Time flowed on like water, slipping away before anyone noticed.
Morning arrived beneath a brilliant sky.Golden light spilled across the sea in shimmering veils, like rain made of sunlight, like drifting golden mist that turned both ocean and horizon radiant.
A new day had begun.
"Caw… caw…"
A few crisp birdcalls stirred Kairos D. Vale from sleep.
He opened his eyes to find several seabirds perched along the edge of his small wooden boat, tilting their heads at him while chirping noisily.
"Shoo. Get lost."
Kairos waved them off and sat up, rubbing at his temples.
Another day had passed.
Feeling the hunger gnawing at his stomach, he looked around.
Blue water.
Nothing but blue water in every direction.
There was no way to tell exactly where he was. The only thing he knew for certain was that he was still somewhere in East Blue.
"…Mm."
Kairos stretched lazily and rose to his feet.
He hadn't brought a proper sea chart with him. The one from Foosha Village had been too crude—barely useful, with only the major seas marked and almost none of the finer details.
This voyage had two goals.
First, to travel the world and see it with his own eyes.
Second, to challenge strong opponents and collect more cards, strengthening himself through battle.
He had already lost track of how many days had passed since leaving Foosha Village, though by his estimate, it had been over a month.
One thing worth mentioning—
he never ran into the Lord of the Coast when he first set sail.
Kairos figured the beast had probably been "reserved" for Luffy, so he hadn't bothered thinking too much about it.
For more than a month, he had drifted across the sea without any clear destination.
When he was hungry, he used Qi Control to guide his sword and catch fish.
As for fresh water, he had originally brought eight large bags.
Now he was down to his last one.
Still, he wasn't worried.
If he ran out of water, he could always drink blood.
Seabird blood, if necessary.
Either way, he would eventually find an island to make landfall on.
No need to rush.
"First things first. Breakfast."
Kairos had no intention of starving himself, so he made his decision immediately.
The wooden sword on his back suddenly flew free and hovered in front of him.
He raised two fingers and pointed.
Whoosh!
The wooden sword shot forward, blasting through the air before plunging into the sea and kicking up a huge spray of water.
Only a few seconds later, it returned.
A fish still thrashing wildly was skewered on the tip.
Kairos narrowed his eyes.
But he wasn't looking at the fish.
He was staring much farther away.
At the edge of the distant horizon, a small black dot had appeared.
That was…
a Marine warship.
Far away, a medium-sized warship cut across the sea. Its speed wasn't particularly fast, but it still stirred up a strong wind, making the Marine flag snap violently in the air.
And on the deck of that ship—
stood a man.
He was broad-backed and heavily built, dressed in a suit beneath a Marine justice coat. The fabric stretched tightly over his bulging muscles. A helmet marked with a twin-headed dragon motif sat atop his head, and his face carried an unmistakably vicious air.
"Vice Admiral Onigumo! A small wooden boat has been spotted ahead!"
The lookout raised his telescope and shouted the report at once.
"A wooden boat?"
Onigumo raised a brow and took the telescope from a nearby subordinate.
He looked twice.
A tiny boat out at sea wasn't common.
Especially one so small it seemed barely large enough to carry one or two people.
A vessel like that could be overturned by a slightly larger wave.
East Blue wasn't as dangerous as the other seas, but anyone daring to sail something like that was either arrogant…
or very confident.
"Vice Admiral Onigumo! The boat is heading straight for us!"
The lookout sounded clearly surprised now.
"Could be a castaway," one Marine muttered with a frown.
"Shall we fire?" asked one of the gunners, saluting respectfully.
"Let him approach," Onigumo said after a moment's thought, waving a hand dismissively.
Through the telescope, he had already seen that there was only one man on the boat.
One man alone wasn't enough to threaten a warship like this.
That much, Onigumo was certain of.
Soon, with the Marine ship neither evading nor attacking, the small wooden boat pulled up alongside it.
Its lone passenger lightly tapped off the boat and vaulted high into the air before landing on the deck.
The young man was bare-chested, his black hair hanging loose over his shoulders and chest. His features were sharp and well-defined, though traces of youth still remained, making it clear he wasn't very old.
"What can I do for you?" Onigumo asked with a faint smile, meeting the young man's dark eyes.
No hostility.
That was the first thing Onigumo sensed.
And the man before him definitely wasn't some shipwreck survivor.
His body was strong, his blood full of vitality, his eyes bright and alert. There wasn't a trace of hardship or exhaustion on him.
"I'm traveling the world to challenge the strongest people I can find," Kairos said with a smile. His deep black eyes gleamed like stars. "I spotted Vice Admiral Onigumo's ship from afar. Your reputation precedes you. If I let a chance to cross blades with someone like you pass me by, I'd regret it."
Vice Admiral Onigumo.
A powerful man.
And defeating someone like him…
would never bring a small reward.
"Oh?" Onigumo looked mildly surprised. "You've heard of me?"
"You want to spar?"
The deck fell dead silent.
Every Marine present stared at Kairos in disbelief.
Spar with Vice Admiral Onigumo?
To them, that was no different from volunteering to die.
Onigumo's temperament was infamous throughout the Marines.
Cruel.
Cold-blooded.
If pirates fell into his hands, they'd be lucky to survive with only their lives.
He was the kind of man who would sacrifice his own subordinates if it meant completing the mission.
A pure hardliner through and through.
In other words—
that vicious face of his suited his personality perfectly.
And a "spar" with a man like that?
There was every chance it would end in death.
"You a pirate?" Onigumo asked.
He ignored Kairos' earlier words entirely and threw out a different question instead.
"No." Kairos shook his head.
"Interesting." A brutal smile split across Onigumo's face, vicious light flaring in his eyes. "I'll spar with you. But I make no promises about whether you'll walk away intact."
A spar, huh?
As Onigumo's fleet patrolled East Blue, most pirates were too afraid to even come near after hearing his name.
All he ever saw was the same endless sea.
The same waves.
The same empty horizon.
It was unbearably dull.
Onigumo let out a heavy breath.
In the next moment, eight black arms suddenly sprouted from his back, each gripping a sword.
A savage aura burst from him like a beast unleashed.
The entire warship trembled under the pressure of his presence.
The surrounding Marines immediately retreated to a safe distance. They all knew Vice Admiral Onigumo was about to get serious, and every one of them fixed their eyes on the coming battle.
Whoooosh—
Onigumo's aura churned the air into a violent wind.
Kairos' hair whipped about in the gust.
His expression didn't change in the slightest.
"System," he said inwardly, "use the Killer Bee Card. Non-Tailed Beast version."
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