One Piece: Starting with Kenpachi Zaraki's Legacy

He no longer bothered with a Marine's decorum and raised the bottle for a deep swig.

The strong liquor washed away the metallic taste in his mouth, and the stinging actually cleared his head considerably.

"Cough, cough..."

Onigumo lowered the bottle. The disdain in his eyes was gone, replaced by the look one gave a monster, mingled with wariness and regret.

With such monstrous strength and combat instincts at this age, if he received systematic training at Marineford headquarters, this boy would probably have a place among the Marine Admirals within ten years.

"Hey, brat."

Onigumo wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His voice was weak, but more serious than ever. "That strange Eight-Sword Style, that technique for making blades fly, and that final headbutt with no technique whatsoever, yet still lethal-who's your teacher? Even in the New World, I've never heard of a swordsmanship school like that."

At those words, Zoro, who had still been lost in shock, immediately pricked up his ears.

He stared fixedly at Lin Xuan's back, his fingers turning white around Wado Ichimonji's hilt.

He wanted the answer to that too.

The methods Lin Xuan had just used in battle had completely overturned Zoro's understanding of swordsmanship.

Those were techniques that existed for slaughter, without a single unnecessary flourish.

Lin Xuan rolled his somewhat stiff neck, an odd expression crossing his face at the question.

A teacher?

If that guy Kenpachi Zaraki knew someone was calling his way of killing a "school," he'd probably laugh his head off.

"Does someone need to teach you that stuff?"

Lin Xuan glanced casually at Onigumo and spoke as though it were obvious. "If you want to cut someone and don't have enough hands, get more swords. If you don't have a sword in your hands, headbutt them or bite them. As long as you can kill the enemy, isn't every part of your body a blade?"

His words drifted across the deck on the sea breeze, sounding like some sort of twisted doctrine.

Onigumo froze, the bottle he had just raised to his lips stopping in midair.

Zoro's mouth fell wide open, as though his entire worldview had been shaken.

"Talent... combat talent..." Onigumo murmured. At that moment, he wanted to slap himself.

He had actually tried to judge a madman by ordinary standards.

Someone who treated mortal combat as instinct simply couldn't be produced through teaching.

Just then, the pale blue screen that only Lin Xuan could see popped up before his eyes again.

[Combat settlement complete]

[Opponent defeated: Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Onigumo]

[Rating: A thoroughly satisfying crushing victory (though the finish was a headbutt)]

[Base template unlock progress: +0.5%]

[Current total progress: 14.9%]

[System points earned: 500]

Looking at the progress bar stuck at the awkward number "14.9," Lin Xuan couldn't help twitching his cheek twice.

This lousy system was doing it on purpose.

Just another 0.1% would make it a round number. The sight would drive anyone with obsessive-compulsive disorder crazy, yet it insisted on stopping right here.

What a stingy bastard.

Lin Xuan cursed irritably to himself, then opened the system shop with a thought.

He had thought defeating a Vice Admiral might refresh the shop with something good, but its interface remained as lifeless as ever. Aside from a few basic spiritual pressure recovery potions and ordinary Asauchi, row upon row of gray "Locked" icons made his eyes swim.

It seemed the shop's refresh mechanism didn't depend entirely on whom he defeated. Perhaps it required some other trigger, or that damned progress bar hadn't reached the threshold yet.

"Tch. Cheap."

Somewhat disappointed, Lin Xuan closed the interface. The golden gleam in his eyes faded completely, and he became that laid-back, black-haired boy again.

Now that the fight was over and he had received his reward, stingy as it was, it was time to consider how to wrap things up.

He turned around, about to call to the still-dazed Luffy and Zoro to leave, but behind him, Onigumo struggled to his feet amid the wreckage with two Marines supporting him.

The badly injured Vice Admiral neither flew into a rage nor called for reinforcements.

He merely drew a deep breath, his eyes fixed on Lin Xuan as though he had made some difficult decision.

"Lin Xuan... that's your name, isn't it?"

Onigumo pushed away the Marines supporting him and stumbled a step forward, his voice low and hoarse.

His gaze remained on Lin Xuan. Though his body was on the verge of collapse, he still had the presence of a Headquarters Vice Admiral.

He drew a deep breath, a rasp like broken bellows coming from his chest, seemingly suppressing the agony of his broken bones.

"With your abilities, staying cooped up in a weak sea like the East Blue is a complete waste of your life."

Onigumo raised the hand he could still move and pointed somewhere beyond the wreckage-strewn waters, a rare trace of urgency appearing on his face. "Come back to headquarters with me. There's no need to take a detour through Reverse Mountain. I have the authority to dispatch a warship straight through the Calm Belt and across the Red Line. We can reach Marineford in just three or four days."

He paused, then emphasized his next words. "There are top-tier fighters there, and systematic instruction in Haki. A monster born for battle like you can only truly come alive out on those seas."

Lin Xuan raised an eyebrow, idly spinning the empty bottle between his fingers.

Marineford?

The old man who was probably sitting behind a desk eating Senbei right now came to mind, along with that magma bastard who talked about absolute justice all day long.

What would I go there for?

To have someone telling me when to get up and fold my bedding every day?

Or to listen to those old men preach in meetings?

Most importantly, the system's template called Kenpachi Zaraki demanded unrestrained combat, the exhilaration of laughing wildly on the brink of death.

If I joined Marine Headquarters and had to file an application before cutting down a pirate, just thinking about that life was boring as hell.

"Not going."

Lin Xuan answered without hesitation.

He casually tossed the empty bottle into the sea, raising a small splash, and wore a lazy smile. "If I went to headquarters, could I still cut down whoever I wanted, like I did today?"

Onigumo froze for a moment, instinctively wanting to argue that the Marines also fought for justice. But looking into the boy's clear eyes, which reflected nothing but a desire for battle, he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.

The kid was right.

The strictly regimented Marine Headquarters truly had no room for a beast that had yet to learn to sheathe its claws and fangs.

"Besides..." Lin Xuan stretched, his joints cracking all over, and looked toward the distant meeting of sea and sky. "The sea's so big. I want to explore it myself. Find a few companions I like, take a few swings at anyone I don't-that's the life a man should lead, isn't it?"

Find crewmates and see the sea.

Rather than the smooth path laid out for him, the boy chose the uncertain but free one.

Onigumo fell silent for a moment, the regret in his eyes deepening, but he didn't insist.

As a veteran who had spent decades weathering the seas, he could see the pride in this boy's bones-it wasn't something words could sway.

"Since you have your own plans, I won't force you."

Onigumo slowly exhaled a stale breath, bracing himself against the broken railing to straighten up again. A soldier's integrity showed on his sinister face. "Although you've turned down my offer, I'll report today's results truthfully to Fleet Admiral Sengoku. Whether you acknowledge it or not, having defeated a Headquarters Vice Admiral will help you in the future."

That was true enough.

Lin Xuan didn't dislike such a straightforward personality.

Although this guy had fought pretty ruthlessly, a loss was a loss. He neither made excuses nor tried to weasel out of it. He was a real man, at least.

"Thanks, then."

Lin Xuan grinned, showing a mouthful of white teeth. "As stepping stones go, you're reasonably sturdy."

Had anyone else said that, Onigumo would probably have drawn his swords and fought them to the death on the spot. Now, however, he could only shake his head helplessly.

"I'm off."

Without another word, Lin Xuan pushed off the deck with his toes, soaring into the air like a great bird before landing lightly in his little boat drifting with the waves.

The little boat rocked a few times with the swell.

Lin Xuan glanced down at the progress bar stuck at "14.9%" in the corner of his vision, already planning his next target.

Now that I've cleared a Marine Vice Admiral, the few remaining "big monsters" in the East Blue should be nearby, right?

That Fish-Man who's supposedly the strongest in these waters...

"Hopefully he can fill in that damned 0.1% for me," Lin Xuan muttered, untying the mooring line.

Driven by the sea breeze, the little boat sailed in the opposite direction from the warship, leaving Onigumo with only his retreating back.

The sun sank westward, orange-red evening light spreading across the sea and staining the East Blue a copper hue.

Unlike the desolation at sea after the smoke of battle had cleared, the air in Cocoyasi Village, dozens of nautical miles away, was filled with stifling heat.

Cicadas screamed themselves hoarse in the orange grove, their noise grating on the nerves.

Nami dragged her heavy feet step by step along the dirt road leading to her cottage.

The backpack straps had left red marks on her shoulders. Sweat dripped from her short orange hair, instantly swallowed by the dry ground.

The backpack was heavy, as heavy as a mountain.

It held a full hundred million Beli.

She had paid for it with eight years of dignity, blood, and sweat.

For that money, she had lived at sea like a rat everyone wanted to beat, surviving only through theft and fraud.

"Nami?"

Hearing the courtyard gate open, Nojiko turned in surprise from laying out orange peels to dry.

When she saw Nami covered in dust, her eyes frighteningly bright, she nearly lost her grip on the winnowing basket.

"You... you're back?" Nojiko hurried forward to help take the absurdly large backpack, but Nami gently moved out of reach.

Nami carefully set the backpack on the wooden floor with a dull thud.

It was the sound of coins pressing together, especially pleasant to her ears.

She straightened up and wiped the sweat and dust from her face, revealing a smile unlike any she had worn in eight years as her whole body relaxed in relief.

"I've got it all, Nojiko."

Nami's voice trembled slightly. She pointed at the backpack on the floor, her eyes reddening. "What's in here... plus what I buried in the Orange Grove makes exactly a hundred million Beli. Not a single coin short."

Nojiko froze.

She looked at the bulging backpack, then at her younger sister's exhausted yet hopeful face, and her heart clenched.

She'd really... collected it all?

Was the nightmare weighing on their hearts and hanging over the village really about to end?

"I'm going to see Arlong now."

Nami took a deep breath, not stopping for a drink of water or even to treat the cut on her arm from a branch she had brushed against while hurrying home.

She grabbed the backpack straps again, her gaze firm. "As long as I give him the money, according to our original agreement, he'll leave Cocoyasi Village and give the village... and everyone's freedom back to us."

Yet as Nojiko watched Nami turn away, a trace of worry she could hardly conceal flashed through her eyes.

Would that greedy, brutal Fish-Man, that monster who considered humans inferior creatures, really keep his promise?

"Nami..." Nojiko called out instinctively.

Nami stopped and looked back. The setting sun fell on her left arm, tattooed with the Arlong Pirates' mark, making it especially glaring.

Chapter 35: An eight-year scam? A hundred million Beli can't buy back the village!

"Don't look like that, Nojiko."

Nami wore a perfect smile, a disguise she had practiced during eight years at sea facing all kinds of pirates and merchants.

She freed one hand and patted her older sister's stiff shoulder, her tone as light as if she were visiting a neighbor. "I'm just going to fulfill an agreed contract. The whole hundred million Beli is right here. A greedy guy like Arlong has no reason to refuse."

"But..." Nojiko opened her mouth. Looking at her sister's crescent-shaped eyes, the worries on the tip of her tongue finally became a sigh.