The scream frightened the birds from the trees.
"WATER! WATER! IT'S FIRE! MY MOUTH IS FIRE!"
The bushes exploded outward. A boy tumbled into the clearing, rolling on the ground, clutching his throat. He was small, wearing a red vest and denim shorts. On his head sat a straw hat that seemed too big for him.
He scrambled toward the river, plunging his face into the water, guzzling gallons like a drowning man in reverse.
Argentus stood slowly, gripping his iron spear. He looked at the boy's arm. It looked normal now.
A Devil Fruit user? Here?
The boy finally pulled his head from the river, gasping for air, steam practically rising from his ears. He turned to glare at Argentus, face red and puffed up.
"You!" the boy shouted, pointing an accusatory finger. "You tried to kill me! That wasn't normal meat!"
Argentus looked down at him, cold. "You stole my food."
"I was hungry!" the boy yelled back, as if that explained everything. His stomach growled loudly, agreeing with him.
The boy stood, dusting himself off. He looked at Argentus—at the tiger fur, the scars, the spear. Most kids would have run. Most adults would have backed off.
But this boy just tilted his head, black eyes wide and curious.
"You look strong," the boy said, the spice forgotten instantly. He grinned, a wide, impossible smile that stretched his face. "I'm Luffy! I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!"
Argentus stared at him. King of the Pirates? This thin, scrawny rubber child?
"I am Argentus," he replied, voice flat, lacking any of the boy's bubbling energy. "And I will be King of the World."
Argentus waited for the laugh. Waited for the mockery.
But the insults never came.
Luffy's eyes didn't narrow in doubt. They expanded. They literally sparkled, shimmering with blinding, childlike awe.
"SUGEEEEEE!" Luffy yelled, drool forming at the corner of his mouth. "King of the World?! That sounds huge! Like... bigger than a giant meatball!"
Argentus blinked. The grip on his spear loosened slightly. Is he... mocking me? No. He looks too stupid for sarcasm.
"It's not about meat—" Argentus started.
But the air shifted.
Luffy stopped vibrating. The sparkle vanished from his eyes, replaced by sudden, intense shadow. He reached up and placed a hand on his straw hat, pulling the brim down to shade his eyes. The goofy grin flattened into a line of absolute seriousness.
The forest seemed to go cold.
Argentus felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
He tightened his grip on the spear until his knuckles turned white. He shifted his stance, digging his boots into the dirt.
Luffy looked up. His eyes were dark, burning with unshakable spirit.
"If you want to be King of the World," Luffy said, voice dropping an octave, dead serious. "Then you gotta defeat me—the future King of the Pirates!"
Silence descended on the clearing. Heavy, suffocating silence where only the crackle of the dying fire could be heard. Argentus narrowed his silver eyes.
GRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOWWWWWLLL.
The tension shattered like cheap glass.
Luffy clutched his stomach, face turning blue. "I'm... I'm gonna die...!"
"You..." Argentus stood frozen, combat stance faltering.
Luffy didn't wait. He launched himself at the flat stone, grabbed the remaining meat—the same meat Argentus had poisoned with Magma-Root—and shoved it down his throat in one gulp.
"HOT! SPICY! BUT YUMMY! BUT HOT!"
Luffy rolled around on the ground again, sticking his tongue out, panting like a dog, but swallowing every bite.
Argentus lowered his spear. He looked at the boy rolling in the dirt, screaming about fire while licking the grease off his fingers.
This kid, Argentus thought, genuine disturbance crossing his face. He's going to be a pain in the ass.
"There is something seriously wrong with you," Argentus muttered.
Luffy finally stopped rolling. He lay on his back, panting, tongue hanging out, red and swollen. His face was slick with sweat and tears from the Magma-Root.
But then, he burped.
It was a satisfied, resonant sound that echoed off the trees.
Luffy sat up. The agony was gone, replaced by the warm, heavy feeling of a full belly. He wiped the grease from his mouth with the back of his hand and looked at Argentus.
Argentus gripped his spear, expecting the attack.
Instead, Luffy beamed. It was a smile so bright it was almost offensive in the dark forest.
"Shishishi! That was spicy!" Luffy laughed, patting his stomach. "But it was really good meat! You're a nice guy, Tinfoil!"
Argentus stared at him. His brain ground to a halt.
"Tinfoil?" Argentus repeated, eye twitching. "And... nice guy? I poisoned it to hurt you."
"But you let me eat it!" Luffy countered, as if this made perfect sense. "And now I'm full! Thanks!"
Argentus lowered his spear slightly. He has no survival instinct. How is he alive?
"Luffy!"
A sharp, angry voice cut through the clearing.
Argentus spun around, spear snapping back up.
Stepping from the shadows of the tall grass was another boy. He was older—maybe twelve. He had freckles and carried a long steel pipe resting casually on his shoulder.
"Ace!" Luffy waved happily. "Look! I found dinner! And a sparkly guy!"
Ace didn't look at Luffy. His cold, dark eyes were locked onto Argentus. He took in the tiger skin, the scars, the iron spear.
"I told you not to run off, idiot," Ace grunted, though his eyes never left Argentus. "And I told you not to eat food from strangers."
Ace took a step forward, tapping his pipe against his palm. Thwack. Thwack.
"Who are you?" Ace demanded, voice low and hostile. "And why is my brother thanking you?"
Argentus didn't back down, but he didn't attack. He simply straightened his posture, looking Ace in the eye.
"I am Argentus," he said coolly. "And your brother is thanking me because he is an idiot."
"Hey!" Luffy protested.
"Argentus..." Ace tested the name. "Never heard of you. You ran from the Terminal after it burned?"
"I am from nowhere," Argentus replied. He secured his spear on his back.
"I have business with Bluejam," Argentus stated, turning his back on them. "Keep this kid on a leash. Next time, I use real poison."
"Bluejam?" Ace's expression shifted from hostility to surprise. "You're going after the pirates?"
Argentus stopped. He looked over his shoulder, silver eyes catching the moonlight.
"I'm not going after them," Argentus said. "I'm going to evict them."
He walked away into the darkness, leaving the two brothers in the clearing.
Luffy tilted his head. "Evict? What's that? Is it a type of meat?"
Ace watched the silver-haired boy disappear, frown on his face. He lowered his pipe.
"No, Luffy," Ace muttered, strange look in his eyes. "It means he's crazy. Crazier than you."
In the two years Argentus lived on Mt. Colubo, he learned that Bluejam was the one tasked by Goa Kingdom's nobles to burn Gray Terminal.
He became Argentus's first target.
The air in Bluejam's shanty—a fortress made of corrugated iron and stolen ship parts—was thick with cigar smoke.
Bluejam sat on his "throne," an old velvet armchair stained with wine. He looked down at the small, feral boy standing in the doorway.
"You're the brat my men are talking about?" Bluejam laughed, revealing gold teeth. He didn't even stand up. He lazily pulled a flintlock pistol from his belt. "You want to join my crew, kid? Beg for it."
Argentus didn't beg. He adjusted his grip on his iron spear.
"I didn't come to join," Argentus said, voice trembling not from fear, but from adrenaline dumping into his blood. "I came to collect."
Bluejam's eyes narrowed. "Collect what?"
"Your head."
BANG.
Bluejam fired. He was fast.
Argentus was faster. He didn't dodge the bullet—he predicted the finger twitch. He dropped to all fours, the lead ball whistling through his silver hair.
He exploded forward, a blur of fur and rage.
"What the—?!"
Bluejam scrambled to stand, but Argentus was already there. He swung the iron pipe upward, smashing it into Bluejam's wrist. The pistol clattered to the floor.
Bluejam roared in pain, but he was a veteran of the East Blue. He swung his other hand—a backhand heavy with rings.
CRACK.
It connected with Argentus's face.
The boy was sent flying, crashing into a stack of empty rum crates. Wood splintered. Argentus tasted copper. His vision swam. That blow would have knocked out a normal adult.
Argentus spat a tooth onto the floor. He stood up.
"Is that all?" he rasped.
Bluejam wasn't laughing anymore. He drew his cutlass. The steel glinted in the lantern light.
"You little demon," Bluejam hissed. "I'll carve you into pieces!"
The fight that followed was not a duel. It was butchery.
Bluejam had the reach and the power. He slashed, tearing through Argentus's tiger-skin cloak, carving a deep gash into the boy's chest. Blood sprayed onto the dirty floor.
Argentus didn't cry out. Didn't retreat. He used his small size, weaving between Bluejam's legs, stabbing at tendons, biting at ankles, fighting like a wolf.
But the damage was mounting.
Argentus was losing blood fast. His vision began to tunnel. The edges of the room went black. His lungs burned like he'd inhaled fire.
I'm... tired, his mind whispered. It would be so easy to sleep.
Bluejam saw the boy stumble. He grinned, sensing the end. He raised his sword high for the execution strike.
"Die in the trash where you belong!"
Argentus looked up. He saw the sword descending. He saw death.
And in that darkness, he saw his mother's smile. Richest... Strongest...
Argentus didn't dodge. He stepped forward.
He took the sword.
The blade sliced into his left shoulder, biting deep, hitting bone. The pain was blinding, white-hot, enough to shatter a mind.
But it trapped the blade.
Bluejam's eyes widened in horror. "You crazy—!"
Argentus locked eyes with the pirate. His silver eyes were dimming, but the fire behind them was an inferno. A unique aura radiated from him, completely freezing Bluejam.
"Checkmate."
With his good arm, Argentus drove his sharpened iron spear upward, under Bluejam's guard.
SHUNK.
The sound was wet and final. The spear pierced Bluejam's throat, severing the spine.
The pirate captain gurgled, hands flying to his neck. He staggered back, dropping his sword. He looked at the small boy in disbelief. He tried to speak, to curse, but only blood came out.
Bluejam collapsed backward. He hit the floor with a heavy thud. He twitched once. Then, he was still.
The King of Gray Terminal was dead.
Argentus stood over the corpse. The room was spinning. The floor felt like it was tilting at a forty-degree angle.
He pulled the sword from his own shoulder. A fountain of blood followed it.
His legs gave out.
He didn't fall forward, bowing to his enemy. He fell backward.
He hit the floor hard.
Argentus lay there, staring up at the corrugated iron roof. Through a hole in the metal, he could see a single patch of night sky. The stars were blurry, fading in and out of focus.
The silence returned to the room.
He couldn't move his arms. Couldn't feel his legs. The darkness was closing in, wrapping him in a cold, heavy blanket.
But as his consciousness slipped away, the corners of his bloody mouth twitched upward.
He was bleeding out in a shack made of garbage. He was dying.
But he was smiling.
Because the road to the apex... starts here.
(END OF CHAPTER)
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