"Vice-Captain, I want to have your baby!"

  Kitaro flew off in a hasty escape, still a bit flustered. They're serious, he thought, feeling a slight shiver. The Kuja women ughed heartily behind him, delighted by his reaction. After weeks together, they'd come to admire Kitaro deeply, seeing him not only as a Vice-Captain in the ship but also as an impressive leader with a unique charm. Amazon Lily held strength as beauty, and to them, Kitaro who had both, was now the most beautiful man they had ever encountered.

  Among them, the sentiment to bear his child wasn't just a joke. Amazon Lily's creed held that children of the strong were strong themselves, and to them, Kitaro embodied power and prestige. If he accepted, they would gdly line up to have his child.

  ---

  Jaya Isnd - Mock Town

  Mock Town had earned its reputation as a pirate haven— The way pirates spend money is like spilling water, even though they see killing and fight as an "everyday thing". Here, pirates were unchecked, but they followed a hidden rule: citizens were off-limits. They rarely attacked the citizens. After all, what good is money if there is no where to spend it at?

  The town itself is built on the money that the pirates spend inside it freely. A normal person would say they hate the town, but there are not many normal people here.

  Kitaro strolled down the street, his senses on high alert as he scanned for his target. Suddenly, a scream rang out, breaking his focus. Ahead, a man fell from his horse, coughing and spitting blood, looking as though he were at death's door.

  "Little brother," the man rasped, reaching out, "please… help me up…"

  "Nope," Kitaro replied without a moment's pause. In his previous life, he had known the pitfalls of being too helpful.

  "Why not?" came a voice from nearby.

  "I didn't push him," Kitaro shrugged. "So why should I help?"

  The man on the ground, now clearly Doc Q, gave a humorless chuckle, which devolved into a fit of coughs. Another passerby took pity, helping Doc Q to his feet.

  "Oh, what a good man you are!" Doc Q rasped sarcastically, gncing sidelong at Kitaro. He pulled out a basket and offered the helpful stranger an apple. "Here, have one for your kindness."

  "An apple! Thank you!" The stranger snatched one without hesitation, biting into it immediately.

  A green-haired man with three swords at his waist, clearly Zoro, quickly intervened. "Hey, wait! Don't eat something from that stranger—"

  BOOM!

  An explosion sounded from a nearby house, shaking the street.

  "What the…?"

  "Someone ate an apple just now, and the whole group exploded!" cried a terrified bystander. "It's barbaric! The shop's destroyed!"

  The orange-haired girl beside Zoro turned pale. She grabbed a young man in a straw hat, who was chomping down on his own apple. "Luffy! Spit it out! Now!"

  Monkey D. Luffy coughed, struggling. "Too… te! Already swallowed…"

  "Hey, you!" Zoro demanded, turning on Doc Q. "What's the deal with those apples?"

  Doc Q gave a weak ugh. "Rex... if it was one of the 'exploding apples,' your friend would've been blown to pieces by now. Guess he got lucky!" He turned to Kitaro with a half-smile. "And you, cold-hearted boy—you're lucky too."

  Kitaro smirked. "Luck is my specialty." He sized up Doc Q, his grin widening as he did. Kitaro had come here because it was the nearest spot and offered the best chance of running into Bckbeard. He figured if Bckbeard wasn't here, he could use his knowledge of the storyline to guess the next likely pce.

  "With Doc Q here, Bckbeard must be close by," he thought, his focus sharpening. Kitaro's main target was Bckbeard.

  To his surprise, though, he'd also crossed paths with Luffy, Zoro, and Nami—characters he had admired since his early days as a One Piece fan. He hadn't expected to meet them so soon, and the encounter made this mission feel all the more surreal.

  Noticing Kitaro's intense gaze, Doc Q shifted uncomfortably, muttered something, and quickly slipped away with a wary gnce back.

  Kitaro watched him vanish, then gave a subtle nod to Luffy and his crew before moving on. Luffy's eyes lingered, curiosity flickering across his face.

  "What are you staring at?" Nami asked, tugging on Luffy's arm.

  "That guy..." Luffy muttered, scratching his head. "I dunno. Never seen him before."

  "Then let's go," Nami urged, scanning the area warily. "I've had enough weirdness for one day."

  ---

  Pub and Pies

  Kitaro continued to a nearby bar, his gaze sweeping the dimly lit room until it settled on his target—Bckbeard himself. Dragging a burp sack to the bar, he took a seat beside the infamous pirate, casually gncing over the menu.

  "Boss, a cherry pie and a drink," he ordered.

  Not long after, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami entered the bar, looking to rest and perhaps get a lead on Sky Isnd. They settled nearby.

  BANG!

  Luffy and Bckbeard simultaneously smmed their fists on their tables.

  "This cherry pie is so Nasty I could die!" Luffy beamed, grinning widely with pie in his mouth.

  "This cherry pie is so Tasty I could die!" Bckbeard echoed, almost drooling.

  They looked at each other with a serious look on their faces.

  "Eh. Just average," Kitaro muttered.

  Both men turned toward him, surprised.

  "Oh, hey, it's you again!" Luffy ughed.

  "Yeah," Kitaro replied casually, "small town."

  "A toast, then!" Bckbeard grinned, downing his drink in one gulp.

  Luffy also took a swig of his own drink, smacking the table in excitement.

  Luffy looked happy with the drink "This drink is specially Delicious!"

  Bckbeard's face twisted in disgust. "This drink is specially Disgusting!"

  Kitaro just rolled his eyes. "Ordinary."

  Both men gred at him, though Luffy's expression was more of puzzlement.

  "Jerk, you got something wrong with your tongue?" Bckbeard sneered at Luffy as he had the opposite taste of him.

  "You got something wrong with your head," Luffy shot back, unfazed.

  ---

  Luffy and Bckbeard squared off, eyes locked in fierce determination.

  The bar owner, caught in the middle, sighed, "Hey, I'm not the cook here ,so I don't care what you say and this isn't some high-end restaurant."

  Luffy piped up, "Hey, Ossan! I want 50 pieces of meat to go!"

  Not to be outdone, Bckbeard barked, "Old man, I want 51 of those cherry pies to go!"

  Luffy raised a brow. "Actually I meant 52 pieces of meat!"

  Bckbeard countered instantly "Wait I wanted 53 pies"

  Luffy raised his arms "Make them 54"

  "55"..."60"..."70"..."90" "100"

  Everyone was watching what was happening amused until finally they stopped at 100.

  They both rolled up his sleeves. "What? You wanna Fight?!"

  Zoro sighed, rubbing his temples. "What the hell are you even fighting over…"

  Nami, exasperated, gred at Luffy. "Enough already! We don't even have this kind of money for 100 pieces of meat! Remember why we're here!"

  Bckbeard leaned forward, chuckling. " You're a pirate, huh?"

  "Yes, that's right!" Luffy grinned.

  "Got a bounty?"

  "30 million ?!" Luffy decred proudly.

  Bckbeard snorted. "30 million? You? How the hell could that be? LIAR!"

  "I'm not lying, It's the truth!" Luffy shot back indignantly.

  "Hey!" the bar owner intervened. "I'll thank you not to fight in this pub!, Just take these and leave. 50 cherry pies!" He shoved a sack of pies into Bckbeard's hands, who took them with a grumble.

  Just then, a figure strode through the door. Everyone's eyes turned, and a hush fell over the room. "Is the Straw Hat Pirates here?" the man sneered.

  "It's Belmy!" someone whispered, gncing nervously at Luffy, the only one sporting a straw hat.

  Belmy ambled over, sneering. "So, you're Straw Hat Luffy—the 30 million ? pirate?"

  Luffy's brow furrowed. "What do you want?"

  Zoro shifted, hand on his sword. "Looks like trouble, Luffy."

  Nearby, Nami muttered to herself, "Isn't this the guy who booked out the hotel earlier?"

  A murmur ran through the crowd as Belmy continued his taunt. "So, you really think you're worth 30 million, kid?"

  "Who knows?" Luffy replied casually, shrugging off the tension.

  Belmy shot the bartender a smirk. "Gimme the most expensive wine you've got. And hey—get something for the 'big shot' in the straw hat, too."

  Just then, a group of notorious pirates barged in, scowling at the cramped bar. The leader, a long-haired man with a crooked grin, drew a knife and forced a few customers from their seats.

  The bar crowd, mostly unconcerned by the scuffle, kept to themselves, more amused than appalled. Pirates, after all, were no strangers to violence. When the drinks finally arrived, Belmy grinned at Luffy. "Here, enjoy."

  Luffy smiled politely. "Thanks! You're not so bad after all." He lifted the gss to drink, not noticing Belmy's hand suddenly flying toward him.

  "Luffy!"

  Crash!

  Belmy smmed Luffy's head into the bar, shattering it into splinters. The bar erupted in chaos, the pirates cheering on the fight as Belmy stood ughing over Luffy.

  "Well, well, Belmy, always the rabble-rouser!" one of his ckeys cackled.

  A bde glinted as Zoro unsheathed his sword, leveling it at Belmy's throat. "You really wanna mess with us?"

  Belmy smirked. "Oh, look at the tough guy. What're you gonna do, kid?"

  Nami darted forward, tugging on Zoro's arm. "Hold on, Zoro! We haven't even heard him out yet!"

  "Get your hands off me!" Zoro snapped, eyes fshing. "I'm just answering his 'invitation.'"

  Slowly, Luffy rose, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Guess you're not afraid to throw the first punch."

  The crowd roared with excitement. "A fight! They're actually gonna go for it!"

  Belmy's ughter echoed. "Fight? Oh no, kid. This is a test! Show me what you've got!"

  "Luffy, wait!" Nami interjected, turning to the bar owner. "Sir, we need information about Sky Isnd. Do you know how to get there?"

  The bar fell silent for a split second before erupting into uproarious ughter.

  "Sky Isnd?!" a pirate howled. "Wahaha! That's rich!"

  Nami flushed, pointing desperately to her Log Pose. "Look! Our Log Pose is pointing to the sky—it's proof!"

  A snide voice echoed from the back. "Your Log Pose must be broken, sweetheart."

  Belmy shook his head in mock pity. "You poor, clueless idiots. Still buying into old myths? This is the New Era, the age of logic and progress. Sky Isnd? Hah! That's just the product of some fool's dream!"

  "Think about it," he sneered. "All those weird currents? They're just freak accidents, swallowing ships and tossing 'em back into the sea. There's no magical isnd up there. You really believe in 'dreams'? Pathetic."

  The crowd nodded in agreement, muttering about outdated legends.

  Belmy's sneer deepened. "You call yourselves pirates, chasing after fairy tales? Listen up! The age of Dreamers pirates is over!

  ...