The Clumsy Goddess's Compensation

Foosha Village, the beach at dawn.

Morning light spilled over the golden beach. A gentle breeze blew, waves lapped at the fine sand, and Uta's cheerful laughter rang through the air.

The Red Hair Pirates sat around a campfire, enjoying this long-awaited peace and leisure.

Yasopp kept one eye closed, his expression relaxed as he skillfully fiddled with his pistol. But his Observation Haki quietly spread like a spiderweb, keeping watch over the surroundings.

Suddenly, his pupils contracted.

A towering figure appeared on the beach without a sound.

It was a three-meter-tall man, his snow-white Marine rear admiral's coat snapping in the morning breeze. His domineering presence and cold expression made it impossible to look directly at him.

"Marines?!"

Yasopp drew his gun, but the man's presence instantly rooted him to the spot.

Almost instinctively, Shanks stepped in front of Uta, his hand on his sword hilt and his hawk-like eyes fixed on the figure.

"Roy..."

That name, that presence—the New World's "Monster Rear Admiral," the legendary rising star who had single-handedly swept through several major pirate crews in the New World!

The cigarette fell from Benn Beckman's mouth onto the sand, and his hand was already on his gun. Lucky Roux and the rest of the crew began breathing heavily.

The air suddenly froze, as deathly still as the moment before a storm.

Roy's gaze was like a blade as it swept coldly over the group, finally settling on Shanks.

"Shanks, can we speak in private?"

His voice was low, but it seemed to carry an irresistible pressure, like a war drum pounding on their nerves.

Yasopp's gaze turned cold, and he blurted out, "Who the hell do you think you are?! What gives you the right to speak to our captain—"

Before he could finish—

"Bang—!!!"

A muffled boom shattered everyone's eardrums!

Yasopp flew more than a hundred meters at a speed the naked eye couldn't follow, crashing into the sea and sending up a splash dozens of meters high!

"What—?!"

Every member of the Red Hair Pirates turned pale with shock!

"Yasopp?!"

"What just happened?!"

"He... he didn't even move?!"

Shanks's eyes turned utterly cold.

"Roy... what do you mean by this?"

Roy glanced at the sea. "I just wanted him to be quiet for a moment."

"Boom!!!"

In an instant, a tremendous surge of Conqueror's Haki erupted from Shanks, sweeping out like a gale across the heavens. Dark clouds instantly covered the entire sky!

The invisible aura roared like a giant beast. The campfire on the beach went out instantly, the ground cracked, sand and stones flew, and even the waves rolled backward!

Even the sky seemed to tremble!

But in the next instant—

"Hum—!!!"

A pressure that seemed to rise from the depths of the sea suddenly erupted. Roy's Conqueror's Haki surged out like a tide, meeting Shanks's aura head-on without yielding an inch!

The two surges of Conqueror's Haki collided violently in midair. The air seemed to twist and tear, the waves exploded into a towering wall of water, and lightning flashed and thunder roared above the sea as heaven and earth trembled!

"Crack—!"

The moment the two auras met, the surrounding air shattered like glass, and black cracks flashed through the void!

"Aaah!!!"

The weaker members of the Red Hair Pirates were instantly forced to their knees, cold sweat covering their bodies. They couldn't even lift their heads.

"This guy..."

"He can actually match the captain's Conqueror's Haki head-on?!"

Benn Beckman's gaze sharpened. He took half a step forward, and a steady aura spread from his body, keeping Uta safely behind him.

He turned his head slightly and, after making sure the girl was unharmed, looked forward again. "Looks like we've run into an interesting guy this time."

Shanks's pupils contracted, and a rare trace of gravity flashed in his eyes.

"Roy... you actually...!"

Roy's face was cold, his eyes like the deep sea, radiating a power that gripped the soul.

"Now, can we have a proper talk?"

As for why Roy had been so confident in coming to make trouble for Red-Hair, that went back to the night of Roy's eighteenth birthday, a year earlier...

Roy had a strange dream.

In the dream, he stood in a pure white space, soft clouds beneath his feet and multicolored specks of light floating all around him.

He frowned, wondering if he had trained so hard that he was hallucinating.

"Hey—! Wake up! Don't just space out!"

Suddenly, a face loomed up in front of him, long blue hair sticking out in a mess and big, watery eyes full of anxiety.

"Uh... who are you?"

"Who am I?!"

Her eyes widened in disbelief. "You actually forgot the great 'Lady Aqua'?! I'm the goddess who governs luck and wisdom!"

"I'm the one who sent you to this world in the first place!!!"

Roy looked her over expressionlessly—

A sloppy white robe, a crooked hair ornament, and a half-empty bottle of juice in her hand...

"Hey! What's with that look?!"

The sloppy idiot goddess stomped her foot indignantly. "I'm very busy! If the system hadn't run into a BUG, I wouldn't have come looking for you!"

"System? BUG?" Roy frowned.

"Yes! The 'Transmigrator Welfare System'!"

The sloppy idiot goddess scratched her head in frustration. "It was supposed to activate when you turned sixteen, but that day I... uh, drank a little too much, and my hand slipped and deleted the installation package..."

Roy: "..."

"And then! Even worse!"

The sloppy idiot goddess grabbed his shoulders and shook him wildly, tears welling in her eyes. "The higher-ups are coming to inspect things soon! If they find out I messed up, my year-end bonus will be gone!!!"

Dizzy from the shaking, Roy managed to hold her head still. "...So?"

"So!"

The sloppy idiot goddess's expression changed in an instant, and she beamed. "Could you help me cover it up? Just say the system loaded normally, but you didn't notice it yourself?"

Roy: "..."

When he didn't answer, the sloppy idiot goddess immediately put on a pitiful expression. "Please! I promise I'll compensate you!"

Roy sighed. "...What compensation?"

"Hehe~"

The sloppy idiot goddess planted her hands on her hips smugly. "Then I suppose I can make an exception and give you a patch!"

She waved her hand, and a giant wheel appeared in the air, densely covered with all sorts of abilities—

"Spin for two random rewards, and that'll be your compensation!"

The wheel spun wildly before finally stopping—

"Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained—'Conqueror's Haki (can grow with your spirit)'!"

"Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained—'Special Body (can consume two Devil Fruits)'!"

Aqua: "..."

Roy: "..."

The air suddenly fell silent.

The sloppy idiot goddess stared fixedly at the wheel, the corner of her mouth twitching. "...How did it land on those two?"

Roy: "Aren't they pretty good?"

"Good, my ass!"

The sloppy idiot goddess was beside herself. "Never mind Conqueror's Haki, but what the hell is Special Body?!"

"How did a BUG-level ability like that get drawn?! My performance is ruined!!!"

Roy silently watched her freak out, thinking that this goddess really was unreliable.

"No, no!"

The sloppy idiot goddess suddenly leaned close, her expression serious. "Listen! These two abilities are way over the limit. You absolutely can't use them casually!"

"Especially the two-fruit ability. If the World Government finds out, you'll definitely be captured and studied!"

Roy: "...So?"

"So—"

The idiot goddess gave a sly smile. "I'll pretend I didn't see anything, and you don't go showing them off everywhere, got it?"

Roy: "..."

"All right! Problem solved!"

The idiot goddess clapped her hands, looking relieved. "Thanks for your cooperation! Bye-bye~"

"Wait, I haven't—"

"Bang!"

Before Roy could finish, the sloppy goddess kicked him out of the dream.

The next day, at the Marine Headquarters training grounds.

"Brat! You're going to get a good taste of my love again today!!"

Garp charged at him, laughing as he swung his fist.

Roy had just woken up and was still a little dazed. When he looked up, he saw a fist the size of a sandbag coming straight at his face—

"Hum—!!!"

In an instant, a terrifying pressure erupted from him. The air trembled, and the ground cracked!

Garp: "?!"

Sengoku: "?!"

Zephyr: "?!"

The Marines across the entire training ground froze. The weaker ones rolled their eyes back and fainted on the spot!

Garp forcibly stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide. "C-Conqueror's Haki?!"

In his office, the documents in Sengoku's hands dropped to the floor, and his pupils contracted sharply behind his glasses. "...The Marines'... third Conqueror's Haki user?!"

Zephyr was so shocked he couldn't speak. How did this brat wake up with Conqueror's Haki too?!

Roy himself was stunned. He looked down at his hands. "...So it wasn't a dream?"

Garp suddenly burst out laughing and hooked an arm around his neck. "Good lad! You hid it well!"

Roy: "...No, actually, I only just found out myself."

Zephyr's eyes gleamed. "Roy, starting today, your training regimen doubles."

Roy: "You fucking idiot goddess..."

And just like that, the youngest "Conqueror's Haki user" in Marine history was born!