Prelude to Fate

Nine o'clock the next day.

The warship carrying Tsuru and Zephyr passed through the Gate of Justice, a massive metal portal engraved with the World Government's globe-and-cross emblem.

Riding the exclusive whirlpool current, they arrived at the Marine headquarters—Marineford.

From afar, Conrad caught sight of a towering, majestic fortress. Its summit featured classical, multi-eaved palaces, while its base was constructed of simple, solid gray stone walls, with the characters for "Marine" painted in black.

In the Crescent Bay harbor where they docked, rows of warships were moored in sequence, with thousands of Marines constantly moving about, embarking or disembarking.

Conrad was not yet a Marine; he was an outsider without status.

Zephyr treated everyone equally and had no intention of giving him special treatment. As soon as the ship docked, he had Smoker lead him to the Marine orphanage to register.

Drake was with him; although he had spent many years following his father as a pirate, he was kind-hearted and had no criminal record, so he was also processed as a war orphan.

The three of them passed through the city gate and circled around to the main street of the rear town, where the houses were built of gray-blue bricks, all featuring the same two-story structure.

Smoker puffed on his cigar and said, "The families of Marines live here. If you have no relatives to claim you, you will be staying here for a while."

"Do you have any money?" Conrad asked suddenly.

"No," Smoker replied out of habit. But as he looked at the food stalls along the street, he slowly frowned, feeling that he should be more generous in front of a child. "What do you want to eat?"

"Nothing," Conrad shook his head. "I just wanted to borrow some money from you. If you don't have any, never mind."

Smoker's brow furrowed deeper. "What does a kid like you need money for?"

"To buy clothes, to buy food—living costs money, after all." Conrad sighed, "I saw a whole row of cigars hanging from your shoulder strap and thought you were rich."

Smoker fell silent. His salary was not low, but because he frequently destroyed civilian property while executing missions, he ended up paying it all out in damages.

He even reached a point where he smoked one-tenth of his cigars and let the other nine-tenths burn away on their own.

Still, he reached into his pocket and felt his wallet. "How much do you need?"

Conrad, possessing keen insight, saw through the man's stubbornness at a glance and waved his hand considerately. "No, no need."

"Tell me how much you want first!" Smoker raised an eyebrow and grinned, even pulling a fresh cigar from his strap to clip it. He lit two at once while off-duty, looking extremely extravagant.

"I'm not really sure about the prices." Conrad looked solemn, having understood the man's intent, and pointed to the newspapers displayed in front of a grocery store. "How much for one?"

"One hundred Beli." Smoker naturally had that much to spare and started to walk over to buy one.

"Then lend me two million." Conrad said.

Smoker's footsteps halted, his eyebrow twitched, and his hand, which had been touching his wallet, silently let go. He pulled a five-hundred Beli coin from his breast pocket and tossed it to Conrad.

He turned his head to smoke, looking at the sky. "Go buy it."

"Thank you." Conrad caught the coin.

In his impression, newspapers cost one dollar each, so borrowing twenty thousand should have been reasonable.

He glanced at Smoker's captain's epaulets, went to buy the paper, and made a firm resolution: he would not be a poor Marine.

Drake followed behind the two. He envied how Conrad could interact so naturally with Captain Smoker; the captain looked so fierce and had such a booming voice that every time he called Drake's name, he would tremble in fear.

Conrad bought the newspaper: the World Economic News.

As he opened it, the front-page headline featured the profile of a young woman with black hair in a princess cut, wearing two golden snake earrings.

It was a bounty poster, and below it was a long string of zeros. Conrad counted from the back, totaling eighty million Beli.

The headline read: <Empress of the Amazon Lily Kingdom and Captain of the Kuja Pirates, Boa Hancock, joins the World Government as one of the Shichibukai!>

"She just became a Shichibukai," Conrad remembered that the Pirate Empress should be eighteen this year. As for the most beautiful woman in the world, he wanted to see her if he ever had the chance.

After all, since ancient times, heroes have struggled to pass the trial of beauty; he wanted to challenge the weakness of heroes. Conrad had total confidence in his own "hegemon's will," which would not be swayed by mere beauty.

Entering the lobby of the orphanage, there were three service windows. Most of the people in the waiting area were mothers with children, with a few being grandparents with grandchildren.

They were all there to collect pensions and living subsidies.

However, one group stood out: they were all teenagers, either alone or in small groups of siblings who looked alike.

Drake felt a bit nervous and, while Smoker went to queue for a number, he sat tightly beside Conrad, who was reading the paper.

<The notorious Red Hair Pirates! Departing the Grand Line! Captain Shanks appears frequently in the East Blue! What is his intention?>

Conrad keenly sensed that this might be the beginning of fate; Red Hair was about to steal the Gum-Gum Fruit.

But the specific details and location were never revealed in the original story.

Bang!

A pink-haired youth wearing a Marine cap stepped on the bench between Drake's legs and asked arrogantly, "Hey! Kid! Never seen you before? Whose brat are you?"

Drake opened his mouth, wanting to speak but stopping himself; he couldn't bring himself to say that his father was a Marine officer who had defected to become a pirate captain.

"Look at that cowardly face! From now on, you're with me! I, Fullbody the Iron Fist, will look after you!"

The pink-haired youth's voice was loud, seemingly intended to attract the attention of those around him, his eyes darting toward the young girls in the orphan group from time to time.

"I'm going to participate in the next elite training camp selection exam! Once I graduate, I'll be a Marine Lieutenant Commander immediately!"

Drake had been bullied by his father and the pirates for too long; his nature was timid, and he didn't know how to resist anyone with a loud voice or an imposing presence.

He had no choice but to cast a pleading look toward Conrad beside him, even though Conrad was clearly much younger and smaller than him.

Conrad folded his newspaper and glanced at Fullbody, whose height was at least one meter eighty, a good head taller than himself.

He thought to himself that he needed to eat more and exercise to grow taller; every time he slept, he felt a sensation of falling into a void, suggesting his bones still had plenty of room to develop.

"Slap him."

"Huh?" Drake realized Conrad wasn't helping him block the confrontation but was instead staring at him with a gaze so calm yet sharp, like two blades piercing his eyes, that he couldn't help but lower his head.

Fullbody's grin grew increasingly arrogant. He had been observing Drake ever since he walked through the door; the guy had come in with that brute Smoker, clearly lacking any influential family background.

Sitting there fidgeting, looking like someone who had never seen the world and darting his eyes everywhere, he was definitely a soft target.

It was the perfect opportunity to squeeze him, show off his reputation, and bask in the limelight.

"Lift your head!" Conrad suddenly roared: "Slap him!"

Anger flushed across Fullbody's face. He tugged at the Petty Officer shoulder straps of his uniform and clenched his fist, which was encased in brass knuckles. "If it weren't for your age and the fact that you're injured, I'd really have to teach you a lesson on behalf of your parents! Teach you the way of survival for a descendant of the military!"

Conrad shot to his feet. "Damn it, Drake! Slap him! If you don't do it, I'll do it myself!"

"YEAH!!!"

Drake squeezed his eyes shut, imitating the domineering roar Conrad had used that day.

He swung his right palm, like a dinosaur swiping its claw, and slapped Fullbody across the left cheek.