Karl lay flat on the ground, limbs spread wide.
Every breath he took was labored, and traces of blood mixed with foam seeped from the corner of his mouth.
A figure suddenly blocked the firelight above him.
It was Luffy.
“What?
Planning to finish me off now?”
Karl had assumed Luffy intended to shut him up permanently.
Instead, Luffy reached down, grabbed his arm, and hauled him back onto his feet.
“I finally get what you’ve been trying to tell me, Karl.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I do!”
“You really think so?”
Karl looked at him.
“Then answer me this.
Are you still planning to become the Pirate King?”
“Obviously!”
Luffy didn’t hesitate for even a second.
“Not only am I going to become the Pirate King, I’m going to make sure you join my crew too!”
Karl shook his head helplessly.
“Then you truly didn’t understand.”
“Pirates kill people.”
“And I can’t do that.”
“Why would you want someone who can’t even kill a pig properly dragging your crew down?”
“So what?”
Luffy replied immediately.
“I’ve never killed anyone either.”
“You just beat the bad guys until they can’t move anymore, right?”
“The ones who kill people are the bad guys!”
Karl burst out laughing.
“Hahaha!”
“If you’re afraid of killing, what kind of pirate are you supposed to be?”
“Do you really think a saint can survive on the sea?”
“Or are you planning to throw your life away?”
“Just like you said before—bet everything on it?”
His smile gradually faded.
“Don’t you understand?”
“In this era, a human life is worth almost nothing.”
“With the cheapest stake imaginable, what makes you think you’ll reach the highest position in the world?”
“Then I’ll bet everything!”
Luffy rolled up his sleeves and struck a ridiculous pose, flexing like a bodybuilder showing off his muscles.
“Isn’t it simple?”
“I just have to become stronger than everyone else!”
“Strong enough to knock them all down with a single punch!”
“You can’t defeat everyone.”
“Who says I can’t?”
Luffy immediately shot back.
Karl narrowed his eyes.
“Fine.”
“Let’s say you beat everyone and become the Pirate King.”
“Then what?”
“The Pirate King is still a pirate.”
“People will fear you.”
“They’ll curse your name.”
“They’ll treat you like some kind of monster.”
“So what?”
Luffy stood proudly with his hands on his hips.
“I chose this road myself.”
“I don’t care what anyone else thinks.”
Then he stretched out a hand toward Karl.
“So, Karl…
join my crew.”
Looking at that outstretched hand, Karl felt something inside him shake.
For a brief moment, his determination wavered.
“No chance!”
He snapped back to reality and slapped Luffy’s hand away.
Then he turned around and resumed preparing the boar meat.
“I’ve already told you.”
“I’m not becoming a pirate.”
“Just like you made a promise to become Pirate King…”
Karl lowered his gaze.
“I made a promise too.”
“A promise that I’d become a good person.”
For an instant, a familiar face seemed to emerge from the flames.
A memory belonging to another world.
A world that no longer existed.
Luffy finally understood.
Promises really were important.
If someone else had said those words, he probably would have given up already.
But Karl wasn’t like everyone else.
Luffy liked him.
The things Karl talked about were interesting.
The ideas he brought up were things Luffy had never heard before.
Scratching his head, Luffy sat down beside the fire and began thinking seriously.
A long time passed.
Then suddenly his eyes lit up.
“Then don’t be a pirate!”
“Hm?”
Karl looked up.
“You can be a special crew member!”
Luffy excitedly explained.
“When the time comes, we’ll just tell everyone I kidnapped you and forced you aboard!”
Karl stared at him, speechless.
“Can you stop saying ridiculous things?”
“I’m talking about beliefs.
Principles.
Ideals.”
“Do you even understand what those are?”
“And who exactly would believe something that stupid?”
“Ahhh…”
Luffy let out a disappointed sigh and collapsed onto the ground.
“Then after you leave this island, are you joining the Marines?”
“The Marines?”
Karl thought for a moment.
“Probably not.”
“You hate pirates though, don’t you?”
“I do.”
Karl curled his lip.
“But hating them and beating them are two different things.”
Then he chuckled.
“There’s a saying where I come from.”
“When you’re weak, take care of yourself.”
“When you’re strong, help the world.”
“Huh?”
Luffy tilted his head.
“I don’t get it.”
“It means that if you’re ordinary and powerless, it’s enough to live your own life well.”
Karl patiently explained.
“Like me right now.”
“But if you have the ability.”
“If you’re strong enough.”
“Then you should help more people.”
“Like today.”
“You hunted all this food and shared it with me.”
“Oh!”
Luffy immediately nodded.
“I understand now!”
“When I become the Pirate King, I’ll be the strongest person in the world!”
“Right.”
“Then I’ll help even more people!”
“Right.”
“I’ll hunt even more wild boars and give meat to everyone in the world!”
Karl immediately toppled backward.
“What did wild boars ever do to deserve this?!”
After sitting back up, he couldn’t help complaining.
Luffy completely ignored him.
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Your dream.”
“My dream?”
“Yeah.”
Karl shrugged.
“My dream is simple.”
“Eat well.”
“Drift through life peacefully.”
“Right now, I’d be perfectly satisfied if I could leave this island, open a restaurant at Marine Headquarters, earn enough money to live comfortably, and spend the rest of my life in peace.”
“At least there I wouldn’t have to worry about pirates showing up and burning, killing, or looting everything.”
“You have no idea how chaotic the outside world is.”
“Pirates are everywhere.”
“Marine Headquarters is probably one of the few genuinely safe places left.”
As he spoke, Karl seemed to imagine something amusing.
A smile crept onto his face.
“And when you eventually get arrested…”
“I can bring you meals in prison.”
“How about roasted wild boar?”
“Awesome!”
Luffy’s eyes immediately sparkled.
“I’ll eat ten!”
Then he reconsidered.
“No!”
“A hundred!”
“Sure, sure.”
Karl waved dismissively.
“If I live long enough to see that day, I’ll feed you until you’re full even if it bankrupts me.”
“Back where I come from, there’s a tradition.”
“Before an execution, the prisoner gets one final good meal.”
“That’s a great tradition!”
Luffy grinned.
“But that’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?”
“Your dream.”
Karl blinked.
“That is my dream.”
“No.”
Luffy shook his head.
“That’s your dream when you’re poor.”
“When you’re…
prosperous.”
He frowned while trying to remember the phrase.
“The thing you said earlier.”
“When prosperous, help the world.”
Karl smiled helplessly.
Yet when he saw the seriousness in Luffy’s eyes, his expression froze.
That’s right.
What if he became prosperous?
For his entire life, he had viewed himself through the lens of weakness.
Through the perspective of someone struggling merely to survive.
As long as he could feed himself and get by, he was satisfied.
He had never considered anything beyond that.
Help the world…
What was his dream?
He genuinely didn’t know.
Why?
Because he was afraid?
Or because reality had beaten the dreams out of him?
Had he already accepted that he was ordinary?
Was it after graduating from university and realizing how little he would earn?
Or was it when the pressures of life forced him to bury all his youthful ambitions?
Karl couldn’t remember anymore.
“I…
don’t know.”
A smile remained on his face.
But it had become bitter.
Without realizing it, tears had begun gathering in the corners of his eyes.
Luffy noticed immediately.
“Then think about it.”
“What’s the point?”
Karl laughed softly.
“It has nothing to do with me.”
“I’ll never reach that level anyway.”
“Then leave it to me!”
Luffy suddenly sprang to his feet.
For the first time since they’d met, Karl saw an expression on Luffy’s face that was completely serious.
Then Luffy shouted:
“Then tell me!”