One Piece: Invincible from the Start

He raised his glass and took a small sip. First he nodded, then he shook his head.

The old man noticed and asked curiously, "What's wrong, kid?"

"It's good wine, but it isn't strong enough."

"Strong?"

"Yeah."

"I don't like wine with such a low alcohol content. It tastes bland."

"Oh! Is that so?"

Was I Really That Scary?

East Blue.

Above the clouds over Prothius Island floated more than a dozen islands.

The largest of them housed Golden Lion's palace.

The island had originally been called Vilmeyo. Golden Lion had discovered it after escaping from Impel Down.

He had found that many of its animals had turned ferocious after eating plants containing IQ. So he had used his power to lift the entire island into the sky and make it one of his floating islands.

He had renamed it Strong World.

For twenty years, he had kept his whereabouts hidden while researching IQ with his trusted deputy, Dr. Indigo. From his floating islands, he had plotted his return.

His plan was to unleash the animals upon Roger's birthplace, East Blue, known as the weakest of the seas. They would wreak havoc there and show the World Government the power of his revenge.

At that moment, a banquet was underway in Golden Lion's palace on Strong World.

Golden Lion had long blond hair and a ship's wheel lodged in his head. Dressed in a traditional Japanese robe with orange and yellow stripes, he was dancing on the platform below his throne with his deputy, Dr. Indigo, and a gorilla.

Golden Lion had become a little eccentric after the wheel became lodged in his head.

Sometimes he would suddenly space out or give answers that had nothing to do with the question, among other absurd antics.

Apart from dancing, he had no particular hobbies.

Below the throne, two rows of strange pirate captains sat cross-legged.

They led the minor pirate crews Golden Lion had casually brought under his command over the past twenty years.

They could not yet be called members of the Golden Lion Pirates, because Golden Lion had not formed a new crew.

They lacked strength, but they had every other trait a pirate could want.

They were cruel, cold, merciless, bloodthirsty, wicked, and lawless...

And that was exactly what Golden Lion liked about them: they had the air of true pirates.

That was why he treated them as subordinates, not companions.

The pirate captains watched Golden Lion dance as they drank, laughed, and shouted to their hearts' content.

"Huh—?"

Golden Lion, who had been dancing, suddenly stopped.

An island under his control had been cut apart. Naturally, he knew at once.

He had dropped that little island specifically to test Kuta.

A hint of amusement flashed in his eyes. Then he grinned and burst out laughing.

"Jahahahaha! That silver-haired kid isn't half bad!"

Still smiling, he took out a cigar and lit it. After a gentle puff, he turned to his deputy. "I'm going to take a look at that silver-haired kid. You lot carry on with the banquet."

"Clack! Clack!"

Dr. Indigo laughed and swayed, miming his message to Golden Lion: Go on, go on!

"Hm...?"

Golden Lion stared at him, utterly baffled.

Seeing that Golden Lion did not understand, Indigo stamped his feet in frustration, making a long string of fart-like noises.

"Pfft."

"Pfft, pfft..."

Just as Golden Lion was about to curse him out, Indigo suddenly spoke.

"I get it. Go on!"

"So you can talk!"

Golden Lion stared at Indigo in astonishment.

"Jahahahaha!"

With another laugh and a swish of his cape, Golden Lion flew swiftly out of the palace.

A wanted poster for Kuta drifted slowly down behind him.

The pirates paid Kuta's poster little attention and went on eating, drinking, and making merry.

He was just a small-time pirate with a bounty of seventy million Beli.

To Golden Lion, he was nothing.

Golden Lion was a legendary pirate who had stood alongside Pirate King Gol D. Roger and Whitebeard Edward Newgate. He possessed enough power to lay waste to the world!

He was also the first pirate in history to escape from Impel Down.

On the ground.

The bearded man had just breathed a sigh of relief when his eyes bulged. He stared up at the sky in terror.

As the dust cleared, a golden figure came into view, floating opposite Kuta.

That figure had the bearded man's full attention.

He stared at it as though he had seen something unspeakably terrifying.

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"How could an old monster like you be in East Blue?"

How could he possibly

forget the legendary pirate who had inflicted such heavy casualties on Marine Headquarters twenty years ago?

At the time, he had been training at headquarters and had witnessed Golden Lion's attack firsthand.

If he had not been too weak to take part, he had no idea whether he would have survived that battle.

Even now, he clearly remembered Marine Headquarters left half-destroyed, and the mountains of corpses and seas of blood after the fighting ended.

The nearby marines watched the bearded man yell wildly.

They were completely bewildered.

"Has the colonel lost his mind?"

They did not recognize Golden Lion. Even if they had, they could not have made him out from so far away.

One marine hurried over, grabbed the bearded man by the shoulders, and shook him.

"Colonel!"

"Colonel..."

"What's wrong, Colonel?"

The marine's shouts snapped the bearded man out of it. He froze for a moment, thoughts racing.

There's no time to waste here.

Only he knew how terrifying that golden figure in the sky was.

He glanced up at Golden Lion and forced down his fear.

Then he sprang to his feet and urgently shouted at the marines around him.

"Stop resting! This is no time to dawdle!"

"Move, move, move!"

"Gather the villagers at the docks! We need to get out of here!"

If Golden Lion was here, there might be other islands above this stretch of sea.

If those two in the sky really fought, a stray Slash could easily leave them with heavy casualties.

They were both Great Swordsmen!

And if Golden Lion dropped another island, none of them would escape.

"Why, Colonel?"

The marines did not understand.

"No time to explain! Go get the villagers! Tell them they'll all die if they don't leave! Hurry!"

The urgency and terror on the bearded man's face finally made the nearby marines take him seriously.

They scattered at once to gather the villagers.

They did not know why the colonel looked as though the sky were falling, but they knew something terrible must be about to happen.

Something that had forced him to order the evacuation of the entire island.

An Island Suddenly Fell from the Sky

Watching the marines scatter, the bearded man straightened his clothes, which had been left in disarray when he fell.

Only then did he turn and walk toward Kuina and the others, his expression grave.

He had no choice but to ask these pirates for help.

The town's boats could not hold everyone on the island. Even the marine warship would not make up the difference.

Only with Kuta's ship could they just about fit everyone.

Once they were clear of Prothius Island, they would be safe even without bringing food.

Loguetown was only a day's voyage from Prothius Island.

Ahua and his two companions grew wary when they saw the bearded man approach.

Without Kuta beside them, they felt a little less secure.

"Hey, marine! What do you want with us?"

The bearded man ignored them. He looked at Kuina solemnly, paused, and then resolve settled in his eyes.

"I know this is asking a lot," he said stiffly, "but you're the only ones who can help the townspeople now."

He paused, then dropped to his knees with a thud.

"Hey! You don't have to go that far!"

"Just tell us what you need!"

Ahua and his two companions stared at him in astonishment.

They could not imagine what had frightened this marine so badly.

Nor could they understand what had driven him to kneel before pirates like them.

The bearded man looked up at Kuina and pleaded loudly.

"Please, can you use your ship to take the villagers away from this stretch of sea?"