Far out at sea, a pirate vessel drifted calmly over the waves.
Bright red hearts decorated its sails, while an enormous swan figurehead stretched proudly from the bow.
On deck, two rugged-looking pirates lounged against the railings, enjoying the warm sunlight.
Then something floating in the ocean caught their attention.
It was a barrel.
The moment they noticed it, their eyes gleamed with excitement.
One pirate immediately grabbed a hook and swung it toward the drifting oak barrel.
The throw was perfect, and the hook latched on securely.
His companion rushed over to help.
Working together, the pair strained to drag the heavy barrel aboard.
“Man…
what’s inside this thing?” one grumbled while wiping sweat from his forehead.
“Why is it so ridiculously heavy?”
“You’re telling me,” the other replied.
“I almost broke my back hauling it up.”
“To me, it looks like a wine barrel.”
“A wine barrel?”
“Yeah.
Maybe it’s loaded with some high-quality booze.”
“Liquor, huh…”
The two exchanged greedy smiles.
Then they carefully scanned the surroundings.
Only after confirming nobody was paying attention did they finally relax.
“Hehehe.
What do you think?
We split it between ourselves?”
“Only if Lady Alvida never finds out.”
“But…
Lady Alvida said nobody was allowed to drink aboard the ship.”
A timid voice suddenly interrupted them.
The two pirates froze and looked downward.
Standing beside them was a tiny pink-haired boy.
He was so small that neither pirate had noticed him approaching.
“Koby?!”
One pirate instantly clamped a hand over the boy’s mouth.
“Keep it down!”
The second pirate drew his sword and rested the blade against Koby’s throat.
“Listen carefully.
If a single word about this reaches anyone else, you’re dead.”
“O-Okay!”
Faced with the threat, Koby had no choice but to nod.
Unfortunately, the pirates weren’t satisfied with that.
Instead, they ordered him to carry the barrel down into the cargo hold while they followed behind like supervisors.
As the lowest-ranked errand boy on the entire ship, Koby couldn’t refuse.
Or perhaps it was more accurate to say he had long since gotten used to being pushed around.
Without complaint, he lifted the barrel onto his shoulders and staggered toward the hold, quietly muttering about how absurdly heavy it was.
“Heh.
Koby, stand outside and keep watch.
Don’t let anyone come in.”
One pirate issued the command before pulling out a knife and wedging it beneath the lid.
He wanted to find out exactly what treasure the barrel contained.
“Huh?”
The knife suddenly struck something hard.
Clang!
A metallic sound echoed through the room. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
Curiosity immediately got the better of him.
Leaning closer, he noticed strange black metal packed between the wooden slats of the barrel.
Even odder, a propeller-like object was attached to one side.
“What the hell?”
“Come over here.
Do you know what this thing is?”
“No clue.”
The two idiots crouched beside the barrel and inspected it from every angle.
Before either of them could reach a conclusion—
BOOM!
The barrel exploded apart.
History repeated itself once again.
Only this time, the ones sent flying through the air were two unlucky pirates.
“Wahahaha!
See?
We got rescued again!”
Luffy laughed triumphantly.
“See, Karl?
I wasn’t making it up!”
“Cough…
cough…”
A strained voice emerged from beneath him.
“Can you…
get off me first?”
Luffy blinked in confusion.
Lowering his head, he discovered that his body had somehow twisted itself around Karl’s neck like an enormous rubber python.
Seeing Karl moments away from passing out, Luffy hurriedly untangled himself.
“Haaah…
gasp…
haaah…”
Karl greedily sucked in fresh air.
“I almost…
died…”
Every fiber of his being celebrated the simple act of breathing.
Trying to fit two people inside a single barrel had been a terrible idea.
Although Luffy’s rubber body allowed him to compress himself and make better use of the limited space, it created entirely different problems.
After all…
Who knew what kind of horrifying positions the two of them had been folded into over the past two days?
“I told you we should’ve built another barrel,” Luffy complained while casually digging in his nose.
“You were the one who insisted on sharing mine.”
“And whose fault was it that we ended up inside a whirlpool in the first place?”
Karl shot him an irritated look.
“If I had drifted away alone, I’d probably never have seen you again.”
Despite the suffering, Karl didn’t regret the decision.
They had been floating for at least two days.
Possibly even longer.
Without Luffy’s absurd protagonist luck, Karl suspected he would’ve ended up feeding fish on the ocean floor.
“Anyway, where are we?”
Finally recovering, Karl examined his surroundings.
“This looks like some kind of cargo hold.”
“Did another ship pick us up?”
His gaze swept across the room.
The first thing he noticed was the pair of unconscious pirates sprawled across the floor.
The moment Karl saw him, alarm bells rang in his head.
“Idiot Luffy, look what you’ve done now.”
“Huh?”
“You knocked those two guys out, didn’t you?”
“Uh…
maybe by accident?”
“I don’t believe that for a second.”
Karl shifted his attention to the pink-haired boy.
“Hey, Shorty.
Where are we?
Were you the one who rescued us?”
“Don’t just give people weird nicknames!”
The boy clenched his fists and protested loudly.
“My name is Koby!”
“Oh.”
Luffy flashed a cheerful grin.
“Nice to meet you, Koby!
I’m Luffy—the future Pirate King!”
He proudly pointed his thumb toward himself.
BONK!
A fist immediately descended onto the top of his head.
Luffy’s skull visibly sank inward before bouncing right back to normal.
The sight was disturbing enough to make anyone question reality.
Had it not instantly recovered, Koby might have fainted on the spot.
“How many times do I have to tell you not to announce that to every random person you meet?!”
Karl rubbed his aching hand in annoyance.
“Are you trying to get us executed?”
“That punch didn’t hurt at all, Karl.”
Karl said nothing.
Seeing Karl’s expression grow darker, Luffy quickly switched to an apologetic smile.
“Okay, okay!
I got it!
I won’t do it again!”
“I’ll believe that when it actually happens.”
With a sigh, Karl stepped forward toward Koby.
“Nice meeting you, Koby.
My name’s Karl.”
Then he pointed at Luffy.
“That guy’s my captain.
His brain doesn’t always function correctly, so he says weird things all the time.
Just ignore him.”
“H-Hello…”
Koby replied nervously.
However, after looking at Karl’s obviously forced smile and then at Luffy’s sincere expression, he completely disregarded Karl’s explanation.
“You just said…
you want to become Pirate King?”
Karl covered his face.
Wonderful.
Everything he had just said had been completely pointless.
“That’s right!”
Luffy declared proudly.
“I’m the man who’s going to become Pirate King!”