Year 1492 of the Sea Circle Calendar.
Duramos Island, an ordinary island located in the first half of the New World.
"Hey, Jesse, you wouldn’t want people finding out that you still wet the bed at eight years old, would you?"
In a cluttered alleyway, a shirtless boy with long black hair grinned wickedly as he stared at the sniffling kid in front of him.
Not far off, a few other children glared at the long-haired boy, though none dared to speak up.
"Huh? But I washed up before dawn... Orin, how did you even know..."
Halfway through the sentence, Jesse hastily covered his mouth, as if afraid his friends would hear.
"I’ve said it a million tis—nothing in this world escapes my eyes."
Snatching the few hundred Belly of allowance from Jesse’s hand, the long-haired boy laughed heartily and stuffed it into his pocket before striding away.
Only after he left did the kids dare approach and comfort the robbed Jesse, shouting angrily:
"Damn it! That guy—I swear I’ll get revenge when I grow up!"
"Yeah! Orin keeps stealing our pocket money. If I get the chance, I’m gonna beat the crap out of him!"
But one child, more rational than the rest, just stared bitterly at Orin’s retreating figure.
"Let’s be real, that’s probably impossible... The man even said it—Orin killed a wild boar with his bare hands when he was just six years old. He’s..."
As he spoke, a trace of fear crept into the kid’s eyes, his mind echoing what the adults always warned:
"A born monster!"
...
"Nice. Another 500 Belly in the bag. That’s two more newspapers I can buy."
Whistling happily, Orin pushed open the door to his house.
This was his ninth year in the world of One Piece. Abandoned at birth and raised by the old village chief, Orin had long grown used to this strange new world.
However, he still hadn’t seen the full breadth of it. That’s why he made a point to always buy newspapers from the News Coo to stay up to date with what was happening on the seas.
Today, just like always, he was planning to co ho for lunch. But strangely, the old village chief wasn’t ho.
He looked around cautiously, then furrowed his brows and turned his gaze toward the neighbor’s doorway as if sensing sothing.
After a mont, he shook his head.
"Nope, not even the widow next door is ho."
He figured the old man had probably gone off drinking again. Not thinking much of it, Orin grabbed so bread and ham from the kitchen, sat down at the table, and started eating.
While chewing, he opened the freshly bought newspaper.
"The remnants of the Rocks Pirates are establishing their own forces. Among them are Golden Lion, Whitebeard, and others..."
Nothing too noteworthy.
Although, credit where it’s due—young Charlotte Linlin was really sothing. What a knockout.
Staring at the curvy figure in the photo, Orin chewed thoughtfully, then kept reading.
"The Roger Pirates were recently sighted near Sandrilla Island."
The Pirate King, still alive and kicking. Orin felt a wave of emotion as he continued chewing and reading.
The next headline was—
Wait a second!
His chewing froze. Sothing felt off.
He suddenly looked back at the headline about the Roger Pirates. The bread dropped from his mouth without him even noticing, and he went completely blank.
Sandrilla Island?
Isn’t that the island just a few dozen nautical miles away?
Holy crap!
At this point in ti, Roger hadn’t reached Laugh Tale yet—he wasn’t even the Pirate King!
This is insane!
Orin’s eyes widened. In just a few seconds, a bold idea popped into his mind.
"I spent nearly thirty years in my previous life and still never found out what the One Piece actually is. Now I’ve got a real chance to see it with my own eyes?"
If he could join the Roger Pirates...
What do you call that?
Starting at the top?
While other pirates spent their whole lives searching for the Grand Treasure, he’d barely been at sea and could stumble right onto it?
The thought made Orin’s entire body buzz with excitent.
Not to ntion, the Roger crew was full of the strongest people in the world. Learning even one or two of their techniques would be enough to make him a final boss in a movie special.
And let’s not forget the identity perks. Even soone like Buggy, just by having Roger Pirates on his resu, got treated with extra respect wherever he went.
No ti to waste.
"Old man, I’m off to join the Roger Pirates! I’ll repay your kindness when I return in glory!"
Leaving a farewell note behind,
He slung a stick over his shoulder with a bundle of belongings tied to the end. Orin had made up his mind: once he made it big, he’d co back to repay the villagers who raised him.
"When that day cos, even the stray dogs from the village—I’ll bring them to the big kingdoms to serve as palace guard dogs. They’ll live like kings. That’s good enough, right?"
Orin quickly packed up the few belongings from the old man’s house and dashed toward the docks, sprinting like the wind.
...
anwhile—
A giant, gold-and-red ship with two rmaid statues carved on its prow docked at the largest pier on Duramos Island.
At the bow stood a man who clearly looked like the captain.
He wore a red coat, a captain’s hat, and had a distinctive mustache. Beneath it was a bold, powerful smile that radiated the presence of a king.
"What an aura. You can feel the Haki from here. This man really is one of the sea’s top powerhouses."
Even with just his senses, Orin could feel the vast chasm in power between him and the man.
This was the Pirate King—Gol D. Roger!
At this point, Roger and his crew had already survived the battle at God Valley and were now traveling around in search of the four Road Poneglyphs, beginning their final adventure.
Right now, he hadn’t yet fallen ill and was still enjoying the freedom and thrill of the sea.
mbers of the Roger Pirates disembarked one after another, rely here to resupply at the port.
But among the towering crewmates, two small figures weaved through the crowd, looking hilariously out of place.
Two kids—both with a touch of red.
One had red hair. The other, a red nose.
"Who’re you calling red-nose, huh?! Say it again if you dare!"
Young Buggy was livid, his face turning crimson with rage.
"No one said anything about your nose, Buggy,"
Shanks jumped off the gangplank and held down his straw hat as the breeze tried to lift it.
"Even when there’s no sound, you still react like that. Is your Observation Haki tuned to ’red nose’ or sothing?"
"No, I’m telling you, soone definitely said it! I can feel it! There’s no way I’m wrong!"
Buggy clenched his fists and shouted, then scanned the surroundings—only to spot soone running toward them in the distance.
"Hey, was it you, kid?!"
"Hahahahaha... Sasshiburida na, Buggy! Shanks!"
Laughing loudly, Orin waved as he ran straight toward them.
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