REWRITE!!!
———————
Orange Town felt different the moment my feet touched its streets.
It was not just the bright colors of the buildings or the louder marketplace compared to Shell Town. There was something in the air, something heavy. People moved faster here and spoke more quietly. Fear was everywhere, unspoken yet universally understood.
I walked close to the walls, my head slightly lowered. Shadow Sense pulsed faintly but steadily. There were many malicious intents around me, scattered and unfocused. Fear had turned into small pockets of chaos in every corner of the town.
Buggy had not shown himself openly yet.
Even so, his influence had already spread.
I passed a weathered poster hanging crookedly on a wall. A clown's face stared back at me, its exaggerated grin unsettling. The red and blue colors were loud, almost aggressive, and the warning text beneath looked hastily written.
I did not stop.
People who lingered too long in front of symbols of power tended to draw attention.
I slipped into a narrow alley behind a fruit shop. The stench of rotting scraps filled the air, but places like this were where I was safest. Layers of shadow. Multiple escape routes.
I stopped and listened.
Distant shouting. Harsh voices. Suppressed crying.
The system appeared.
—
[Canon pressure increasing]
[Threat clusters detected]
[Recommended action: Observation only]
—
I nodded slightly.
I knew what would happen in this town. I knew Luffy would get involved. I knew the chaos here would be far greater than what happened in Shell Town.
And I knew my role was not to prevent that chaos.
That did not mean I would do nothing.
I moved deeper into the town using indirect routes, slipping through alleys few people bothered to use. I found a position that overlooked the main street without fully exposing me.
From there, I saw a group of Buggy's subordinates strolling along, laughing loudly. Their weapons were crude, but their presence was ugly. They shoved an elderly man to the ground, laughed again, then walked off as if nothing had happened.
My chest tightened.
I did not move.
Not because I did not care.
Because acting now would be too dangerous. Too many eyes. Too many variables that could spiral into deviation.
I memorized their faces, their movements, their patrol paths.
Observation was my weapon.
The system logged it quietly.
—
[Observation data recorded]
[Potential micro intervention points identified]
—
I swallowed.
Even the system saw cracks where I could act.
I waited.
Time dragged on. The sun climbed higher. Shadows shifted. The tension in the city thickened.
Then I saw her again.
Nami.
She emerged from the crowd, walking briskly. One hand clutched something hidden beneath her coat. Her expression was calm, but her eyes never stopped moving, scanning everything around her.
She paused briefly at a street corner, pretending to adjust her bag. I knew better. She was measuring distances, escape routes, people.
I stood behind a stack of crates, not too close, not too far.
Shadow Sense reacted more strongly as she drew nearer. Not because she was dangerous, but because she was focused.
She lived the way I did, always alert, always calculating.
A short notification appeared.
—
[Emotional interference risk: moderate]
[Maintain distance]
—
I took a slow breath and shifted my gaze away.
I did not want the system to misinterpret my intent.
Nami moved on, slipping back into the flow of people and vanishing from sight.
Only then did I realize I had been holding my breath.
I exhaled quietly.
Foolish.
I forced myself to refocus on my surroundings.
As the afternoon wore on, the pressure grew heavier. People gathered more tightly. Shouts became more frequent. Something was coming.
Then I heard the laughter.
Loud. Echoing. Completely out of place amid the fear.
Buggy.
I did not see him yet, but I felt his presence like a stain spreading across the city. Chaotic. Unstable. Dangerous in a way that lacked control.
The system reacted more sharply than ever before.
—
[Alert]
[High density canon event imminent]
[Deviation tolerance: extremely low]
[All actions must be minimal and indirect]
—
I swallowed hard.
Understood.
I would stay at the edge.
Still, that did not mean I would remain entirely passive.
I noticed a small child separated from their mother as the first wave of panic hit. The child stumbled, nearly falling as people began to run.
I moved before I could overthink it.
I stepped out from the shadow, grabbed the child's arm, and pulled them against the wall. No one noticed. No one reacted.
The child stared at me, confused.
I pointed toward a safer alley and gave a gentle push.
"Go," I whispered.
The child ran without asking questions.
The system responded instantly.
—
[Micro intervention executed]
[Public awareness impact: zero]
[Deviation level: negligible]
—
I closed my eyes briefly.
That was enough.
No more.
The crowd descended into chaos. Explosions echoed in the distance. Buggy finally revealed his power. The clown's town began to collapse under its own madness.
And in the middle of it all, I remained in the shadows.
Watching.
Recording.
Waiting.
Because I knew one thing for certain.
The center of the story was about to arrive.
And once Luffy stepped onto this stage, the world would start moving too fast for anyone unprepared.
I leaned against the cold wall.
These shadows were no longer safe.
But for now, they still held me.
—————
The first explosion was stronger than I expected.
The ground trembled slightly. Glass rattled. People screamed and ran without direction. Buggy's laughter echoed between the buildings, mocking everyone as if to remind them who ruled this place.
I pressed my back against the narrow alley wall.
Shadow Sense flared violently. Too many sources of danger. Not all of them physical. Panic itself had become a weapon.
I took a slow breath, forcing myself not to move too quickly.
The system appeared with an urgency I had never felt before.
—
[Critical Alert]
[Canon event density at peak]
[Existence suppression under strain]
[All movements must be calculated]
—
Those words offered no comfort.
If anything, they made things worse.
In Orange Town, the line between shadow and spotlight was dangerously thin. Too many eyes. Too much noise. Too much chaos that could drag me into the open by accident.
I peeked out from the alley.
Buggy was now clearly visible on the main street. His body separated into pieces yet moved as if that were perfectly normal. His men cheered and raised their weapons. People either knelt or fled.
And on the opposite side of the street, I saw someone else.
The straw hat stood out instantly.
Monkey D. Luffy had arrived.
My body tensed.
The system reacted at once.
—
[Primary protagonist detected]
[Deviation tolerance: minimal]
[Do not engage]
—
I had no intention of approaching.
I only watched.
Yet even watching made my chest feel tight.
Luffy walked straight into the chaos with the same relaxed expression he had worn back in Shell Town, as if he were heading to a food stall rather than the heart of a battle.
Buggy turned. Their laughter collided.
For a brief moment, the world seemed to pause.
I knew how this would end. I knew Luffy would win. I knew Buggy would fall. But knowing the outcome did not lessen the tension as the events unfolded.
The fight erupted.
Explosions. Shouts. Crashing debris.
I stepped deeper into the alley, unwilling to stand too close, unwilling to risk being seen.
Then Shadow Sense warned me again.
Movement, fast and close.
I turned just in time to see two of Buggy's men running into the alley. They had not noticed me. They were just looking for an escape route.
If they passed through here, they would emerge near a small residential area behind the market where people were hiding.
My jaw tightened.
Intervene.
Or stay still.
The system answered immediately.
—
[Decision point detected]
[Suggested action: minimal redirection]
[Risk of exposure: low if executed correctly]
—
I exhaled slowly.
Fine.
I acted quickly but without drawing attention. I grabbed a small wooden crate nearby and knocked it over at the far end of the alley, creating a loud crash.
The two pirates instinctively turned toward the noise, thinking it was an opening or a new target.
I retreated deeper into the shadows.
They ran past me without ever realizing I was there, their footsteps fading into the distance.
I closed my eyes.
The system confirmed it.
—
[Micro intervention successful]
[Deviation level: negligible]
[Existence suppression stabilized]
—
My hands trembled slightly.
I was unharmed and unseen, but the mental strain was far heavier than what I had felt during the incident at sea. This was a city. The center of the story. Every small action carried multiplied risk.
I leaned against the wall and waited.
The battle on the main street intensified. I heard Buggy being thrown, his laughter turning into rage. I heard Luffy's loud, reckless voice.
Then I felt something else.
Shadow Sense pulsed in a different pattern.
Not danger.
Focus.
I glanced down the alley and saw Nami standing at the other end. She was peeking toward the main street, her expression tight with tension. Her hand clenched something tightly.
She had not seen me yet.
I stood in the shadows. She stood at the edge of the light.
For a brief moment, the world between us felt silent, even as explosions continued in the distance.
I could see the tension in her shoulders, the quick rhythm of her breathing, the way her eyes searched for opportunity.
She was about to move.
She always moved when an opening appeared.
And she did.
She ran through the alley, passing dangerously close to me.
My heart pounded.
Shadow Sense screamed softly.
If she turned her head even slightly.
If she stopped.
The system reacted.
—
[Existence fluctuation detected]
[Emergency suppression active]
—
The world seemed to dim for a fraction of a second.
Nami stopped one step past me.
My breath caught.
She turned around.
Her eyes swept over the alley.
I did not move. I did not breathe.
My shadow merged with the wall. My body felt like it no longer belonged to me.
Seconds passed that felt like an eternity.
Then she frowned.
"…Huh?"
She shook her head as if dismissing a strange feeling and ran off.
I slowly sank to a seated position once she disappeared.
My breathing shook.
The system appeared again, colder than before.
—
[Warning]
[Key character nearly detected anomaly]
[Repeat incidents may force protocol change]
—
I stared blankly at the wall.
So this was the limit.
It was not just the world that could sense my presence. Certain people had instincts sharp enough to feel something was wrong.
And Nami was one of them.
The noise on the main street eventually faded. Buggy's laughter vanished, replaced by a quieter chaos. People slowly emerged from hiding. The clown king had fallen.
I did not watch the ending directly.
I did not need to.
I knew how it ended.
I stood and left the city center, slipping back into alleys and toward the outskirts.
The sky darkened. Evening settled over a broken Orange Town.
The system closed the day with a long log.
—
[Daily Log]
[High pressure canon zone survived]
[Multiple micro interventions recorded]
[Mental load increased]
[Rest recommended]
—
I looked up at the red tinted sky.
Today, I had gone too close.
Too close to the spotlight.
Too close to someone who would one day walk beside me.
For now, I was still a shadow.
But a shadow that lingered near the light for too long would eventually disappear.
I left Orange Town before night fully fell.
I did not know where I would sleep.
But one thing was clear.
Orange Town had changed something inside me.
I was no longer just a guardian of the story's path.
I was starting to care.
And that might be the most dangerous thing of all.