One Piece: Starting with Kenpachi Zaraki's Legacy

If it was that move that didn't even require Shikai...

He unconsciously rubbed his fingertips, as though they held an invisible blade.

An urge to let loose ached faintly in his veins, the lingering dissatisfaction from the earlier fight, and his body's instinctive hunger for new power.

Lin Xuan gently exhaled a stale breath, tuned out Luffy's continuing cries of "Awesome!" beside him, and, with a slight shift of thought, tapped hard on the golden icon as though pushing open a door to a whole new world.

Since I'm here in this world crawling with monsters, let me see just how far this first "cheat" can go.

[Confirm claiming reward?]

"Confirm."

He said it silently in his heart.

In an instant, the hovering golden icon shattered into countless tiny specks of light that surged madly toward Lin Xuan's eyes like rivers flowing into the sea.

Chapter 5: Ace, Want Another Taste of Garp's Iron Fist?

A burning sensation exploded across his retinas.

Lin Xuan instinctively shut his eyes, feeling a force forcibly restructuring his optic nerves.

There was no system notification, but he understood instinctively that the world would be different when he opened his eyes again.

The air was no longer transparent. He could clearly see the currents moving, like a substance that a blade could cut, compress, and detonate.

This was Kenpachi Zaraki's sword pressure, capable of turning killing intent into tangible physical blows.

But before he could explore this newly acquired power, a childish roar interrupted him.

"Hurry up and go, Ace! I want to go on adventures too, but I really don't want to see you get dragged back!"

Lin Xuan rubbed the aching corners of his eyes and looked over. Little Luffy stood on the mooring bollard at the very end of the dock, his two skinny legs shaking violently. Yet he held his arms stubbornly outstretched, trying to use his tiny body to block the enormous Dog-Head Warship at the far end of his vision.

"I'll hold him off here! I'll find a way to stall Grandpa for three seconds... no, two seconds! Get your boat moving!"

Watching Luffy's back as he prepared to make his heroic sacrifice, the corner of Lin Xuan's eye twitched.

Hold off Garp?

Are you going to test the hardness of Garp's iron fist with the elasticity of your rubber head?

"Don't be an idiot."

Lin Xuan strode over to Ace in a few steps.

Ace was leaning against a heap of shattered wood, his right shoulder twisted at an unnatural angle, his sleeveless shirt already soaked with cold sweat.

Without treating that injury, never mind heading out to sea-Ace would struggle even to climb into the little boat.

Once Garp came ashore, Ace could forget about escaping.

"Open your mouth." Lin Xuan wasted no words. With his right hand behind his back, he willed the strange item he had won in the draw to appear instantly in his palm.

It was a white plastic bottle, with several cartoon fruits on its blue label and a cheap-looking screw cap.

[Modified Nutrition Express (vanilla flavor): Don't ask why it comes in this packaging. The system just has a twisted sense of humor.

Drinking it instantly repairs nonfatal physical injuries and restores a large amount of stamina.

Note: Tastes fantastic, but that's not important.]

Ace struggled to lift his eyelids. At the sight of the plastic bottle held to his lips, his momentary bewilderment eclipsed even his pain. "...Milk? Hey, Lin Xuan, you want me to drink milk at a time like this? My bones are broken. I'm not calcium-deficient..."

"Enough whining. Drink it if you want to go to sea." Lin Xuan unscrewed the cap and shoved the bottle straight against Ace's lips. "Or would you rather stay here and wait for that old man to smash your other shoulder too, so they match?"

At the mention of the old man, Ace shuddered all over. The fear born of his childhood trauma overwhelmed his reason.

He gritted his teeth, tipped his head back, and gulped it down.

There was none of the bitter medicinal taste he had imagined. A rich, milky fragrance mixed with the sweetness of fruit burst across his tongue. The instant it slid down his throat into his stomach, it turned into a scalding current.

Then something happened that made his scalp prickle.

Crack-crunch.

A series of sharp, popping sounds came from inside his collapsed right shoulder. His muscles writhed, forcing the displaced bones back into place, while the bruising and swelling visibly receded.

An unnatural flush instantly flooded Ace's deathly pale face. He looked as though he had just been hauled out of a steam room, with wisps of white vapor even rising from his head.

"Holy shit..."

Isn't this working a little too fast? Lin Xuan thought.

This isn't Nutrition Express. This is practically milk mixed with the water of life.

Ace froze.

He tentatively rotated his right arm. The piercing agony had vanished without a trace, replaced by an unprecedented sense of fullness. Power surged through his veins, desperate to be unleashed.

"What... what the hell is this stuff?" Ace stared at the empty plastic bottle in his hand, his eyes nearly popping out of his head.

"Probably... some mysterious folk remedy from the East?" Lin Xuan made something up offhandedly, took the bottle back, and stuffed it into his pocket. Then he grabbed Ace by the collar and hauled him upright. "If you're healed, quit spacing out. Your boat's right there. Get the hell out of here!"

Just then, a furious roar swept across the sea from several hundred meters away, carrying the distinctive oppressive force of Armament Haki.

"Portgas D. Ace! Where do you think you're going, you little brat!"

Garp's voice slammed into Foosha Village's dock.

The waves churned, and the little fishing boats moored along the shore rocked violently under the sound.

That shout not only scared Luffy into falling flat on his backside, but also brought everyone in the village out, young and old alike.

"Ace! Stop this nonsense!" Village Chief Dapusi came running, panting as he leaned on his cane, anxiety filling the wrinkles on his face. "Vice Admiral Garp is really angry! There's still time to apologize! As long as you don't go to sea, you'll only get a beating. I can still put in a good word for you!"

"That's right, Ace! Come back down!" Makino stood in the tavern doorway, wringing her hands, her eyes full of worry.

On one side was his grandfather, the Navy hero who embodied terror; on the other were the villagers earnestly urging him to reconsider.

The pressure made Ace feel even worse than when he had taken Lin Xuan's strike earlier.

Ace stood beside the little boat's mooring rope. His back, which had only just straightened after his recovery, stiffened slightly under that pressure.

He wanted to step aboard, but his feet felt rooted to the spot.

If he left now, he would be turning his back completely on everyone's expectations.

For Ace, who craved acceptance, taking that step was exceptionally difficult.

He instinctively turned his head, his gaze passing over the enormous warship and the crying Luffy before settling on the black-haired youth beside him.

The other boy was calmly straightening his cuffs.

Amid the chaos on the dock, only Lin Xuan looked composed, as though the approaching warship did not exist.

Ace bit his lip, his eyes holding a final trace of uncertainty and a plea for reassurance.

Is this really okay? Making a choice like this, without any regard for the consequences...

Lin Xuan noticed his gaze.

He said nothing, merely turning sideways to stand between Ace and the villagers trying to stop him. Then he raised a hand and made a casual gesture.

Chapter 6: Old Man, Don't Come Any Closer!

It was nothing more than a dismissive gesture, like shooing away a fly hovering beside his ear.

Get lost before I change my mind and toss you into the sea to feed the fish.

Though Lin Xuan did not say it aloud, the meaning in his eyes could not have been clearer.

The emotions still churning inside Ace were forcibly choked back by that casual gesture.

He took one last, long look at the figure standing with his back to him, facing everyone-a back that was not particularly broad, yet at that moment seemed capable of holding up even the falling sky.

There was no sentimental farewell. Ace spun around and yanked the mooring rope free with the arm that had only just regained sensation.

The single-masted sailboat, already poised to depart, caught the offshore current and shot over ten meters out like a flying fish entering the water.

Trying to run?! In your dreams!!!

A furious roar that seemed to explode from deep within a chest rolled across the sea like a thunderstorm.

Lin Xuan narrowed his eyes, looking through the salty, damp sea breeze.

On the warship's deck several hundred meters away, the old man in a loose suit, with two crumbs of rice cracker clinging to his chest, stamped through the railing with a ferocity utterly at odds with his age.

Garp did not even glance at the toy-like little sailboat fleeing away. His great round eyes locked onto Lin Xuan from afar, and onto Ace, who was trying to escape behind him.

Bogard! Bring me a cannonball! The extra-large one!

At that roar, several Marines rushed onto the deck, sweating profusely as they dragged a thick chain.

Fastened to the end of the chain was a solid black iron ball several meters in diameter. As the ship rocked, it struck the deck with dull thuds that made the scalp prickle.

Is he planning to sink Foosha Village's dock along with us?

The corner of Lin Xuan's mouth twitched as he felt the atmosphere around him abruptly tighten.

The villagers behind him had stopped trying to persuade Ace. In its place came the sound of chattering teeth.

In a peaceful place like the East Blue, a display of violence on Garp's level was no different from a natural disaster to ordinary people.

Hey, old man, is this what you call the Fist of Love? That's clearly a meteor strike.

Lin Xuan did not retreat.

The wooden pier beneath his feet had grown somewhat soft from years of seawater erosion, but he stood firm.

The sea breeze tousled the loose hair over his forehead, yet could not disperse the golden gleam gradually rising in his eyes.

At that moment, Ace's boat had traveled less than a hundred meters.

If that thing was not stopped, the little wreck of a boat would be smashed into coffin planks floating on the sea.

Here it comes!

As Luffy let out another miserable scream, Garp grabbed the chain attached to the iron ball with one hand on the distant deck.

In that instant, the muscles in the old man's arm swelled as though inflated, his veins bulging like winding earthworms.

Get... back here!!!

There was no fancy technique, only pure strength.

The enormous iron ball flew from his hand, tearing a visible white wake through the air. With a suffocating howl, it hurtled like a black death star straight toward Ace's little boat-and Lin Xuan, who stood in its path.

An immense shadow blotted out the sunlight.

Ace, desperately raising the sail, turned back in terror, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints.

The iron ball rapidly grew in his vision, and the wind pressure it brought made even breathing difficult.

There's no dodging it.

Just as despair rose in Ace's heart, a figure, not particularly tall but extraordinarily unrestrained, suddenly entered the edge of his vision.

Lin Xuan stood at the very end of the pier. Facing an iron ball powerful enough to destroy a small fortress, he actually began to lower his center of gravity slowly.

At this distance, Lin Xuan could clearly hear the shrill whistle of the iron ball tearing through the air. Its oppressive force raised goosebumps across his skin.

But this was not fear.

The Kenpachi Zaraki template trembled furiously, his blood boiling. It was his body's instinctive cry of delight at finding something worth cutting.

This is the feeling.

Lin Xuan gripped the battered wooden stick with both hands. It had no killing power whatsoever-he had casually picked it up beside the road to replace the one that had shattered earlier.

A breathing technique? Don't need one.

Technique? Haven't got any.

All I have to do is mix this urge to cut someone with the weight of my soul, and release it all at once!

The instant before the enormous iron ball leveled the dock, the golden light in Lin Xuan's eyes blazed, and he became like an erupting volcano.

A suffocatingly immense spiritual pressure erupted from his body, compressing the surrounding air into solid walls.

Haaah!!!

Holding the stick in both hands, he brought it down head-on against the incoming black meteor, holding nothing back.