The Child Whose Fate Was Stolen

"Clear everyone out of the tavern first."

Shanks kicked aside the still-smoking bag of gunpowder and waved to the villagers.

"Beckman, tie up Benns. Luffy, keep an eye on those bandits. Yasopp, check the roof for sparks. Nobody goes near the backyard."

Makino came over, supporting Lia.

"Su Hang still has injuries on his back, and Luffy scraped his hand. Why are they fighting now?"

"He wanted to see."

Su Hang tore off his damaged shirt, rolled his shoulders twice, then let his arms hang down by his knees.

Luffy raised his wooden stick and immediately objected.

"I'm the one who's going to beat him!"

"You just said you wanted to see how strong the fruit was."

"I can beat him after I see it. There's no conflict."

Shanks pushed open the backyard's wooden gate.

"You can only use your rubber abilities. Stop when either of you falls three times. No attacking the eyes or throat."

"I don't need you teaching me."

Su Hang stepped into the yard, planted his foot on a broken roof tile, and slid forward half a step.

Shanks leaned against the gate.

"Then fight however you want. Don't come crying to me if something happens."

"You're still standing right there."

Luffy pointed his wooden stick at Shanks.

"I'm watching the show."

"You're not allowed to help Su Hang!"

"Relax. I want to see how he falls too."

Su Hang stood in the middle of the yard and crooked a finger at Luffy.

"Come on."

The wooden stick jabbed toward his chest first. Su Hang raised a hand to block, but his palm stretched over his head, leaving his entire lower body exposed.

The stick tip shifted and struck the back of his knee.

His legs lost their support. Su Hang hit the ground on his back, mud splashing onto his cheeks.

"First time!"

Luffy raised one finger.

"You count before a fight?"

"Shanks said we stop after three times."

"I've only fallen once."

Su Hang rolled over and got to his feet, drawing back his right fist.

"Gum-Gum..."

"Don't shout it before you've even come up with a name."

Luffy rushed inside the arc of his arm and struck his wrist with the stick.

His fist veered off course, looped around a branch, and wrapped around Su Hang's own neck. When it snapped back, it dragged him into two spins on the spot.

Luffy swept at his ankles while he had the chance.

Su Hang fell into the mud a second time, his stretched arm still hanging from the tree.

"Second time!"

"All you know how to do is hit legs?"

"As long as it makes you fall."

"Who taught you that?"

"Grandpa Karp. Whenever he hit me, he never waited for me to get steady."

Su Hang grabbed the arm tangled around his neck and had to unwind it halfway around before freeing himself.

"Your grandpa taught you well."

"You know Grandpa Karp?"

"I've heard the name of the Hero of the Marines."

"He hits really hard. Can a fruit not block that either?"

"It can't block punches infused with Haki."

Shanks froze halfway through lifting his cup.

"You even know about Haki?"

"This is a pirate world. It can't all be about Devil Fruits."

"Who told you?"

"When you explain the fruit's true name, I'll answer."

"You know its true name, yet you're asking me?"

"I only know the word Nika."

"Then keep guessing."

Before the two could finish, Luffy swung his stick sideways at Su Hang's waist.

This time, Su Hang did not raise a hand to block. He took the stick against his abdomen, his body folding inward from the blow, but he did not take a step back.

Luffy pulled back the stick and struck again. It sank into Su Hang's rubber stomach, and the rebound sent him stumbling back three steps.

"Now that's more like it!"

"Don't rush."

Su Hang turned and grabbed the tree trunk. His arm wrapped once around the thick tree as he backed up to the courtyard wall.

"You tangled yourself up again."

"This time, it's on purpose."

"And then?"

"Then I take your stick."

His feet left the ground, and his arms flung his body back toward the trunk.

Su Hang skimmed low across the ground, his right hand reaching for Luffy's wrist gripping the stick.

Luffy immediately let go of it.

Su Hang seized the stick, but his body did not stop in time. His forehead scraped against the bark, and he flew over the trunk straight toward the water jar in the corner.

"Stop, stop for a second!"

Shanks sidestepped out of the way.

"Figure it out yourself."

"You deliberately moved aside?"

"You said you didn't need me teaching you."

Su Hang crashed into the water jar and knocked it over, spilling half its contents across his chest.

Strength drained from his shoulders all the way down to his feet. He could not even grab the jar's rim as his body went limp in the mud with the flowing water.

Luffy grabbed Su Hang by the collar and dragged him backward.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Water."

"How can water make you go soft?"

"People who eat Devil Fruits have their strength taken by seawater."

"Shanks told me that, but this is just a jar of water."

"If enough water soaks your body, it still affects you."

Shanks set his cup on the windowsill.

"Remember that feeling?"

"It feels like my bones were sucked empty."

"It's not unusual for ability users to die in bathhouses."

"Are you reminding me to bathe less from now on?"

"I'm reminding you not to jump into the sea."

"I wasn't planning to."

Luffy struggled to drag Su Hang out of the pooled water, then sat down on the ground to catch his breath when he let go.

"The fruit isn't that amazing. It's even scared of baths."

"Who was sent flying back three steps just now?"

"I made you fall twice!"

"Who won the water jar round?"

"Water won."

Su Hang leaned against the tree trunk and waited for his strength to recover, then tossed the wooden stick back beside Luffy's feet.

"Still want to fight?"

"You already fell three times."

"The third time was the water jar."

"Shanks said falling counts. He didn't say it had to be someone who knocked you down."

"You win."

Luffy picked up the stick but did not raise it again.

The yard fell silent for a moment. From the tavern came the sound of Beckman moving tables and chairs.

Makino entered the backyard carrying the empty wooden box. Purple fruit juice still stained its broken lid.

"Shanks, where should I put this?"

"Put it by the door for now."

Luffy stared at the wooden box, his finger tracing halfway around the brim of his straw hat.

"Su Hang, when I first saw it today, I wanted to open the box."

"I could tell."

"When I heard Makino say eating it would turn someone into a rubber person, I wanted to eat it even more."

"You want to bite everything."

"It wasn't because I was hungry."

Luffy walked over to the box and picked up a small piece of wood stained with fruit juice.

"I can't explain it. The moment I saw it, something in my stomach went boom, boom, like someone was beating a drum inside me."

The Nika Core in Su Hang's chest pulsed twice in response.

Boom.

Luffy looked up.

"You heard it too?"

"Heard what?"

"Drums. They're inside your body."

Shanks lowered his cup, his gaze shifting between the two of them.

"Luffy, have you ever heard that sound before?"

"No. Only after Su Hang ate the fruit."

"Do you still want it now?"

"It doesn't matter if I do. He already ate it all."

Luffy tossed the wood chip back into the box.

"Su Hang, what did you mean when you said it was supposed to be mine?"

"If I hadn't come, you would have opened the box today or sometime later and eaten the fruit."

"How do you know?"

"I know a path that might originally have happened."

"Did someone choose that path for me?"

"No one would have forced you to eat it, but you probably would have reached out on your own."

"So you stole it first."

"Yes."

"You thought it was yours?"

"Before I got it, it wasn't mine. After I ate it, it became mine."

"Then do you owe me?"

"I changed your chance, and the people chasing it will come after me too. If you say I owe you, I'll admit it this once."

"I don't want you to admit it."

Luffy pressed down his straw hat, revealing the back of his hand reddened by a tree branch.

"You moved first, so you won this time. Someday, I'll find an even stronger path. I'll sail out to sea without relying on this fruit."

"Are you done?"

"Not yet."

"Then keep talking."

"After I find it, I'll fight you again. The water jar can't count as my win."

"When you stand before me, I'll give you that chance."

"I'm going to be King of the Pirates."

"Then don't fixate on just one fruit."

Luffy grinned, grabbed a wooden stick, and ran toward the courtyard gate.

"I'll find a sturdier stick. Next time, I'll definitely make it hurt!"

The system interface unfolded, dark-gold text covering the empty crate.

[The original predetermined fate loop has been interrupted.]

[Monkey D. Luffy has not lost his high-weight causality.]

[The established route is undergoing transformation.]

[The new worldline's weight continues to rise.]

Su Hang stared at the final line as the drumming in his chest gradually subsided.

Shanks walked over.

"What did you see?"

"Luffy's fate hasn't disappeared."

"You just snatched his fruit, and now you're talking to me about fate?"

"The fruit is only a vessel. His path is still there."

"You're sure?"

"The system only tells me the outcome. It doesn't tell me where he'll end up."

"The system?"

Su Hang turned to look at Shanks.

"You can think of it as an ability that only delivers bad news."

Red light overwhelmed the original dark-gold text, and the warning filled his vision.

[The Cause-and-Effect Lighthouse has formed. The pursuers will arrive before sunset.]