March, 1468 — Sea Circle Calendar
New World — Sphinx Island
The laughter came first—loud, booming, unmistakable.
Then the voice followed, crashing like a tidal wave over the quiet hills of Sphinx Island.
"Gurararara~~~"
"Argus!"
He was a mountain of a man, over six meters tall. His long golden hair rippled in the salty wind, and the crescent-shaped white mustache across his face gleamed like a banner of war. Bare-chested beneath a sweeping coat and carrying a naginata slung casually over his shoulder, he stood like a storm given form.
Edward Newgate.
And he was grinning like a child who'd found a lost treasure.
Facing him was a much younger man—seventeen, maybe eighteen—with a cleaner, sharper look. Where Newgate's strength was raw and unrefined, the youth's aura was poised and focused, like a blade waiting to be drawn.
Edward Argus.
Two men. One twenty. The other eighteen.
Brothers—but not in the way the world assumed.
The wind on Sphinx Island always carried salt and silence—the kind of silence you earned after surviving the wild. Argus stood there, feeling it bite into his skin, watching the man before him glow like a living legend.
He let out a sharp breath.
"Tch… so it's true after all."
It wasn't a myth. Not some dying tale whispered under Sphinx's dead stars.
"Whitebeard… is actually my cousin?"
He smacked his lips, smiling dryly.
"What are the odds? In this godforsaken corner of the New World, on Sphinx of all places?"
Yes—Argus was a transmigrator.
He wasn't born into this world. He'd been dropped into it—like an unwanted secret—and forced to survive it tooth and nail. Just fading memories, fists, and fire.
His parents hadn't lasted long. They'd been good people—kind, warm—but the seas didn't give a damn. By the time he was three, the only mercy he understood was the kind he bled for.
Since then, it had been survival of the fittest. No miracles. No mercy.
He didn't expect salvation.
And yet... he'd always wondered.
The shared surname. The old whispers about distant bloodlines.
But here, on an island where "Edward" was just another worn-out name, it had seemed meaningless.
Until now.
He had only just set out to leave this backwater behind when fate—or something worse—threw him back onto the stage.
Good grief.
Good damn grief.
"My cousin's gonna be the strongest man in the world?!"
Newgate burst into another round of laughter, apparently unfazed by Argus' stunned silence.
"Gurararara! Argus! Don't look so stiff! We're family now, yeah? From today on—no one lays a hand on you while I'm around!"
He thumped a fist against his chest with the force of thunder.
Argus gave a half-smile—but it didn't quite reach his eyes.
Family.
The word hit like a hammer, but he wasn't stupid enough to fall for it instantly. Family wasn't a guarantee. Family died. Family betrayed. Blood alone didn't mean safety.
Still... the weight behind Newgate's words wasn't fake.
To doubt Edward Newgate's strength was suicide.
This was a man who would survive Rocks, clash with legends, and one day rise as one of the Four Emperors. His name alone would shake the heavens. And the only thing that ever truly defeated him... was death itself.
"'Strongest Man in the World' wasn't just some nickname," Argus thought grimly.
"Anyone who doubts that has rocks for brains."
Newgate's grin softened. A rare hush slipped into his voice.
"Argus… I finally found you. After all this time… I have family again."
"This means everything to me."
The air changed.
The sea breeze faltered.
Argus looked into that earnest, bruised smile—and something inside him cracked.
Even if Argus came from another world, the parents who raised him here had been kind. They hadn't been strong. They hadn't been rich. But they had been real. Their deaths had left a scar he never bothered to stitch up.
And here stood another man, battered and bleeding by the world, yet still begging for a connection.
Slowly, deliberately, Argus exhaled.
"...Brother," he said at last.
Newgate blinked. "Huh?"
Argus shrugged, tension bleeding out of his frame.
"Calling you cousin just feels wrong. From now on—I'm calling you Brother. That cool with you?"
Newgate's grin widened into a full-blown sunburst.
"Hell yes it is."
But Argus' next words were sharp, cutting the air between them:
"Brother… what does 'building a family' mean to you? How exactly do you plan to do that?"
Newgate scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish.
"We'll find people like us. Take 'em in. That's how you build family, isn't it?"
Argus stared.
Then slowly, like someone witnessing a puppy try to chew through steel, he buried his face in his hand.
"Seriously? That's your master plan?"
"Eh?! What's wrong with it?!"
Argus clapped his hands once, the sound echoing across the empty fields.
"Brother—no offense—but you know how cutthroat the seas are? You want to gather random people and hope they won't stab you in your sleep?"
Newgate paused, frowning deeply. He wasn't stupid—just dangerously trusting.
"...Fair point. These days, betrayal's damn near standard. Especially in the New World..."
Argus grinned like a fox with a loaded gun.
"Exactly. So why not build it smart?"
Newgate leaned forward, curiosity shining in his eyes.
"Go on then. What's your idea, little brother?"
Argus raised a single finger.
"You want a real family? Then make one. Literally. Have kids. Raise your own sons and daughters. Bloodline loyalty. That's something you don't have to second-guess."
Newgate stared.
"...You mean—have a whole bunch of kids?"
"Exactly."
Argus snapped his fingers.
"Strays will always be strays. But your own blood? That's a legacy. That's loyalty you can count on."
If loyalty couldn't be earned...
maybe it had to be bred.
Cruel?
Maybe.
But these seas didn't reward dreamers.
They rewarded survivors.
Newgate blinked once.
Then twice.
And then—
"Gurararara~~~"
His laughter roared like cannon-fire across Sphinx Island.
"You've got a damn good point, kid!"
Argus smirked.
Good. Because if we're going to build a future that lasts… we'll need more than dreams.
We'll need blood, fire, and a family strong enough to break the world if it tries to tear us apart.
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END OF CHAPTER 1