A lone ship was sailing through a stormy sea, struggling against the rough weather.
On top of its deck, two people were arguing with each other while the remaining crew surrounded them, either in fear of the argument turning into a fight or trying to dissuade them from fighting.
“What the hell!” roared the Captain, glaring at the man standing before him.
“Ye told us there be rich treasure in that ship, and we lost several men after raiding it, all for nothing!” “How was I supposed to know we’d get this…” The man pointed shakily at the box sitting in the middle of the crowd.
“THING!” “I was only informed that the ship belonged to a scientific laboratory,” he hurriedly explained.
“I thought we’d get a weapon or at least a Devil Fruit from them.
Who knew they had this?” The Captain’s expression darkened as he stared at the box.
“I don’t care about that!
We just attacked a Government ship because o’ you, so they’ll start hunting us now!” “But Captain, that ship was disguised.
We didn’t know it was a Government vessel until we attacked it.” the man quibbled.
“Excuses!” The Captain’s shout silenced the man.
“Captain!
There is a whirlpool forming starboard!” shouted the person in the crow’s nest.
The Captain immediately turned toward the sea and saw the distant whirlpool beginning to grow.
“Damn it.” He looked back at the man he had been arguing with.
“We should get away from this area.
I’ll deal with ye later.” The Captain turned toward the rest of his crew.
“Men!
Prepare the sails, raise the anchor, and move quickly!” The crew scattered across the deck, rushing to carry out their orders.
“Captain!” one of the men called out while pointing toward the box.
“What do we do with this?” The Captain glanced at it for a moment.
“Toss it overboard.” The crew member hesitated.
“Captain, are you sure?” “Did I not just say toss it overboard?” “Right!” The man hurried toward the box and secured the lid properly.
The box itself was surprisingly sturdy, made from thick, tough wood that had survived the earlier raid.
He carried it toward the rail and started lowering it with a rope.
“Why the hell are you taking so long?” complained another crew member while working on the sails.
“Just toss it overboard!” “You know what’s inside, right?” he yelled back while continuing to lower the box.
The other man glanced toward it.
“Idiot.
It’s…
whatever it is, was dead.” He quickly looked away from the box.
“So don’t bother with it.
Get the job done before you receive the Captain’s wrath.” The man lowering the box swallowed nervously.
“Why the hell would the Government have something like this?” Nobody answered him.
The box finally reached the water.
He released the rope and watched it splash into the sea before quickly returning to the ship.
Another pirate looked toward the damaged Government ship in the distance, its rudder already smashed, its sails already torn down and gone, every Transponder Snail aboard it already stripped and carried off before the boarding party had even left its deck.
“It’s a shame.
That ship looked expensive.” “Forget about the ship.
We already took anything useful from it.” “True.” The Captain looked toward the sea again.
“Are the sails destroyed?” “Aye!” “Rudder?” “Broken.” “Transponder Snails?” “Taken.” The Captain nodded in satisfaction.
“Then let’s be gone before the Government notices what happened.” The ship began to sail away, leaving the box behind.
The box floated on the rough waves for a moment before the current slowly pulled it toward the center of the whirlpool.
The pirates continued watching it from a distance.
The whirlpool grew larger as the sky began to darken around it.
The box was slowly dragged toward the center before finally being swallowed by the violent current.
The crew remained silent for a moment.
Then the box suddenly disappeared beneath the waves.
The Captain turned away.
“Good riddance.” The crew began returning to their work.
Two of the pirates remained near the side of the ship, watching the whirlpool from a distance.
“Hey.” “What?” “Why does the Captain speak like that?” The other pirate stared at him.
“Seriously?
Now you ask that question?” He pointed toward the distant whirlpool where the box had disappeared.
“That thing was in the box, and that is what you’re thinking about?” The first pirate scratched his head.
“Yeah.
I mean, I’ve been wondering about it for a while.” “Ye?
Be?
O’ this?
Half the time I don’t even understand what he’s saying.” “That’s exactly what I’m talking about!” The second pirate sighed.
“Just accept it.” “Accept what?” “That he’s weird.” “He’s the Captain!” “Exactly.” The first pirate frowned.
“That doesn’t explain anything.” “It’s the Grand Line.” The man paused.
“So?” “So weird people are normal here.” “That makes no sense.” “Neither does half the stuff we’ve seen since entering this sea.” The first pirate thought about that for a moment.
“…Fair point.” The second pirate shrugged and returned to his work.
“Besides, if the Captain wants to talk like that, let him.” “Yeah.” The two casually continued their conversation as though the earlier argument had never happened.
Neither of them looked back at the box again.
The ship sailed farther away while the whirlpool continued spinning behind them.
Yet, at the center of the violent vortex, something unexpected happened.
The box, which should have been dragged into the depths, suddenly stopped as the whirlpool disappeared, replaced by an eerily calm patch of water.
The sea became smooth as glass.
For a moment, the box floated completely undisturbed.
Then the water beneath it began to rise.
Pressure slowly built underneath the surface, pushing the box upward as the water formed a growing mound.
The mound continued rising.
Higher.
And higher.
The box remained balanced on top of it.
Just when the pressure seemed ready to explode, a faint sound came from inside the box.
“*Cough*…
*cough*…
*gasp*…
*wheeze*…” The water continued rising.
“*Wah*…
*waa*…
*waa*…” The sound was unmistakably the cry of a baby.
The accumulated pressure suddenly erupted.
A monstrous stream of water blasted upward, carrying the box along with it.
The Knock-Up Stream had begun.
________________________________________________________________________________________________ White Sea “Can we get anything good from that monstrous stream this time around?” asked one of the men while surveying the vast White Sea.
“It would be great if we got a Sea King this time,” another person replied while driving their Dial vehicle.
“We could get some strong leather from it.” “Yeah…
it’s been many years, but the war isn’t going to end anytime soon.” He sighed and continued looking across the White Sea.
“Hey.
Do you hear that?” “Hear what?” “Some kind of crying.” His partner slowed the vehicle and listened carefully.
At first, they heard nothing except the wind and the distant sound of the Knock-Up Stream.
Then it came again.
“*Waa*…
*waa*…
*wheeze*…
*wah*…” The two men looked at each other.
“Shit!
That sounds like a baby.” “A baby?” “Find it before it gets eaten by sharks!” They immediately began searching the surrounding area.
A moment later, one of them spotted a Sky Shark’s fin circling something in the distance.
“There!” He pointed toward it and activated the Dial-powered jets.
The vehicle raced across the White Sea while his partner followed closely behind.
“Get out of here, you stupid shark!” The Sky Shark suddenly moved toward them, revealing a broken wooden box floating in the water.
“There’s something inside!” “*Cough*…
*wheeze*…
*choke*…” The struggling sound came from the box.
The man hurried forward and grabbed it just as the Sky Shark jumped toward him.
“Watch out!” His partner thrust his weapon forward and speared the shark before it could reach him.
“Got it!” He quickly lifted the box onto their vehicle.
Water poured out through the broken gaps in the wood.
“Are you sure it’s alive?” his partner asked while staring at the box.
“With this much water inside it, it probably drowned already.” The man agreed but still reached for the lid.
“Only one way to find out.” He opened the box.
Both men froze.
Inside was a baby.
For a moment, it looked like a normal human child.
Then they noticed its teeth.
Sharp, shark-like teeth.
A black tail was curled around its tiny body, while small claws extended from its hands and feet.
And from its back was a black wing.
The two men stared at the baby in silence.
“What is this thing?” The baby struggled to breathe.
“*Wheeze*…
*wheeze*…” The man immediately snapped out of his daze.
“It’s struggling to breathe!
We need to get it to a doctor!” He carefully picked up the baby.
His partner continued staring at it.
“Do you think it’s some kind of Devil?” “Don’t know.” He looked down at the baby.
“Don’t care.” The baby suddenly made a tiny scoffing sound.
The two men stared at it again.
“Did…
did that baby just scoff at me?” “I don’t know.” The man started the vehicle.
“We’ll leave it at the infirmary.
God Gan Fall will take care of it.” His partner finally nodded and stepped on the accelerator.
The Dial vehicle sped across the White Sea, carrying their strange new passenger toward Skypiea.
Neither of them knew what the child was.
Neither of them knew where he had come from.
And neither of them could have imagined what would happen after they brought him to the infirmary.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________ Author’s Thoughts A small note before we begin: because the MC has short-term memory loss, I use **’Past me,’ ‘Past him,’** etc.
to distinguish memories and actions from before his memory loss.
**”…”** = Speech **’…’** = Internal thoughts **[…]** = Other actions The distinction will become clear as you read.
Enjoy the story!
.
to distinguish memories and actions from before his memory loss.
**”…”** = Speech **’…’** = Internal thoughts **[…]** = Other actions The distinction will become clear as you read.
Enjoy the story!