A Dragon in Shallow Waters Was Still a Dragon

Marineford's sky was a deep, vivid blue. Clouds stretched and curled across it like flocks of sheep roaming the wilderness, spreading all the way to the horizon.

Conrad suddenly gazed up at the sky and said, "What a lovely day. Ruined by a dog barking."

Onigumo's imposing air remained undisturbed. His lips paused mid-drag on his cigarette, and his indifferent gaze sharpened with vicious menace.

The subordinates surrounding him were stunned and afraid, their faces nearly contorting. Talking back to Onigumo was a death wish—even at Headquarters.

When Onigumo remained silent for a while and the atmosphere grew tense, Very Good immediately stepped forward to scold Conrad. "You brat! How dare you insult Vice Admiral Onigumo! Get on your knees and apologize to him at once!"

But before he could finish, Onigumo grabbed him by the head and lifted him up. His burly body dangled before them like a baby's.

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"He said a dog was barking, and you say he insulted me?" Onigumo blew a great cloud of smoke over Very Good's head.

He'd seen plenty of arrogant brats, but never one this brazen in front of a crowd. Did this kid have connections? Was he some naive child from a powerful family?

Very Good trembled. "N-no! He meant me! Me!"

"It was you," Conrad agreed.

Onigumo saw that Very Good had backed down and slowly curled his lips into a grin. But before he could smile, he saw an index finger pointing straight at his nose.

"It was him too." Conrad smiled, looking at Onigumo like he was trash. "You're both dogs. What's there to fight over?"

In this life, he firmly believed that one had to stay on the right path. If you wallowed and fought for supremacy in the mire of depravity, all you could do was speak the language of maggots!

But ordinary people didn't understand. They even thought he was wrong. How could he possibly be wrong? A dragon in shallow waters was still a dragon! Shrimp and insects entering the sea were nothing more than bait.

Whoosh—

A sword slid from its sheath.

Onigumo's sword, gripped in his hand, was wrapped and lifted by his wild black hair, like a spider's leg.

That was where his name came from: he could wield eight swords at once.

As he drew and raised the sword, he kept watching Conrad's expression. But Conrad remained perfectly calm.

It was as if Onigumo's rank as a Vice Admiral and his Life Return swordsmanship meant nothing to him.

Whoosh!

The sword thrust forward, the spider-leg blade sweeping past Conrad's left ear.

Onigumo swung it sideways, cutting off the head of a pirate behind Conrad along with more than a dozen wooden dummies.

A great spray of blood burst forth, flowing in twisting streams like blood-red snakes.

Throughout it all, Conrad stood motionless on the Allosaurus's head.

He was completely confident. The sword hadn't been aimed at him, and he hadn't felt any killing intent lock onto him.

Even as a baby, he'd been more perceptive than ordinary people. No matter how deeply he slept, if someone nearby called his name softly, he'd wake at once.

Onigumo withdrew his sword. It had been neither fast nor slow. At first, it had clearly been aimed at a person, yet Conrad hadn't been afraid or tried to dodge.

This wasn't the place to make a scene, and Onigumo wasn't about to squabble with a child.

"These are pirates from non-affiliated nations. They're outside the World Government's laws." He spat out his cigarette butt, crushed it under his shoe, and turned toward the training ground's gate.

Bling Bling's legs were still shaking. He cupped a hand over his mouth and quietly reminded Conrad, "He's... right."

The Marines were an organization under the World Government, which was made up of Affiliated Nations.

The pirates were already dead, and there was no way to prove whether they'd come from an Affiliated Nation.

Standing atop the Allosaurus's head, Conrad looked like a victor. Even the fearsome Vice Admiral Onigumo hadn't managed to intimidate him.

"Quack!" Drake finally reacted. Clutching his head with his tiny claws, he dashed back and forth, screeching and spinning around. "That scared me to death!"

Kujaku came to a leisurely halt and looked up at him. The blush on her cheeks, already there in two patches, deepened and spread. She'd been so worried that she'd run all the way over.

"Give Baby-5 back! I'm going home!"

Holding the bow, Conrad jumped down from the Allosaurus, ending his recollection of Onigumo's sword strike.

He hadn't blocked it, and couldn't have. He sighed and shook his head with a smile. "I should start training."

Conrad walked over to the broken training dummies and picked up the bow. It spun like liquid and transformed back into Baby-5. He clipped the hairpin into the girl's hair, took her hand, and led her over to Kujaku.

Kujaku stared at him, her expression stern. "If you keep this up, I won't bring her to see you again! I'll be responsible if anything happens to her, and my grandma will scold me!"

Conrad acted as if he hadn't heard her and said to Baby-5, "Buy her plenty of tasty food, and have her drink lots of milk. She's growing."

"Buy food and drinks... are you paying?" Kujaku gritted her teeth in anger. The guy wasn't listening to a word she said.

Conrad pulled out the only two ten-thousand-Beli bills in his pocket and held them out to Kujaku.

Kujaku tilted her head and shot him a sidelong look. "How far do you think that'll go?"

Conrad ruffled Baby-5's hair. "I'll give you more once I've earned some money. If it's not enough, please cover the rest for me. Consider it a loan, and keep track of what I owe you."

Kujaku was speechless. She had money. She'd wanted to see Conrad look dejected, but not only had he refused to be discouraged; watching the two of them even made her chest ache a little.

She grabbed Baby-5 by the wrist and turned to leave.

"Thank you!" Conrad waved goodbye.

Baby-5 kept looking back at him. She'd been abandoned for being poor before. She was still poor now, but this time, someone cherished her. She lowered her head, and a sweet smile curved beneath her rosy cheeks.

"Kujaku, I'm so happy." Tears dampened her eyelashes and slipped out between them.

Kujaku didn't understand, but when she saw Baby-5's expression, she froze for several seconds. She blinked, trying to figure out what it meant, but before she could think of anything, they'd already left the training ground.

By afternoon, a lazy feeling hung in the air. Under the natural hush of the day, people too could easily be drawn into the melancholy of watching the sun drift west.

Conrad turned around, took out the remaining four thousand Beli, patted the Allosaurus still rooted to the spot, and slung an arm around Bling Bling's shoulders. Laughing loudly, he said, "It's dinner time! Come on, I'm treating you all to a feast!"

Drake turned back into a human, bracing himself on his stiff legs. He'd nearly thought he was about to be cut down. "Before I die, I want chicken rice."

"Haha, anything's fine by me." Bling Bling hunched over and asked, "Want a drink? I'll go buy some!"

"No," Drake said, shaking his head. He hated drunks.

"I'll have milk!" Conrad remembered clearly that milk in this world was extraordinary. Even teeth that had been knocked out could grow back perfectly after drinking it.

A week passed at an easy pace. In Dorm 108, Conrad removed his bandages.

The boy in the mirror looked spirited and dashing, his injuries completely healed.

Over the past week, he'd carefully thought things through.

The story began eleven years before Luffy set sail. There were many places he could visit and many things that could still be put right.

Heroes like him were naturally meant to roam the world, take in the sights of the Four Blues, and make a name for themselves.

But before that, he needed to train his body until it reached its full adult strength, then get his hands on some startup funds.

After all, the rest of the ocean wasn't as safe as Marine Headquarters. More places were like Minion Island, where sudden disasters struck and pirates ran rampant.

Ninety-nine percent of pirates were nothing like the ones Luffy met. They weren't free and carefree—or perhaps Luffy had strength and connections of his own, so his enemies were forced to play along.

Conrad's physical abilities were far inferior to Luffy's at present. Haki was the only thing he could use, but his reserves were limited by how much he'd trained his body.

In the past, he'd mainly studied the Heart-Freezing Art from Fengyun and the Imperial Classic of World Governance from Sea Tiger, which emphasized stillness and motion respectively. He'd also dabbled in the strengths of many other schools.