Pirates: Invincible from the Start

Only someone with Ahua's hefty build could swallow such a huge fruit in one bite.

The instant Ahua ate the fruit, he turned into a fat white rabbit.

He stood there with bloodred eyes, an overwhelming aura of chaos radiating from his body.

He seemed to be holding something back. His whole body trembled.

Kuta watched Ahua and seemed to realize what was happening. He hurriedly called for everyone to take a few steps back.

Ahua didn't seem able to control himself. Judging by his aura, he was definitely in a violent frenzy.

He was more than ten times stronger than before.

It looked like Kuta had guessed right again. The Goddess of Luck really did favor him.

And Ahua had managed to stumble across something like this.

Looking at the rabbit Ahua had become, Kuta couldn't stop himself from smiling.

One look told him this was an extraordinarily powerful fruit. Why had it been dismissed as worthless?

Had the illustrated guide been wrong? There were different kinds of rabbits, after all.

And A-Luo's ant was clearly no ordinary ant, either.

At that thought, Kuta gave Golden Lion a huge thumbs-up in his heart.

What a great teacher!

Not only had Golden Lion taught him plenty of swordsmanship and Haki techniques, he had also given him a doctor with exceptional medical skills.

He had even solved their navigator problem.

Now even the Rabbit Devil Fruit Kuta had thought was the most useless turned out to be a powerful Zoan Devil Fruit.

Ahua gradually regained control of himself, and the violent aura around him faded.

Everyone hurried over and stared at him curiously, waiting for an explanation.

With everyone looking at him expectantly, Ahua proudly changed back into his human form.

Unfortunately, the sight was a little hard on the eyes.

There he was, a big, burly man with two rabbit ears.

A fat, fluffy rabbit tail even poked out from his already ample backside.

On a beautiful young woman, that might have been fine.

But on a burly man, it was a bit much.

Noticing the strange looks everyone gave him, Ahua looked puzzled.

He lowered his head and inspected himself.

Only when he spotted the tail on his backside did he understand.

His face swiftly turned red, and, mortified, he darted into the kitchen like a rabbit.

Bang! He slammed the door shut.

Everyone burst out laughing as Ahua fled in embarrassment.

A-Luo laughed hardest of all.

He dropped to his knees, pounding the deck with all four hands, laughing so hard he could barely breathe.

Kuta held back his laughter and looked at the others.

"All right, all right, stop laughing. It's just a rabbit tail. What's so funny about that?"

But halfway through, he doubled over, clutching his stomach as he burst out laughing again.

Behind the kitchen door, Ahua heard the laughter outside. His face was so red it looked ready to bleed.

He took a deep breath.

Turning toward the kitchen, he suddenly spotted the refrigerator, and an idea struck him.

He quickly pushed aside his embarrassment and rushed to the refrigerator.

He opened it and rummaged through it.

Before long, he pulled out a bag of carrots.

He stared at the carrots for a moment, then turned to the stove, put on his chef's hat and apron, and began cooking at top speed.

Hearing the commotion in the kitchen, everyone outside assumed he was eating away his embarrassment.

They stopped laughing and were about to knock on the door.

Then the kitchen door suddenly opened from the inside.

Ahua emerged carrying a plate. His embarrassment was gone, and he no longer looked uncomfortable.

He walked straight up to Kuta and excitedly held out the plate.

"Kuta, try this. I've just cooked up something new."

Everyone stared at Ahua, baffled.

Had embarrassment driven him mad? Did he really think he was a rabbit now? He had made a carrot dish!

Kuta saw the excitement on Ahua's face, and his smile faded.

He could clearly sense how thrilled Ahua was. It was the excitement of someone who had discovered an enormous treasure.

Kuta looked down at the carrots on the plate, then solemnly picked one up and examined it.

Hmm. It looked no different from an ordinary carrot.

Without thinking further, he brought it to his mouth and took a bite.

"Hmm!"

One bite was enough to leave him utterly stunned. It was the second time that day he had looked like that.

He stared at the carrot in his hand, then looked up at Ahua with shining eyes, as though he were gazing at a priceless treasure.

"Is this your Devil Fruit power?"

"Mm-hmm!"

Ahua nodded again and again.

Seeing how excited Kuta and Ahua were, the others realized something was up.

They each took a carrot from Ahua's plate and started eating.

"Wow!"

"No way!"

A-Tao and A-Luo looked at Ahua, their faces flushed with excitement.

With these, they could become strong someday, too.

Indigo was even more shocked.

He had lost count of how many times his emotions had swung wildly that day.

Looking at the carrot in his hand, he mourned Golden Lion once more.

Even Kuina wore a rare look of shock after eating hers.

These carrots weren't just carrots. They were food that could help them grow stronger.

They could restore stamina at an astonishing rate.

With these, they could train to their hearts' content in Kuta's Space Domain.

Smoker ### Loguetown.

Known as the "Town of the Beginning and the End," it was the town in the East Blue closest to the entrance to the Grand Line.

It was also where the previous Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, had been born and had died.

At the Loguetown Marine Base, the Bearded Pirates had just been settled in. The villagers from Prothius Island, meanwhile, had been housed in the town's Grand Cathedral to await arrangements from the World Government.

In the white building behind the base's training ground, white smoke kept seeping through the crack beneath the Base Commander's office door.

Anyone who didn't know better would have thought the room was on fire.

But the patrolling Marines passing by showed no sign of alarm.

Clearly, they were used to the smoke.

Just then, a female Marine in a pale orange shirt patterned with pink flowers and dark blue jeans hurried over. She had short black hair and wore thick, black-framed glasses.

She pushed open the Base Commander's office door.

Standing in the smoke-filled room, she frowned and complained to the hazy figure within it.

"Captain Smoker, could you please open a window before you smoke?"

With that, she walked to the window and pushed it open.

A light breeze blew in, quickly clearing the smoke and revealing a burly man seated in an armchair behind the desk.

The man looked about thirty. He had short silver hair and sat shirtless with his legs propped on the desk, two cigars in his mouth, leaning back as he read a newspaper.

How he could read it in a room so smoky he could barely see his hand in front of his face was anyone's guess.

Smoker looked at the female Marine beside his desk, set the newspaper down, lowered his legs, and spoke to her gruffly.

"Sergeant Tashigi, don't forget your place. My business is none of your concern."

But his fierce tone and expression had no effect on Tashigi.

Tashigi raised the fax in her hand and slapped it onto the desk.

"Captain Smoker," she said sternly, "Marine Headquarters just sent word. Silver Hair Kuta, who has a seventy-million-Beli bounty, is heading for Loguetown."

"Hm? Seventy million? That's quite a bounty."

Smoker picked up the document and began reading.

"Silver Hair Kuta..."

As he read, puzzlement crossed his face. He looked up at Tashigi and asked,

"Wasn't he fighting Golden Lion above Prothius Island?"

"Has the fight already

been decided?"

Before the Loguetown Marine Base took in the Bearded Pirates, it had received word that Kuta was fighting Golden Lion.

Smoker had originally planned to go to Prothius Island himself and see if he could arrest both pirates while they were busy fighting.

But Marine Headquarters had rejected his request to set sail, so he had stayed put.

"Silver Hair Kuta got a seventy-million-Beli bounty the first time he put to sea. He even fought the legendary pirate Golden Lion and came away unscathed."

Tashigi frowned, planted both hands on the desk, and leaned forward, staring at Smoker as she spoke loudly.

"Captain Smoker, please take this seriously. We still don't know who won that fight, but the fact that he could hold his own against a legendary pirate like Golden Lion tells us how strong he is."

"So what if he could hold his own against Golden Lion?"

Smoker set down the document and replied calmly.

"You can't get this worked up over every little thing. I have my own way of doing things, all right?"

Clearly, they had yet to hear that Golden Lion was dead. If they had, things would surely have been different.

Smoker rose from the armchair, walked over to a coat rack, and threw on a long white coat with "Justice" written across the back.

Cigars covered the coat. His smoking habit had clearly gotten out of hand.