The New World, Hachinosu (Pirate Island).
Ever since the Rocks Pirates made the island their headquarters, Hachinosu had become a true pirate haven.
Inside a tavern on the island’s southeastern shore sat a towering man with a pair of massive horns jutting from his head.
In one hand he held an enormous barrel of liquor.
In the other, a heavy spiked club.
Several bodies lay scattered around him.
Judging by the bloody wounds covering them—and the fresh blood staining his club—it was obvious who had done it.
A dozen more pirates, armed with swords, axes, and guns, had surrounded him.
The fight clearly wasn’t over.
Scenes like this were an everyday occurrence on Hachinosu.
Although the island maintained a loose sort of order, it was still home to countless pirates.
Feuds, ambushes, and bloody brawls were simply part of life here.
More often than not, a single disagreement was enough to erupt into an all-out fight.
Behind the bar, a young girl calmly polished a glass, seemingly unfazed by the violence unfolding before her.
She had smooth, pale green skin unlike any ordinary human’s.
Her crimson eyes, fin-like ears, webbed elbows, and long aqua-blue ponytail gave her an unmistakably aquatic appearance.
She wore a simple one-piece swimsuit and, despite the chaos around her, quietly scribbled notes into a small ledger.
“Kaido, you’re paying for everything you break.”
The horned giant was none other than Kaido, the future Emperor of the Sea who would one day be known as the “Strongest Creature in the World.”
At the moment, however, he was thoroughly drunk.
“The hell…?
They started it…
so why am I the one paying…?”
He looked genuinely aggrieved, as though he might burst into tears at any moment.
Anyone who knew Kaido would recognize the signs immediately.
Drunk Kaido and sober Kaido were practically two different people.
When intoxicated, he became wildly emotional.
One moment he was melancholic, the next clingy, then cheerful, then furious.
There was simply no predicting what he would do.
“Hmph.
If you beat everyone half to death, who else is left to pay besides you?”
“Wororororo!
…You’ve got a point!
Guess I really should be the one paying!”
His earlier sorrow vanished in an instant, replaced by hearty laughter as if he’d just been enlightened by flawless logic.
Tilting his head back, Kaido drained the entire barrel in one gulp before casually tossing it aside.
Crash!
The barrel exploded into splinters.
Without looking up, the girl calmly added another line to the repair bill.
Kaido rose to his feet, club in hand once more.
Around him, the surrounding pirates tightened their grips on their weapons.
Curiously, neither the drunken Kaido—who had just been handed an expensive bill—nor the pirates who clearly stood little chance against him showed the slightest hostility toward the girl behind the counter.
“Kaido, you bastard!
If you’ve got guts, step away from the bar!”
The pirates seemed oddly reluctant to attack him while he stood there, as though they feared something even more dangerous.
Kaido merely stood, hefted his club, and assumed a fighting stance.
The tavern instantly descended into another chaotic melee.
“Thunder…
Bagua!”
His iron club swept through the air.
The nearest pirate was launched like a rag doll, crashing through another table before coming to a stop.
“Idiot!
Watch where you’re swinging!”
“Get him!
Kill the bastard!”
“Don’t lose, Kaido!
I bet all my money on you!”
The clash of weapons, shattering furniture, cheering spectators, and drunken shouting blended into one deafening roar.
Meanwhile, the little girl behind the counter continued updating her ledger as calmly as if nothing unusual were happening.
“Hey!
That table was an antique!
That’s an extra charge!
Seven chairs…
twenty-eight glasses…
floor repairs…”
Then—
The tavern door swung open.
A man over three meters tall stepped inside.
He had long black hair and wore a flowing crimson robe.
Aside from his unusual height, he looked almost entirely human.
His crimson eyes carried a detached, almost icy calm, though they softened ever so slightly whenever they landed on certain familiar faces.
The instant he entered…
Silence.
The entire tavern froze.
Only Kaido kept fighting.
“…”
The pirates who had been cheering moments ago immediately shut their mouths.
One swallowed nervously before elbowing his companion.
“Quit yelling.”
“Huh?
Why?”
“Are you blind?
Nereus is here.”
There was unmistakable fear in his voice.
The newcomer beside him was clearly inexperienced.
“You don’t know?
Last time he fought Rocks D.
Xebec, the battle lasted seven days and seven nights without a winner.
If they hadn’t been holding back, they might’ve sunk the entire island.”
“That man’s a…
monster.”
The rookie pirate’s face immediately turned pale.
Without another word, he quietly backed away, unwilling to attract any unwanted attention.
“Afternoon, Boss Nereus!”
“Dad!
You’re back!”
A large, simple-looking man standing near the entrance greeted him cheerfully.
Behind the counter, the little girl waved excitedly.
The man called Nereus was precisely why none of the pirates dared threaten her.
Nereus was a transmigrator.
At first glance he looked like an ordinary human—after all, on these seas, being over three meters tall wasn’t particularly unusual.
In reality, however, he belonged to the Fish-Man race.
Fish-Men varied enormously in appearance.
Some possessed obvious fish-like traits, like Arlong.
Others looked almost completely human.
In the original timeline, both Jack and Sasaki of the Beasts Pirates were Fish-Men despite showing almost no visible aquatic features.
Nereus belonged to the latter group.
“Nanamo,” Nereus said, turning toward the girl behind the counter, “keeping track of the damage is fine.
But why didn’t you make them fight outside?”
The girl—Nanamo—quickly hid her notebook behind her back, unable to think of a convincing answer.
Nereus let the matter drop and instead looked toward Kaido, who was still merrily beating pirates senseless.
Hachinosu attracted every kind of criminal imaginable.
Although Kaido had yet to reach the terrifying peak of his future strength, dealing with this rabble was hardly difficult.
By the time Nereus arrived, only a handful of opponents remained standing.
As the battle wore on, Kaido only became more excited.
He grabbed a jug of sake from a nearby shelf, took another swig, and looked even drunker than before.
“Hic…
Nereus…
you’re here…
Wanna drink with me?”
Even as he spoke, he casually hurled the sake jug at the last pirate still standing.
It smashed against the man’s head.
Blood mixed with spilled liquor as it spread across the tavern floor.
Nereus clicked his tongue.
“Did you forget what I told you?”
“…Don’t make trouble on my turf.”
No one saw him move.
One moment he was standing several meters away.
The next, he was beside Kaido, resting a single hand lightly on his shoulder.
Cold sweat instantly broke out across Kaido’s forehead.
Even his drunken haze seemed to clear a little.
“Nereus…”
BOOM!
Nereus didn’t wait for him to finish.
Instead, he administered his own version of sobering someone up.
With one effortless motion, he slammed Kaido into the floor.
The giant’s head sank so deeply into the wooden planks it nearly disappeared beneath them.
Nereus then walked over to Nanamo and held out his hand.
“The notebook.”
“…Nereus…
those guys started it…” Kaido muttered as he slowly sat up, rubbing the back of his head.
“You think I’d only knock some sense into you?”
“Restore the tavern exactly the way it was.”
“…Or else.”
“Dad, he’s hopeless with this kind of stuff.
Wouldn’t it be easier to just make him pay?”
Nereus lightly tapped Nanamo on the head twice with her own notebook.
She immediately crouched down, clutching her head and pretending the gentle taps had been devastating.
Looking at her, Nereus spoke in a stern voice.
“You think I don’t know what these repairs actually cost?”
“Where exactly were you planning to spend all this extra money?”
The prices she’d written were obviously far higher than the real value of the damaged furniture.
If Kaido had actually paid the bill as written, there would have been a sizeable surplus left over.
After all, if nothing ever needed repairing, how would anyone make money?
Inflate the repair bill a little, and suddenly there’s plenty to go around.
“My allowance wasn’t enough…”
“If you need money, ask me.”
“Don’t pull tricks like this.”
Nereus closed the notebook and tucked it away before tossing Nanamo a small coin purse.
“If I remember right, you’re meeting Katakuri and the others this afternoon.”
“It’s almost time.”
“Go have fun.”
Nanamo counted the money inside, flashed him a heart-shaped gesture with her fingers, then vaulted over the counter and skipped out of the tavern.
The large man who had greeted Nereus earlier silently followed behind her.
This was still Pirate Island.
There might be rules here, but it was no place to let a child wander around alone.
Within Nereus’s own territory she was relatively safe.
Outside of it, however, it was always better to have someone watching over her.