Houka was swiftly subdued. Perhaps because he was a Devil Fruit User, he was considered valuable and made a high-priority prisoner.
But Houka had witnessed Cang Kingdom's soldiers slaughtering and pillaging Kozuki Village, leaving it in ruins.
His fury was so overwhelming that he lost control and fought back with everything he had.
Even with Seastone Handcuffs on, he continued to use Moonlight Gu to unleash Moonlight Slashes against the Cang Kingdom soldiers.
For a time, he inflicted heavy casualties on Cang Kingdom!
But he was subdued once again by the powerful Cang Kingdom general.
Later, Cang Kingdom's king decided Houka was an unusually gifted ability user who might fetch a good price.
He reported the matter to the World Government, hoping to sell Houka to them in exchange for a reduction in the Heavenly Tribute.
After all, the World Government was always scouring the world for promising talents and rare races.
When Saint Saturn of the Five Elders learned about Houka's unusual situation, he was very interested and agreed to the Cang Kingdom king's request.
A Devil Fruit User who could still use his ability while wearing Seastone Handcuffs.
If they could make any discoveries through their research, it would be an enormous boon to the Celestial Dragons who possessed abilities.
On the bow of the Heavenly Tribute warship.
Thinking back on the simple, kind villagers of Kozuki Village, Houka couldn't help letting out a deep sigh.
Whether it was the Kozuki Village of his previous life or the one in this world, he didn't want to forget either of them.
So when Rocks asked his name, he had blurted out Ancient Moon as his new surname.
Perhaps he wanted to become like Ancient Moon Fang Yuan, a great devil of his generation... the Great Love Immortal Venerable.
To reach the very top.
And never let anyone control his life again.
Not even fate!
"Weak is weak! Don't give me that 'this is only the beginning' nonsense!"
"From today on, train your ass off. I don't need useless subordinates.
To be honest, your body is even weaker than those soldiers!"
Rocks glanced at Houka with disdain. Even a five-year-old child from the Davy Clan was probably physically stronger than him.
His first partner, his 001st executive officer, was this weak?
If not for his ability to foresee the future...
"Rocks, help me kill a bastard from Cang Kingdom!"
"I'll tell you which powerful people you'll be able to recruit in the future!"
Houka suddenly looked Rocks in the eye and made his first request and deal. His tone was dead serious.
"Wahahahaha! Already thinking about revenge?"
"No problem!"
Rocks laughed wildly and agreed to Houka's request without hesitation.
He'd originally planned to spend eight or ten years using the Davy Back Fight to seize powerful people he liked from all over the world.
Now that he had Houka, a guy who could see the future, to help him, the time it took to seize and gather subordinates would be drastically reduced!
After all, there were plenty of strong people on these seas who would rather die than submit. Those with Conqueror's Haki in particular would rather be killed than honor a Davy Back Fight contract and become someone else's subordinate.
Rocks would likely waste a lot of time sailing around and taking down these stubborn, rebellious bastards.
"Lord Rocks is going after Cang Kingdom!"
"Take us with you!"
The captured soldiers called out excitedly, their eyes filled with longing.
This was the most evil pirate, a man who could take down a Marine Admiral!
Maybe he really could smash Cang Kingdom to pieces!
"Hmph. I only agreed to kill one person from Cang Kingdom for Houka!"
Rocks raised an eyebrow and grinned. He had no time to avenge these useless soldiers.
Unless Houka was willing to provide more valuable information.
For example, information about the Three Ancient Weapons...
Rocks had planned to plunder the Heavenly Tribute warship, then use the wanted posters to sift through the pirate crews in Paradise on the Grand Line.
But since Houka had spoken up, they would head straight for Cang Kingdom!
He would help his first executive officer blow off some steam!
Houka looked at the bluish-white Moonlight Gu in his hand and the eight plump white Soul Insects, his eyes flickering.
He could now obtain eight more Devil Fruit abilities!
When Houka had faced that Cang Kingdom strongman, he had sensed that his Soul Insects felt an intense desire for the man's Devil Fruit ability.
The desire was just as strong as the Soul Insects' earlier craving for the Moonlight Devil Fruit.
This gave Houka another shocking theory!
Perhaps the Soul Insects could directly devour and fuse with the abilities of Devil Fruit Users!
The thought nearly drove Houka out of his mind!
He was desperate to verify whether his theory was true!
He wanted to follow Rocks around, pick off the leftovers, and find the Devil Fruit abilities he wanted!
That way, he could grow stronger as quickly as possible!
Aboard Rocks's ship, whether it was the powerful ability users Rocks was about to challenge or their formidable Three-Color Haki, they were all things Houka wanted for himself!
That was one of the main reasons he'd abandoned the cautious path and readily joined Rocks.
To be honest, if Kozuki Village hadn't been destroyed, he might even have gone to work as a prison guard, sneaking into Impel Down to lie low and grow stronger.
But now, Saint Saturn of the Five Elders had already set his sights on him.
He had no choice but to take another path.
If Houka's guess was right, the Cang Kingdom general's Devil Fruit ability had come from the Press-Press Fruit.
Houka still remembered how powerfully the general's gravity had crushed him.
But the man was nowhere near as strong as Fujitora Issho would be in the future.
Issho hadn't even been born yet. The future Issho seemed to be from Cang Kingdom too, and would rise to the rank of captain in its security force.
But Cang Kingdom, which kept waging wars, would eventually be destroyed by a stronger nation.
Issho would flee to West Blue as a war criminal from a fallen country. Later, he would gain the Press-Press Fruit ability and the Supreme Grade Sword Extreme Path Fireline.
But now, Houka was here!
The future would change completely!
Houka didn't care whether the future changed or what kind of butterfly effect it might cause.
He only wanted to grow stronger!
As for whether Issho would ever be born, he couldn't care less!
What did it have to do with him?
Come to think of it, Extreme Path Fireline was probably still in Wano Country.
After all, next year—55 years before the original story—Shimotsuki Kozaburo, Shimotsuki Furiko, Fugetsu Kizaburo, and the others would defy Wano Country's laws, leave illegally, and sail off to make their homes around the world.
Shimotsuki Kozaburo would take the Great Grade Sword Wado Ichimonji and Sandai Kitetsu with him. Together with Shimotsuki Furiko, the older sister of Ringo daimyo Shimotsuki Ushimaru, he would spend three years reaching the peaceful East Blue, where they would establish Shimotsuki Village.
Fugetsu Kizaburo would end up in West Blue with the Supreme Grade Sword Extreme Path Fireline.
Shimotsuki Kozaburo and Shimotsuki Furiko would marry and have children there.
Kozaburo and a local woman would have Koshiro, whose future granddaughter would be Kuina.
Furiko would marry the local Roronoa Arashi, becoming the grandmother of the Straw Hat crew's Roronoa Zoro.
After several days.
The Heavenly Tribute warship that had left Cang Kingdom not long ago returned.
But this time, it brought back a demon in human form, a seeker of vengeance bent on settling old scores!
The battle ended quickly!
Faced with Rocks's terrifying strength, the Cang Kingdom general and tens of thousands of soldiers could barely resist before Rocks knocked them out and crushed them utterly.
"Wahahahaha! Houka, he's all yours!"
"Now I have plans of my own to put into motion. I hope my subordinates will be the strongest people on these seas!"
Laughing wildly, Rocks tossed the Cang Kingdom general in front of Houka so he could take his revenge himself.
The Cang Kingdom general had never imagined that the boy he had subdued with such ease would become the one to take his life.
If only he'd killed Houka back then. Now he could only regret his mistake.
The eight Soul Insects on Houka were already itching to devour and fuse with the Devil Fruit ability inside the Cang Kingdom general.
Houka directed one of them to devour the Press-Press Fruit ability.
"This is revenge for the villagers of Kozuki Village, and it's for the road ahead of me!"
"Remember my name on your way to the afterlife. I'm Houka, Kozuki Houka!"
With a cold gaze filled with vengeance and desire, Houka cut down the Cang Kingdom general.
The pure Soul Insect seemed even more enticing than those Devil Fruits.
The unclaimed Press-Press Fruit ability even fused with the Soul Insect of its own accord.
The plump white Soul Insect transformed into a small purple tiger-shaped insect.
Rocks watched, stunned!
This kid Houka really was something.
He had thought the little creatures around Houka were part of his ability.
But he'd never imagined they could devour Devil Fruit abilities too!
What kind of race was this?
The Soul Tribe?
The Gu Tribe Houka had mentioned?
Houka had nine Soul Fire Worms in all. That meant he could have nine abilities in the future.
Damn!
Even Rocks was a little jealous of this incredible racial gift.
He wanted a powerful mutated ability like that too!
However, Houka had a serious problem.
His body was weak. No matter how many abilities he gained, he'd struggle to make the most of them.
The Moonlight Slash was a perfect example.
It wasn't even as good as a swordsman's technique.
Rocks frowned, hoping the kid wouldn't get carried away by the temptation of possessing multiple abilities.
After all, a strong body and strong Haki were what truly mattered!
After Houka's Soul Insect gained the Press-Press Fruit ability, it became a Gravity Gu, a Gravity Soul.
Under Houka's control, the Gravity Gu merged with him, becoming a tiger-shaped mark on his arm.
He used his newly acquired gravity ability to unleash a burst of purple light, personally crushing the Cang Kingdom soldiers who had slaughtered Kozuki Village into bloody pulp.
In the end, even the Cang Kingdom king, who had wanted to sell Houka to Saint Saturn, was mercilessly killed by Houka.
Houka didn't care whether Cang Kingdom would descend into civil war.
He no longer wanted to argue about right and wrong.
All he knew was that the Kozuki Village where he had lived for over two years had been destroyed, and the kind old men, women, and villagers he knew had been slaughtered...
What did Cang Kingdom's future power struggles and the suffering of its people have to do with him?