Pirate King Roger's Conqueror's Destiny
Sea Circle Calendar, year 1510. Dunkirk, in the North Blue.
Dunkirk had long been known as the "great port," a place where adventurers, pirates, pirate hunters, underground assassins, the Navy, and countless other factions mingled. Both legitimate commerce and shady dealings flourished within its harbor. Despite the many factions on the island, Dunkirk remained remarkably orderly. Almost no one dared cause trouble there.
That was thanks to the power behind Dunkirk—the Dunhold Family. This powerful family had long maneuvered between the various factions, fostering thriving businesses on the island and a prosperous inter-island shipping industry. A guard force made up of Navy personnel, pirate hunters, and independent adventurers stood ready to protect all of Dunkirk at any moment!
But now, everything had changed for the Dunhold Family. Everyone in town hid behind closed doors, while the streets lay strewn with the bodies of the former guards. Blood flowed freely, staining the Dunhold Family's once-glorious estate red.
The island's ordinary residents were naturally bewildered. Only after reading the newspapers in the aftermath did they learn what had happened.
The head of the Dunhold Family, who was also a rear admiral of the Navy's 11th Branch—Dunhold Anthonydas—had allegedly colluded with pirates to assassinate the Celestial Dragons. He had also massacred civilians on an island in the Grand Line. Following a fair trial at Enies Lobby on Judicial Island, Antonidas had been sentenced to "Deep Sea Execution." Every member of the Dunhold Family in Dunkirk, North Blue, would also be punished as an accomplice, to eliminate any future threat!
Replacing the Dunhold Family was an even more terrifying family—the Donquixote Family of the North Blue!
Everyone was uneasy. No one knew how the new rulers would treat the town, and speculation ran rampant.
On Dunkirk's Cross Commercial Street, someone held up a newspaper and offered his opinion on the matter.
"How could Lord Antonidas possibly have massacred civilians?" A potbellied brewery owner spoke to the old fruit seller beside him. "He was always so fair and strict. Was I wrong about him? Can you really never know what's in someone's heart? Or is this news just fake..."
The old man's face suddenly filled with alarm. Before the brewery owner could finish, he hurled an apple straight at his head.
"Ow!" the brewery owner cried out in pain, his sentence still unfinished.
"Shh!" The old man gestured for silence, then glanced around to make sure no one had heard. Only then did he let out a relieved breath. "Don't go saying things like that in broad daylight! Don't even mention it to your wife when you get home. Take it to your grave!"
"Huh?" The brewery owner looked utterly baffled by the scolding. Seeing how nervous the old man was, he laughed. "Aren't you being a little too timid? It's just the news. I'm only talking about it. Surely I'm still allowed to speak."
The old man sighed, closed his eyes to rest, then spoke.
"Say whatever you like, but you'd better stay away from me. Don't blame me for not warning you if you end up dead!"
The brewery owner suddenly shuddered. Out of the corner of his eye, he seemed to sense someone watching him from the shadows.
Could it be someone from the Donquixote Family's new guard force?
He promptly dropped the subject and soon put the news out of his mind. No matter how the world changed, he still had liquor to sell.
Meanwhile, in a narrow alley between the buildings, a boy sat on a battered, dusty water bucket. His expression was grim, and he tightly clutched a filthy newspaper he had picked up off the street. Printed prominently on it were photographs of every important member of the Dunhold Family.
One of them bore the caption: Dunholde Aeneas, son of the criminal Antonidas. Confirmed dead!
Beneath the boy's dark expression, confusion lingered in his eyes. His face was identical to Aeneas's in the photograph. What was going on?
In truth, this boy was not from this world. He came from Earth—or rather, he had come from Earth in his previous life.
Yes, from his perspective, he had transmigrated, becoming an eight-year-old child.
And he had landed in the world of One Piece!
In his previous life, he had been a nobody, the sort of person who disappeared into a crowd. Now that he had transmigrated into the world of One Piece, perhaps his years as a fan would let him take advantage of his knowledge of the plot. And what if he had some kind of cheat? Wouldn't he have it made?
But when he first woke up, he found himself lying amid a pile of corpses, having become a little child. What ordinary person from a peaceful era had ever seen anything like that? His first thought upon arriving in this world had been to simply kill himself.
Who could understand what it felt like to open his eyes to blood and entrails scattered all over the ground, while the foul stench of corpses assaulted his nose?
However, the appearance of the Lottery System had changed his mind about suicide.
The Lottery System had given him a single draw to start with, and he had immediately won a grand prize—a reward rated "Miracle Grade." He had been delighted when he received it.
"Pirate King Roger's Conqueror's Destiny!"
"A mysterious Devil Fruit!"
Together, these two things constituted the "Miracle Grade" reward.
The chill and ominous feeling the brewery owner had experienced moments earlier had come from the boy's instinctive reaction to his discussion of the news. That reaction stemmed from the Pirate King Roger's Conqueror's Destiny he had only recently acquired.
Though it was still extremely weak, its potential was limitless!
Conqueror's Haki!
The Voice of All Things!
The charisma to win people over!
And many other things that would gradually shape him.
All of these would one day belong to him, so he could not simply die here.
So your name was Aeneas! Aeneas silently repeated the name. Since I've taken over your body, I'll fulfill your final wishes for you.
The Aeneas who had come from Earth would never have felt hostility toward the brewery owner. But the body's original owner was the biological son of the criminal named in the news. Hearing the brewery owner discuss the matter as though it had nothing to do with him had stirred subconscious resentment, triggering the aggression of the Conqueror's Destiny.
Eight-year-old Aeneas could not control this ability, but with his knowledge of the story, he knew it was probably a precursor to Conqueror's Haki.
I'm still too young, and looking like this makes me anything but safe in this town!
Although Aeneas now possessed the Conqueror's Destiny, the fortune that came with it was not his. As long as Luffy was around, Aeneas could never be the protagonist!
And of course, Aeneas had no intention of killing Luffy.
He was in the North Blue, not the East Blue. Besides, considering Luffy's family and background, he had better abandon any idea of killing him to steal his fortune.
Why did I have to end up in the North Blue...
Aeneas's original plan to first build a good relationship with Ace, Sabo, and Luffy had fallen through as well. For a moment, anxiety weighed heavily on him as he gazed into the distance, unsure where his path lay.