The All-Knowing Eye Sees Through Rocks

Wind carrying the smell of the sea rushed through the shattered wooden door.

Rocks stood outside the threshold. The hem of his dark red coat stopped swaying.

His bloodshot eyes fixed on Rektol hovering in midair. His gaze was like a rusted iron nail, scraping inch by inch across the baby's crimson skin.

The air in the cabin grew thick.

An invisible pressure surged in from outside the door. The wooden floor gave off tiny cracking sounds. The metal bucket beside them suddenly caved in.

Killing intent.

Killing intent made manifest.

Linlin's laughter caught in her throat. Her arm holding Rektol tensed sharply, the muscles bulging like rocks. Her rough fingers dug into the baby's thigh.

Rektol felt a stabbing pain.

But he made no sound. The three hearts in his chest seemed to sense the fatal threat, and their beating frequency suddenly skyrocketed.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The sound of his heartbeat collided with the waves outside. Blood surged through his fragile vessels like magma.

Rocks took a step forward.

His boots crushed the broken planks with a dull cracking sound. The muscles on his face relaxed, even taking on a hint of gentleness.

"Linlin, you gave birth to something good." Rocks spoke, his voice like sandpaper scraping against rust.

He walked toward Linlin. His gaze never left Rektol.

As Rocks drew closer, the pressure multiplied geometrically. Rektol felt the air being sucked from his lungs.

His vision began to blur. A needle-like pain spread through the depths of his brain.

Under this pressure, enough to crush an ordinary person, the baby's brain activated its emergency protection mechanism.

"Bzzzt—"

A sharp ringing sounded in Rektol's ears.

The world around him suddenly fell silent. The sound of the waves vanished. So did the sound of Rocks's boots striking the wooden floor.

A faint blue light veiled his vision. The outlines of everything became unnaturally clear.

The All-Knowing Eye, awakened.

His maxed-out Mind-Reading Observation Haki, powered by the extraordinary blood supply of his three hearts, directly bypassed the long period of cultivation.

Rektol saw a cloud of black mist floating around Rocks's head. Those were his thoughts made manifest.

Countless noisy voices flooded into Rektol's mind.

There were curses from the pirates outside as they fought over half a bottle of rum. There were the wails of low-ranking crewmen praying that they would not be blasted to death by cannon fire tomorrow.

But the clearest voice belonged to the man before him.

Rocks's expression was calm. But the voice in his mind was cold, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue.

"That idiot Linlin actually gave birth to a monster like this."

"Three hearts... This vitality is practically a natural weapon."

Rocks extended his withered fingers, wanting to touch Rektol's chest. The voice in his mind continued exploding in Rektol's ears.

"The God Valley Battle is coming soon. Push the entire Charlotte Family forward as cannon fodder."

"Once this brat grows a little, I'll drain all of his potential! His flesh and blood will become the nourishment that lets me rule the world!"

Hanging in midair, Rektol listened to the vicious scheme.

Old bastard, you want to use me as medicinal dregs?

Rocks's fingers were only an inch from Rektol's chest. Dark-red blood grime that had not been washed clean still clung beneath his nails.

Rektol clenched his jaw. His three hearts suddenly contracted.

He relaxed his tensed vocal cords and opened his mouth.

"Waaah—"

An ordinary, loud baby's cry rang out in the cabin. It was clear, carrying a perfectly normal sense of panic.

His two short arms flailed wildly in the air, striking Rocks's outstretched fingers with a slap. His chubby palm held no force at all.

Rocks's hand stopped.

The fervor in those dead-fish eyes faded by more than half. He withdrew his hand and wiped it disgustedly on his coat.

"So it's only a lump of flesh that knows how to cry." Rocks sneered and turned toward the door.

"Rocks, he's my son!" Linlin pulled Rektol protectively into her arms and shouted at Rocks's back.

Rocks did not turn around. He crossed the threshold, his voice drifting in on the sea wind.

"Take care of your lump of flesh, Linlin. Don't let him die in tomorrow's bombardment."

His footsteps receded. The suffocating pressure vanished with them.

Linlin muttered a curse and roughly threw Rektol back into the already-collapsed cradle. The wooden boards dug painfully into his back.

Rektol did not continue crying.

He lay amid the ruins, rolling his eyes as he stared at the broken opening in the cabin roof.

Rocks.

The most violent overlord on the sea had already been placed on Rektol's kill list.

You want to use the Charlotte Family as cannon fodder? You want to drain my potential?

Rektol opened his toothless mouth and silently exhaled. I'm not only going to leave your lousy ship and strike out on my own—I'm also going to crush your corpse beneath my feet and swallow everything you have.

You're the first stepping stone on my path to the top.

Time flew by.

The weather at sea was always unpredictable. Fierce storms and scorching sunlight alternately battered the waters.

The raids of the Rocks Pirates never ceased. Blood and treasure piled up in the lower deck.

Three years later.

An island that would become the prototype of Totto Land's main base.

The midday sun was vicious. The beach had been roasted until it was burning hot.

A child who looked about three years old crouched beside a reef. He wore an oversized pair of coarse-cloth shorts. His hair was a striking pink.

Rektol.

He gripped a solid iron rod thicker than his thigh. It was a breaching crowbar meant for adult pirates.

"Crack."

Rektol expressionlessly folded the iron rod in two with both hands. The Fine Steel rod bent into a doubled-over "U" shape.

He casually tossed the scrap metal onto the beach. A spray of scalding sand splashed up from the pit.

Though his body was only three years old, his insides were like an inexhaustible combustion engine. His three hearts beat in orderly rhythm within his chest.

During these three years, he had not trained deliberately. Merely eating and sleeping had caused his strength to explode out of control.

His peer Perospero was still playing with wooden toys on the carpet, while Rektol could already uproot a spare mast from the ship with one hand.

Yesterday, he had accidentally sneezed and blown half of the wooden cabin apart. Several unlucky pirates had their legs crushed and wailed on the deck all night.

Rektol stood and brushed the rust from his hands.

He needed a Devil Fruit now. Only a Fruit ability could fully unleash the monstrous potential of this body.

Heavy footsteps sounded in the distance. The ground trembled faintly in rhythm with them.

"Mamamama!"

Linlin's iconic wild laughter pierced half the island.

Rektol turned his head.

Linlin charged out of the forest in huge strides. Today, she wore a dress with a large polka-dotted skirt, and a fine layer of sweat covered her head.

She looked extremely excited. The corners of her mouth stretched all the way to her ears.

In her fan-sized right hand, she clutched a wooden box so tightly that cracks had already formed along its edges.

Rektol activated the All-Knowing Eye, his gaze piercing through the wooden box.

Inside lay a fruit covered in spiral patterns. It was pale yellow and gave off an overly sweet scent.

Paramecia, the Mochi-Mochi Fruit.

"I got something good!" Linlin laughed as she strode toward the nursery.

It was a newly built stone house. A new cradle had been placed inside.

A few days earlier, Linlin had given birth to the second son of the Charlotte Family, Katakuri.

Linlin reached the stone house and eagerly opened the box.

"Quick, quick, quick! Cut this Fruit up and feed it to my new son!" she shouted at the maid beside her.

The maid trembled in fright and hurriedly took a small knife.

In the cradle, the fanged baby Katakuri was sleeping soundly.

Linlin grabbed the Fruit and strode to the cradle, preparing to personally stuff the pulp into her second son's mouth.