Chapter 15: First Errand
The New World â A Certain Island
A notorious pirate crew, feared across the seas, had just docked on a remote island. For reasons of their own, theyâd decided to retrace their path through the Grand Line, setting sail once more on their grand adventure.
Their ship wasnât especially large. And for a crew with their reputation in the New World, their numbers were surprisingly smallâjust over thirty members.
But every one of them was a monster.
Just moments ago, theyâd crushed a pirate crew three times their size, barely breaking a sweat. Proof enough that strength doesnât come from numbers alone.
And now, at the center of their boisterous victory feast, surrounded by overflowing barrels of booze, stood their captainâ
âWAHAHAHA!! Rex or Lux or whatever the hell his name isâWE WON!!â
âOi, Roger, itâs Rocks. Rocks. How do you mess up a name that famous?â
âHeâs just an idiot.â
âTHE HELL YOU SAY, GABAN?! RAYLEIGH!! You expect me to remember the name of some guy Iâve never even met?!â
Draped in a blood-red coat and pirate hat bearing his jolly roger, a fierce grin under his thick mustache, the man yelling at the top of his lungs was none other than Gol D. Rogerâcaptain of the Roger Pirates.
Feared as a demon across the seas, Roger was a pirate whose strength had earned him both infamy and awe. A true monster of the New World.
Beside him were two more legendsâ
Scopper Gaban, loud and rowdy with an axe slung over his shoulder.
And Silvers Rayleigh, the crewâs golden-haired swordsman and Rogerâs oldest comrade.
Together with a few dozen other hardened pirates, they formed the crew that regularly shook the worldâthe Roger Pirates.
Yet, even with all their might, the name on everyoneâs lips lately was someone elseâs.
âRoger being reckless is nothing new⌠but lately, more and more pirates are flying the Rocks flag.â
âYeah. Itâs been years since we first turned down his alliance and crushed one of his sub-crews. Since then, his influence has only grown. At this rate, a direct clash with Rocks himself might be unavoidable.â
Gaban and Rayleigh spoke with unease. The Rocks Pirates were a looming threat, their name often absent from the papers, but always whispered in fear on every island.
Rayleigh frowned as he looked at the trampled flag of the defeated crew.
âWith Rocks running the seas now, searching for the Poneglyphs is gonna be a real pain.â
âROCKSâ ERA?! BULLSHIT!! IâM STRONGER!! IâLL SMASH THAT GUY TO PIECES MYSELF!!â
Roger, ever the battle freak, didnât seem fazed. If anything, he looked excitedâlike he couldnât wait for the chance to prove himself. His crew didnât doubt him. Theyâd seen that grin before. And every time, he made good on it.
Gaban let out a sigh. âAssuming we even find the guy.â
âThatâs the problem,â Rayleigh said. âNot even the World Government knows where he is. Unless he comes to usâor we stumble into him by chanceâwe might never cross paths.â
âEH?! THATâS NO FUN!!â
âJust calm down. Weâll deal with whoever shows up next, same as always.â
Roger groaned, clearly disappointed, but Gaban had already moved on. Thenâ
Rayleigh looked up.
âHm? Whatâs up, Rayleigh?â Roger asked.
ââŚYou guys see that?â
âHuh? See what?â
âOver there.â
Rayleigh pointed toward the sky, and the whole crew turned to follow his gaze.
A figure was soaring above themâdistant but clearly visible.
ââŚA girl?â
âA bird?â
âA UFO?â
âSome new species?â
âWAHAHAHA!! THATâS HILARIOUS!! HEY, RAYLEIGH!! LETâS CATCH IT!!â
âAnd do what with itâŚ?â
As they watched, the flying figure drew closerâuntil something burst from the sea below.
âWHOA! A SEA KING?!â
âThat thingâs huge⌠Looks like a squid!â
âWaitâis it attacking her?!â
âOh crapâsheâs dodgingâAH, SHE GOT HIT!â
âThatâs bad, right?!â
The girl spun out of the sky, struggling to stay aloft as the Sea Kingâs tentacles flailed.
Rayleigh narrowed his eyes.
ââŚShould we help?â
âHELL YEAH!! SHEâS A KID AND WEIRD AS HELL!! I AINâT LETTING HER DIE!! LETâS GO, RAYLEIGH!!â
âRight.â
In the next instant, Roger and Rayleigh dove into the sea.
Rogerâs blade flashed, cleaving through the Sea King in one clean stroke. Rayleigh swooped in just after, catching the girl and dragging her back to shore.
Gasping for breath, soaked and shaking, the black-haired girl clutched her chest.
âHah⌠hah⌠IâI thought I was deadâŚ! Th-Thanks for saving meâŚ!â
âWAHAHAHA!! DONâT SWEAT IT! THAT THING WAS A MONSTER!!â
âYou canât swim?â Rayleigh asked, eyeing her carefully. âDevil Fruit user?â
âYeahâŚâ
Then she paused, taking in the ship, the crew, the unmistakable jolly rogerâand her eyes widened.
âWait⌠Are you guys⌠the Roger Pirates?!â
âHm? You know us?â
âIdiot, Roger. Weâve got bounties. Of course people know us.â
âOH, RIGHT! WAHAHAHA!!â
Gaban rolled his eyes, but the girl cut in sharply.
âNo, I meanâI know you. I came here to meet you!â
Rayleighâs expression turned serious.
ââŚAnd whyâs that?â
The girl puffed out her chest, voice full of pride.
âMy name is Nue the Sealed Beast! Iâm a pirate of the Rocks Pirates⌠well, an apprentice.â
ââŚâŚâŚâŚHah?â
Silence.
Everyone stared.
This kid? A Rocks Pirate?
And more importantlyâ
Why the hell was she here?
With a dramatic spin and a raised voice, she made sure every ear heard what came next:
âIâM HERE AS A MESSENGER FROM CAPTAIN ROCKS!! HIS MESSAGE IS THISâ
JOIN THE ROCKS PIRATES⌠OR FIGHT AND DIE!!
CHOOSE NOW!!â
â!!â
The entire crew froze.
And the reason for this sudden showdownâ
âcould be traced back to just a few days before.
"To Rogerâs crew...? What do you mean byâ"
That day, I was summoned to the captainâs quarters, left blinking in confusion at the order Iâd just received.
Rocks Captain sat behind his desk, grinning like alwaysâvicious and amused. A book lay open beside him. Looked like heâd been reading before I came in. Not unusual.
Honestly, for someone with a reputation like his, his quarters were⌠normal. A modest bed, shelves filled with books and liquor, a desk covered in maps and globes, some treasure chests and safes probably stuffed with loot. A few guns. His Jolly Roger hanging on the wall.
No piles of bones. No blood-soaked floors. None of the horror stories people told about him.
Because at the end of the day, Rocks Captain was just a man.
âŚA man who happened to be terrifyingly strong.
Even as I stood there trying to process everything, he didnât yell or get impatient. He just grinned wider and said:
âNothinâ complicated... Just need ya to run a little errand for me...!! GYAHHAHA!! That Roger bastardâs been causinâ too much trouble lately...!â
âOh, right... heâs been wiping out our allied crews one after anotherâŚâ
âDamn right. I never gave a shit about Roger beforeâlet the idiots under me deal with him. But if he keeps cuttinâ into my forces, thatâs a problem. Time to make him choose... Join my fleet... or get crushed where he stands!!â
It made sense. Rocks Captain wasnât the type to micromanage. If a few subordinates died, so what? But even he had limits. He needed strengthâand strength required numbers.
So now came the ultimatum: submit or die. Classic Rocks.
âSo your jobâs to deliver that messageâthen drag Rogerâs ass to me.â
ââŚWait. So even if he says no, Iâm supposed to bring him back anyway? So you can kill him or recruit him yourself?â
âBingo. GYAHHAHA! Sharp as everâsaves me the trouble of explaininâ!â
Got it. Nailed the logic. And heyâpraise from Rocks? That felt good.
He always kept his strongest close. Sure, he recruited anyone willing, but the real monsters? He pulled them straight into his core crew. The turnover rate was ridiculousâbetrayals, backstabbing, freak accidents⌠it was rare to last long here.
Thatâs why he kept tabs on potential recruits. Posters. Newspapers. Intel. Roger had been on his radar for a while, but theyâd never crossed paths.
Until now.
If Roger wouldnât bend the knee, Rocks would crush him himself.
I understood that.
But there was still one thing I didnât get.
ââŚWhy me?â
âYa can flyâdonât need a ship. And yer smart. Perfect for a solo job. Send Kaido, and heâd start a fight before the words left his mouth!! GYAHHAHA!!â
ââŚYeah. Fair.â
Kaido couldnât even say âdiplomacy.â Heâd just punch someone mid-sentence. Or pass out drunk before the âmissionâ even started.
But me? I could fly. No ship. No crew. No distractions. Straight to the target.
âGot everythinâ ya need. Log Pose. Eternal Pose. Den Den Mushi. My Vivre Card. Donât lose it. Use it to find your way back.â
ââŚUnderstood, Captain! Leave it to me!!â
âGYAHHAHA... Donât disappoint me. Get the job doneâand bring him to me!!â
A direct order from Rocks. A big dealâeven if it was âjustâ a messenger mission. But it was my job now. And Iâd see it through.
I packed my things and left that same day.
Kaido, of course, completely misunderstood: âA raid?! Take me with ya!!â
Whitebeard just grunted, âDonât die.â Typical tsundere behavior. Clearly worried.
(I said that out loud. He punched me.)
The kidsâKatakuri, Perospero, and the restâcheered that Iâd be gone for a while. I played with them before leaving, summoned UFOs and snakes. They danced like maniacs.
I promised to play again when I got back.
(They shivered when I said that. No need to be scared! Itâs just fun.)
A few days laterâŚ
My first solo voyage.
Well, not exactly âsailing.â I was flying. But still.
Following the coordinates, I scanned island after island, checking for strong Haki signatures.
Thenâ
ââŚHm? That shipâŚâ
I spotted a pirate vessel docked near one of the islands. Observation Haki picked up monstrous presences on board.
I flew closerâ
And got careless.
â!? S-Sea King?!â
A massive squid-like beast lunged up from the water as I skimmed the waves. I tried to summon my Blue UFO and snakes, butâWHAM!âa tentacle swatted me out of the sky.
I plunged into the sea.
Devil Fruit users canât swim. If no one pulls you out⌠you die.
But someone did pull me outâhauled me up and back onto the island.
Coughing and gasping, I looked upâ
And froze.
Oh.
The Roger Pirates.
Right. Them.
Still sputtering water, I remembered the missionâand delivered the message.
Butâ
âThose wings are weird as hell⌠What kinda power is that?â
âLooks like a bird to me.â
âNah, see the snake parts?â
âKid like you, travelinâ alone⌠Want some candy?â
âWhaâ?! Iâm not lickingâYOUâRE the ones licking things!!â
âKidâs got spiritâŚâ
It was a deadly ultimatumâjoin Rocks or dieâand they were just... poking at my wings.
Completely unfazed. Annoying. And worseâpatronizing.
But I was ready for this.
I pulled out my secret weapon.
âYou guys donât believe Iâm with the Rocks Pirates, do you?â
âWell⌠I meanâŚâ
âEven if ya say so, kid⌠sounds like a bad joke.â
Tch. Rude. But fine.
Smirking, I reached into my bag.
ââŚStill think Iâm joking after this?â
âHm? A bounty poster?â
ââNue the Sealed Beastâ⌠74 million Berries. This kid?â
Thatâs right. My bounty.
I hopped up on a barrel to make myself taller. Gotta sell it right.
âSo? Still think Iâm kidding?â
Silence.
Thenâ
âWAHAHAHA!! I LIKE THIS BRAT!!â
Rogerâs laugh boomed across the island.
Mission: back on track.
"Exactly! Apprentice of the Rocks Pirates! The infamous, enigmatic super rookie causing a stir across the seasânone other than me, the Sealed Beast Nue-sama!!"
"Hoh... Seriously? Pretty impressive for a brat."
"That's right! I'm amazing! So you'd better fear meâthe enigmatic Nue-sama! Now, choose! Will you submit to the Rocks Pirates... or die?â"
"WAHAHA! What a fun little girl! Alright, got it!! JOIN MY CREW!!"
"THAT'S NOT THE POINT AT ALL!! I'M NOT JOINING!!"
Just when I thought things were going well, Captain Roger suddenly started trying to recruit me with the most absurd, off-topic pitch imaginable. I refused with everything I had. Tch. Iâm used to dealing with drunk Kaidoâs nonsense, but this was a whole different kind of not listeningâmore like too much freedom or something!
But one man remained relatively calmâthe golden-haired swordsman with an air of dignity, Rayleigh. Even when he saved me earlier, I could tell... this guy was a monster. Iâm used to strong fighters in the Rocks Pirates, but he felt like he could easily rank in the top five among them.
Roger seemed even stronger than that, and the rest of the crew... while fewer in number than the Rocks Pirates, were no slouches either.
"Oi, Roger. What the hell are you thinking, trying to recruit a kid whoâs already with another crew?"
"Hmm... Right, sheâs already on a ship. Damn, what a shame. A weird, fun, cute little girl like this wouldâve livened things up. WAHAHA!"
"Hahaha! Rayleighâs right, Roger. Besides, she clearly doesnâtâ"
"âEh... c-cute? Me? Really?"
"DONâT GET DISTRACTED!!"
âHah?! Gabanâs sharp retort snapped me back to reality. Phew, that was close. I almost let the word "cute" get to me. Back in my crew, nobody calls me cute. Most of them donât even like kids, and the ones who might say something like that... well, they donât. The only ones whoâve ever called me cute are Linlin (but she says it with malice) and Captain Rocks (which is fine, I guess). Oh, and Shakky, but she quit being a pirate a while ago.
So yeah, Iâm starved for compliments. Sue me.
"Ahem. Anywayâme being cute is obvious, so letâs move on! Whatâs your answer?! Either way, youâre coming with me to meet Captain Rocks! Thatâs his order!!"
"...So? Whatâll it be, Roger?"
Rayleigh shot Roger a look, and the crew fell silent. Finally, theyâre taking this seriously. But my relief was short-lived.
Roger grinnedâa fearless smirk that reminded me of my captainâand declared:
"WAHAHAHA!! Sorry, kidâbut NO DEAL!! I do things MY way!! I ainât bowinâ to nobody, and I ainât makinâ nobody bow to me!!"
"......!"
I flinched.
I expected this answer... but the sheer force behind his wordsâthe convictionâhit me like a tidal wave.
It was like facing Rocks Captain himself.
I knew, instantly, that no amount of arguing would change his mind. Even if Rocks stood here right now and demanded it, Roger would refuse.
But Rocks is the same.
For pirates who defy him, thereâs only one outcome.
Two men whoâll never see eye to eye... which means thereâs only one path left.
"...Then tell him that to his face. Captain Rocks wants to meet you."
I said it, even though I was sure heâd refuse. No way a man like Roger would go out of his way to meet us on our terms.
But that was my mistakeâbecause I didnât really know Roger yet.
His grin widened.
"Sure. Iâll meet him."
"......Huh?"
I let out the dumbest noise.
Wait, heâs actually agreeing?!
"......Eh, whâr-really?! Heâs gonna kill you, you know?! Do you get that?!"
"WAHAHA! Dyinâ sounds like a pain, but if it comes to that, weâll just fight!"
He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. N-No way... I mean, yeah, I want him to come, but this is way too easy... Whatâs his game?!
I stared at him, conflicted, then asked again.
"...Youâre serious? You guys are strong, but... weâve got monsters you canât even compare to. Rocks alone is bad enough, but then thereâs Whitebeard, Linlin, Golden Lion... You got a death wish or something?"
"WAHAHA! Sounds like a hell of a party!!"
"âŚâŚâŚâŚIdiot?"
"Succinct, but... yeah, thatâs Roger for you."
Gaban and the others laughed, clearly enjoying my bewilderment. Uh... this isnât funny?! No matter how strong the Roger Pirates are, I canât see them beating Rocks and our crewâs monsters.
But... this means Iâve completed my mission.
For me, this is the best outcome.
No problems here.
"...Fine, whatever. Then I'll guide youâget your ship ready and follow me."
"âNah, not happeninâ."
"âŚâŚâŚâŚHuh?"
For the second time, I was left speechless. Wait, what? Didnât you just say youâd come?
"...Eh? Hold on... I donât get it... So youâre not coming after all?"
"Nah, Iâll meet him!! Iâm aiming to be the worldâs greatest pirate crew!! So if someoneâs in my way, Iâll fight and win!!"
"Th... Then you are coming with me?"
"âI SAID NO!!!"
"I GIVE UP ON THIS GUY!! I HATE YOU!!!"
"Ah... uh... sorry 'bout that..."
Completely lost, I whipped around to glare at Rayleigh, Gaban, and the othersâonly to be met with awkward, apologetic looks. Seriously?! How can he say something so blatantly contradictory with zero shame?! It makes no sense! Heâs impossible!
"Ainât nobody tellinâ me where to sail!! I already got my next adventure planned!! Fightinâ comes after!!"
"Dude, you were just complaining about not being able to find a fight..."
A crewmateâs mutter only deepened my confusion. So you want to fight, but not now when Iâm literally offering?! Ugh, what am I supposed to do here?!
Struggling, I turned back to Roger.
"...Then what do you want me to do? You canât find Captain Rocks without me. Iâve got his Vivre Card, but he explicitly told me not to hand it over to anyone else, and since you donât know where to go, I have to guideâ"
"Hmm, that is a problem... Oh! Got it!!"
When I explained that meeting Rocks was impossible without me, Roger scratched his head for a secondâthen grinned like heâd just had a brilliant idea.
...Why do I feel nothing but dread?
I braced myself.
Then Roger took a breath, looked me dead in the eye, andâ
"Hey, Nue!! Just join my crew instead!!!"
"âŚâŚâŚâŚEh, ehhhh...?"
At his second, even more forceful attempt at recruiting me, my face twisted into a strained smile.
...Iâm sorry, Captain Rocks... Kaido... My first big mission... is gonna take a while...
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