Deep in the forest on the outskirts of Foosha Village, at the end of a well-trodden path, stood a somewhat weathered treehouse.
The trunk of the tree served as its main support, while crooked wooden planks had been pieced together to form the walls and floor.
Thick boards covered the roof, and several strings of dried wild fruit hung from the eaves.
This was the “super awesome secret base” Luffy had been talking about.
“What do you think, Mox?
Cool, right?”
Luffy stood proudly with his hands on his hips, gazing up at the masterpiece he and his brothers had built, his eyes sparkling.
“Ace, Sabo, and I built it together!”
He gently pushed open the wooden door, which was tied shut with coarse hemp rope.
The hinges creaked softly as the door swung open.
Surprisingly, although the materials looked rather worn—and had probably been pieced together from scraps scavenged from the Gray Terminal—the inside was fairly clean.
The floor had been swept spotless.
There were no cobwebs in the corners, and even the crude “tables and chairs” made from tree stumps and thick planks had been wiped clean enough for the wood grain to remain visible.
“You can tell you come here often,” Mox said with a smile.
“Of course!”
Luffy darted into the treehouse and rummaged through an inconspicuous wooden chest in the corner.
“Look, look!
These are all important!”
Like a child showing off his treasures, he carefully laid everything out on the floor.
There were several smooth little stones that, according to Luffy, he and Ace had won from each other in skipping-stone competitions.
There was also a fragment of a pirate flag, its edges torn and incomplete, which Sabo had cut out of an old book.
And there was a crooked little ring woven from twigs.
Luffy explained that it had been a “king’s coronation gift” for Ace.
Ace had laughed and tossed it right back into his face.
Luffy’s voice was bright and energetic, carrying the unmistakable vitality of a boy his age.
Every time he introduced another item, it was as though he were reliving another precious, shining memory.
Mox listened quietly.
He watched Luffy grin widely whenever he recalled some amusing incident, showing two rows of white teeth.
But then, as though something had suddenly occurred to him, Luffy’s expression gradually fell.
Mox knew the story.
Luffy was probably thinking about Sabo’s supposed death.
Knowing what he should do to lift Luffy’s spirits, Mox clapped his hands.
“All right.
My turn.”
He smiled.
With a thought, the space beside him warped slightly.
One sack after another appeared out of thin air.
When he opened them, they were filled with beautifully packaged food containers.
The moment the lids were opened, delicious aromas instantly filled the entire treehouse.
There were steaming skewers of grilled meat carrying a smoky char, golden and crispy fried foods piled into little mountains, colorful fruit platters, and several large pieces of cream cake.
“WHOA!”
Luffy’s eyes instantly turned into stars.
He sniffed enthusiastically.
“Food!
So much delicious food!”
“These are from the Baratie,” Mox said, pushing the food containers toward Luffy.
“The chef there has incredible kicking skills, and the food is especially delicious.”
“I packed some into my ability space before leaving.”
“Time doesn’t pass inside my space, so everything is still exactly as fresh as when I packed it.”
“Mox!
You’re the best!”
Luffy immediately grabbed a skewer and started devouring it.
His cheeks bulged as he chewed, and he mumbled incoherently.
“With a crewmate like you, going out to sea is gonna be SUPER fun!”
“You’re so useful!”
Mox watched him wolf down food without the slightest concern for table manners.
He couldn’t help but laugh helplessly.
And what exactly is this “useful person” supposed to mean?
He leaned against the wall and looked at this future captain.
His heart filled with complicated emotions.
He had crossed into this world and become bound to that bizarre Trash System.
From his initial confusion to all the twists and turns along the way, he had finally taken the most important step.
He had become Monkey D.
Luffy’s crewmate.
Now came the next step.
Getting stronger.
Mox didn’t want to become dead weight during the adventures ahead.
Even more importantly, he didn’t want to miss the magnificent sights of this world because he wasn’t strong enough—or worse, be unable to protect the people around him.
Mox silently summoned his system panel in his mind.
[System Panel]
Host: Mox
Basic Attributes:
Physical Strength: 112
(Note: Armament Haki unlocks when Physical Strength reaches 1,000.)Energy: 3,458
Ability System:
Devil Fruit Abilities:Trash ManipulationTrash DecompositionTrash Synthesis Personal Abilities (+ indicates that Energy can be consumed to upgrade):Eight Extremities Fist: Proficient+Observation Haki: Basic+Trash Can Space: 10 × 10+
His Physical Strength had finally broken past 100, reaching 112.
He had Garp’s “Fist of Love” to thank for that.
Being chased around and beaten by Garp these past few days had hurt like hell, but his physical abilities had indeed improved at an astonishing rate.
Unfortunately, his Energy hadn’t increased by much.
System upgrades and ability development required huge amounts of Energy, but special “trash materials” were simply too difficult to find.
Mox sighed.
His gaze drifted toward the Devil Fruit quietly resting inside his system storage.
It was the prize he’d won from the Big Eater Tournament.
At a glance, it was practically indistinguishable from a genuine Devil Fruit.
Does this count as a “special material”?
How much Energy would I get if I decomposed it?
Mox had always been curious.
But for now, he had no intention of testing it.
He glanced at Luffy, who was beside him devouring an enormous hamburger with sauce smeared all over his face.
Mox helplessly shook his head.
With such an energetic troublemaker beside him, there was no way he could concentrate on analyzing the fruit.
If decomposing it caused some unusual phenomenon and Luffy started asking questions, that would be troublesome.
It was better to deal with the matter at hand first.
“Luffy,” Mox said, “you’re a Devil Fruit user, right?”
“Yeah!”
Luffy nodded vigorously.
His mouth was still stuffed with food, making his answer somewhat muffled.
“I ate the Gum-Gum Fruit!
I’m a rubber man!”
Mox looked at him.
No, you didn’t eat the Gum-Gum Fruit…
You ate the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika.
Of course, he couldn’t possibly tell Luffy that.
That fruit was far too mysterious.
The fewer people who knew about it, the better.
Otherwise, Luffy might get crushed by some overpowered enemy before he even left the beginner’s protection zone.
Instead, Mox changed the subject.
“Then do you know why you feel pain when your grandfather Garp punches you?”
“Huh?”
Luffy froze.
Even his chewing stopped.
He scratched his head in confusion.
“I don’t know…”
“Mox, do you know?”
“Tell me!”
“Grandpa’s punches hurt like crazy!”
“I’m rubber!
Why do they still hurt?!”
Mox stood up.
“Come outside.”
“Try hitting me with your strongest punch.”
“Huh?”
“Mox, are you sure?”
Luffy hesitated, but his curiosity and excitement quickly overcame his concern.
He clenched his fist.
“Mox, I’m really strong!”
“Go ahead.”
Mox stood there calmly.
Seeing how confident Mox looked, Luffy stopped hesitating.
He grinned.
“Okay!
Here I go!”
Outside the treehouse, Luffy took a deep breath.
His right arm suddenly pulled backward.
His rubber arm stretched several meters, the muscles along it bulging slightly.
“Gum-Gum Pistol!”
With a loud shout, Luffy’s fist shot forward like a bullet, accompanied by a sharp whistle of wind.
It slammed straight toward Mox’s chest.
Yet just before the fist connected, the part of Mox’s body about to be struck instantly transformed into elemental form.
His body became gelatinous.
Luffy’s fist passed straight through Mox without resistance.
Carried by its momentum, the arm continued forward for several meters before snapping back like a rubber band and returning to its original shape.
“…”
Time seemed to freeze.
Luffy remained frozen in his punching stance.
His mouth was wide enough to swallow a fist.
His eyes were round with disbelief.
Several seconds later, he suddenly jumped up and pointed at Mox.
“AAAH!”
“WHY?!”
“I HIT YOU!”
“But it didn’t hurt you!”
“Mox, why?!”
He ran circles around Mox, inspecting him from every angle as though desperately searching for the secret hidden inside his body.
Mox’s body reformed into solid flesh.
He explained,
“I’m a Logia-type Devil Fruit user.”
“My body can become elemental.”
“Ordinary physical attacks are ineffective against Logia users unless you have a special way of countering them.”
He paused and touched the lump that hadn’t completely disappeared from his head.
Then he changed the subject.
“But your grandfather Garp can still beat me until I get lumps all over my head.”
“Huh?”
Luffy looked even more astonished.
“Yeah!”
“Why do Grandpa’s attacks work?!”
“You want to become the Pirate King, right?”
Mox’s expression became serious.
“If you can’t master that power, you won’t be able to become the Pirate King.”
The moment he heard the words Pirate King, all of Luffy’s surprise disappeared.
It was replaced by unprecedented seriousness.
He stopped fooling around and stared intently at Mox, listening carefully.
“That power is called Haki.”
Mox spoke slowly.
“There are three types of Haki.”
“Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and Conqueror’s Haki.”
“Once you learn Armament Haki, you can coat your body with it and strike Logia users.”
“But I don’t know how to train it myself.”
He paused.
“However…”
“Your grandfather Garp possesses some of the strongest Armament Haki in the world.”
“When he normally beats us, he probably isn’t even using one percent of his actual strength.”
“So Grandpa really is that strong…”
Luffy muttered to himself, his eyes filled with shock.
“Of course.”
Mox nodded.
“He’s the Hero of the Marines.”
“If he hadn’t refused to become an Admiral because he didn’t want to protect those Celestial Dragons, he would have become a Marine Admiral long ago.”
“So we should take advantage of the fact that your grandfather is currently on leave.”
“We need to find a way to get him to teach us how to train Haki.”
“Oh!”
Luffy suddenly punched his palm in realization.
“I get it!”
He immediately turned and started running toward the village.
“I’ll go find Grandpa right now!”
“Wait!”
Mox grabbed him.
He pressed one hand against his forehead, his face filled with helplessness.
“I can’t believe I actually expected something from this idiot captain…”
He took a deep breath and spoke to Luffy, who was still struggling to break free.
“Tomorrow.”
“It’s already getting late.”
“Speaking of which, where am I sleeping tonight?”
“Oh!
Right!”
Luffy slapped his forehead.
Then he grabbed Mox and ran in another direction.
“Come on, Mox!
Let’s go find Dadan!”
“I’m telling you, Dadan’s a bandit and she looks scary, but she’s actually a good person!”
…
By evening, they arrived at the mountain bandits’ hideout belonging to the Dadan Family.
Several bandits were lazily sunbathing in front of the battered wooden house while drinking cheap liquor.
When they saw Luffy dragging an unfamiliar boy toward them, they all looked up in surprise.
Luffy pushed open the creaking wooden door and shouted into the house.
“Dadan!”
“This is Mox!”
“My grandpa brought him here!”
“He’s gonna live here from now on!”
With that, he tried to drag Mox toward one of the rooms.
Mox quickly pulled his hand free.
He intended to make a good impression on Dadan and establish himself as a well-behaved, sensible, adorable young man.
He straightened his clothes.
Then he bowed politely to the tall, burly, scar-faced woman who emerged from the inner room.
“Hello, Aunt Dadan.”
“I’m Mox.”
“I may be staying here for a while, so I’ll probably be troubling everyone.”
“My ability can help keep the place clean.”
The moment he finished speaking, Mox extended his Observation Haki throughout the house.
He sensed every piece of trash and every layer of dust.
Then his Logia ability quietly activated.
An invisible force swept through the entire house.
The dust on the floor, garbage in the corners, and grease covering the tables all vanished instantly.
The previously chaotic wooden house became spotless in the blink of an eye.
Even the air seemed fresher.
“!!!”
Every bandit inside and outside the house was stunned.
Their drinking bowls fell from their hands with a series of clatters.
None of them reacted.
They simply stared at Mox with their mouths hanging open as though they had witnessed something impossible.
Mox didn’t stop.
He once again accessed his system storage.
A heavy wooden chest appeared out of thin air on the table.
He opened it.
Inside were neatly stacked bundles of Berries.
Exactly 100,000 Berries.
Mox picked up the chest with both hands and slowly turned around so everyone could see its contents.
Then he gently pushed it toward Dadan with a smile.
“I didn’t bring much of a gift this time.”
“Please use this money to buy drinks for everyone.”
“…”
Dadan stared at the spotless house.
Then she looked at the chest overflowing with Berries.
She froze.
Several seconds later, she suddenly covered her face and burst into tears.
“WAAAAH!”
“Garp, you bastard!”
“You finally—”
“You finally did something decent for once!”
Mox:
“…”
He awkwardly rubbed his nose.
Was that reaction really necessary?
But then he thought about it.
Garp had previously dumped troublesome children like Ace, Sabo, and Luffy on Dadan.
So Mox could understand how she felt.
This was probably the overwhelming emotional impact of positive contrast.
After crying for a while, Dadan abruptly wiped away her tears.
Her face instantly filled with an enthusiastic smile.
She hugged the chest of money to herself and shouted at her men.
“Quick!”
“Go buy the best booze and meat!”
“We’re having a feast tonight!”
“OH!”
“Thank you, Brother Mox!”
The bandits finally snapped out of their shock and immediately ran outside cheering.
Dadan grabbed Mox’s hand, grinning from ear to ear.
“Brother Mox!”
“You can stay as long as you want!”
“Pick any room you like!”
“If you need anything, just tell Auntie!”
“Don’t be shy!”
Mox looked at the completely transformed Dadan and helplessly smiled.
Looks like having money really does make life better.
But for now, he had something more important to worry about.
How am I going to get that cunning old fox Garp to willingly teach us Haki tomorrow…?
Mox glanced at Luffy, who was already getting along with the bandits and enthusiastically discussing what they should eat at the feast that night.
He once again felt that the road ahead was going to be a very long one.