The sea breeze carried a salty scent as it blew across the damp gravel.
Take that!
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May 21, 1480, Sea Circle Calendar.
The sky was blue.
The clouds were white.
Everything was perfectly normal.
However...
On an island in the New World called Alabara, thunderous booms rang out one after another.
Boom~!
Boom~!
······
They continued without end.
The sun blazed overhead, and its scorching rays made the air hot and searing.
Under a large tree, several straw-hatted villagers sat in the shade with their trouser legs rolled up to their knees, their faces filled with helplessness.
"Not again. Can't that Ares kid take a day off?"
"He's a complete lunatic. He practically doesn't consider himself human!!"
"That Ares kid is a monster, a madman. If this keeps up, he'll level every mountain on the island!"
"I don't know what's gotten into him. He's been acting like a completely different person for the past three years. At this rate, he'll kill himself sooner or later!!"
"If you ask me, we should drive that Ares fellow off the island!!"
"········"
The villagers' conversation was filled with helpless complaints.
Meanwhile, the protagonist of their discussion, Ares, was standing before a mountain.
The mountain stood roughly two or three hundred meters tall.
At the foot of the mountain, before a cliff face, stood a youthful-looking boy of only fourteen or fifteen.
The boy was bare-chested, revealing bronze-colored skin. Every muscle on his body was knotted and his tendons gleamed.
Each muscle looked as though it had been built from slabs of rock, brimming with explosive power.
His entire frame was extremely burly. He looked like a human bear, a massive hulk standing over three meters and almost four meters tall.
Just standing there,
he radiated the oppressive presence of a savage, violent beast.
At that moment,
Ares was carrying out his daily training.
"Haah!!"
Bang!
A world-shaking crash rang out.
He slammed into the mountain wall with savage, overwhelming force.
Broken stones flew everywhere!
Huge, terrifying cracks appeared across the mountainside, spreading and branching out continuously.
Yet Ares seemed completely unaffected by the tremendous impact.
Boom!!
Boom!!
He repeatedly smashed into the mountain wall, each blow more violent than the last.
The cracks gradually widened.
Finally, with a thunderous roar, the entire mountain collapsed.
Dust billowed as the earth trembled without end.
The rocks and soil from the shattered mountain buried the boy.
A moment later,
amid a series of booming impacts, the broad-shouldered boy, whose skin looked as though it had been cast from brass, pushed aside the boulders.
He walked out from within.
Ares muttered to himself, "This kind of training doesn't seem to have much noticeable effect on tempering my body anymore."
His expression turned troubled as he continued, "If this goes on, my body won't be able to grow any stronger. I'm still far from making every inch of myself, inside and out, as hard as a sword."
"I heard the world's finest craftsmen can create the Twelve Supreme Grade Swords and the Twenty-One Great Grade Swords, blades famous throughout the world."
"I'll surpass them and forge a blade beyond the Twelve Supreme Grade Swords with my own body!"
"I am the strongest sword in the world!"
"And the hardest sword, too!"
His eyes burned with an almost fanatical heat as he walked toward the forest ahead.
Meanwhile,
a huge pirate ship appeared at the edge of the island.
On the deck,
"Gyahahaha... I hope this island brings us a decent haul!" The speaker was a man with two long swords at his waist and an exceptionally striking mane of golden hair resembling a lion's.
He was the captain of the Rocks Pirates' First Division—Golden Lion Shiki!
On their way back, they had happened to pass by this island, so they could plunder it along the way.
After all, for the powerful Rocks Pirates, such a detour took hardly any time or effort.
A man with a crescent-shaped mustache wore a confident smile and provoked him, "Shiki, whoever grabs the treasure gets to keep it. Let's see who takes the biggest haul this time!"
"You two, are you ignoring me?!" a woman with pink hair and a voluptuous figure said. Though she was curvaceous, she stood a full eight meters tall.
Her clothes were extremely bold and provocative.
She wore only a suit-like jacket draped over her body, exposing her deep cleavage and abdomen without a trace of excess fat.
"Same rules as always!"
"After handing over the required portion, whoever takes something keeps it. Devil Fruits, weapons, and women also receive priority treatment!"
A burly man wearing a black cloak spoke.
This man was the captain of the pirate crew—Rocks D. Zebek!
Hearing the captain's words,
the pirates on the deck immediately cheered excitedly.
"Anyone who tries to take my spoils, I'll cut him down!!"
"Heh heh, I only want women. If anyone finds a beautiful one, I'll pay him to trade her to me!!"
"I can hardly wait. I love watching those people beg for mercy!"
"We have to grab enough treasure this time. Then we won't have to worry about lacking wine or women!!"
"·········"
The vicious pirates rubbed their fists and readied themselves. One particularly deranged pirate even stuck out his scarlet tongue and licked the cold blade in his hand.
They looked utterly terrifying.
The ship pulled up beside the shore, and the pirates aboard immediately dropped anchor.
"Move out!"
At Rocks's command, hurried, heavy footsteps rang across the deck.
"Gyahahaha... I'll go on ahead!" Golden Lion Shiki launched himself into the air, shooting forward like an arrow.
Whitebeard Newgate leaped over the ship's side. His body descended like a diving hawk before he broke into a run across the ground.
He spoke boldly. "Shiki, I'm not going to let you steal the spotlight all by yourself!!"
Standing six meters tall, he covered several meters with every step, moving even faster than a cheetah during a hunt.
His entire body seemed to be racing the wind.
The wind howled beside his ears!
By comparison, Ochoku, wearing heavy Golden Armor and wielding a greatsword, and Silver Axe, clad in silver armor, were much slower.
Charlotte Linlin was no less eager and charged at the very front of the group.
Rocks slowly disembarked, accompanied by "Captain John," who never let go of his wine.
Rocks gazed toward the distant village and raised the corner of his mouth. "Only by training everyone into tigers, leopards, wolves, and jackals can we draw out the strength hidden in their bodies."
"I want a group of ambitious people. Wealth is no longer enough for me."
"I want more territory!!"
A sharp glint flashed through Captain John's eyes. He raised his wine bottle and drained it in one gulp before sneering, "Captain, you want this world, don't you?!"
"That's why the Rocks Pirates need more subordinates."
"More powerful fighters!"
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