Kai packed his meager supplies, offered a final nod of respect to Koushirou's dojo, and headed back down the dirt path toward the docks.
His time in Shimotsuki was over. His shattered foundation was now forged into a cohesive, deadly blade. It was time to move on to his next destination.
When he had first stepped out of the dojo, his plan had been incredibly simple flash a fat stack of plundered Berries, hire a seasoned local sailor, and get back on the water. After his last disastrous attempt at dead-reckoning his way across the ocean, he wasn't about to rely on the 'RNG navigation' method again.
But Shimotsuki was a bustling hub by East Blue standards. And in a quiet sea like this, gossip traveled faster than the coastal winds.
Especially down by the harbor.
A terrifying monster with a 350-million Berry bounty had just waltzed into their backyard. How could the locals not be in a state of sheer, apocalyptic panic?
To put things into perspective, the absolute highest active bounty in the entire East Blue didn't even scrape the thirty-million mark. Don Krieg, the heavily armed, self-proclaimed overlord of this sea, was worth a fraction of that.
A guy walking around with three hundred and fifty million on his head? In the minds of these peaceful islanders, he had to be the devil incarnate.
How many flourishing cities had he burned to ash? How many thousands of innocent civilians had he slaughtered? What kind of unspeakable, blood-curdling atrocities did a man have to commit to earn a number that astronomically high from Naval Headquarters?
To the civilians of the Weakest Sea, the math was brutal and simple a high bounty equaled pure, unadulterated evil.
Naturally, anyone who worked near the docks was on high alert. The goal wasn't to fight him. Nobody was stupid enough to try and claim that bounty. The goal was simply to spot him early enough to run for the hills before he decided to massacre the town for fun.
So, when Kai finally strolled down to the harbor, jingling a fresh pouch of cash and fully intending to hire a skilled navigator... he walked into a ghost town.
The moment his boot hit the main cobblestone street, a fishmonger loading crates recognized his face from the morning paper.
The man didn't just drop his crate, he screamed like he'd just seen the Grim Reaper.
"It's him! The Demon of Impel Down! Kai is here!"
Total pandemonium erupted.
Fruit stands were abandoned in a heartbeat. Heavy wooden doors slammed shut and deadbolts clicked into place. Windows were aggressively shuttered. Within sixty seconds, the bustling, loud port was completely deserted, leaving Kai standing completely alone amidst rolling apples, spilled fish, and a few confused seagulls.
Kai pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a long, heavy sigh.
He was completely helpless. Having a 350-million bounty hanging over his head in the East Blue was basically equivalent to being a walking natural disaster. Nobody was going to hop on a boat with a walking calamity.
Realizing a local guide was entirely out of the question, he had to settle for the next best thing.
He tracked down a trembling, pale-faced old shopkeeper who hadn't been fast enough to lock the door to his nautical supply store. Slapping a thick stack of Berries onto the wooden counter, Kai bought the man's best compass and effectively forced the terrified senior citizen to give him a crash course on basic sea navigation.
"P-point the red needle North, s-sir! Just keep the sun on your left shoulder in the mornings if you're heading South!" the old man squeaked, looking like he was about to pass out.
"Right. Thanks," Kai muttered, taking his purchase.
Fortunately, navigating the East Blue was a joke compared to the chaotic nightmare of the Grand Line. The weather here was stable, the magnetic fields were normal, and the ocean currents were entirely predictable.
Besides, with Kai's current physical strength, why the hell would he care about a little bad weather?
A sudden hurricane? A rogue waterspout? A massive squall? At worst, his stolen ship would flip over. He wasn't a Devil Fruit user anchored by the sea's curse, and his body was as tough as tempered iron. If the ship sank, he'd just swim to the next island, or kick off the air using Geppo to walk the rest of the way.
Armed with his cheap compass and a rough heading, Kai untied his ship and sailed away from Shimotsuki Village.
Not even a few hours after Kai's ship disappeared over the blue horizon, the ocean churned once more.
A colossal Marine warship, its massive bow carved into the shape of a snarling dog with a bone clamped in its jaws, cut through the surf and dropped anchor off the coast of Shimotsuki.
Vice Admiral Garp had arrived.
Since he had narrowly missed Ace in Loguetown, the old hero decided to swing by Foosha Village to check in on his other idiot grandson, Luffy. Shimotsuki Village just happened to be right on his route. When he received Smoker's urgent Den Den Mushi call confirming that the Impel Down escapee had been spotted here, Garp ordered the helmsman to make a quick detour.
But by the time his heavy black boots hit the wooden pier, the trail was already cold.
"He left a few hours ago?" Garp chewed loudly on a massive rice cracker, showering the nervously saluting local officers in crumbs. "Does anyone know what the hell he was doing here? Or where he went?!"
Garp wasn't just a Vice Admiral, he was the legendary Hero of the Marines. His face commanded absolute awe, even in these backwater seas.
The villagers, emboldened by the massive Marine presence, cautiously crept out of their homes and eagerly offered whatever scraps of information they had. But it wasn't much.
Almost no one knew what Kai had actually done on the island. They didn't even know exactly when he had arrived. They had only found the terrifying aftermath deep, unnatural craters and razor-sharp slash marks carved into the coastal rocks on the far side of the island.
The locals simply assumed the demonic pirate had stopped by to blow off steam and terrorize the local wildlife.
Not a single soul guessed that the 350-million-Berry super-criminal had spent his entire stay politely paying tuition to Koushirou. Why would they? A Grand Line monster returning to the weakest sea to learn basic sword forms from a quiet village instructor? It sounded absurd.
Garp scratched his chin, a flurry of crumbs tumbling down his chest. He was completely unaware of Koushirou's hidden depths, so he was just as clueless as the locals.
Just as the trail seemed completely dead, the old shopkeeper Kai had cornered earlier stepped forward, nervously wringing his hands.
"V-Vice Admiral Garp, sir..." the old man stammered, intimidated by the giant Marine. "That pirate... he bought a compass from me. And he asked for the quickest route to Cocoyasi Village. He wanted to know exactly where Arlong Park was."
Garp stopped chewing. The crunching sound abruptly died.
"Cocoyasi Village?" Garp muttered, his eyes narrowing dangerously beneath his dog-hood. "Arlong's crew...?"
He crossed his massive, muscular arms, his brow furrowing in deep thought. He knew exactly who Arlong was. A ruthless Fish-Man. A former heavy hitter who used to run with the Sun Pirates back when Fisher Tiger and Jinbe terrorized the Grand Line. Arlong had been quietly holed up in the East Blue for a few years now, building his own little twisted empire.
The gears in Garp's head started turning rapidly.
What business did Kai have with a small-time tyrant like Arlong?
Did Kai have hidden ties to the Fish-Men? Was he an old, secret associate of the Sun Pirates? Was he planning to recruit Arlong's forces to build a new armada and strike back at the World Government?
That didn't make sense either! The intelligence the Marines had on Kai was practically non-existent. He was a complete ghost. He had simply popped into existence inside the deepest pits of Impel Down under the garbled name "Kai", which Naval Intelligence now suspected wasn't even his real name.
"Set a course for the Conomi Islands!" Garp suddenly barked, spinning on his heel and marching back up the gangplank. "Let's go see what this brat is up to."
The World Government was entirely in the dark about who Kai really was or what he wanted. Garp was going to find out for himself.
The Dog-Head warship sliced through the waters, the sails billowing with purpose.
But Garp was a veteran of a thousand wars. He didn't charge straight into Cocoyasi Village with cannons blazing. If Kai was forming an alliance with Arlong, or if the pirate had taken the entire village hostage, a frontal assault would result in a massive civilian bloodbath.
Instead, he ordered the warship to anchor at a deserted neighboring island, keeping their massive sails well out of sight. From there, he dispatched an elite squad of Marine scouts to quietly infiltrate the Conomi Islands and gather intel.
Hours passed. The tension on the warship was palpable. The Marines sharpened their blades and checked their rifles, preparing for an all-out war against the man who allegedly broke the inescapable underwater prison.
Finally, the scout Den Den Mushi on Garp's desk rang. Puru puru puru! "Report," Garp ordered, snatching up the receiver.
"Vice Admiral! We've confirmed the target's location," the scout's voice crackled through the speaker. "Kai is definitely on the island. We found his stolen ship hidden in a secluded cove, far away from Arlong Park and the civilian harbor. He deliberately parked where no one would see him."
"A stealth approach? So he's planning an ambush?" Garp pressed, his grip tightening on the receiver. "Has he made contact with the Fish-Men? What's his move?"
"Uh... no, sir," the scout replied, sounding utterly bewildered.
"What do you mean 'no'?"
"Sir... he's... he's just sitting in the woods."
Garp blinked. "Say that again?"
"He's in a clearing a few miles outside the village, sir. He hasn't gone anywhere near Arlong or the civilians. He's just... swinging a sword. Over and over again. He looks like he's training."
Garp stared blankly at the snail, which had morphed to perfectly mimic the scout's confused, twitching expression.
"Training?!" Garp roared into the receiver, completely dumbfounded.
According to the scouts, the man with the 350-million bounty had hiked into the woods, found a quiet patch of dirt, and was just doing basic sword drills.
Garp ran a hand down his face, exasperated.
He landed in Shimotsuki... and trained on the beach.
He sailed all the way to Cocoyasi... and immediately started training in the woods.
Why the hell was this kid island-hopping just to do calisthenics?! Why couldn't he just pick a single damn island, settle down, and practice there?! What kind of lunatic travels across an entire ocean, running from Marine Admirals, just to swing a sword in a different patch of dirt?!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support the Flying Lizard 🦎 https://patreon.com/FlyingLizard (Pure donation / Tip Jar, All chapters remain free for everyone) 🥺. Please let me know if the translation is okay and please point out any errors