One Piece: I have Hacks

[The Synonym]

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[Prepared]
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| An entire month later... |

...

"Haaah..."

A long, slow exhale left Dan as his eyes locked onto his target some meters ahead.

His sword, gripped tightly between both hands, trembled from the force coiling through his body into it, ready to be unleashed at any instant.

And soon, that very instant arrived.

—Shiiiin!—

Dan's form flashed, disappearing and reappearing well past his original spot in the blink of an eye—right past a giant boulder.

-Shhhhhhck-

Then, slowly, he drew the sword back into its scabbard, deliberately letting the blade scrape against the metal until—

-Cling-

The hilt met the scabbard, clicking into place.

And at that exact instant, a clean diagonal line appeared across the boulder, followed by it splitting apart, the upper segment sliding slowly off the lower one and hitting the ground.

-Thunk!-

As the heavy stone landed beside him, Dan straightened up, a brief exhale leaving his nose.

Then he turned, looking at the clean and smooth cut he had made, his mouth curling into a faint smirk.

"Nice."

He had actually done it.

What had been a dream a month ago—mere hopeful wishes at that point—had now turned to reality.

He had split a huge boulder in a single slash. Something right out of a fantasy story.

... Well, he was currently living in one such story, more or less. But it didn't take away the feeling of accomplishment.

'And what's more...'

His eyes fell to his wrist, to the knob on the cuffs he was wearing.

It was at ×5 gravity.

Even weighed down like this, he had accomplished such a superhuman feat.

The realization made him wonder, just how much stronger would he be once he took the extra gravity off?

Normally, he'd have the answer, as he didn't tend to have the gravity cuffs turned on at all moments, since it wasn't exactly a pleasant state, and he only used it for his training sessions.

However, that wasn't the case anymore. Ever since a month ago, he started to basically live in a constant state of increased gravity, having decided to take the training to every single moment of his life.

When he ate, when he slept, when he walked, when he breathed. Every single moment was lived while bearing down several times more weight.

He became one with the gravity pull.

And the only changes he ever did to the gravity bearing down on him was increase it, starting from the ×3 it was a month ago, to ×4 about a week after, and then to ×5 another week after, leading all the way to this moment two weeks later, during which he never turned off the damn weights.

So, having seen what he was capable of at ×5 gravity, it was only natural to feel curious as to how much faster, stronger, and deadlier he'd become once the extra gravity went off.

Luckily, he had just the right thing to find out.

Smile on his face, Dan walked away from the boulder, making his way through the forest for about a minute.

Before long, he arrived at his boat—most of it covered in leaves, vines, and whatever else worked to hide it. Luckily, during the past month, it was never found, saving him a lot of trouble.

The food compartment was the only part somewhat in the open, mostly for convenience.

"Alright, let's see... where did I put it?"

Climbing aboard, he opened it and rummaged through everything inside for a few seconds.

"Ah, here it is."

Then, he took out a particular object.

Round, big, and most importantly—made of steel.

A cannonball.

The perfect training dummy for what was to come.

As to where he'd gotten it? The past month of NP farming had taken him through many towns, and during one nighttime raid on a certain village's dock reserves, he'd found a batch of cannonballs and pocketed one specifically for this test.

Steel. The realm that separated the common riffraff among swordsmen from the truly talented.

-Thud-

Dan jumped down from the boat holding it in one hand, bouncing it up and down with some difficulty under both its weight and the gravity still weighing on him.

With it, he'd finally find out how far he really was from the legendary steel-cutting realm that Koushirou had mentioned, and Zoro had reached.

And aside from the mysticality of it, it was also a realm that Dan felt especially curious about.

Because by any measure, cutting steel shouldn't be all that hard given the extremes people could reach in this world. Even Zoro before his Mr. One fight should have been physically capable of cutting the man's steel body on raw strength alone—and yet, steel was talked about as if it were some kind of invincible metal, cuttable only by what he theorized was some starting level of Armament Haki adapted to swordsmanship.

Maybe he was underestimating the alloy's actual hardness. He wasn't a smith, so he had no idea.

Maybe the material was just that hard even in real life, to the point that even in a world of superpowers people still struggled to cut it.

But regardless of the answer, today he was going to put it to the test.

Eyes brimming with determination, he drew his sword with his free hand and in one swift motion—

-Swish!-

—slashed a nearby tree horizontally, felling it in one clean pass.

-Boom!-

Ignoring the commotion, Dan set the cannonball on the freshly cut trunk to hold it at the right height. Then he took several steps back, turned the knob to ×1, and drew his sword back into the scabbard—keeping his hand on it even after it clicked shut.

-Click-

Then, he took a deep breath, eyes closing as he seemed to relax fully.

Following that, his legs buckled, his back arching slightly... before his eyes opened and tunnel-visioned onto the only thing in his world right now.

The entire world save for the cannonball seemed to blur.

And as it did, his muscles tensed, legs and arms coiling with explosive force on the verge of erupting.

And then—he exhaled.

"Haaah...Hup—!"

The instant that air left his body, his face contorted as everything released at once.

—CLANG!—

And in the blink of an eye, he stood past the cannonball just like with the boulder, sword now out of its scabbard, gripped between both hands and in a pose that evidenced it had just been brought down with great force.

As Dan stood past it, silent and still for a bit, the metallic ring of the clash echoed through the area for a few seconds.

Then—

"Oh shit, shit, shit!"

He snapped out of it, and quickly examined the blade, a panicked look rising as he checked the edge carefully.

The result was clear.

He had failed.

The damn thing had been so hard that even with all his force and speed behind that strike, the blade had only gnawed at its surface for a fraction of a second before sliding off, completely unable to pierce it.

And when a sword fails to pierce something that dense, it usually means chipping.

"It's perfectly fine—thank god."

Though, it seemed he got lucky this time.

Sighing in relief, he sheathed the sword again, this time with less ceremony, and turned to glare at the cannonball with a deadpan.

'Guess I have my answer now,'

He was still nowhere near the steel-cutting realm. Whether by buffed standards or realistic ones, slashing steel like butter was beyond him. Maybe he could cut chains, or wreck them at least, but clearly not steel at that level of thickness.

Whether he needed more strength, speed, technique, Haki, or all of them together for thicker targets—that would be something to discover with time.

'Still, I suppose this is enough for now.' Dan thought with a huff, lifting his sword and staring at the light catch its surface.

Steel wasn't within his capabilities, but having been able to split a giant stone while ×5 gravity bore down on him was proof enough he'd reached an appropriate level for what he was aiming at.

His training the past month hadn't been for nothing.

'Nor, I hope, all the NP farming.' Dan thought with a scoff, summoning his status window.

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Current Infamy Tier: Starter

▸[Current Bounty: 0 / 500K]

▸[NP: 927]

Equipped Passive Hacks [1/1]

▸ SpeedyGains

Equipped Active Hacks [1/1]

▸ Tireless

Equipped Script

▸ None

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Physical training hadn't been the only thing he'd focused on during the past month. His raids on the villages across the archipelago had been just as intense as his training sessions, earning him around 900 NP over the course of the month.

Which was a bit less than he'd hoped—but it seemed one of the ROB's rules was beginning to take effect.

Now that he was stepping into new levels of strength, the NP gains from each raid had started diminishing. Not drastically, but enough that his expectation of clearing a thousand had been quietly denied, leaving him at 927 instead.

Worst of all, it had felt awful the entire time. Not physically but mentally.

Arlong's invasion had already settled a tragic mood over the islands. And on top of that, a bandit who seemed to enjoy making people suffer had been paying regular visits.

Yeah. It hadn't felt good to play that part.

But he wasn't backing down. Not now.

The less seriously he took this, the more chances Arlong had of killing someone when he came to collect next—if he hadn't already done so the first time, which was something Dan preferred not to think about.

So no. He wasn't going to risk not being at the right level when the fight came, just because he felt guilty.

NP was just as important as strength in this. And he'd earned it.

Although he hadn't gained as much as he'd hoped, 927 NP still left him plenty to work with.

... and plenty to buy, as it turned out.

"Let's do this." Smirking excited to finally get to spend what he had saved up the entire month, he opened his shop screen.

And the first thing he did was pick up another Hyper Glue Bottle at 50 NP, three more Smoke Pellets at 90, and three Fix-all Tapes he hadn't had the chance to grab before at another 90, bringing his NP down to 697.

Next came four Golden Screwdrivers, totaling 60, and dropping him to 637.

And then, his eyes moved to the next item—or rather, hack.

'Coward's Eye.'

He tapped buy without hesitation. Like Tireless, it cost 100 NP.

As for what it did...

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≡[Active Hack: Coward's Eye]

▸ Unsure of whether to fight or run away? Become able to gauge correctly the gap between you and your foes with one single look!

▸ Note: The hack lists the gap between you and your targets in five levels: Joke, Easy, Equal, Bad Idea, and RUN AWAY.

▸ Note 2: The hack only takes into account your body's base strength. It doesn't factor in any hacks you have equipped.

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Basically, it was a biological scouter. Though as it noted, it wouldn't account for how the gap changed when he had combat-boosting hacks active—Tireless or Sugar Rush.

Not that it mattered much. He just wanted a feel for where he stood, and the fishmen would be a good yardstick. Even if Arlong came up as RUN AWAY, he doubted it would change his decision to fight either way.

Purchase made. NP down to 537.

"..."

Dan stared at his remaining NP with a speechless look.

When he had been saving up, he hadn't really made any math. He just went to farm as much NP as he could.

In his somewhat abstract plans, what he would need by the end of the month was just as abstract, so he just assumed it'd be quite a lot.

... Turns out 900 NP had been a bit too much for what he'd actually needed.

He had nearly 500 to spare.

Still a little surprised, but otherwise satisfied, he turned to the rest of the shop.

'Well, since my preparations are already set, might as well get everything else I can.'

And so, without a second thought, he went on a purchasing spree—every passive and active hack he hadn't bought yet, gone in one sweep.

By the end, his NP had dropped to a sad 57.

Of course, none of the hacks he had bought just now would help in the fight directly. Most were only useful in specific situations—WalkingCompass letting him know cardinal directions at all times, SpeedReader letting him absorb written information faster, IronStomach making him more resilient to whatever he ate, PokerFace keeping him perfectly stoic without effort.

On the active side: Dry, which removed moisture from his body or clothing on command, Internal Clock, giving him an instinctual sense of the exact time of the day, Clean, which explained itself, and Appraiser, which put a rough beli value on whatever he looked at.

Just like Polyglot and Presentable, none of it combat-relevant. But it felt good to have. His once-empty hack list was now full of strange abilities he'd only been able to watch without touching before.

And as he looked at the nearly depleted shop screen, he huffed in quiet satisfaction.

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[Starter Tier SHOP]

≡ Passive Hacks

▸ Presentable: [BOUGHT]

▸ WalkingCompass: [BOUGHT]

▸ SpeedReader: [BOUGHT]

▸ IronStomach: [BOUGHT]

▸ Pokerface: [BOUGHT]

▸ Polyglot: [BOUGHT]

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≡ Active Hacks

▸ Dry: [BOUGHT]

▸ Internal Clock: [BOUGHT]

▸ Clean: [BOUGHT]

▸ Appraiser: [BOUGHT]

▸ Tireless: [BOUGHT]

▸ Coward's Eye: [BOUGHT]

▸ Sugar Rush: [BOUGHT]

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≡ Scripts

▸ AutoRest: [75 NP]

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≡ Items

▸ Water Bottle: [5 NP]

▸ Jerky: [5 NP]

▸ Clothes: [10 NP]

▸ Golden Pencil: [15 NP]

▸ Golden Pen: [15 NP]

▸ Golden Quill: [15 NP]

▸ Golden Fork: [15 NP]

▸ Golden Spoon: [15 NP]

▸ Golden Lockpick Set: [15 NP]

...

▸ Music Headset: [25 NP]

▸ Fix-everything Tape: [30 NP]

▸ Bugged Smoke Pellet: [30 NP]

▸ Bottle of Hyper Glue: [50 NP]

▸ Gravity Cuffs: [BOUGHT]

▸ Very Stable Surfing Board: [75 NP]

▸ Intelligent Dumbbells: [BOUGHT]

▸ Haki Knot (Weak Level): [BOUGHT]

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With this, he was finally entering the endgame of the starter tier. Just a handful of items left along with one script, and he'd have bought everything—save for the ones that could be purchased repeatedly.

And on that note...

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≡[Hacked Item: Clothes] [BOUGHT!]

▸ Specification: Leather jacket.

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▸[-10 NP]

He made one last purchase.

A thick leather coat appeared in his hands, black and cool to the touch. The moment he put it on, he felt the smooth lining inside—the kind of quality that simply didn't exist in the goods available anywhere around here.

Until now, he had been a hacker in name only.

Now, at least, he looked the part.

... The rest of his clothes could use some work, though.

But that was for another day.

Today, someone had a visit coming his way.

Arlong.

An entire month had passed by, and tomorrow would be the day the fishman came back to collect "his" money.

Dan was going to make sure that day never came for him.

Today was the day he moved.

All the preparations he'd made had been building toward this moment. From Shimotsuki, to the day he arrived at this archipelago, to right now. An entire year and a bit more of work.

His physical growth was slowing down—maybe a matter of base talent, maybe just his age. He was, after all, still ten years old.

He also had reached the cuffs' limits, so he was gonna have to settle for that ×5 until he ranked up and either got an improved version if it existed, or something else that might boost his training.

And lastly, his NP gains were diminishing as well, as per the rules of the system.

So, factoring all of that in, even if he put this off again and found another way of paying the fish, there wouldn't be much point. He was reaching his current peak.

And thus, Arlong and his crew would be the final obstacle standing between him and the real test—of everything his training and effort had produced since the day those memories arrived.

And whether he was actually up to what would come after.

Snorting, Dan turned his gaze upward through the canopy.

Sunset was approaching. And with it, night.

The exact time to strike.

"Alright, I should get moving." He muttered, walking back to his boat and dropping the cannonball back into the compartment.

He patted the dust off his hands and turned to leave.

But just as he was about to walk away from the boat—

-Crack-

The sound of someone stepping on a branch not too far away reached him.

He turned calmly, hand landing on his sword's hilt, grip tightening—until he saw who it was, and relaxed.

A sigh left him as he looked at the person now a few meters ahead.

"What are you doing here, Nami?"

...

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-To Be Continued...-

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(A/N: I don't know if the chapter felt a bit rushed. I had to cram quite a few results from Dan's month of isolation training, so maybe it just felt like a listing chapter. Hopefully not.)

 

[The Synonym]

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[On The Move]
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...

"What are you doing here, Nami?"

"Ah!"

Instead of answering, she pointed at him with an indignant look.

"I finally found you!"

Dan deadpanned at the girl, whose annoyed look paired pretty well with her disheveled appearance—looking like she'd been caught by several branches on the way here as per the scratches covering her and the leaves she hadn't noticed were stuck to her hair.

Which made sense, given that he'd moved the boat quite deep into the forest—far enough that the terrain made the trip genuinely unpleasant and hard to find.

She'd probably had a lot of trouble getting here.

How had she found him anyway?

"Where in the world did you go?" She grumbled, patting the dust off her clothes as she stepped into the clearer part of the forest, fixing her hair with an upset look. "We've been looking for you for an entire month!"

Dan didn't bat an eye.

He'd expected as much, given that he'd left without a word and stuck to the forest and his boat from then on.

"I had something to take care of," he answered vaguely, looking elsewhere.

"What could have taken you an entire month to do?!" She exclaimed, clearly angry.

"..."

"..."

However, after a second or so of silence between the two, she seemed to calm down, heaving a sigh as she averted her gaze.

"Since you weren't there, Bell-mère had to go back to working alone at the farm. Me and Nojiko offered to help her but..." She hesitated. "We don't seem to be of much help the way you were."

"..."

Dan stayed silent.

There wasn't much he could say.

The truth was, he simply hadn't wanted to explain himself, nor spend time convincing Bell-mère about why he was disappearing for a month. The woman worried too much, much to his annoyance. He had gone along with her maternal behavior so far, but he couldn't afford to do so anymore. Not with a deadline on the clock.

So he'd skipped the drama and jumped straight into training, without a second thought or a farewell to the family.

It was selfish. So he had nothing to say to her, nor any excuse to give.

Seeing his silent response, Nami huffed, looking around as if searching for answers in the forest itself.

An entire month—what could he have been doing?

Bell-mère had said he might have found a better paying job, but seeing he was here, in the middle of the forest, that didn't seem likely.

Her eyes moved around and fell on the boat—which, though well hidden, was hard to miss from this distance.

Instantly, her mind deviated from the matter at hand.

"Your boat, it survived?! I heard every other ship was destroyed by those pirates!" She looked at it with wide eyes, already making her way over to examine it.

"I hid it before they tried anything," Dan added, watching her with his hands in his pockets.

"What a relief..." A sigh escaped her as she ran a hand along the hull.

Dan's mouth couldn't help but twitch slightly at the sight.

'For having only boarded it once, she sure is relieved.'

Anyone watching would assume she was the owner, the way she was fussing over it.

'Well, technically I'm not the owner either, am I?'

With a scoff, he waited as Nami continued with the examination, looking deep in thought as she did.

After a whole minute had passed, she finally stopped, giving him a silent glare before shaking her head.

"Forget it. I don't care about what you've been doing... but Bell-mère is worried about you."

She paused, averting her gaze.

"You should come back."

Dan's mouth stretched uncomfortably for a second. He pushed the sour taste of her words aside and remained firm.

"I'm still not done with my business."

"..."

An uncomfortable silence settled between the two.

Then Nami's eyes fell, her hands fidgeting with one another.

"Those pirates... everyone said they're coming back tomorrow. If you're worried about not having enough money to pay, Bell-mère already managed to gather enough for all of us including you, with the help of the villagers. So..."

Dan took in her words for a moment, then let out a faint laugh at the consideration coming from people he barely knew.

Still, he shook his head.

"Tell her I don't need her to cover me. I'll be fine on my own—she should just focus on the two of you."

Seeing his adamant refusal, Nami's eyes drifted between him and the boat.

"You're... leaving, aren't you? That's your business—you're preparing to depart."

"..."

Well, she wasn't right, but she wasn't entirely wrong either.

Once he was done with his business here, he'd be leaving. So all this preparation might as well count as part of that.

"...Yeah. After I'm done here, I suppose I will be leaving," he answered, a wry smile forming.

She walked closer, her tone worried. "You can't! Bell-mère said the coasts are all heavily guarded. The pirates don't want anyone escaping now that payment time is coming. I heard many people from other islands tried to get away in secret, but all of them were sunk!"

Dan let out a small laugh.

"I'll be fine." His eyes sharpened, looking past her. "They won't be able to do anything about it."

Nami watched him, visibly uncertain.

But as she looked at his unwavering face—despite having witnessed Arlong's strength firsthand—a seed of doubt budded in her heart.

If he was this confident... maybe there actually was a way?

She looked down, clearly turning something over in her head. Then—

"Would you... take us with you?"

Dan looked at her, surprised.

That he hadn't expected.

Take them with him and leave the rest of the villagers to fend for themselves?

"..."

Looking at her face, he could tell she didn't feel good about that part either. But she probably also understood that her family had the lowest chances of making it past the third or fourth payment.

The villagers would probably be fine if they left. Probably even relieved someone had gotten away to find help.

Though he doubted Bell-mère would agree so readily.

Regardless... That wouldn't be happening.

Not because he didn't want to, but because there would be no need.

Still, there was no need to seem like a dick about it.

"I'll... think about it."

So he left it hanging.

After all, tomorrow she'd realize that there was never any need to run—unless he died.

But that's how losers think.

"..."

Even so, Nami seemed dejected, clearly reading his vague answer as a likely refusal.

Laughing lightly at her expression, Dan gave her a pat on the head.

"Wait until tomorrow. I'll give you an answer then. For now, there's still one more thing I need to do before I leave."

She looked up at him. "...Something you need to do?"

He smirked slightly. "It's not important. Go back for now."

"..."

She clearly wasn't satisfied with that.

But after a few seconds of further reluctance, she gave a nod.

"Alright."

And so, she turned and headed back into the forest.

—Not before giving him one last glance, though.

"I'll be here tomorrow... you better not have run away!"

And so she went, disappearing through the trees at a run.

As he watched her go, Dan snorted with a smile.

Then his hand settled on the hilt of his sword, eyes lifting to the sunset appearing through the canopy.

'Time to move.'

...

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| At the coast around Cocoyashi Village... |

...

-Yawn...-

Leaning on the railing, a fishman let out a loud and long yawn.

Another who was walking by slapped his head, cutting it short.

"Hey, snap out of it—we need to stay alert."

The first fishman shot him an annoyed look. "Huh? What's the point, brother?"

"What's the point, you say? We can't allow any of those humans to escape!"

The fishman scoffed. "We already made enough of an example of every human who tried to escape last month. There aren't many boats left that they can even use, and I doubt any of them have the guts to try anything now anyway."

The passing fishman shook his head. "Regardless, some of them might not have enough to pay tomorrow—so there's a chance someone tries something out of desperation."

The fishman grumbled at the logic. "Yeah, I guess."

He picked up the binoculars at his neck and began scanning.

"Well, guess what—not a single boat in sight."

"Just do your job."

"Hmm."

The passing fishman went on his way.

Meanwhile, still grumbling, the first kept his eye to the lenses, continuing to sweep the water.

No matter where he looked, it was ocean and more ocean, followed by the face of the island when he turned toward it.

Just as he was starting to lose interest—

"Hmm?"

Something blocked the lenses.

Confused, he pulled the binoculars away—and froze.

"A kid?"

A human child was right in front of him, gripping the railing, climbing up the side of the boat.

For a moment his brain stalled somewhere between the sheer bizarreness of it and the complete harmlessness a child ought to represent.

But before he could land on a decision—

—Schk!—

A sword came through his neck from below, hidden by the railing as the kid climbed.

Blood welled up instantly, filling his throat.

Then, using the blade as a lever, the kid somehow swung his entire body up and over in one arc, hurling him backward toward the ocean as he retrieved the sword in the same motion.

The fishman could only stare in bafflement as the water rose up to meet him, consciousness fading alongside the blood, while the kid wiped the blade clean in a single swing and kept climbing.

-Thud!-

Soon, the kid jumped over the railing and hit the deck.

The landing on the wooden planks was loud enough to pull the other four fishmen around.

"...!"

They turned and found a kid—and not their brother.

"Who...?" One stepped forward, brows creasing.

Before he could piece anything together—

—Shiiiiin!—

"AAAARGH!"

The kid crossed the gap in an instant and opened the fishman's chest in one slash, blood spraying out in a fountain.

The others who'd caught the commotion had their eyes going wide.

They didn't need to see anything else.

An enemy had boarded, kid or not.

Weapons drawn, they spread out and surrounded him, coming in from all sides.

"A human brat... how is it possible he killed one of us?!"

"Doesn't matter—kill him first, then bring the body to Arlong-san!"

"Attack!"

The three didn't waste a second, rushing in from every direction.

A moment later, blood splattered across the wooden planks of the ship.

...

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°

°

| Half an hour later, outskirts of the newly built Arlong Park |

...

"Our base is coming along pretty well, isn't it?" Chew muttered, walking alongside Kuroobi—a fishman in a dark blue gi with a black belt, his hair tied into two firm ponytails.

Both were Arlong's top officers, their strength putting them well above any other member of the crew.

"Hmph. At least those humans are good for something—even if only labor," Kuroobi replied, looking disgusted as he said it.

Chew chuckled, glancing back at the distant building under construction.

A month since their arrival, and the base would be finished soon. After that, it was all uphill.

"Jinbe-san was truly foolish to side with the humans. From here on, Arlong-san will make them fear us the way they always should have."

"That he was. Surrendering to these creatures—even now I can hardly believe it." Kuroobi's expression darkened.

Chew gave him a pat on the back.

"Don't worry. Once we've grown our forces and taken over this sea, maybe Jinbe-san will reconsider. I'm sure of it."

Kuroobi nodded, growing serious. "I hope so... even though we parted ways, the last thing I'd want is to end up fighting him."

Chew sighed, unable to agree more.

"Hm?"

Just then, he caught sight of something far ahead on the dirt path.

A figure, walking toward them.

At first, he didn't think much of it. Probably a human coming to report something—or to beg for more time before tomorrow's payment.

"...!"

But as the figure drew closer, Chew's relaxed expression tightened.

Kuroobi reacted too, his hand moving to the cutlass at his waist on instinct.

Blood. A lot of blood.

The figure was drenched in it.

The first thought was that it was an enemy—maybe a bounty hunter who had tracked them, or a capable marine.

Yet as it came clearer, the tension shifted to confusion.

The figure was human.

But it was also a kid. No older than ten.

And as they registered the age of the approaching figure, another realization followed.

"I know that brat," Chew muttered, squinting.

His mind went back to the day they arrived—almost missing a house because it sat at the outskirts of the village. The kid approaching was the same one who'd paid for the whole family when they'd been about to deal with that ex-marine for daring to fight back against Arlong-san.

But why was he covered in blood?

"...!"

A thought crossed his mind.

Then his mouth curled into a smirk.

"Hah... as expected of these lowly creatures. Despicable as they are weak."

Kuroobi glanced at him, confused for a moment, then blinked as the same realization landed.

"That kid... did he kill his own family to avoid having to pay for them?"

"Most likely. Look—he's even carrying a sword, and it's dripping in blood."

"Utterly revolting."

As the two exchanged their impressions, the kid arrived in front of them.

"..."

He gave each of them a look, then glanced past them at the distant building.

The two officers watched him with a mix of revulsion and mild curiosity.

But before they could ask anything, he spoke first.

"It's only you two?"

"... What?" Chew lifted an eyebrow.

What was with that attitude?

The way the kid had said that... he didn't feel the fear, horror, or desperation of every human they'd dealt with so far.

He felt... disappointed?

The kid exhaled, faintly annoyed, his hand moving to the hilt. "I would have preferred not to do a two-on-one against you both... but no matter. This isn't bad either."

And then—

—Shiiiin—

He drew his sword.

Both tensed.

Something was off.

But by the moment they realized it, it was already too late.

"Might as well kill two birds with one stone... or two fish with one blade."

...

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-To Be Continued...-

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(A/N: Forgot to say it last chapter, but we're caught up, so updates are gonna slow down a bit.)

 

[The Synonym]

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[Uprooting 1]

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...

Arlong lay sprawled across his chair at the edge of the inner pool, one arm hanging over the armrest and the other holding a cup of rum.

Hachi had found the bottle in the cellar of a human merchant some towns away who'd been foolish enough to complain about the price of living under fishman rule. The way they were kind enough to remind him of his place and took the bottle from his bloodied body made it just a bit sweeter as he took a sip.

Torches burned along the walls, throwing an orange glow over the courtyard. The outer wall was finally finished, tall and thick, closing off their base from the rest of the island. Now, it felt like a proper space for him and his brothers, away from the disgusting beings outside.

Behind him, the main building had climbed to its third floor, and everything above that was still a skeleton of beams and scaffolding.

The humans had been sent home at sunset with orders to be back before dawn, so the courtyard belonged to the crew now. Barrels of looted rum stood open beside the pool, and his brothers were making good use of them. Some sang off-key, some shoved each other into the water, and a few sat on the steps of the unfinished building, arm-wrestling over who would get the next cup.

"To Arlong-san!" One of them shouted, lifting his mug over his head. "And to our future kingdom of fishmen!"

""TO ARLONG-SAN!"" The rest roared back, and rum splashed over the stones as dozens of mugs crashed together.

Arlong let out a low, satisfied chuckle and took a long drink.

'This is how it should be... how it should've been from the very beginning.'

For centuries his people had been chained, sold, and tormented by these creatures. And yet, down in the depths, there were still those on Fishman Island begging for the day the humans would accept them, as if acceptance were something a superior race like them should ask for.

Here, on this little corner of the sea, the order had been put right. Humans built a palace for fishmen with their own hands, their own sweat, and their own money, and every brick they laid was laid out of fear, as it should be.

A month ago, these islands had been crawling with humans, dozens of filthy little villages running wild and doing as they pleased, with nobody above them to put them in their place. One month under his rule had been enough to put a leash on every one of them.

Now it was his kingdom.

"Arlong-san!"

Hachi came waddling across the courtyard with a thick logbook tucked under two of his many arms, his face lit up by a wide grin.

"The list for tomorrow's quota is ready."

"Let me see."

Arlong took the book and flipped through it slowly, his eyes running down the columns of names and numbers. Some villages had already sent word that they'd have the full amount. Others had sent excuses instead, asking for more time—and next to those, Hachi had drawn small crosses.

"Quite a few crosses," Arlong said, and yet, there was no displeasure in his tone.

After all, crosses meant more monkey blood he'd get to spill.

"The humans on the eastern islands are struggling the most. They say the fishing has been bad this month." Hachi explained.

A short laugh escaped Arlong.

"Doesn't matter. If they didn't even try to make the quota through other means, thinking a few excuses would be enough to buy them more time, then they clearly don't fear me enough yet." Arlong snapped the logbook shut and tossed it back, which Hachi hurried to catch.

Then, a wide sinister grin began stretching across Arlong's face.

"Whoever can't pay, we make an example of, that's what we agreed on." His eyes fell on the octopus fishman. "Hachi, tomorrow gather their whole village to watch if necessary... we need to make sure they properly understand who they belong to now."

"Understood, Arlong-san!"

Hachi tucked the logbook away. Then, after a moment, he glanced toward the walls, past which the sea stretched dark and quiet.

"By the way, Arlong-san, Chew and Kuroobi went out a while ago. They wanted to walk the coast road and check on the patrol boats before tomorrow. They told me to tell you they'd be back in a few more minutes."

"Good." Arlong's grin softened into something closer to pride. "Those boys out on the water have spent a whole month freezing every night so that none of these vermin slip through our fingers. Tell the cooks to save the best of tomorrow's catch for them. They've earned it."

"Yes, Arlong-san!"

Hachi turned and waddled off toward the kitchens, the logbook still tucked under his arm.

Arlong watched him go, his gaze resting idly on the thick book bouncing against Hachi's side.

His eyes narrowed slightly as something came back to him. One particular incident with children who hadn't been in one of the villages' registries at first.

Specifically, a particular boy whose name Hachi had needed to add by hand.

"Hachi."

The octopus fishman stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "Yes, Arlong-san?"

"Leave the logbook here. There's something I want to check."

Hachi blinked, but he didn't ask.

He came back, set the book in Arlong's open hand, and hurried off toward the kitchens once more.

Arlong checked the first page, which held the village closest to their base, and the first one he and his brothers raided when they arrived.

Cocoyashi Village.

Halfway down the page, at the very edge of the village's registry, sat a single farm on the outskirts. One adult, two children, and one more name added in Hachi's crooked handwriting.

Dan.

Arlong's eyes narrowed.

It was the farm of the ex-marine woman who'd been foolish enough to shove a rifle in his mouth on the day they landed. The moment she dared defy him, he'd thought she would be the first example he made on these islands, along with the two girls.

But then that kid had walked around the corner of the house, pulled out a fat stack of bills, and spoiled everything.

He hadn't been scared, either. That was what had struck Arlong the most. Men twice or thrice the brat's age shivered at his presence... but the kid didn't.

The brat had looked him straight in the eye with a gaze similar to a man counting pocket change to give to a beggar.

It gnawed at him, and he wished he could have crushed the brat's skull then and there.

But if there was one thing he abided by, even when dealing with those disgusting creatures, it was the law of money.

The kid had paid thanks to some savings he had stored somewhere, and so, he kept his life, and those of his family.

But would he be able to pay again?

Yeah, probably. That woman had seemed to have enough money the first time to pay at least for the children, money she never got to use thanks to the kid.

By now, she should have saved up enough for all of them.

But what about the third time?

And the fourth time?

They were clearly struggling... at some point, they wouldn't be able to pay anymore.

Eventually, he'd get the chance to erase that cocky look from that kid's face.

He could wait... He was very patient.

Regardless, he could settle for the screams of other impertinent humans for the moment.

"Shahaha..."

Arlong lifted his cup toward the moon and drank deep.

Tomorrow was going to be a good day.

...

°

°

°

...

Half an hour passed after that. Some fishmen had already collapsed on the floor, too drunk for their own good, or were simply resting wherever seemed good enough to lie down. Others were still drinking, or fooling around while the spirit of the party continued.

It was such a peaceful scene, one that just went to exemplify how successful their life was, now that they had taken control of several islands at the same time.

They were kings.

Sadly, not everything is meant to last.

It was the smell that reached Arlong first.

"Hmm?"

He'd been half-dozing in his chair, the empty cup resting on his stomach, when something under the salt and mortar made his nose twitch.

Smoke.

It smelled like a great fire, something big burning not too far away.

He opened his eyes and found a dark column of smoke rising into the night sky, somewhere beyond the western wall. Whatever was burning, the wall stood between him and it.

Arlong pushed himself up from the chair and walked out through the open gate, his steps slow at first, then quicker. He climbed the rocks that lined the shore until the whole bay opened up in front of him.

And then he stopped.

The patrol boats were sinking.

The boats where his comrades were.

Two of them were already gone, with only the tips of their masts sticking out of the water, while a third lay on its side with flames crawling up what was left of its sail. The fourth, the farthest, was little more than a burning raft drifting in the current.

Pieces of wood, rope, and canvas floated across the bay, glowing where the fire still clung to them.

For a moment, Arlong only stared.

An accident? Some idiot knocking over a lantern, and the fire jumping from one boat to the next? Maybe, if the boats had been tied together. But they weren't. He'd ordered them spread out across the whole bay, far from each other, so no human could slip past.

And even if all four had burned and sunk by bad luck, it didn't explain the most important thing.

His brothers were fishmen. A sinking boat was nothing to them. They should have been in the water by now, swimming to shore, cursing and laughing about it, and coming to report.

But judging by how little was left of the boats, they'd been burning for a long while, long enough for any of his brothers to swim back and forth a dozen times.

And yet, not a single one of them had shown up, and nothing moved in the bay except the burning wreckage.

"Arlong-san!" Hachi came scrambling over the rocks behind him, several more of the crew following close behind. "We saw the smoke from the courtyard. What happened? Are those...?"

Arlong didn't answer. He stepped off the rocks and dropped into the sea.

The water closed over his head, cold and black, and his eyes adjusted to it at once. He swam toward the nearest mast and dove past it, down along the hull of the sunken boat, until he found what he was looking for, drifting a few meters below the surface.

"..."

He brought it up gently.

When he climbed back onto the rocks, he was carrying one of his brothers in his arms. He laid him down on the stone with a care none of the humans on these islands had ever seen from him, and the crew gathered around in silence.

There was a single cut across the fishman's body, running from his shoulder down to his hip. It was clean, with no ragged edges and no second stroke. Whatever had done it had gone through scales, muscle, and bone in one swing.

Hachi was the first to speak, his voice low. "A sword... niu. Who could have...?"

Arlong said nothing.

He looked down at the body for a long time. Then he crouched beside it, put one hand on its chest, and closed its eyes with the other.

When he stood back up, the rock under his foot cracked.

"Who...?"

Nobody answered him.

So he shouted at the sky.

"WHICH RAT DARED TO DO THIS?!"

His roar carried across the bay, and several of the crew took a step back. Even Hachi flinched.

Arlong's chest rose and fell, his teeth grinding together so hard that the sound could be heard over the crackle of the fires.

A marine? The pathetic branch in this sea wouldn't dare. And even if they had, they wouldn't have been able to. They were weaklings of the lowest order, and not only them. All humans in this sea were.

So, maybe a bounty hunter who'd followed them from the Grand Line? There was a chance that was the case. He'd caused enough destruction on his way here that the government might have put a bounty on him again. If so, he'd missed it, but it'd explain how someone could have been able to kill one of his own.

Or maybe word had gotten out somehow of his takeover of this archipelago, and someone had come to claim his head.

However, whoever it was... it didn't matter.

It wouldn't change the future.

Tonight, they'd die.

Before they could hurt another of his comra—

"...!"

Just then, in the middle of his rage, something else surfaced in his mind... Something he should have noticed sooner.

He spoke out loud, not turning around.

"Hachi... Where are Chew and Kuroobi?"

"Niu?"

"You said they'd be back in a few minutes. Did they ever come back?"

Hachi's face went pale. "N-no, niu... I haven't seen them since."

Arlong turned slowly to look at the road. It ran along the coast, past the bay, and on toward the villages, empty and quiet under the moon.

The boats were right there. If Chew and Kuroobi had come this way, they would have seen the smoke long before he did. They would have come running.

But they hadn't come back.

For the first time that night, something cold crept under Arlong's anger.

Chew and Kuroobi weren't ordinary members of the crew. They'd fought at his side since the Grand Line, and there wasn't a human in the whole East Blue who could stand against either of them, let alone both at once.

Arlong refused to finish that thought.

"Hachi. Get Kiribachi, and pick ten of the strongest. We're going to the villages."

"Y-yes, Arlong-san! Which village first?"

"The one closest to the road. Cocoyashi." Arlong's eyes burned as he stared down the empty road. "If those two came across something on their way, someone in that village must've seen it. And if the humans had anything to do with this..."

He didn't finish the sentence, nor did he need to.

Minutes later, Arlong stood at the gate of the park with his giant saw-toothed sword resting over his shoulder and ten of his best fighters lined up behind him. The rest of the crew, a little over thirty strong, had gathered in the courtyard with their weapons drawn.

"Nobody gets in, and nobody gets out," Arlong told the ones staying behind. "If a human so much as looks at these walls tonight, kill him. I'll be back before dawn, with the head of whoever did this on a pole."

"Yes, Arlong-san!"

He turned and marched down the road toward Cocoyashi, his group following in a tight pack, and he didn't look back once.

...

Close to half an hour passed after Arlong left.

The crew hadn't wasted it. The ones still drunk from the party were dragged to their feet and doused with buckets of seawater until they could stand straight, while the rest armed themselves and took up posts along the walls and at the gate.

A handful of others had gone over the rocks and into the bay. They dove again and again among the sinking wrecks, bringing their brothers up one by one and laying them out on the rocks below the wall, where the line of bodies kept growing.

The rest stood watch in silence now, weapons in hand, none of them talking the way they had been doing until now, all fun and joy gone.

The smoke from the bay still drifted over the walls, and every so often another splash came from below as the divers surfaced with one more body.

The two posted at the gate kept glancing at each other and then back out at the dark road, their grips on their spears tightening every time the wind moved the bushes.

The gate itself had been left open on purpose. In case the bastard who'd done this showed his face, they didn't want a closed gate keeping the guards outside cut off from everyone else.

If he came, he'd walk straight into the courtyard, and all of them could jump him at once.

And so, for a while, nothing happened.

Minutes passed and night took over the island more profoundly.

Clouds had been gathering over the moon since Arlong left, and once they swallowed it whole, its light went with it. Consequently, the road leading up to the base vanished into the dark only a few steps past the guards' torches.

It was eerily quiet, too. The crackle of the flames, the waves breaking against the rocks below, and the crickets running through their band practice were the only things that kept going.

Yet, even with all of them, it was as if the silence had taken over the entire place.

That is, until—

-Crunch-

The sound of footsteps on gravel cut through it, faint and still far off, slow and unhurried, coming up the road that led to the base.

They were so quiet that no one would have noticed them if not for the stillness all around.

The two guards at the gate stiffened and lifted their torches high, trying to push the light further down the road, while one by one, the fishmen in the courtyard turned their heads toward the sound.

At the very edge of the light, far down the road, a figure came into view. At first it was little more than a small shape against the dark, barely visible, but step by step it came closer, until it walked into the full glow of the torches.

It was small—no, not only that.

It was a kid.

And while that should have settled their worried hearts, the relief of seeing how young the stranger was didn't last long.

"...!"

Eyes widened and grips tightened on weapons as they noticed something crucial.

The kid, small as he was, was also covered in blood from head to toe, and the crimson glint on his clothes and hair was too familiar for any of them to mistake.

And to make matters worse, in his right hand he held a sword whose blade rested on his shoulder, blood running down the blade, over the crossguard, and onto the hand gripping it.

Seeing that, the fishmen got trapped in a dilemma.

On one hand, the kid was clearly an enemy, or part of one's plan.

But on the other, it was just a brat. How much danger could he pose?

So they didn't attack outright. They just watched him approach.

Until he stopped right in front of the open gateway, barely two meters away from the two guards, who didn't lower their weapons for a second.

The kid's gaze moved slowly across the courtyard. It passed over the guards at the gate, the fishmen along the walls, the half-built tower, and the pool in the middle, as if he were counting each of them, and his face stayed completely serious while he did it.

Nobody moved, and nobody spoke, each of them still torn over how worried they should be.

Somewhere along the wall, a fishman swallowed loudly, and another took half a step backward before he realized he'd done it.

Then, after a few seconds of that silence, the kid glanced over his shoulder, toward the road Arlong had taken, and back at the open gate around him.

Slowly, a smile spread across his blood-streaked face, a wide one that bared all his teeth.

He let the sword slide off his shoulder, and its tip came to rest just above the stones, ready to be swung.

"Well, someone left the door open."

...

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-To Be Continued...-

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(A/N: Sorry for the delays. I'm trying to stock up to 10 advanced chapters in the patreon, but university ain't making it easy. I'm really close to it though, so once it's done, uploading schedule should become the same as that of Patreon, and thus more chapters per week than there's currently.)