“You’re not merely taking away their possessions—you’re taking away their chance to live.”
“Even the most worthless pirate can choose to gamble with his own life.
But if ordinary people are pushed into a corner and death is staring them in the face, how could they possibly refuse to fight back?”
“And once that happens, conflict is unavoidable.
And wherever conflict exists, people die.”
“Luffy, maybe you can hold yourself back, but can you restrain everyone else?
Until the day you become Pirate King, you won’t have the power to save everybody.”
“Argh!
This is so annoying!!!”
Ever since he met Karl, Luffy felt as though his head had stopped working properly.
He had lived exactly the same way his entire life.
Nothing had ever seemed wrong before.
So why did everything suddenly feel so complicated today?
“Then I just won’t rob normal people!
I’ll only take things from bad pirates!”
“And where do you think those pirates got their treasure?”
Karl looked at him.
“It certainly didn’t fall from the sky.”
“They stole it from ordinary people.”
This time, Luffy answered first.
“Exactly.”
Karl nodded.
“You rob them.
They lose everything and can’t survive.
Then they rob ordinary people to recover what they lost.”
“Pirates always point their weapons at those weaker than themselves.”
Then Karl shifted the topic.
“So tell me, Luffy.”
“Why do you want to become Pirate King?”
“And don’t give me that promise again.
I’m asking about the reason beneath it.”
“When you become the strongest person on the sea, will you also turn your blade toward innocent civilians?”
“A small pirate wipes out a village.”
“A famous pirate destroys an island.”
“And the Pirate King destroys the whole world?”
“I’d never do that!”
Luffy shook his head so hard it looked like it might fly off.
“I don’t really understand all the things you’re talking about.”
“But I know I’d never do something like that!”
“Even if that’s true, other people won’t believe it.”
Karl calmly replied.
“Other pirates will continue doing those things.”
“So why should I care what they think?”
Luffy looked genuinely baffled.
“We’re ourselves, aren’t we?”
“Why should we live according to someone else’s ideas?”
“Why should we act the way they want us to?”
“Even if every pirate in the world steals, kills, and burns everything they see, I still won’t do it.”
“Because I know it’s wrong.”
“…Right.”
Karl murmured quietly.
“Why am I judging myself through the eyes of everyone else?”
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“So that’s it.”
“I’ve been trapped by my own assumptions.”
Looking across the flames at Luffy, Karl smiled.
“You really are different, Luffy.”
“I think I’m starting to understand why you were chosen.”
“Huh?”
Luffy blinked.
“Chosen?”
“I don’t get it again.” This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“Karl, you always say strange things.”
“Do I?”
“Obviously!”
Luffy nodded earnestly.
“You don’t feel like someone from around here at all.”
Karl froze.
For a brief instant, his heartbeat seemed to stop.
Before he could ask anything, Luffy continued speaking.
“The stuff you say…
I’ve never heard anybody talk like that.”
“Most of it sounds reasonable too, but…”
“Everyone else just accepts things.”
“Like you said, pirates rob people.”
“They kill people.”
“They search for treasure.”
“And Marines chase pirates.”
“That’s just how the world works.”
“That’s how it’s always been.”
“So when you talk about it differently, it feels weird.”
“That’s why I said you don’t seem like you’re from here.”
“Otherwise, how could you think of things that way?”
“I see…”
A strange glimmer flashed through Karl’s eyes.
For the first time, he realized that the boy standing before him might not be simple-minded at all.
Maybe he was one of those rare people who appeared foolish on the surface but possessed extraordinary insight.
Or perhaps he had simply stumbled onto the truth by accident.
“Let’s just say I saw it in a dream.”
Karl had no intention of pursuing that topic.
The fewer people who knew he was a transmigrator, the better.
Not that he believed Luffy could figure it out.
Still, there was no reason to take unnecessary risks.
“A dream?”
Luffy’s eyes immediately sparkled.
“I dream all the time too!”
“In my dreams there’s endless roasted meat and loads of friends!”
“Can you think about anything besides eating?”
Karl sighed.
Then he steered the conversation back on track.
“I’ll consider your answer earlier acceptable.”
“But that doesn’t change my decision.”
“I still won’t join your crew.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t want to.”
Karl shook his head.
“That’s reason enough.”
“Your answer surprised me.”
“But only a little.”
“Yes, I deliberately pushed every argument to its cruelest possible conclusion.”
“The world isn’t quite as terrible as I made it sound.”
“But it’s also nowhere near as beautiful as you imagine it to be.”
“In my eyes, you’re like a child raised inside an ivory tower.”
“Everything you’ve seen has been good.”
“And whenever something ugly appeared, your past experiences were enough to help you overcome it.”
“I’ll admit that’s remarkable.”
“But it’s still not enough.”
Then Karl’s expression grew more serious.
“Do you know why I’m stranded on this island?”
Without waiting for Luffy to answer, he continued.
“The ship I was traveling on was attacked by pirates.”
“I was the only one who escaped.”
“I jumped into the sea and survived by sheer luck.”
“Then the currents carried me all the way here.”
For once, Luffy said nothing.
He merely sat there, poking the campfire with a stick as he listened.
“Do you know what it sounds like when a blade pierces someone’s chest?”
Karl suddenly drove his knife into the boar’s heart.
Thrust.
The blade sank deep.
Then he pulled it back out.
Fresh blood immediately poured from the wound.
“Something like that.”
Karl’s voice remained calm.
“This boar was fortunate.”
“At least it died while sleeping.”
“But those people…”
“They watched their companions die right before their eyes.”
“They could feel their own lives slipping away and were powerless to stop it.”
“You know, being stabbed doesn’t kill a person instantly.”
“For a few moments, they’re still conscious.”
“They can still think.”
Karl looked directly at Luffy.
“So tell me.”
“What do you think someone thinks about during those final seconds?”
“The youngest child on that ship wasn’t even half as tall as you.”
His tone sounded almost casual.
Almost playful.
Yet neither of them found anything amusing.
“One swing.”
“And his head was gone.”
As he spoke, Karl finished cutting apart the large boar.
Then he grabbed one of the piglets beside him and casually stabbed it through the neck.
Wild boars possessed astonishing vitality.
Even though the piglet had been unconscious moments before, the pain immediately woke it.
A shrill scream erupted from its throat.
Its agonized squeals echoed through the forest.
Birds resting hundreds of meters away burst into the sky in fright.
The cries lingered among the trees.
“Karl.”
Luffy’s voice suddenly sounded unusually quiet.
“Do you have a bigger knife?”
Karl looked over and smiled.
“This thing’s too loud.”
Without another word, Luffy stood up.
He walked straight toward Karl.
Then he threw a punch.
Karl was launched backward.
Under Karl’s gaze, Luffy stepped forward once more.
This time his fist struck the screaming piglet.
The cries stopped instantly.
Whether it had merely been knocked unconscious or killed outright, neither of them checked.
“Heh.”
Karl laughed softly.
“Can’t stand it anymore?”
“This is what pirates are.”
“Everything I told you before was just theory.”
“Just words.”
He looked at the silent piglet.
“But this…”
“This is what pirates really are.”