One Piece: Starting by Refusing Red-Hair's Invitation

Though the rain had not stopped, plenty of people in raincoats were still busy at the harbor.

Rayleigh looked over the boats moored there and smiled. "Guess which one is mine. There's a prize if you get it right."

Lin Mo gave him a speechless look.

A boat?

Since when did Rayleigh need a boat to travel alone?

As Lin Mo remembered it, Rayleigh was the kind of man who had swum from the Sabaody Archipelago, across the Calm Belt, all the way to Amazon Lily by himself.

A man like that had no need for a boat.

When Lin Mo said nothing, Rayleigh laughed. "What, can't guess? Just pick one."

Lin Mo could not be bothered to argue. He pointed at a random Small Wooden Boat tied up along the shore.

Rayleigh burst out laughing again. "Hahaha! That's you, all right. You got it. That boat is mine."

Lin Mo: "?"

Rayleigh went on, "Since you guessed right, I'll do one thing for you. Good or bad, as long as it's within my power, I'll help."

Lin Mo was at a loss for words.

How had the boat he picked at random actually turned out to be Rayleigh's?

Even if it really was his, Lin Mo did not need the prize.

"No thanks," Lin Mo said. "I don't need it."

"Don't turn me down so quickly." Rayleigh smiled. "Who knows what the future holds? You're not the one who owes anyone a favor. Why refuse one that's being handed to you for free? Hahaha! It's settled. If you ever run into trouble, come find me at the Sabaody Archipelago. Well, I'm off."

With that, Rayleigh jumped onto the Small Wooden Boat. He waved to Lin Mo on the shore, then sailed toward the Grand Line.

Lin Mo watched the boat carrying Rayleigh recede into the distance. He was about to turn back toward the tavern when a startled shout rang out behind him.

"Hey! Someone's taken my boat! Bastard! Who's shameless enough to steal a little wreck like that...?"

Of course...

Lin Mo could not help chuckling.

Just then, the system's notification sounded in his mind.

"Beep! Saw Dark King Rayleigh off. Check-in progress +10%. Current total progress: 80%."

Lin Mo froze. Before he could even react, the system sounded again.

"Beep! Earned the appreciation of Marine Captain Smoker. Check-in progress +10%. Current total progress: 90%. Reward: Iron Body level +1. Current Iron Body level: Lv. 2."

Loguetown: The So-Called Experimental Subjects

At Loguetown Marine Base, Smoker had his men lock up the unidentified people who had tried to destroy Loguetown.

Once their armor was removed, the Marines made a startling discovery. Though the captives differed in height and build, every one of them had the same face!

"What's going on?" Smoker asked in shock. "Why do they all look alike?"

Aokiji stroked his chin. "Clones, maybe... They remind me of an organization from the North Blue."

"The North Blue?" Smoker stared at Aokiji. "This is the East Blue. What are people from the North Blue doing here?"

Aokiji shook his head. "I don't know. But these are just foot soldiers under someone else's control. Whoever's behind this must still be in Loguetown."

"Damn it!" Smoker's brows drew together. "They dared cause trouble in Loguetown? I'll turn the whole town upside down if that's what it takes to catch whoever's pulling the strings!"

At the harbor, Lin Mo was heading back in an excellent mood.

He had not expected that seeing Rayleigh off would trigger check-in progress. He had gained a favor from Rayleigh into the bargain. His luck was good today.

Though he had no idea why he had earned Smoker's appreciation.

At this rate, perhaps he could finish the last ten percent today.

As Lin Mo passed beneath the triangular archway at the harbor and entered the main street, a tall man approached under an umbrella. A gold mask covered the upper half of his face, and long golden curls fell around it. Four children with red, blue, green, and pink hair accompanied him, all heading toward the harbor.

Wasn't that Germa 66?

What were they doing in Loguetown?

Lin Mo gave them another look.

Germa 66 was a powerful military organization from the North Blue. A scientific fighting force led by the Vinsmoke Family, it represented the Germa 66 Kingdom.

The man walking ahead of the four children was Vinsmoke Judge, head of Germa 66's Vinsmoke Family. The children behind him, each with a different hair color, had all been born after he altered their Lineage Factors.

The pink-haired girl was Vinsmoke Reiju.

The red-haired boy was Vinsmoke Ichiji.

The blue-haired boy was Vinsmoke Niji.

The green-haired boy was Vinsmoke Yonji.

Besides being Modified Humans born through Lineage Factor alteration, all four were Sanji's siblings.

That was right.

Sanji was a child of the Vinsmoke Family too.

But the alteration of his Lineage Factor had failed. Unable to keep up with his siblings' training, he was often beaten by his brothers. His father, Vinsmoke Judge, eventually locked him away.

Later, when Germa 66 came to the East Blue to attack a certain country, Sanji escaped with Reiju's help. His father caught him, then banished him.

That was how Sanji later came to meet Zeff. After an ordeal that nearly left him starving to death, he opened the Floating Restaurant with Zeff.

But Germa 66 should have come to the East Blue several years earlier. Was their appearance in Loguetown now a coincidence, or had they planned it?

Lin Mo gave it no more thought.

Judge and the four children passed him.

"Those failures are so useless," Yonji said with a toothy grin.

Ichiji laughed. "Hah! They actually got caught by the Marines. At least we can see how loyal those Experimental Subjects are."

"This batch of Test Subjects has Detonation Devices connected to their hearts," Niji said cheerfully. "If they all go off, the Marine base will be destroyed. No, more than half this town will go with it! Hahaha! Talk about bad luck for the people here. Their town became Germa's testing ground!"

Reiju walked beside them with a smile, saying nothing.

Judge chuckled. "The Test Subjects are programmed to blow themselves up if they're captured. Even if a few Marines survive, they won't have any proof we did it. There's nothing they can do to us. Hahaha!"

Judge and the others swaggered onward.

Ichiji suddenly noticed Lin Mo. "What are you looking at?" he snapped.

"Father, I think he heard us," Niji said with a grin. "Should we get rid of him?"

Judge glanced at Lin Mo with disdain. "How much trouble can one brat cause? Ignore him. Let's go."

Judge took Reiju and the others straight out of Loguetown.

Lin Mo continued on his way, at a loss for words.

Now he understood the group with nearly identical presences that had suddenly appeared in Central Square.

Even if things went exactly as Judge and the others had said—if those so-called Test Subjects woke to find themselves captured and blew themselves up—with Aokiji and Smoker there, the damage should be contained.

Lin Mo had barely finished the thought when a tremendous explosion sounded from the direction of the Marine base.

But there was only one blast. Then it stopped.

According to Judge, if every Test Subject detonated, more than half of Loguetown would be destroyed.

The blast site should have been a sea of fire by now.

But from where Lin Mo stood, he could see nothing out of the ordinary.

It seemed Aokiji and Smoker had contained the remaining explosions.

At the Marine base, the first Clone had woken, bitten down on the Explosive in his mouth, and blown himself up.

As the other Clones began to detonate at once, Aokiji immediately used Ice Time. He froze the entire Marine base and formed a massive layer of ice around it, containing the chain of Great Explosions inside.

"Damn it!" Battered and furious, Smoker stared at the ruined base. "They blew themselves up!"

Aokiji thawed everything around him and looked at the debris scattered across the ground. "That's a shame. Now there's no evidence to show where those Clones came from."

"Damn it!" Smoker looked at the Marines around them, whose injuries ranged from minor to severe. "Aokiji, help the wounded first."

Lin Mo could more or less guess what had happened at the Marine base.

Whatever the outcome, it had nothing to do with him.

Without dwelling on it, he took the familiar alley toward the tavern.

As he passed a corner, Bartolomeo appeared.

"Lin Mo, this is bad! Remember that Demon Sword that controlled me and made me attack you? After you knocked it out of my hand that day, I left it there. Someone else picked it up, and now he's running around cutting people down with it." Bartolomeo looked frantic. "I tried to stop him, but I couldn't."

"Oh," Lin Mo replied flatly, and kept walking.

Bartolomeo froze, then hurried after him. He stepped in front of Lin Mo and walked backward, facing him. "He's already hurt a lot of people. You're the only one who can stop him now. Come with me!"

This guy...

Lin Mo gave him a sidelong glance.

Bartolomeo was the kind of person who thrived on chaos. Since when had he cared so much about helping others?

Farewell Shouldn't Be Drawn Out

Bartolomeo, that rooster-headed fool, had snatched Sandai Kitetsu from Sell-One-Sword to curry favor with Lin Mo.

Lin Mo had never once said he wanted the sword.

The rooster-head had acted entirely on his own. Whatever had happened after he carelessly left it lying around was his doing.

No matter what happened, Lin Mo had no reason to clean up his mess.

So whatever the rooster-head said, Lin Mo had no intention of helping him.

Seeing that Lin Mo still ignored him, the rooster-head grew desperate. "Don't ignore me! I'm serious. If you don't do something, more people will get hurt. Someone might even die."

"So what?" Lin Mo said without expression. "Take it to the Marines, not me."

"Huh?" The rooster-head stopped, staring blankly as Lin Mo walked past him.

Just then, a man burst out of a narrow side alley ahead of Lin Mo. He held a sword, his eyes bloodshot and his senses plainly gone.

The moment he spotted Lin Mo and the rooster-head, he roared and swung at Lin Mo, who was closest.

He was a middle-aged man who had picked up Sandai Kitetsu.

Lin Mo dodged the strike, exasperated.

The man's blade cut through empty air. He immediately shifted position and swung at Lin Mo again.

This time Lin Mo stood his ground. Facing the attack head-on, he grabbed the man's sword wrist and wrenched it hard.

But this was different from when the rooster-head had been controlled.

Sandai Kitetsu seemed fused to the man's hand. No matter how hard Lin Mo twisted his wrist, the man would not let go.

Did the longer someone remain under the Demon Sword's control, the harder it become for him to release it?

Lin Mo frowned slightly.

He coated his other hand in Armament Haki, seized Sandai Kitetsu's blade, and wrenched the sword from the man's grip by sheer force.