouting Luffy with it.
"And there goes the Captain," Aryan sighed, rubbing his temples.
"Is he always this much of an idiot?" Zoro asked, standing up and sheathing his sword.
"Usually," Aryan said, already moving to the tiller. "But my Sea-Sense says he's heading toward a town about ten miles north. If we catch the current now, we can beat the bird there."
As they sailed, Aryan felt a shift in the air. The "breath" of the nearby island was chaotic—smelling of gunpowder, greasepaint, and fear.
"Orange Town," Aryan whispered.
[Ding! New Quest: The Navigator and the Clown.]
[Objective: Save the town from Buggy's 'Flashy' tyranny.]
[Reward: 2% Soul Integration; Skill: Spatial Storage Expansion.]
"Zoro, get ready," Aryan said, his cheerful demeanor hardening slightly. "We're about to meet a man who thinks being a pirate means blowing up everything that doesn't laugh at his jokes."
They pulled into the harbor of Orange Town twenty minutes later. The place was a ghost town. Houses were shattered, and the streets were littered with "Buggy Balls"—massive iron cannonballs that had leveled entire blocks.
"Over there," Zoro pointed.
On a rooftop in the distance, a group of pirates was surrounding a girl with short orange hair. She was holding a map and looking defiant, even as a dozen swords were pointed at her.
"Let me go, you idiots!" she yelled. "I'm just a simple thief! I don't have your boss's map!"
Aryan didn't wait for the boat to fully dock. He stepped onto the water, his feet creating ripples of purple light.
[Void Step.]
He vanished.
On the rooftop, the pirates were about to lung at the girl when a sudden gust of wind blew through them.
"Hey there," a bright, friendly voice said. "Is this a private party, or can anyone join?"
The pirates whirled around. Standing in the middle of their circle was a young man who looked far too handsome and far too relaxed for the situation. He was leaning against a chimney, peeling a tangerine he'd seemingly pulled out of thin air.
"Who the hell are you?!" the lead pirate barked.
The girl, Nami, blinked in surprise. She looked at Aryan—his white shirt, the dark cloak, the easy smile—and for a second, her professional "thief" brain short-circuited. He's... really good-looking. Wait, no! Focus!
"I'm Aryan," he said, tossing a slice of tangerine into his mouth. "And you guys are making a lot of noise. My Captain is somewhere around here, and he hates it when people bully girls."
"Kill him!" the pirates roared.
Aryan didn't move his hands from his pockets. He simply watched them.
[Ding! Comprehending: Group Combat Tactics (Low Level)...]
[Skill Activation: Void God's Presence.]
As the pirates rushed in, they suddenly felt like they were running through molasses. Their hearts began to hammer against their ribs, a primal fear screaming at them to stop. Aryan moved between them like a dancer, his body swaying just out of reach of their blades. He wasn't even using his hands; he was using his shoulders and hips to knock them off balance.
Thud. Crash. Clang.
In five seconds, the six pirates were sprawled on the roof, groaning in confusion. They hadn't been hit hard, but their equilibrium was completely shattered.
Aryan turned to Nami. "You okay?"
Nami clutched her map to her chest. "I... yeah. Who are you? Are you a bounty hunter?"
"Just a traveler," Aryan said. "And I think that's my Captain falling out of the sky."
BOOM.
A few streets away, Luffy crashed through a roof, still arguing with the giant bird.
Aryan laughed. "Yep. That's him. Come on, Nami-san. Let's go meet the future King of the Pirates. He's much louder than I am, but he's a good guy."
Nami looked at the unconscious pirates, then at the strange, beautiful boy holding out a hand to her. She didn't trust pirates, and she certainly didn't trust "heroes," but something about Aryan felt different. He felt like the calm in the middle of a hurricane.
"Fine," she muttered, taking his hand. "But if you're trying to steal my map, I'll stab you."
"Fair enough," Aryan grinned.
The walk toward the center of town was punctuated by the distant sound of Luffy's shouting and the occasional explosion of a "Buggy Ball" leveling a nearby chimney. Nami walked a few paces behind Aryan, her eyes darting between his relaxed posture and the way his shadow seemed to flicker unnaturally against the cobblestones.
"You're not normal," Nami said, her voice sharp with suspicion. "Those guys on the roof... you didn't even hit them. They just... fell."
Aryan glanced back over his shoulder, his dark hair catching the sunlight. "It's all about the vibration, Nami-san. Everything has a frequency. If you match it, you're a friend. If you disrupt it, well... people tend to lose their balance."
"Vibrations? Frequencies?" Nami huffed, crossing her arms. "You sound like a scholar, not a pirate."
"I'm a bit of both," Aryan replied cheerfully.
[Ding! Observation triggered.]
[Comprehending: Nami's Navigation Instincts...]
[Analyzing: Weather Sense & Atmospheric Calculation...]
[Progress: 15%... 25%...]
Aryan's eyes glowed with a faint purple hue. He could see the way Nami looked at the clouds—not as shapes, but as indicators of pressure and wind speed. She was a genius, a natural-born master of the sea's "breath," even if she didn't realize she was doing it.
"Wait," Nami stopped, pointing toward a large, colorful tent in the central plaza. "That's Buggy's base. If your friend crashed there, he's in serious trouble. Buggy isn't just a pirate; he's a monster with a Devil Fruit power."
"A Devil Fruit, huh?" Aryan's smile widened. "I've been wanting to see one of those up close."
As they neared the plaza, they saw a ridiculous sight. Luffy was currently trapped in a massive iron cage, while a man with a large red nose, dressed like a circus ringmaster, stood over him, laughing hysterically. This was Buggy the Clown.
"Captain Buggy! We caught the thief's accomplice!" one of the pirates shouted, pointing at Aryan and Nami.
Buggy turned, his oversized shoes clacking on the wooden stage. He looked at Nami, then his eyes landed on Aryan. He paused, his laughter dying down into a scowl. "Who the hell is this flashy brat? He looks like he wandered out of a high-end jewelry store."
"I'm Aryan D. Sepharot," Aryan said, walking into the center of the plaza as if he owned the place. "And that guy in the cage is my Captain. I'd appreciate it if you let him out. We have a schedule to keep."
Luffy's face brightened as he gripped the bars of the cage. "Aryan! Zoro! You're here! Hey, this guy has a big red nose!"
"WHO HAS A BIG RED NOSE?!" Buggy roared, his face turning a dangerous shade of crimson. "I'll blow you to bits! Men! Fire the Buggy Ball!"
The pirates aimed a massive cannon directly at the cage. Nami gasped, backing away. "We have to run! That cannon can level a whole street!"
"Luffy, you want to handle the cannon, or should I?" Aryan asked, completely ignoring the panic around him.
"I got it!" Luffy yelled.
[Ding! Observation triggered.]
[Comprehending: Explosive Velocity & Combustion...]
As the fuse reached the cannon, Aryan didn't move. He watched the spark travel, the gunpowder ignite, and the massive iron ball scream out of the barrel.
BOOM.
Luffy took a deep breath, his body inflating like a giant balloon. "GOMU GOMU NO... FUSEN!"
The cannonball hit Luffy's rubbery stomach, sunk in several inches, and then—with a satisfying sproing—was launched right back at the pirates.
"ABORT! ABORT!" Buggy screamed.
The explosion was massive. The stage was turned into splinters, and half of Buggy's crew was sent flying into the harbor. Through the smoke, Buggy emerged, but he looked... different. His torso was floating in the air, his hands were hovering nearby, and his feet were still on the ground.
The Bara Bara no Mi. The Chop-Chop Fruit.
"Interesting," Aryan whispered.
[Ding! High-Level Observation Event!]
[Comprehending: The Bara Bara no Mi (Anatomy of Separation)...]
[Tracing the Concept of 'Dividing the Whole'...]
[Comprehension Complete. Skill Acquired: Molecular Severance (Level 1).]
Aryan felt a strange sensation in his hands. It wasn't that he could split his own body, but he suddenly understood how to "divide" the space around him. He looked at Buggy, who was currently sending his detached hands to strangle Luffy through the bars.
"Hey, Red Nose," Aryan called out.
"IT'S CAPTAIN BUGGY TO YOU!" the clown yelled, sending one of his floating hands, armed with three knives, spinning toward Aryan's throat.
Aryan didn't dodge. He raised his hand, and for a split second, the air in front of him seemed to ripple like a distorted mirror.
[Void Step + Molecular Severance.]
The floating hand passed through Aryan, but not because he was intangible. He had momentarily "divided" the space he occupied, allowing the attack to pass through a gap in reality that only he could see.
Aryan appeared behind Buggy's floating torso.
"You're fast," Aryan said, his voice a whisper in the clown's ear. "But you're too spread out. If you divide yourself too much, you lose the 'thought' of who you are."
"Wh-What are you talking about?!" Buggy swung his other hand, but Aryan simply tapped the clown's floating shoulder.
[Skill Activation: Void Pulse.]
A shockwave of "nothingness" rippled through Buggy's separated parts. The connection between his floating torso and his feet was momentarily severed by the Void's interference. Buggy's upper half let out a yelp and dropped like a stone, crashing into the dirt.
"My... my powers! I can't feel my legs!" Buggy shrieked.
Meanwhile, Zoro had arrived. With a single, powerful strike, he cut through the lock of Luffy's cage.
"Took you long enough," Luffy grinned, stepping out and cracking his knuckles. "Alright! Now I'm really gonna beat him up!"
Nami stood on the sidelines, her jaw dropping. She looked at Zoro, the legendary Pirate Hunter, now following a boy made of rubber. Then she looked at Aryan, who was standing over the Great Pirate Buggy as if he were a misbehaving toddler.
"Who are these people?" she whispered to herself.
But the fight wasn't over. Buggy's second-in-command, Mohji the Beast Tamer, arrived on a massive lion named Richie.
"Richie! Eat them!" Mohji commanded.
The lion let out a roar that shook the windows of the nearby houses. It lunged toward Aryan, its jaws wide enough to swallow him whole.
Aryan didn't even turn around. He reached into his Void Pocket and pulled out a small, dried piece of meat he'd saved from the village.
"Sit," Aryan said.
He didn't use force. He used the Shadow Monarch's Authority. For a fleeting second, his shadow grew ten times its size, taking the shape of a towering, dark knight with glowing purple eyes.
The lion, Richie, stopped mid-air. Its predatory instincts were instantly overridden by a primal, soul-crushing terror. It hit the ground and immediately rolled onto its back, whimpering and wagging its tail like a puppy.
Mohji stared in disbelief. "Richie? What are you doing?! Get up!"
"He's tired," Aryan said, tossing the meat into the lion's mouth. "Why don't you join him for a nap?"
Aryan didn't even touch Mohji. He just looked at him. The sheer weight of Aryan's Supreme Comprehension of "Killing Intent" was enough to make Mohji's knees buckle. The beast tamer fainted on the spot.
Luffy laughed, slapping Aryan on the back. "Shishishi! You're so good with animals, Sepharot!"
"They're just misunderstood," Aryan joked, though his eyes remained on Buggy, who was trying to pull himself back together.
The dust from the explosion settled, leaving the central plaza of Orange Town in a state of surreal stillness. Buggy the Clown had finally managed to reattach his torso to his legs, but he looked considerably less "flashy" than he had five minutes ago. His makeup was smeared, and his flamboyant hat was missing a feather.
"You... you brats!" Buggy snarled, his detached hands hovering at his sides like angry hornets. "Do you have any idea who I am? I was a member of the—"
"I don't care who you were," Luffy interrupted, stretching his arms out wide. "I only care about who I'm gonna be! GOMU GOMU NO... BAZOOKA!"
Luffy's palms slammed into Buggy's chest. The clown, thinking quickly, split his torso into several horizontal slices, letting Luffy's hands pass harmlessly through the gaps.
"Gyahahaha! You can't hit what isn't there!" Buggy mocked.
Aryan, standing a few paces back, watched the exchange with a calm, analytical gaze.
[Ding! Observation triggered.]
[Analyzing: Bara Bara no Mi Recombination Speed...]
[Detecting: The 'Core' of the Fruit...]
"Luffy!" Aryan called out, his voice cutting through the noise. "He can split as much as he wants, but his feet have to stay on the ground to guide the rest of him. And his 'parts' have a maximum range."
Buggy's eyes bugged out. "How did you—?!"
"And one more thing," Aryan added, a playful glint in his eyes. "If you tickle the parts he's not paying attention to, it really throws off his concentration."
Nami, who had been watching from the shadows of a nearby alley, suddenly got an idea. She saw Buggy's torso floating high in the air while his hands were busy fighting Zoro and his legs were standing still. She crept forward, a bundle of rope in her hands.
"Hey! What are you doing with my legs?!" Buggy screamed as Nami began to tie his ankles together.
"Just some 'flashy' interior decorating!" Nami shouted back.
The battle descended into chaos. Zoro was busy fending off Cabaji, the unicycle-riding swordsman. Cabaji was using every dirty trick in the book—smoke bombs, spinning tops, and fire-breathing.
"A swordsman who needs toys isn't a swordsman," Zoro growled. He took a deep breath, his muscles tensing.
[Ding! Shared Comprehension Active: Breath of All Things (Zoro).]
Aryan watched as Zoro's aura shifted. For a split second, Zoro stopped fighting the unicycle and the fire. He listened. He felt the "breath" of Cabaji's acrobatics.
"Oni... GIRI!"
Zoro moved like a flash of blue steel. He didn't just hit Cabaji; he cut through the very rhythm of the man's movement. Cabaji and his unicycle were sent spinning into a wall, completely unconscious.
Meanwhile, Luffy had managed to grab Buggy's floating head by the nose.
"LET GO OF MY NOSE!" Buggy yelled, his hands flying back to strike Luffy.
"Aryan! Now!" Luffy yelled.
Aryan didn't use a flashy move. He simply stepped forward, his hand glowing with that faint purple Void light. He touched the air between Buggy's head and his floating hands.
[Skill Activation: Void Severance.]
The invisible "threads" of will that Buggy used to control his detached parts were momentarily snuffed out. His hands dropped to the ground like dead weights.
"Wait, what? I can't move them!" Buggy panicked.
With Buggy's defense gone, Nami finished her work. She had tied all of Buggy's floating parts—his arms, his calves, his stomach—into small, tight bundles of cloth and rope, leaving him as nothing more than a head, a pair of hands, and two tiny feet.
"You look a lot smaller this way," Aryan chuckled, walking over to the "Mini-Buggy."
Luffy stood over the clown, grinning. "Ready for a trip?"
"Wait! No! Don't—!"
"GOMU GOMU NO... BAZOOKA!"
Luffy's hands connected with the tiny Buggy, sending him screaming into the sky, a twinkling star in the afternoon sun.
"And stay out!" Luffy shouted, waving his hat.
The silence that followed was broken by the sound of a small dog barking. Shushu, the brave little dog who had been guarding his late master's pet shop, trotted over to Aryan and wagged his tail. Aryan knelt down and scratched the dog behind the ears.
"You did good, Shushu," Aryan whispered. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a large bag of high-quality dog food he'd "comprehended" the location of in a nearby warehouse. "Here. A gift for the bravest warrior in town."
Nami walked up to the group, carrying a heavy chest of gold and the Grand Line map. She looked at Luffy, then Zoro, and finally Aryan.
"You guys are the weirdest pirates I've ever met," she said, though her tone was softer than before. "But... I guess I can't get to the Grand Line without a crew. I'll be your navigator. For now."
Luffy's eyes turned into stars. "AWESOME! WE HAVE A NAVIGATOR!"
[Ding! Quest Completed: The Navigator and the Clown.]
[Rewards:]
[+2% Soul Integration (Total: 12.1%)]
[Skill: Spatial Storage Expansion (Void Pocket increased to 10 cubic meters).]
Aryan felt the expansion of his power. The "Void" within him felt more stable, more accessible. He looked at the townspeople, who were slowly emerging from their homes, looking at the wreckage of their city with a mix of sadness and hope.
"We should go before the Marines show up," Aryan suggested. "They usually have a hard time telling the difference between 'good' pirates and 'bad' ones."
As they made their way back to their small boats, the Mayor of the town, Boodle, ran after them. He was bruised and battered, but he bowed deeply. "Thank you! You saved our home!"
Luffy just laughed and jumped onto the boat. "Don't mention it! We just wanted the meat!"
Aryan stayed on the dock for a moment longer. He looked at the horizon, where the sea met the sky in a perfect, unbroken line. He could feel the world expanding. Every person he met, every fruit he observed, every battle he fought—it was all being stored in the Supreme Comprehension System, building a foundation for something monumental.
"Hey, Aryan!" Nami called out from the boat, already unfurling the map. "If we want to reach the Grand Line, we need to head toward Syrup Village. My charts say there's a ship-builder there."
"Syrup Village," Aryan mused. "The land of lies and long noses."
He stepped off the dock and onto the boat. As they drifted away from Orange Town, the sun began to set, casting a long, golden path across the water.
[Ding! Soul Integration Update.]
[Current Status: 12.1%]
[New Passive Unlocked: Eyes of the Monarch.]
(Host can now see the 'Life Force' and 'Willpower' levels of any individual.)
Aryan looked at his crew. Luffy was a blinding sun of willpower. Zoro was a sharpened blade of intent. And Nami... she was a swirling storm of intelligence and hidden sorrow.
"This is going to be fun," Aryan said, leaning back against the railing.
"What are you smiling about, Sepharot?" Zoro asked, closing his eyes for a nap.
"Just thinking about the view from the top," Aryan replied.
The boat sailed on, a tiny speck of defiance in a world of giants. The Grand Line was waiting, and with Aryan D. Sepharot's comprehension, the world would never be the same.