Strange News

[Timeline: The protagonist is three years older than Luffy, and set sail three years earlier than him as well.]

[This book relies on Haki and Fruits complementing each other. Fruits need to go along with Haki to become even more formidable, because this Fruit controls seawater, capable of unleashing tsunamis, undersea earthquakes, waterspouts, and so on. However, when encountering people like Aokiji or Yamato, it is naturally countered.]

[Therefore, one must combine Haki by infusing it onto seawater, much like Bullet's Merge-Merge Fruit.]

[This Fruit is not invincible right from the start, but its upper limit is very high and requires gradual development. My design is that in the later stages, he can awaken into the Zoan-type: Sea God Poseidon Form.]

[Another point is that in the early stages, the protagonist kills few people, focusing mainly on the passionate, hot-blooded lifestyle in One Piece. Please do not call it 'saintly'; later on, the protagonist will not spare a single enemy when he kills them, just like killing Kozuki Momo.]

[All of these are the settings of this book. Dear readers who consider these to be minefields, you may drop the book now.]

[My lords, please go easy on the flaming!!]

Ever since the Battle of Valley of Gods many years ago, aside from admirals taking office, there had rarely been news in these seas capable of stirring up ripples.

On this day, a slightly "strange" report was delivered to the marshal's office in Marineford.

"Ahahahahaha!"

Old man Garp's voice boomed like a bell. Even though his mouth was stuffed full of donuts, it could hardly muffle his laughter, which seemed capable of "flipping over" the marshal's office.

Sengoku reprimanded Garp with a look of utter "disgust": "Shut up! I just had Tsuru bring that up, and you've eaten the whole lot!"

White smoke billowed from Sengoku's head, clearly showing he was more than a little furious.

Vice Admiral Tsuru wore a face full of dark lines as she looked at Garp's smug grin. "What on earth are you laughing at? Don't tell me it's about the gastronomy festival in Sokafia again?"

That gastronomy festival was a specialty of the Kingdom of Sokafia, a realm under the jurisdiction of the World Government.

It was a kingdom renowned for its cuisine, where meat-based delicacies alone numbered over thirty-seven hundred varieties, not to mention dessert types numbering a staggering four to five thousand.

Whenever the festival arrived, countries all over the world would dispatch people to see if they could harvest any new culinary varieties, and even pirates would come here.

It could be considered a rare summit, but due to the year before last, the "Four Emperors" Charlotte Linlin had directly sent her second son Katakuri to hijack multiple master chefs within the kingdom.

With no other choice, they appealed to the World Government for help. Due to it being the sphere of influence of the Four Emperors, the Marines had no alternative but to send an admiral to exert pressure, which finally forced them to retreat.

After all, crossing an entire continent just to find master chefs was probably something only she could pull off.

Every year, Garp would board a ship to go on so-called "patrols" there, which in reality was nothing more than slacking off and gorging himself.

After all, who could resist delicious roast meat and fragrant donuts?

"It's not that."

"Hahahaha, don't be mad. I'll have my adjutant ship another boatload of donuts over to you later."

"Garp!! I've told you before not to use warships to transport donuts anymore," Tsuru said helplessly upon hearing Garp's words.

"Fine, fine, fine, I know."

"Then what else could possibly make an old fogey like you laugh out loud?"

"Could it be that your grandson has finally started behaving?"

As soon as Vice Admiral Tsuru mentioned his grandson, Garp's face clouded with dark lines. Naturally, he thought of that grandson of his who kept shouting about becoming a pirate, giving him endless headaches.

Garp pushed the newspaper over for them to see. After reading it, Sengoku burst into hearty laughter, and even the normally aloof Tsuru could not help cracking a smile.

The newspaper reported a single event: on the seventeenth, the World Government's elite spy organization, CP0, suffered one heavy injury and three minor injuries while capturing an ape-man, and was forced to retreat in a disastrous defeat! It caused quite a sensation!

This report only amounted to a few words because, concerning the confidential organization of the World Government, much of it had naturally been excised.

One had to know that the World Government's highest-level spy organization was renowned far and wide.

Whether in strength or control, they were universally acknowledged as formidable. For them to suffer heavy injuries while merely capturing a single ape-man was truly baffling!

Tsuru and Sengoku only chuckled for a moment before catching a hint of something unusual in the news.

The office suddenly grew quiet, save for the sound of Garp chewing his donut and a nearby goat rubbing its horns.

Finally, someone broke the silence. Tsuru said in a measured, unhurried tone, "Things they set their sights on are probably items the nobles are dying to get their hands on!"

What could that possibly be?

"A Fruit, a map, or perhaps some sort of intelligence?"

Tsuru cut the figure of a wise tactician, analyzing the situation with considerable sharpness.

After all, the World Government and the Marines were merely in a subordinate relationship; there were some matters that they, the Marines, had to guard against as well!

"Right, I suspect it's a Fruit," Sengoku took up the thread and said.

Then, pointing a finger, he said in a deep voice, "Look at the location where they clashed."

"Near Valley of Gods?"

Tsuru asked with a trace of curiosity.

"That's right! It's near the Valley of Gods from back then, though some other islands are now floating around the surrounding area."

The Valley of Gods, which had flourished at its peak, vanished without a trace after that "War of the Gods".

Even in history, only scraps were recorded, and the specific details of the great battle could not be found anywhere.

Upon hearing "Valley of Gods," Garp set the donut in his hand to the side.

With Valley of Gods involved, he grew serious as well.

After all.

An organization that had once forced both him and the former Pirate King Roger to join forces to deal with it had fallen right there.

"Rocks..." Garp muttered.

On a certain stretch of sea in the Grand Line, a small boat drifted upon the waves.

"Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo!" A man breathed heavily.

He pressed a massive palm against several bleeding wounds on his body.

"Good thing! I didn't get caught by that bunch."

"Still, this Fruit was finally snatched into my hands!"

The man gazed at the azure Fruit before him.

"Yet a Fruit that even those people would risk their lives to protect must possess terrifying power, shouldn't it?"

"Waaaaahhhh!" The crying of an infant interrupted his soliloquy.

"This is truly troublesome. Why on earth would there be a human baby on that deserted island?"

He lifted the infant's clothes with one hand, examined it with curiosity, and then shook it in his hand like a ticking pendulum.

An envelope-like sheet of paper slipped out, shaken loose by the motion.

"Rocks D. Swain."

"Oh ho, little one, so your name is Swain."

"Wait... Rocks?!" he cried out in alarm.

Naturally, he was extremely familiar with this surname.

His eyes narrowed slightly as if he had recalled certain matters.

He hailed from a special race, the Wise Ape People.

This race was naturally endowed with the talent to learn all kinds of abilities.

However, nowadays only he remained.

Because they had committed a "grave sin"—one that was connected to that pirate named Rocks.

Solely because of this single charge, the World Government had dispatched assassins to slaughter his entire clan down to the last person!

Having witnessed that bloody scene in his youth, he still found it unforgettable to this day. Yet the hatred in his heart only grew deeper with the passage of time.

Rocks...

The Battle of Valley of Gods... What on earth happened?

He had also gone to explore it once, but came away with no discoveries. The last time he went was more than a dozen years ago.

Peering through the water's surface, he saw his own reflection mirrored back. He instinctively touched his face; his beard had already turned white...

Even though he had witnessed the might of the Celestial Dragons, that vengeful heart had never been extinguished!

Gazing at the infant before him, he remained long unsettled.

Perhaps I can use him to carry out my revenge? What if he is the descendant of that pirate?

Rocks—a pirate who marked the close of the previous era. Three of his crew members were among the current Four Emperors, and among them was even the pirate Shiki, who bore the title of a legend.

No matter what, he was a legend.

He closed his eyes as if, upon recalling that man's terrifying strength, his body trembled involuntarily.

Whether it was out of terror, or the agitation of newfound hope...