One Piece: The Legend of Beasts

Chapter 105 A fish slipped through the net

On the boundless sea, the wind was so calm that there was not a single ripple. Only an isolated wooden boat was sailing aimlessly on the sea.

Incredibly, the boat is not artificially operated, but two wooden arms grow out of small holes on the side of the boat, holding oars and rowing on their own. Every row is accompanied by a creaking sound, and it sounds like it is about to fall apart at any time, but its surface exudes a green sheen, as if it has almost merged with the clear green sea around it.

Groups of large sea kings swam back and forth on the sea surface, like huge moving castles. They poked their heads out from time to time, curiously looking at the small boat that could be overturned by any gust of wind, but whenever the sea kings tried to get closer, they felt a spasm all over their bodies, and their vertical pupils trembled uncontrollably, as if the boat contained the thing they feared the most, and they swam back to the deep and dark seabed as fast as flying.

On the deck of the small wooden boat, a young man was lying on his back, wrapped in rough gauze like a mummy. His body was as motionless as a statue, and he just looked up at the cloudy sky quietly. His pair of dark eyes emitted a light that was darker than the clouds.

The cold touch coming from the rough wooden boards from time to time made the boy shiver uncontrollably, and it also brought back unforgettable memories for him.

"Did you make this ship, Uno?! It's a little small, but I feel like I've seen this shape somewhere before..."

"Yes... I sneaked into your bedroom and secretly built it according to your design. It took me a week to complete. It's still in the experimental stage, but I once remotely operated it for half an hour and there were no problems. It was not attacked by sea kings. According to the design draft, they seem to be afraid of the smell of trees."

On the deserted and peaceful beach, Uno nervously touched his index finger, raised his little head and looked at his father, whose chin almost dropped to the ground in shock, and stammered, "You...you won't blame me, will you, Dad?"

"Well......"

Pan's eyes lingered on the intact small wooden boat for a long while. After a brief moment of daze, his serious face suddenly changed 180 degrees. He suddenly rushed over with tears streaming down his face, hugged his son in his arms, and rubbed his face all over. His voice was also excited and incoherent: "You are worthy of being a good son. You can tease Butch so much. As a dad, I can't restore it to its original state within a month!"

"Uh... help..." Uno, who had been prepared to be scolded by his father, was confused for a moment. He was almost suffocated by his tight embrace, so he could only ask for help from the beautiful young woman nearby in an almost pleading tone. After sighing helplessly, the young woman walked forward and used the most extreme means in her life to separate the two of them.

"It hurts! Mariana you are so merciless!"

"Who told you to become a completely different person when you get excited..."

Faced with his wife's habitual complaints, Pan could only rub the big bump on his head with grievance. Then he looked at Uno, who was shaken like a piece of paper by his daughter with shining eyes, and his face returned to his usual seriousness. "You worked hard to build this boat without telling us. It shouldn't be just for you to go out to sea, right?"

Uno was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then lowered his head and bit his lip, and replied in a barely audible voice: "Yes...I want to take Rachel on an overseas trip. I...I hope to let her set foot in every corner of the world and witness all the beautiful scenery on the sea. This is her...no...it's the wish we both have always had!"

Halfway through his speech, his voice suddenly became much louder. He raised his head and looked straight at his father, his eyes filled with a maturity and determination that did not match his young age.

"Yeah! Rachel really wants to see what the outside world looks like!"

The purple-haired girl nodded with anticipation, stretched out her little hand and patted her brother's shoulder, revealing two rows of smooth little white teeth, "When that time comes, Rachel must make more and more friends!"

Pan glanced at his children's faces expressionlessly, as if he had never seen them before. Then he rubbed his hair and sighed slightly: "Really? Dad understands your thoughts. In this case..."

Just like a long-dormant volcano suddenly erupting, Pan ecstatically hugged his son and daughter into his arms again, almost suffocating them on the spot, accompanied by a buzzing cheer in their ears, "Let your dear daddy accompany you to the magnificent ocean for a spectacular adventure! Daddy will love you two well along the way!"

"Uh-huh! Rachel's world has gone dark! I can't see anything!"

"I know! Before that, let go of me first!"

"You say whatever you think. Don't forget that you are the head of the clan... But if I am included, it will be a different matter~"

"Eh?! Why do you say that, Mom?"

The sudden roar of gunfire brought Uno back to reality. He supported himself on the board with both hands and slowly stood up. He turned his head and looked towards the stern. He saw a sea of ​​​​hot flames rising from the sea in the distance, dyeing the originally dark sky blood red like the sunset. Thick smoke rose from the center of the explosion, revealing an indescribable desolation against the blood-red sky.

Near the destination that was considered as the target of the bombardment, one could vaguely see warships parked side by side on the sea. Countless shells were poured out from the muzzles like raindrops, bombarding the devastated island as if they would never stop. One forest after another was blown down and razed to the ground...

Seeing the land that had given him countless beautiful memories now being devastated by the ruthless bombing of war, Uno couldn't help but gently wipe away the sourness from the tip of his nose. An unspeakable sadness surged in his heart, and tears flowed down the corners of his eyes unknowingly, forming spots of water stains on the deck.

After a while, his eyes suddenly locked on the gradually shrinking black spots on the sea. His right fist clenched so hard that it made a creaking sound. At that moment, all the resentment, anger, and hatred in his heart seemed to surge out like a river bursting its dam, gradually devouring his kind and gentle heart.

——No matter what means I use, with my life as the stake, one day I will chop you scum into pieces!!

Three months later, on a small island where pirates and criminals gathered, in a crowded tavern.

"Hey! Have you heard? The Rocks Pirates are on the move again! They sank several large warships in the North Sea two days ago! Many vice admirals died at their hands!"

"Haha! As expected of the legendary strongest pirate group, they are the only ones who can so blatantly oppose the World Government! It's just right for us to vent our anger and kill the navy without leaving a single piece of armor!"

"Speaking of the Rocks Pirates... This morning I saw a group of pirates flying that flag in the town next door. The leader was a young woman carrying a big sword. Although she was very pretty, her body was frighteningly large. She claimed that she would return to the New World after three days of reorganization on the island. Could she be the one under Rocks—"

"Shh! Stop talking! If we are heard, we will be in trouble! Even though we are in the same industry, I don't want to have anything to do with those dangerous people... Hey! What are you laughing at, kid over there?!"

"Ah, I suddenly thought of something funny. Sorry to interrupt your conversation."

The man who had been sitting in the corner, hiding his face with a hooded cloak, stretched himself and untied the bag on the table, revealing stacks of glittering gold bars. He then turned his gaze to the stunned drunkards and said with a smile, "By the way, can you take me to the residence of the female pirate... After the matter is done, all these things will be yours."

Three days later, in a certain area of ​​the Grand Line, on a pirate ship with a smiling face on the bow.

"Well, well, well! Even though you're just a kid, you're surprisingly capable! Thanks to you, I have added a lot of weird and wonderful things to my collection!"

"If you like it, that would be great. I will also provide you with more exquisitely crafted mechanical products in the future."

The young man knelt respectfully on the ground, looked up at the beautiful woman in front of him who was praising the little robot in her hands, and asked tentatively, "As a gift for joining the group, these are probably enough to express my sincerity, right?"

"Need I say this? I don't know what you have in mind, but as long as the interests of a pirate remain the same, even I have no right to interfere with his freedom!"

The woman looked at the boy with interest for a while, then suddenly pulled up the brim of her hat and grinned, "From now on, you are my subordinate, in other words, a member of the Rocks Pirates! Of course, you have to start by doing odd jobs!"

Several years later, Honeycomb Island.

"You said you wanted to learn the "Six Styles"?! That's a physical skill that goes beyond the limits of human beings! Not to mention how much suffering you will have to endure along the way, it may take decades to learn it all. Are you sure you want to do this, Master Uno?!"

"Yes, I'm serious. I heard that most of the CP members in the government have mastered this technique, so I was wondering if I could get any chance from you. Having said that, I would be satisfied if I could just learn a few of these moves, such as the one that allows you to walk freely in the air and disappear instantly from your original position."

"Are you referring to 'Moon Step' and 'Shave'? It's not that easy to master these two moves..."

The middle-aged man in plain clothes hesitated for a while, and after noticing the serious look in the boy's eyes, he finally nodded as if he had made up his mind, "Although we, the original CP5, are not as superhuman as CP9 and CP0, at least we are proficient in a few tricks. We will do our best to teach you everything we know as the first achievement of joining the Rocks Pirates..."

After being in the world of pirates for so many years, the boy has long been accustomed to wearing a mask in front of everyone and has never taken it off.

Therefore, in the eyes of most profit-oriented pirates, Uno is just a good boy who behaves politely and never loses his temper. They are not wary of him at all, and do not care what plans he is secretly planning.

Of course, everything is bound to be accompanied by relative changes. After wearing the mask for a long time, you gradually forget what you originally looked like, and also forget your original sincere intentions.

What is deeply engraved in my heart are only the empty eyes of my tribesmen and the unforgettable hatred that forever binds my whole body.

"Azrael!"

As the roar of hatred gradually squeezed out of his throat, the purple-haired boy held down his left arm that was scratched by the helmet fragments and walked forward step by step. His pair of horns as sharp as knives were dyed red by thick blood, as if carrying endless hatred. "Only you... Only you, I will never forgive!"

"Although I'm curious about how you survived that incident, it doesn't matter now."

Azrael spread his hands, a frivolous smile appeared on his face, and he asked in a tone as if teasing a pet, "By the way, do you really not want to know what happened to your abducted compatriots now? The reason why you deliberately spared my life just now was to ask this, right?"

The understated words were like a heavy hammer hitting the most vulnerable part of Uno's heart, causing his pupils to shrink suddenly, his steps to stop suddenly, his breathing so rapid that his whole body was shaking: "...Shut up, I don't want to listen to your nonsense anymore."