Sea Calendar, 1492.
Bass Island.
The island was unremarkable, with a small population and only one modest town.
Its only claim to fame was that it had once belonged to Rocks D.
Xebec, the former overlord of the New World.
Back then, the islanders had scrimped and saved to obtain a flag from the great pirate Rocks.
Flying his flag deterred many nameless pirates and allowed the islanders to survive in the chaotic New World.
However, after Rocks’s death, the flag lost its power as a deterrent, and pirates began harassing the island from time to time.
Only a few small sailboats meant for short coastal voyages were moored at the dock.
Near the shore, a boy sat on a wooden platform with a fishing rod in his hands.
He had curly hair and wore a wolf-shaped hat.
His face still looked young, but his body was remarkably sturdy.
Although he was only twelve years old, he was already 1.9 meters tall.
“It’s been twelve years!” “When is Whitebeard finally going to arrive?!” He irritably shook the fishing rod in his hand, not caring whether he scared the fish away.
“Teach, how’s your catch today?” a passing middle-aged fisherman asked.
The boy ignored him and continued fishing without so much as a glance.
“You should listen to me.
Don’t spend all your time sitting at this dock.
We could take a small boat and go out to sea together.” “With your monstrous strength and my experience, we’d definitely live better than we do now,” the middle-aged man suggested.
Teach was also a fisherman, but unlike the others, he only fished and cast his nets from the dock.
He rarely ventured out to sea.
“Get lost.
I’m not interested.
Don’t disturb my fishing.” He waved his hand and shooed the man away.
Faced with Teach’s rude attitude, the middle-aged man did not dare say anything more.
“Come find me when you change your mind,” he muttered as he walked away.
Few of the island’s residents were willing to interact with Teach.
He never slept.
He fished during the day and trained at night.
His bizarre habit of remaining active twenty-four hours a day without rest led the islanders to believe that he was a monster, so they did not dare approach him.
Teach did not care that they shunned him.
He had no reason to associate with these ordinary people.
That middle-aged fisherman was an exception.
He had once witnessed Teach fighting a Sea King in the ocean, and the sight had shocked him deeply.
From that day onward, the man became determined to team up with Teach, expand their fishing business, and build a glorious future.
A large new boat in one year, a mansion in two years, and a new wife in three years.
How wonderful that would be!
“Whoosh!” Teach suddenly hurled his fishing rod into the water.
“Damn it!
What do you think you’re doing, swimming back and forth in front of me while I’m trying to fish?” He pulled the rod back out.
A fish was impaled on the other end, flopping wildly.
Teach was no longer in the mood to fish, so he packed up his things and left the dock.
Not far from the port stood a small wooden hut.
Teach took off his wolf-shaped hat, tidied his flattened curls, and lit a fire to begin cooking.
He did not need to sleep, but he still needed to eat.
To sustain his nightly training, he had developed an enormous appetite.
He poured some unfamiliar grains into a pot and set them to boil.
He placed the fish on a simple grill and slowly turned it, watching as its skin gradually became golden and crisp.
His thoughts began to wander.
The Dark-Dark Fruit, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, Whitebeard, Ace…
Were the future events within his memories real?
Teach did not know when it had happened, but fragmented memories had suddenly appeared in his mind.
Some concerned this world, while others came from an unfamiliar one.
“Is this what my future self did?” Teach murmured.
“No!
How could I possibly do something so foolish?!” He paused.
“Even if it was me, it was another version of me from a different timeline.” The memories of that unfamiliar world had introduced him to the concept of parallel timelines.
He adamantly refused to admit that his own future self would make such foolish decisions.
He clearly possessed top-tier talent.
He was one year older than Red-Haired Shanks, a future Emperor of the Sea, and had even been capable of leaving a scar on Shanks’s face.
His strength had to be near the top of the world’s second tier, or perhaps even at the lower end of the first.
Yet he had remained obscure and kept a low profile for so many years, relying entirely on fate to deliver the Dark-Dark Fruit into his hands.
“I can’t continue like that.
I’m no longer the same person.
Every choice I make changes the future.
I can’t rely on fate—I have to take the initiative!” His spirits immediately rose.
He picked up a wooden spoon and shoveled the cooked grains into his mouth, then grabbed the fish from the grill.
He tore into it with huge bites, ignoring the fact that the meat was still piping hot.
He chewed and swallowed it together with the bones.
A large pot of rice and more than ten fish quickly disappeared, but Teach merely rubbed his stomach, still feeling hungry.
“Just hold on a little longer.
Whitebeard should be arriving soon, right?” “I absolutely can’t miss my chance to hitch a ride with him!” Afraid that he might miss the Whitebeard Pirates, Teach had even moved his home beside the dock.
He guarded the port every day and refused to sail out to sea to fish.
Instead, he simply cast his nets near the shore, catching a few foolish fish that lingered nearby.
This was the only port on the island.
If the Whitebeard Pirates came to Bass Island, they would definitely arrive here.
Teach closed the door and hurried toward the town.
He stopped at the entrance of the island’s only blacksmith shop.
“Is my three-clawed gauntlet repaired?” Teach asked as soon as he entered.
“Yes, it is.” A burly man quickly handed him the unusual weapon.
Teach took it and carefully examined its three sharp claws.
The repair work was extremely poor.
Several chips the size of grains of rice remained along the edges, and the claws were visibly bent instead of straight.
Seeing Teach’s displeased expression, the burly man hurriedly explained.
“The gauntlet was too badly damaged.
I’m only a blacksmith who makes farming tools.
I really couldn’t repair it perfectly.” “…Teach, I did my best,” the man continued nervously.
The blacksmith had been beaten by Teach once before.
A few years ago, the man had relied on his muscular build to force his way into Teach’s home, intending to coerce him into revealing the secret behind his inability to sleep.
As a result, Teach had nearly beaten him to death.
Had Teach not needed to continue living on the island—and had he been capable of opposing everyone on it at the time—the man who broke into his home would already have been dead.
Teach was not a good person.
He enjoyed being feared and revered.
Only the strong could earn his respect.
“Teach, please spare me this time.
I can compensate you for the gauntlet.” The burly man dropped to his knees and begged in a low voice.
Teach’s continued silence only made him more afraid.
“Hmph!
Are you looking down on me?
Do you think I’m trying to extort you?” Teach asked with a grim expression.
“I didn’t mean that!” The burly man frantically waved his hands.
Teach raised the gauntlet and slowly dragged one of its claws across the blacksmith’s face.
The skin split open, and blood immediately began to flow.
“Then what did you mean?” The pain caused the burly man to break out in a cold sweat, and his thoughts went blank for a moment.
When the sweat ran into the wound, the sharp sting jolted him awake, and his mind began racing.
“I want to compensate you for the things I damaged in your house before!” “Yes, that’s the reason!” As he spoke, the burly man hurriedly pulled out a small pouch.
“These Berries are compensation.
Please forgive me for damaging your home.” “Zehahaha!” Teach laughed heartily.
He looked at the burly man before him, whose face was covered in blood even as he wore a flattering smile.
Teach liked this feeling.