"Hey, bastard! Wake up!"
The noise of the ship was getting louder and louder. X remained seated in a lotus position, gazing at the sea while listening to everything the pirates were murmuring on the lower deck.
"It seems this world is divided into sides… pirates and marines. The ones who attacked my family were the latter."
X sighed tiredly. Processing so much information about this new world he had been reborn into wasn't easy, especially being just a baby.
Hours passed until, finally, the ship stopped in front of a small island.
"Come on, boys, we've arrived!"
"Finally! I want to drink until I burst!"
Around ten crewmates disembarked from the ship, walking heavily toward a nearby tavern. The island's inhabitants, upon seeing the pirate flag and the men's clothing, reacted with pure terror: they quickly stepped aside, trembling in fear.
"Hmm… so here, are pirates considered the bad guys? But… why did the marines kill my parents? I suppose I can't draw conclusions yet; I don't know what they might have done before."
With a snap, X transformed back into graffiti and began to move stealthily, unseen. Something about those men caught his attention too much. He decided to follow them into the tavern.
Upon entering, he found a noisy scene: tables filled with sake, pirates drinking in groups of three, laughing uproariously and bickering like wild beasts.
Plash!
A horizontal slash suddenly interrupted the tavern's semi-friendly atmosphere.
"Who do you think you are to tell me what to do?"
The pirate ship's captain, a fat man with a black beard that reached his chest, held a sword pointed directly at a young man.
"Leave… and do it without making a scene."
The red-haired boy didn't lift his gaze; his eyes remained shadowed. Even so, X immediately noticed that this man emanated immense power.
"That guy…" murmured X, moving discreetly into one of the tavern's dark corners.
"Hahahaha! Don't you know who I am, huh?! I'm the pirate Mogran, with a bounty of one million!"
The captain shouted with a grin of superiority, as if he were looking at trash before him.
At that instant, Mogran grabbed a bottle of alcohol and hurled it at the redhead's face. The glass shattered on impact, drenching his red hair. A thin drop of blood slid from the corner of his lips.
"Please, stop this!" cried out the tavern's waitress, a young woman with dark green hair and fair skin, dressed in a maid's uniform.
"Shut up, bitch! Stay out of it. Once we're done with this bastard, we'll have fun with you, hahahaha."
Mogran exclaimed, stepping closer and closer to the redhead, who still kept his gaze lowered. Drops of blood and alcohol dripped to the floor, mixing together.
"Hey, you… step aside," Mogran said again, placing a heavy hand on the young man's shoulder.
"I warned you…" whispered the boy.
Crack!
In a flash, the redhead drew his sword and, with a single slash, severed Mogran's arm. The limb hit the ground as torrents of blood gushed out, forming puddles that soaked everything around.
"AAAGHHHH!!!"
The captain's blood-curdling scream shook the entire tavern.
All of the captain's subordinates, who just seconds ago had been laughing, fell into absolute silence. The tavern was swallowed by heavy quiet, broken only by their leader's agonized cries.
"Aaagghhh! B-bastard!!!"
Mogran rolled on the floor like a helpless child, clutching desperately at the bloody stump as tears streamed uncontrollably down his face.
"You… take him away. I don't want to see you here again."
The redhead's voice was firm, almost icy. He picked up the severed arm and tossed it out of the tavern with contempt. Then, with a brutal kick to the stomach, he sent Mogran flying out as well, rolling onto the street like a sack of garbage.
Within seconds, all the subordinates fled in terror.
"Let's get out of here, that guy's insane!"
"He defeated the captain like it was nothing… how terrifying!"
The tavern was left empty. The red-haired boy suddenly stopped in his tracks: he had noticed X's presence. He turned his gaze toward the dark corner, and for an instant, his eyes glowed with a red aura that chilled the blood.
"Hey, you. Over there. Who are you?"
X remained silent, still stunned by everything he had witnessed. The captain's arm had been cut so quickly that even his own eyes couldn't follow it.
"I am…" he stammered, his words barely intelligible. Still, he waddled forward, naked, his fragile baby body exposed, until he stood in front of him.
"Analyzing this guy… I can sense he's not such a bad person. Besides, he's strong… maybe stronger than me. He surely knows things about this world," thought X.
"Ohhh, how cuteee!!!"
The young woman with dark green hair let out a squeal of delight and quickly scooped him up in her arms.
"How is it possible that a baby like you can do those kinds of things?"
She asked curiously, caressing his head with a radiant smile. Meanwhile, the redhead broke into a cold sweat at the sight of this surreal scene.
"Makino… be careful. Don't squeeze him too hard. He looks like a newborn… but I can't believe he has those abilities… Wait… unless…!" muttered the redhead, confused, until suddenly his eyes widened in surprise.
"Huh? What are you talking about, Shanks? He's just a baby," Makino replied with a smile, while gently playing with X's cheeks.
"Can you hand him to me for a second…?"
Murmured Shanks, approaching Makino. Still somewhat confused, she accepted and handed the baby over. The redhead took X and inspected him carefully.
"I swear, for a moment I thought you had a Devil Fruit… but you're not affected by kairoseki…" Shanks whispered, discreetly pocketing a bracelet he had been holding.
"Shanks, look… he has a collar with a ring attached," pointed out Makino.
The redhead nodded in confirmation, attempting to grasp it with his fingers. However, he received a smack from X, who frowned slightly, making it clear he shouldn't touch what didn't belong to him.
"Don't touch it," said X, this time clearly enough to be understood.
The two froze, stunned to see a newborn speaking.
"Aaaahhh!"
They screamed in unison, their eyes bulging out of their sockets.
"He can talk!!!"
They screamed again, as Shanks instinctively extended his arms, holding him away like he had just found a bizarre creature.
"Of course I can. Don't you hear me?" X replied again, listlessly.
"Aaaahhh!" they screamed once more at the same time.
"Enough already… my ears hurt from hearing you shout so much," complained X, covering one tiny ear with his little hand.
The two adults looked at each other, then at the baby, then at each other again, repeating the cycle several times without knowing what to say. Several minutes passed in silence.
X sat at the table, his small baby legs spread apart, holding a cup of milk in his tiny hands and drinking it calmly.
"So your parents were killed by the Marines?" asked Shanks, his tone serious though not fully convinced.
X let out a small burp and nodded before answering:
"Yes. When I was born, my father sent me flying with a strange ability that allowed him to create a cloud. That cloud left me on that pirate ship… then I followed them and ended up here."