7 You know something is wrong when you're beaten by an 8 year old.
A ragged-looking Sou sat on his caravel, looking towards an equally ragged-looking Sasaki, before speaking. "Hey, Sasaki?"
"Hm?" Sasaki responded, fatigue laced throughout his voice.
"Why the hell did you forget to bring a navigator?" Sou's slightly accusatory voice reverberated throughout the near-empty ship.
"I thought you had that covered. You're the captain, after all," Sasaki replied.
"I'm eight. You're the adult. I thought you had that covered," Sou shot back.
After a short period of miserable silence, Sasaki spoke up once again. "Hey, do you think you can summon a navigator somehow?"
There were numerous reasons why that wouldn't work, but Sasaki still opened up the [Summoning] menu as a sort of Hail Mary. As expected, his hopes were immediately crushed.
[Summon (100 SP)]
[Back]
[Current SP: 0]
At this, Sou just looked back at Sasaki and sighed. "It's a lost cause. We're really stupid, aren't we?"
Sasaki sighed back, "Yeah." To be honest, Sasaki and Sou's situation wasn't even that terrible. However, their lack of a navigator was incredibly stressful for both of them. First of all, was the weather. While a normal navigator would be able to at least predict when the weather was going to drastically change, even in the Grand Line. However, due to Sou and Sasaki being unable to recognize any of these signs, they were constantly blindsided by storms and other extreme weather changes, causing them to have to scramble to adapt to it.
Second of all, someone almost always needed to keep an eye on things such as wind direction and wind speed to make sure the ship wouldn't be blown off course. With Sou and Sasaki's attention already being split between having to catch fish, maintain the ship, and other things, there were many times where they would check the log pose only to realize that their ship was pointing in the opposite direction.
As such, due to their lack of a navigator, and other people in general, Sasaki and Sou were having quite a rough time on the seas, barely getting enough sleep each day due to their constant need to check on the ship and their course. And to add to that, they didn't know where the hell they were on the map, since they, not being navigators, were unable to keep track of their course.
However, eventually, they were saved from their misery. For the first time in a while, Sou spoke with happiness in his tone. "Sasaki! Look! There's land! We've reached our destination!"
At this, Sasaki finally sprung up, regaining his vigor. "Finally. So this is Jaya. It seems rather ordinary. Why did you choose this as our first island?"
Sou gave a slightly malicious grin. "Because this place houses Mock Town, a pirate town. Or, as I like to call it, the home of small fries and clout chasers. Here, I'll be able to get back into form by destroying a few weaklings. Then, we can move on. Plus, these clout chasers probably will have a lot of information on the current pirates. And if we're lucky, some big-shots might visit while we're here," he responded.
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In the streets of Mock Town was a peculiar sight. A small kid, walked around the streets carefree, his only protection an absurdly long katana that seemingly no one would be able to utilize effectively due to him telling Sasaki to protect him in the shadows. His expensive-looking clothes gave away his wealth, and his lack of protection made him an easy target for the pirates infesting Mock Town.
And of course, due to this, people with malicious intentions would always pop out of the woodworks. Two burly men stood in front of Sou, blocking his path.
At this, Sou inwardly grinned ferally. 'Finally. Some fodder took the bait. I was wondering how long it would take for me to find my first victims,' he mused to himself.
Outwardly, however, he sported a bright grin. "Hello, sir! I believe that you are currently blocking my path. Would you kindly allow me to get past?"
His polite demeanor only served to make the pirates underestimate him even more. The first guy gave an incredibly grating and annoying laugh. "Heh. Sorry kid, but no can do. Why don't you give us all your possessions first, and maybe we'll move aside," he replied.
Sou gave an apologetic smile. "I apologize, sir, but I'm currently unable to do this. My possessions are rather valuable, you see, and I would rather not part with them, you see."
The second man stepped up. "Kid, I think you misunderstood something. This isn't a request, this is an order. And refusing will have dire consequences. After all, I'm Canun Foder, a pirate with a 20 million bounty. And next to me is Week Ling, a pirate with a 25 million bounty."
'Oh my god. They're making this too easy. I didn't even need to manipulate them that much! This is too perfect. They seem to have above-average bounties for this area, which they announced in a public with many people watching. On top of that, they're clearly flexing their power, which means that it'll be much easier for me to gain influence here if I stomp these guys," Sou exclaimed inwardly.
"I'm sorry, sir, but I still refuse," Sou responded to their requests.
"Well then, we'll have to take it by force!" Week Ling exclaimed, raising a fist and punching towards Sou. His punch hit, instantly knocking Sou unconscious and allowing them to take his possessions. Or that's what he thought would happen.
Instead, he only felt an intense pain in his arm, before he heard something drop and felt something warm splatter across his face. Looking at the thing he dropped, he gave a vague look of incomprehension. "Isn't this... my arm?" These were his last words, however, as Sou immediately swung his blade, chopping off his head to join his arm on the ground.
Canun Foder stood frozen in fear and confusion, mirroring the feelings of the surrounding. However, unlike them, he came to his senses, immediately running for his life. Not so sadly, he was unable to escape, with Sou instantly delivering a quick slice to his neck.
Flicking some blood off his blade and wiping his forehead in faux exhaustion, he let out a breath. "Whew! That was pretty scary!" he said, to no particular person. Leaving behind the dead bodies, he began to nonchalantly keep walking, leaving the shocked and frightened crowd frozen.
Due to this incident, Sou's name quickly spread across the town. Of course, there were still some doubters who challenged Sou. After all, an eight-year-old child instantly killing two pirates was unheard of. These people were quickly shut up. Forever. Due to this, Sou was able to quickly obtain the information he wanted.
Based on information he got, many canon characters weren't active yet. Currently, many of the 'big shot' pirates that roamed Paradise were nameless characters who likely died before canon or were too irrelevant to mention. Of course, there were some canon characters who roamed the seas.
For example, the man who arrived in Jaya around a month later.
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A panicked man flung open the door to a bar. Shouting in fear, he drew the attention of the whole tavern. "He-he's here! The marine's star rookie! Captain Vergo!"
Sou grinned in excitement. "How lucky," he mumbled out loud.
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A/N: A rather slow chapter today. We arrive at Jaya. MC kills some scrubs. Vergo arrives. The next chapter, I hope, will be more exciting. As always, put questions, comments, suggestions, and concerns. Thanks for reading.
