Foosha Village, a New Event

The sea breeze, carrying a faint salty tang, swept past the scattered low wooden houses of Foosha Village. The old windmills turned slowly, creaking softly.

"So this is the hometown of the Marine hero? It looks pretty ordinary."

"It's just a small village, not some town. Of course it's ordinary."

"No warships. Looks like the Marine hero isn't here..."

As the dock drew closer, the chatter gradually died down. Everyone began straightening their clothes and preparing to disembark.

"The Red Hair Pirates' ship isn't here either." Van frowned slightly. "Have they already left East Blue?"

Anyone who had watched One Piece knew that before the official story began, the Red Hair Pirates had already dominated the New World and become one of the Four Emperors.

But at this point in time, there were only three pirate emperors in the New World. Shanks, captain of the Red Hair Pirates, could only be considered a newly famous "super rookie."

What was more, after attacking a World Government transport ship last year, they had inexplicably come to the weakest sea, East Blue. It was truly baffling.

Outsiders did not know the details, but Van knew that Shanks was looking for the son of the "Pirate King," Roger.

He believed Roger had most likely entrusted his son, Ace, to the Marine hero Garp, so he had come to Foosha Village as soon as he returned to East Blue.

Because of his identity, he did not dare make a big spectacle of it and could only investigate quietly. Instead, he first met Garp's grandson, Monkey D. Luffy.

Of course, he had not given up searching for Ace. He had continued using Foosha Village as a base while gathering information throughout East Blue.

Unfortunately, Garp had hidden Ace well. Ace had been living in the mountains, and very few people knew about it, so Shanks had yet to find him.

"Qiangbalu, stay behind and guard the ship. Drake, take the others into the village to buy supplies, then find somewhere to settle down yourself."

The others had no objections to Van's arrangements. Only Baby-5 voiced the question in her heart.

"Van, aren't you coming down?"

Before Van could answer, her little companion impatiently jumped onto the dock.

Law turned back and urged, "Why do you care so much? Hurry up and get down. We're not waiting for you."

Van smiled and rubbed Baby-5's head, then handed Drake a bag of money and a Den Den Mushi.

"Keep this Den Den Mushi safe. I'll give the other one to Baby-5. If anything important happens, use it to contact me."

"Okay! I'm leaving!"

Without another word, Drake took Baby-5's hand and led her off the ship.

After they had gone some distance, Van called Qiangbalu over and quietly instructed him, "Besides protecting the ship and Blue Moon, keep an eye on those people."

"Drake and the others are too young. I can understand them being soft-hearted, but you're not a child. Don't let them fool you."

He was referring to Elena and the others. When he had planned to drive them away earlier, Drake had pleaded for them, and the other youngsters had expressed roughly the same sentiment.

So he had not insisted on his way and had chosen to let the matter rest for now.

"Don't worry, Captain!" Qiangbalu patted his chest in assurance. "If that woman dares make any suspicious move, I definitely won't go easy on her!"

"Good! When you handle things, I'm at ease!"

After giving his instructions, Van did not waste any more time and went ashore alone.

After asking around, he found PARTYS BAR, run by Makino.

This had been Luffy's childhood cafeteria. He had basically eaten and slept here.

It was not until Luffy ate the Gum-Gum Fruit and spent every day shouting that he wanted to become the Pirate King that Garp threw him into the back mountain to keep Ace company.

Only after that did Makino learn about Ace and Sabo. She often brought things to visit them.

"Had Luffy eaten the Gum-Gum Fruit by now?"

With that question in mind, Van pushed open the bar door and walked inside.

"Hello, what would you like?"

Makino was extremely welcoming. Before she even finished speaking, she had started pouring a drink.

"Just a few drinks. Bartender, recommend something."

Van sat down at the bar first, then turned his head to survey the place.

There were not many customers at the moment. Only a few people dressed like villagers sat further inside, drinking and chatting.

"You look unfamiliar, sir. Did you arrive in Foosha Village today?" Makino handed him a drink. "This one is on the house. If you don't like the taste, I can get you something else."

Van picked up the glass and took a sip, smiling. "Thank you! I'll have this one."

"I'm glad you like it. I'll get you two bottles first. If that isn't enough, I'll go to the storeroom for more."

Makino smiled in return, then bent down and took two bottles from beneath the bar, placing them in front of Van.

"This place seems quite peaceful. Pirates don't usually come here to cause trouble, do they?"

Van pretended not to know anything as he drank and casually gathered information.

"Pirates occasionally come through, but they're generally quite well-behaved. It's the mountain bandits on the island who often come to make trouble..."

Since business was slow, Makino had nothing else to do and was happy to have someone to talk to.

After finishing two bottles, Van had learned several things that were not difficult to ask about.

For example, Garp only returned two or three times a year. There was no fixed schedule, and he never stayed long.

And the Red Hair Pirates had clashed with mountain bandits in the bar two days ago. They had left that very day, and no one knew whether they would return.

To keep Makino from becoming suspicious, Van deliberately did not mention Luffy, but he could roughly guess the situation.

The bandit king had already appeared, which meant Luffy had eaten the Gum-Gum Fruit. He just did not know whether Luffy had put on the Giant Straw Hat yet.

"That's enough drinking for today. Thank you for your hospitality, bartender."

Van took out a ten-thousand Beli bill, placed it on the bar, and turned to leave.

"That's too much!" Makino hurriedly opened the cash box. "Let me get your change!"

"Put the extra on my tab! You're beautiful, and the drinks are good. I'll be back."

Van did not look back. He waved as he walked out of the bar.

He looked at the sky and found that it was getting late, so he headed straight back to the ship.

"Van, we bought everything. Drake didn't come back with us."

"Mm. I'll go check on him tomorrow, then we'll leave this place."

Van sighed. Without even eating dinner, he went into his room to rest.

The next morning, he entered the village alone. He had planned to visit Drake using the address, but unexpectedly ran into Luffy halfway there.

The little guy was only seven years old. He wore a T-shirt and shorts resembling a Marine uniform, and he was filthy from head to toe. One look was enough to tell how wild he was.

"He isn't wearing the Straw Hat..."

Van's heart stirred. He suppressed the urge to go up and speak to him, pretending to wander around as he silently followed behind Luffy.

Then he saw that Luffy was unbelievably energetic. He wanted to catch every chicken he saw and tease every dog he came across. He could not stay still for even a second.

It was not until near noon that he rubbed his little belly and returned to the bar, still wanting more.

"Makino! I'm hungry!"

He had not even entered when his shout reached inside, immediately drawing every customer's attention.

Unfortunately, there was only one group of customers inside: the mountain bandits who had come a few days earlier.

[Ding! Detected that the host is in Foosha Village. Fate event triggered: Sorrow of the Severed Arm]

[Fate Anchors: 3]

[Anchor traits: Destined One, Inheritance, Madman]

"It was worth making a special trip here, but does fate only stir when there's a major plot event, or something that has the greatest impact on a core character?"

"Nothing was triggered with Sanji before. Could it be that leaving the Vinsmoke Family was not what affected him the most, while surviving the shipwreck with Zeff was?"

"This is a little troublesome. I only know the shipwreck will happen next year, not the exact time or place..."