Watching Roger's Execution at the Start of My Life in One Piece

"Absolute justice can sometimes turn people into weapons. I've decided to let you leave this island... Nico Robin."

Kuzan stood on the shore, watching her receding figure. Once Nico Robin disappeared from sight, he turned toward the warship without a trace of hesitation. Behind him, the setting sun stretched his shadow endlessly across the ground...

September, Sea Circle Calendar 1500. Shimotsuki Village, East Blue.

Atlas was fourteen that year... and her fifteenth birthday was approaching.

Three days had passed since Atlas arrived in Shimotsuki Village. Koshiro had first tested her fundamentals and was surprised to find them far stronger than he had expected. That reassured him somewhat. Even if he did not want to offend the Marines, he had no desire to entrust his swordsmanship to a fool.

Koshiro also adjusted how Atlas applied her strength and held her sword. Wano Country truly deserved its reputation for producing swordsmen, and Koshiro himself placed particular importance on the fundamentals. When Zoro had first begun training, Koshiro had taught him no specific sword techniques. He had simply told him to polish his foundations, allowing his hard work to pay off later.

That had been partly due to Zoro's exceptional talent, but his solid foundations mattered just as much. Of course, his talent for naming techniques was beyond question too. Names like "Three Thousand Worlds" and "Nothing I Cannot Cut" were almost absurdly flashy. After Koshiro's corrections, Atlas found her strikes sharper and her movements smoother.

On her fourth morning in Shimotsuki Village, Atlas was running around the village to build her stamina. As she reached the shore, a News Coo flew past. She immediately called it over to buy a paper. She normally read the news, but she had been too busy studying swordsmanship these past few days to subscribe.

The News Coo stared at Atlas with innocent eyes, its wings wrapped tightly around the newspapers it carried.

Atlas did not know whether to laugh or cry. Did she look like someone who would steal a newspaper to save fifty Beli?

Still, fifty Beli was expensive. It matched Chopper's bounty, even after his two years of training.

After paying, Atlas took the paper beneath a tall tree and sat down to read it at her leisure.

She unfolded it, and three large words leaped out at her: "Buster Call." Her expression grew grave. A Buster Call was a merciless attack that burned everything in its path. Authorized by the World Government and assembled by Marine Headquarters, it unleashed indiscriminate destruction on a designated area, wiping out anything and anyone there that might threaten the World Government's rule.

It involved a Golden Den Den Mushi and a Silver Den Den Mushi. The Golden Den Den Mushi issued the order to launch the Buster Call; the Silver Den Den Mushi received it. They were controlled by the Three Admirals and the Fleet Admiral, though a Golden Den Den Mushi could also be entrusted to someone else.

A Buster Call deployed ten warships, five Vice Admirals, and elite Marine forces. Its warships were surely among the Marines' toughest and most heavily armed, built by the official shipyards of Water 7. Their quality was unquestionably top-tier, and small Sea Kings would pose little trouble for them.

Each warship carried roughly a thousand ordinary Marines, making thousands of elite troops in all. That was no force to dismiss. Compared with common pirate lackeys who acted on their own, these well-trained soldiers were far more formidable. If the Marines could be ignored, pirate underlings counted for even less.

There were also ten officers the reports rarely mentioned. With five Vice Admirals commanding ten warships, each ship would need its own captain; the Vice Admirals could hardly command two vessels apiece. Those captains were likely Rear Admirals or Commodores, elite fighters whose strength fell somewhere between a Vice Admiral's and a captain's. In short, a Buster Call meant five Vice Admirals, ten Rear Admirals, nearly ten thousand elite Marines, and ten top-tier warships. What a terrifying force!

Atlas searched her memory for everything she knew about Buster Calls, then read on. As expected, the article concerned the Ohara Incident. Only a handful of Buster Calls had appeared in the story, and the timing fit: the Ohara Incident had occurred in Sea Circle Calendar 1500.

Combining the newspaper's account with her memories, Atlas pieced together what had happened on Ohara.

A group of scholars had sought the truth of history. Defying the World Government's ban, they had secretly gathered and translated Poneglyphs. When the World Government discovered them, it decided to launch a Buster Call and destroy Ohara.

The Ohara Incident had left a stain on Akainu's record that could never be erased. Suspecting that scholars might be hiding aboard the evacuation ship, he had ordered it shelled. Atlas could not judge the matter from where she stood, but she could never accept what he had done.

As for Ohara's scholars, Atlas thought they had been far too naive.

Seeking historical truth was a historian's calling. But the World Government had explicitly forbidden their research, and pressing on regardless had been painfully self-absorbed. The scholars might have been prepared to die for their cause, but what had the island's residents done to deserve that fate? The scholars had failed to foresee the consequences. Even if they uncovered the truth, they lacked the power to protect it. They were admirable people, but tragic ones too.

Atlas set those thoughts aside and prepared to return to the dojo to ask Koshiro about the Iron-Cutting Realm.

As she closed the newspaper, a wanted poster slipped out, revealing a portrait of a dark-skinned little girl.

Devil Child! Bounty: 79 million Beli!

A Year and the Cutting of Iron

January, Sea Circle Calendar 1502. Shimotsuki Village, East Blue.

Beneath a towering cherry tree sat a young woman in a black training robe. She sat straight-backed and cross-legged, an unsheathed sword resting across her long legs. Her closed eyes and peaceful expression contrasted with the sharp lines of her face. It was Atlas, still training in swordsmanship at Shimotsuki Village. More than a year had passed since her arrival, and she had turned sixteen. Her birthday was in January, after all.

Suddenly, Atlas's eyes snapped open. She narrowed her piercing gaze, and an invisible pressure spread from her.

Atlas sprang to her feet and drew her sword. Her scabbard struck the trunk with a resounding bang. The great cherry tree shuddered, shedding a flurry of blossoms. Beneath it, Atlas began to move her blade. Fierce flashes of steel swept through the falling petals, yet not one petal bore a cut. Had Koshiro been there, he would have applauded in wonder. She had mastered the Iron-Cutting Realm!

—One year earlier—

"Mr. Koshiro, I feel as though my swordsmanship has reached a bottleneck. No matter what I do, I can't reach the next level."

Atlas sat on a cushion in the sitting room and looked toward Koshiro in the seat of honor.

"Heh... The next level you're speaking of is probably the Iron-Cutting Realm. Only after reaching it can someone truly be called a swordsman."

Koshiro wore his usual gentle smile as he explained without hurry.

"Oh? Then how does a swordsman cut through steel, Mr. Koshiro? I'd be grateful if you would teach me."

Atlas unconsciously straightened her already upright back.

"Come. I'll demonstrate outside."

Koshiro headed out, and Atlas followed.

Winter had arrived. Layers of snow covered the bare landscape. Apart from the Grand Line's changeable weather, the four seas followed fairly normal seasons. Though both wore thin training robes, neither felt the cold.

As if by magic, Koshiro produced a sheet of white paper from somewhere and tossed it into the air. He drew Wado Ichimonji. A cold flash cut through the wintry stillness, but the paper remained untouched. It drifted down along its original path, settled on the snow, and was soon buried by fresh flakes...

Atlas was stunned. She was no ignorant child. Wado Ichimonji was one of the Twenty-One Great Grade Swords. Even an ordinary person with no sword training could cut through metal with it, much less a sheet of paper. Koshiro's control over his strength was extraordinary.

"There are swordsmen in this world who can cut nothing at all, yet with that same blade they can cut steel and even harder things. The strongest swordsmanship protects what one wishes to protect and cuts what one wishes to cut. A blade that harms everything it touches is no sword to me."

Koshiro was explaining his own swordsmanship to Atlas: a conviction rooted in protection. Conviction mattered greatly in the world of the Pirate King. Without it, reaching the summit was impossible; once it shattered, a person's strength could slowly fade. Former Marine Admiral Zephyr, for instance, had believed in a justice that did not kill. Pirates had taken his family, and the World Government had later betrayed him. His faith broke, driving him to extremes even as his strength declined.

Atlas had her own conviction: to become the strongest. She did not mean the World's Strongest Man, like Whitebeard. She wanted to break through the limits of this world and become invincible. But she would not become a slave to power. She had her own sense of justice too: "When poor, cultivate yourself; when prosperous, help all under heaven." The Chinese culture of her previous life had shaped her deeply. And once she reached the summit...

"Mr. Koshiro, what does that have to do with cutting steel?"

Atlas pulled herself from her thoughts and met his eyes.

"Ah! Sorry, I got carried away."

"Everything in the world has a breath. To cut steel, you must follow the breath of steel."

Koshiro explained patiently.

"And you've already awakened Observation Haki, haven't you? Sensing the breath of all things should come easily to you."

Without waiting for Atlas to answer, Koshiro smiled.

Atlas fell into thought. Sense the breath of all things? It sounded like a lesser version of the Voice of All Things, the pinnacle of Observation Haki. Then Observation Haki really should help...

When she looked up to speak, she found that Koshiro had quietly left.

Over the following months, Atlas continued strengthening her body and practicing hand-to-hand combat. She also tried using Observation Haki to sense the breath of all things, but made no progress. When she sought Koshiro out, he told her that her swordsmanship still needed time to mature. He was right. She had studied the sword for barely over two years, and it was not even her only discipline. Despite drilling her basic strikes countless times, something about them remained unsteady. So she settled down and carefully honed her skills...

At last, on the day Atlas had just turned sixteen, she sensed the breath of all things and truly became a swordsman!

"Wow! Big Sister Kanos, you're amazing!"

A little voice came from behind a nearby tree. It belonged to Kuina, Koshiro's daughter, a little girl with black hair, dark eyes, and two short pigtails. Atlas had noticed her hiding there long ago but had said nothing. It was hardly the first time.

Kuina was now over a year old. Perhaps people in this world were simply stronger than average, because she could already run and jump. Growing up in the dojo had made her fond of swords early on, and she often sneaked over to watch Atlas practice. Atlas did not mind. Her Observation Haki let her keep an eye on Kuina while the girl played, a small way to repay Koshiro. Kuina was still too young to understand swordsmanship; she had cried out simply because Atlas's movements looked so impressive.

"Big Sister Kanos, it's time to go back and eat."

Kuina rubbed her empty stomach and called out to Atlas.

Atlas stood, brushed imaginary dust from her clothes, then picked up little Kuina and settled her on one broad shoulder. Together they headed toward the dojo.

In the distance, their two figures disappeared amid the falling cherry blossoms...

Wiping Out a Pirate Crew Along the Way

Morning sunlight spilled gently across the blue sea, while gulls cried overhead now and then...

Shimotsuki Village, East Blue.

A simple sailboat waited beside the uneven shoreline. On the beach stood Atlas, a young woman two and a half meters tall with refined features. Powerful muscles stretched her clothes, giving her an imposing grace. She had spent the past year training in Shimotsuki Village.

Facing her were the smiling Koshiro and his wife, Haiti, and Kuina, whose eyes brimmed with tears. Haiti looked much healthier than she had when Atlas first met her, with color restored to her cheeks.

Atlas vaguely remembered hearing in her previous life that Haiti had died when Kuina was very young, so she had deliberately raised the matter with Koshiro.

Claiming to know a little medicine, Atlas had told Koshiro that something might be wrong with Haiti's health and urged him to find a skilled doctor to examine her.

Atlas had wanted to try the Horse Talisman's power herself, but unfortunately it worked only on her own body.

Koshiro had somehow found a doctor, though he had kept the arrangements mysteriously hidden from Atlas. Fortunately, after the doctor treated Haiti, her health and complexion improved considerably.

The matter had also brought Atlas closer to Koshiro's family. They no longer treated her like the stranger she had been at first, and the sudden news of her departure saddened them. Kuina had even cried. No matter how fiercely determined the little girl was, she had a tender side too.

After reaching the Iron-Cutting Realm a few days earlier, Atlas had decided to say goodbye. She had paid someone "a small fortune" to build a simple boat within days, sturdy enough to reach Loguetown. She had even chosen this fine, clear day to set sail.

"This is far enough. Goodbye, Mr. Koshiro. And Kuina, I hope you'll be all grown up the next time I visit."

Atlas smiled as she bid the family farewell, teasing Kuina at the end.

"Sniff... I will! Next time we meet, I'm going to beat you, Big Sister Kanos!"

Kuina sniffled and spoke with fierce determination.

"Hahahaha! I'll be waiting, Kuina!"

Atlas laughed, leaped aboard, and cut the mooring rope with her sword. She raised the sail, and the boat followed the wind and current out to sea...

Two days had passed since Atlas left Shimotsuki Village. At sea, her training consisted of swimming to build stamina, her daily sword drills, and meditation.

She did not want to eat a Devil Fruit yet, and she had not found one with a suitable power. For now, she could swim freely through the sea.

Swimming was an excellent way to build stamina. Someday, she wanted to cross the Calm Belt under her own power, just as Silvers Rayleigh had. The thought alone sent her pulse racing. That was the romance of the sea!

Koshiro had taught her to meditate. Before that, she had cobbled together her own method, which had been far less effective.

After more than a year of meditation, her Observation Haki could cover half an island. She had become remarkably proficient, though she did not know whether to credit her unusually strong mind or Koshiro's method.

Sailing was dull once her training was done. A red glint flashed through Atlas's eyes as she released her Observation Haki without restraint. At once, the world around her seemed clearer.

Suddenly, a pirate ship entered its range.

What timing. I'm bored anyway, so I might as well practice on them. They'll make a fine gift for Colonel Randall, too. I'm already a little later than the year we agreed on.

Atlas warmed up and loosened her limbs. She might as well give the pirates a proper send-off.

Before long, the pirate ship drew close to her little sailboat. Its Jolly Roger bore a skull and an iron hammer, while the ship itself was rather shabby. They were probably an obscure crew; otherwise, surely they would not be sailing such a wreck.

Then again, that was a little unfair. Pirates produced nothing and lived for pleasure. Whenever they stole money, they spent it at once. As for their ships, they demanded little beyond the ability to stay afloat.

That was the state of most pirates.

As the vessels neared each other, the Iron Hammer Pirates spotted Atlas alone and promptly decided to rob her.

"Hey, kid! Want me to give you a ride? Hahahaha!"

The Iron Hammer Pirates' captain leaned out with a ridiculous grin.

"Sure. Sorry for the trouble, but could you take me to the Marine Base in Loguetown?"

As though oblivious to their hostile intent, Atlas hopped aboard the pirate ship.

"Hey, hey! Cut it out, brat! Do you know who I am?"

Atlas's move startled Haohei. In all his years as a pirate, he had never met anyone so heedless of danger.

He was a pirate! The kind who burned, killed, and robbed! Could she at least show a little fear?

Haohei's face twisted into a snarl.

Slash!

A blood-red flying slash burst from the standard-issue sword Atlas had drawn. It split Haohei, captain of the Iron Hammer Pirates, cleanly in two. The cut was perfectly smooth. Still carrying force, the slash struck several unlucky pirates behind him and sent them sprawling, their fates uncertain...

"What the hell was that?"

"Her sword didn't even touch the captain! How did she kill him?"

The remaining pirates erupted in panic, terrified of something they could not understand. Swordsmen were rare across the four seas, especially here in the East Blue, the Weakest Sea.

Atlas offered no explanation. Holding her sword out, she cut through the small fry as easily as vegetables without using a single technique. Then she wiped the blood from her blade on a pirate lying on the deck.

Naturally, Atlas took possession of the ship and searched it for supplies. A big ship was much faster than her little boat. Now she would probably reach Loguetown in just one day!

Well, nothing beats an unexpected windfall. This was worth it...

A Mix-Up

"Woooo..."