There Can Only Be One Sun in This World!

Beneath the Red Line, on some nameless deserted island.

Boom!

With a dull crash, a deep crater was smashed into the ground.

The dust settled.

Fisher Tiger knelt on one knee, gasping for breath.

Three little girls wrapped tightly in tattered cloth were still slung over his shoulder.

Behind him, dozens of ragged fish-man and human slaves lay collapsed on the ground. Some were crying, some were trembling, while more simply stared blankly ahead, as though they had yet to wake from the nightmare they had just escaped.

They had gotten out.

They had escaped that hell known as the dwelling place of gods.

"Is this... the air on the surface?"

Tiger lifted his head and greedily breathed in the salty sea breeze.

There was no smell of blood.

No stench of decay.

Freedom.

So damn sweet.

A sharp whistle tore through the air.

The "monster" who had saved them landed lightly on a reef ahead.

Kahn's clothes had already been reduced to strips of cloth, exposing an upper body so powerfully built it hardly seemed human.

The lines of his muscles were sharply defined, and a faint golden glow still lingered over his skin.

It was the aftereffect of absorbing an excessive amount of photons.

"Hey, fish-man."

Kahn sat cross-legged atop the reef, somehow producing a wild fruit from nowhere and taking a crunchy bite.

"This place is safe for now. Even if the Marines send warships after us, they won't find this place anytime soon."

Tiger rose to his feet.

The leader of Fish-Man District looked at the nine-year-old human boy before him with an incomparably complicated expression.

Fear? Reverence? Gratitude?

All of it.

He had watched this boy slaughter his way through Mary Geoise.

He would probably never forget the sight of him kicking Admiral Kizaru around like a ball.

"Why?"

Tiger finally asked the question that had been bottled up inside him the entire way.

"You're human too. Why did you help us? Why did you attack the Celestial Dragons?"

In Tiger's understanding,

humans were all greedy and cruel.

Especially humans with such immense power—they were usually lackeys of the World Government.

Kahn chewed his fruit and casually flicked the pit away.

"Do you want to hear some crap about this punch being for love and justice?"

"Or do you want the truth?"

Tiger froze for a moment before answering in a low voice, "The truth."

Kahn pointed at the sun in the sky.

The noon sunlight poured over him, outlining him in gold.

"I didn't like those pigs in bubble helmets. That's all."

"They called themselves gods, lived at the highest place, and blocked my sunlight."

"There can only be one sun in this world."

"And that's me."

Arrogant.

Arrogant beyond all bounds.

Tiger opened his mouth, only to realize that he could not refute him.

If anyone else had said that, they would have been insane.

But this boy had just set Mary Geoise ablaze and beaten up an admiral.

He had the right to be arrogant.

"No matter what, you saved us."

Tiger took a deep breath and bowed deeply.

"I, Fisher Tiger, will remember this debt."

"If Fish-Man Island can ever be of use to you, just say the word."

Seeing this, the other slaves also dropped to their knees.

In this world where strength reigned supreme, the power Kahn had displayed was the best possible pass.

"Enough. Stop bowing. I'm not into that."

Kahn waved a hand, sweeping his gaze across the crowd.

In the end, his eyes settled on the three trembling little girls behind Tiger.

Boa Hancock.

The future Pirate Empress.

And her two younger sisters, Sandersonia and Marigold.

Hancock was only twelve years old at the time.

Though she was still just a little girl, the makings of a beauty could no longer be hidden.

But now, her delicate little face was covered in dust and tear stains.

Her eyes were filled with terror and wariness.

It was an extreme fear of men.

During those years in Mary Geoise, men's hands and men's laughter had meant endless torment to them.

Even though Kahn had saved them,

as long as any male creature approached, their bodies instinctively trembled.

Kahn jumped down from the reef and walked over.

"Ah!"

Sandersonia and Marigold screamed and clung desperately to Tiger's legs.

Hancock did not scream, but her body had gone rigid as stone.

She bit her lip tightly, trying to preserve the last shred of her dignity, but tears still rolled helplessly down her face.

Tiger looked rather awkward and reached out to shield them.

"Benefactor, they..."

"Move."

Kahn's voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable pressure.

Tiger's whole body stiffened, and he instinctively took a step back.

Kahn walked up to Hancock.

There was not much difference in their heights.

Though Kahn was only nine, the growth rate of Kryptonians had already made him one meter ninety tall.

He looked down at her.

His shadow enveloped Hancock.

Hancock closed her eyes in despair.

Was it going to start again?

Was she going to be humiliated and treated like livestock again?

However,

the pain she had expected did not come.

A warm, large hand pressed down on her head.

It was heavy.

There was no gentleness to it either.

It was like pressing down on a startled kitten.

"Lift your head."

Kahn said.

Hancock opened her eyes tremblingly.

Backlit,

she could not see Kahn's face clearly.

She could only see those golden pupils glittering beneath the sun.

There was no lust in those eyes, no greed, not even pity.

There was only a lofty indifference.

As though a god were looking down upon ants.

"Does the mark on your back make you feel ashamed?"

Kahn's voice was calm.

Hancock's entire body trembled.

The Celestial Dragon's Hoof.

It was the shame of their lives, an indelible brand that could never be washed away.

As long as that mark remained, they would forever be slaves.

"No... don't look..."

Hancock tried to cover her back with the tattered cloth, her voice thick with tears.

"What's there to hide?"

Kahn sneered.

He reached out, pinched Hancock's chin, and forced her to look at him.

"Remember this, little girl."

"Only the weak find shame to be heavy."

"When you become strong enough to make the whole world shut up, this thing will be your medal."

"It proves that you crawled out of hell."

"It proves that even those self-proclaimed gods couldn't kill you."

Hancock froze.

She stared blankly at the boy before her.

Her heart pounded violently in her chest.

Not from fear.

But from a feeling she had never known before, as though her soul had been pierced through.

In that sunless prison, everyone had told her: You are a slave. You are filthy. You do not deserve dignity.

But now,

this man, more dazzling than the sun, had told her that it was a medal.

"Don't look at me like that."

Kahn let go and disgustedly wiped his hand on his pants.

"You're filthy."

"Have Tiger take you to find Rayleigh later, or go back to Amazon Lily."

"Don't die on the way."

With that,

Kahn turned and left.

"Wait!"

Hancock did not know where she found the courage.

She suddenly stepped forward and grabbed the corner of Kahn's clothes.

Her hand was trembling.

But her grip was tight.

"What... is your name?"

It was the first time she had ever spoken to a man on her own initiative.

Kahn stopped and glanced back.

The little hand clutching his clothes had turned white at the knuckles.

"Kahn."

"I can't be bothered to tell you my full name. Anyway, only one name will spread across these seas in the future."

Kahn pointed at his chest.

"The sun."

Having said that.

A blast of air erupted from him once more.

His biological force field flared to full power.

Like an arrow loosed from the bow, he shot into the sky with a thunderous roar.

Leaving behind only a golden afterimage, he vanished beyond the horizon.

Hancock stood where she was.

Her hand was still held in the position of clutching his clothes.

The wind blew past.

Yet she no longer felt cold.

That man's warmth seemed to still linger atop her head.

That back.

That arrogant, untouchable gaze.

Even with her eyes closed, it was branded into her mind like a hot iron.

"Big Sister..."

Sandersonia cautiously tugged at Hancock's hand.

"That man... he's terrifying."

"No."

Hancock murmured to herself.

An unnatural flush rose to her face.

A flame now burned within those eyes that had once been ashen.

"He isn't terrifying."

"He is... light."

Fisher Tiger watched the scene and scratched his head helplessly.

Though he was a fish-man, he did not really understand the thoughts of human little girls.

But Hancock's current state...

No matter how he looked at it, something was off.

Those were the eyes of someone who had been completely conquered.

Not the obedience of a slave toward her master.

But a far more fanatical kind of worship.

"Alright, it's time for us to go too."

Tiger clapped his hands and called everyone over.

"That kid made such a huge commotion. The Navy's main force will soon seal off this entire area."

"We need to find a ship quickly."

"From today onward, we're pirates."

Tiger looked out toward the distant sea, his gaze resolute.

He recalled what Kahn had said earlier.

There could only be one sun in this world.

"Then we'll be called the Sun Pirates."

Tiger said quietly.

To cover up that mark of shame.

And also... for the man who had truly brought the sun to them.