May 19, 1497, Age of the Sea Circle
"Thirty-six styles, Moonfall Sword!"
Orion descended from the sky at high speed, inflicting a fatal wound on the enemy pirate captain.
Once the crew's captain fell dead, the rest of the men aboard the ship felt the terror of the sheer power of this strange child who had suddenly appeared.
Orion sighed and flicked his wrist, wiping the excess blood from his cutlass.
He looked around, and there was only a group of pirates staring at him nervously, not daring to take a step forward.
On the deck of the ship, a large number of corpses could be seen, as proof of Orion's brutal and decisive action in this place.
Almost like an automaton, without showing a hint of emotion, Orion eliminated the remaining pirates on the ship and a notification sounded in his mind, indicating that he had completed the current Dungeon.
Over the past few days, while sailing through the South Blue, he had encountered four pirate crews and eliminated three of them.
Whenever he encountered a pirate ship, the system evaluated the dangerousness and criminal acts of the pirates in question and gave him the option to start a Dungeon to 'cleanse' this problem from this world.
Orion had killed many people these days, and he had begun to shut down his emotions during these battles, as otherwise he wouldn't be able to act decisively. After all, he wasn't a psychopath like Rob Lucci; he didn't want to transform into one and enjoy killing people, no matter how deplorable they were.
The death of his master, Roger, had caused a significant increase in the number of pirates, but it wasn't until this moment that he truly realized the intensity of this new era, the magnitude of the change that was taking place.
This area was much more prosperous than the region where Pacific Town was located, and the number of pirates was also much greater. In this place, one could truly appreciate the terror of the pirates who operated with complete impunity.
The only positive thing was that not all pirates were depraved criminals. There were some who had simply gone to sea for adventure, and while they committed crimes, they could be considered 'minor' compared to the more ruthless pirates.
In the last few days, Orion had encountered a crew of those characteristics, and they were the only ones he hadn't eliminated.
On the other hand, he knew that eliminating pirate crews on his own wasn't a long-term solution; he needed a large-scale solution, something that could truly change this world for the better, and for that, he needed to establish his own faction in this world.
Orion had decided that when he returned to Pacific Town, he would officially found his kingdom and begin developing his own strength in this complicated world. Now that he had the ability to remain in his adult form for much longer, it wouldn't be so difficult to inspire confidence in his subjects, and with the help of the system and his own efforts, he could surely build a safe place where people could live without fear of being attacked by criminals at any time.
Orion searched the pirate ship, but didn't find many valuables.
In a dark room, however, he found some women who had been taken prisoner and had experienced a true hell. It was difficult to tell if they still retained a shred of sanity, or if they had been completely destroyed by the pirates.
He sighed. It was the third pirate ship he'd eliminated in recent days, and it wasn't the first time he'd encountered such a sad scene.
As soon as he thought about the crimes the pirates had committed and the innocent people who had suffered at their hands, he felt a little better for having eliminated them. If someone had to do the dirty work, he was willing to be that person.
Orion checked on the women and gave them first aid. Most didn't respond at all to his treatment, but one of the women panicked when Orion approached her, and he had no choice but to knock her out to prevent her from suffering further.
Orion opened a door in the air and entered his Pocket Dimension, where Kalifa sat staring into space with an unfocused gaze, lost in thought. Over the past few days, Kalifa, who had been very excited to experience new adventures, had come face to face with the harsh reality of this world. No matter how much of a prodigy she was, she was still a child, and the cruelty she had witnessed these past few days had deeply impacted her worldview.
Luckily for her, she had Orion's support, who was like a ray of sunshine in the darkness. Countless times, Orion had told her not to think that humanity's dark side was all there was to the world, and to keep an open mind so she could appreciate the whole picture.
They might have been simple words, but when they came from Orion, whom she greatly respected, they had a powerful, positive impact that somewhat counteracted the harshness of the horrendous scenes she had witnessed in recent days.
Orion entered the Pocket Dimension and gently laid the unconscious women on the ground. Over the past few days, he had rescued several women in the same situation, and now there wasn't much room within this dimension.
Orion didn't interrupt Kalifa's thoughts and simply left the Pocket Dimension, reappearing on the pirate ship. Then, with a flick of his mind, he deposited the large ship into the system's inventory and took out his small sailboat.
He resumed his journey toward Pacific Town, while observing the new markers on the map that had appeared, indicating the presence of two Named Characters in the area: Yukimura (14) and Hototogisu (11).
These two Named Characters weren't in the same place, but they were relatively close and in the same direction he was traveling. Therefore, he would check on their situation and contact them.
He had already spoken with his family and friends and knew they were okay, so he had decided that on this return trip, he would take as long as he needed.
If he found dangerous pirates, he would eliminate them; if he found people who needed help, he would help them; and if he found Named Characters, he would contact them. It would probably take considerably longer to return to Pacific Town, but that was what he wanted to do, and he wouldn't go against his wishes.
.................
May 25, 1497, Age of the Sea Circle
Orion was sailing through the South Blue, using one of the pirate ships he had obtained after annihilating its original crew. There was no other option; the number of people he had rescued in the past few days was far greater than the small Pocket Dimension could handle, so he was now transporting them on this large ship.
Luckily, some of these people were sailors and had some experience, which meant he didn't need to operate the large ship alone, as he had been forced to do when crossing the Calm Belt.
During these two weeks of travel, Orion had continued to witness the great destruction that pirates had wrought upon this world. It was difficult to grasp the sheer number of pirates plaguing these waters, and the worst part was that this was a global phenomenon, not limited to this area. He could imagine the desperation of ordinary people who had to live in constant fear of their lives being completely destroyed by criminals without any morals.
He had found a total of seven islands, and all of them had suffered a pirate attack, although the outcome varied in each case.
Medium-sized and large cities were more likely to defend themselves against pirates, as they had an army, weapons, and defensive fortifications; but smaller towns simply had no protection and were more often than not completely razed by pirates.
Of the seven islands he had encountered along the way, only two towns had survived the pirate attack. In these towns, the people looked at him with suspicion from the moment he docked in the harbor until he left after resupplying, and the local army never let him out of sight.
Even though Orion clearly didn't have a pirate flag waving on his ship and hadn't shown any signs of wanting to cause any disturbances, the people were simply scared and alert to the slightest threat.
It wasn't unusual to find pirates pretending to be merchants, and it wasn't uncommon to encounter pirates traveling alone or in small groups, but who were extremely powerful.
This was a world where anyone could be a monstrous existence, and the people knew it instinctively.
Of the five remaining cities, two had been completely razed to the ground, and he found nothing but the ruins of the town and corpses. They were towns similar in size to Pacific Town, and it was sad for him to think that only a short time ago, this place that was now in ruins had been full of life, with people living their lives peacefully.
In the remaining cities, Orion found survivors, though the vast majority didn't want anything to do with him. The moment he tried to approach them, he was rejected. It was normal; after going through the hell they had endured, that was the most logical reaction.
Even so, he managed to recruit quite a few people in these villages. Most of them had lost their homes and had no choice but to take the hand Orion was extending to them.
Not all those in desperate straits accepted his help, however. Many of those who had lost everything still had their hopes pinned on the Marines and the World Government, and rather than risk believing the words of a stranger like Orion, they preferred to wait for these official institutions to arrive and offer them aid.
Although the truth was that such help might never come.
Right now, Orion had nothing but promises to offer, and he couldn't truly help these people left behind.
He couldn't force them to follow him, as he simply didn't have the capacity to take care of so many people, much less those who were forcibly recruited.
In the future, when he had established the foundations of his new kingdom, he would try to recruit all these people who had been left behind, and anyone else who found themselves in a similar situation. It was a very ambitious goal, but he had no shortage of ambition. Now all he needed was time and power.
Right now, the ship they were traveling on was rapidly approaching the location where the Named Character Yukimura was.
Orion walked across the deck of the ship, observing the expressions of the people on board.
The women who had been held prisoner by the pirates had slowly begun to recover, although they were still in a very delicate condition. He had ordered that no men were allowed to approach them, and not even Orion himself was an exception to the rule. He felt it best not to subject them to the possibility of their traumas being reactivated, and he had asked some of the women he had recruited in the cities to take charge of their care.
Of course, he was still in charge of the situation, but he wasn't actively involved in their care.
As for the people he had recruited in the cities, their expressions were much better than they had been when they had first arrived, and that was due to two factors: food and the power Orion had demonstrated.
Orion had a large supply of provisions stored in his inventory—more than enough to feed these people better than they had been fed even before they were attacked by the pirates.
Once they saw that their daily food magically appeared out of thin air with a wave of Orion's hand and that it seemed to be an inexhaustible source, some of the worries they had when they decided to follow him disappeared.
For these refugees who had nothing, securing food and shelter was their main concern, and at least for now, one of these two needs was met, so little by little they had begun to feel more encouraged.
However, what finally solidified their expectations for the future and truly rekindled their hope, was the display of power Orion had put on as they traveled.
He knew he had to establish a reputation with these survivors if he wanted them to truly consider following him in the future, so he took advantage of the sea beasts' presence to demonstrate his combat skills.
Had he needed to face Sea Kings to prove his credibility, he would likely have ended up in a beast's stomach, but if he only had to deal with the native creatures of South Blue, that was fine.
Over the past week, Orion had hunted several sea beasts, which he then stored in his inventory and used for meals in the following days. The people who until then had been afraid to have hope for the future began to slowly change their attitude, and although they were still far from being able to believe that everything would be all right in the days to come, at least their minds were no longer completely filled with negative thoughts.
Orion had earned the gratitude and respect of these refugees and had given them back a small seed of hope to cling to. If he could observe the favorability of ordinary people, he could have seen how the scores of all these people had been greatly improved.
Finally, the ship reached the island where the Named Character Yukimura resided, and Orion gave the order to drop anchor. He would go to the island alone while his makeshift crew remained on the ship.
Orion landed on the beach after using his usual Geppo + Pocket Dimension combo to cover the distance from the ship.
"Orion, things don't seem so good here," Kalifa said with some concern, looking at the village in the distance, which was completely silent.
Over the past few weeks, little Kalifa's mentality had undergone great changes, and after witnessing the darker side of humanity, she hadn't succumbed to despair, but instead had a renewed vigor to help Orion change the world.
"Let's see if we find any survivors," Orion replied calmly, adding, "Don't leave my side; it could be dangerous."
This wasn't the first time little Kalifa had accompanied him on his explorations, and he had warned her countless times not to let her guard down. The people in this place were victims of pirates, but that didn't mean they couldn't commit an act of madness in a moment of desperation.
Orion had made sure the girl knew that even though they had come with the intention of helping, they should always be alert to danger. After all, there were few things more dangerous in the world than a person with nothing left to lose.
Orion and Kalifa entered the village and saw signs of a recent 'battle', although considering the characteristics of this small town, it was likely a one-sided massacre by the invaders.
They walked through the deserted streets for a long time without encountering a single person. Most of the houses had been destroyed or burned, and only a few remained habitable.
"Orion, it seems there are no survivors this time," Kalifa said, her voice heavy with sorrow.
"No, there are quite a few survivors. They're simply hiding," Orion replied, continuing to walk.
Using his Observation Haki, he had immediately noticed that there were people watching them in the surrounding area, and he could faintly sense their fear.
He was experienced in this type of situation, having encountered the same scene repeatedly during his short journey home, and he knew it would be counterproductive if he tried to make contact with the terrified people in a forced manner. It was best to wait a while before making initial contact.
Orion walked through the small village without stopping and soon reached its edge. Looking at the position of the marker on the map, he knew Yukimura was outside the village.
He estimated the distance and saw it would take a long time if he continued moving at the same speed, so he immediately took Kalifa in his arms and moved forward at full speed, using Soru intermittently.
During his journey, Orion had maintained his adult form almost the entire time, as it was better at inspiring confidence in the survivors he had rescued than his original form.
To solve the problem of his exhaustion, he had simply avoided shapeshifting in front of the survivors and presented himself to them in his original form without much explanation.
The people on board the ship didn't suspect that Orion, in his adult form and his original form, were the same person, and simply believed that the boy who used to be with Kalifa was simply another of his companions.
Orion would wait until they reached Pacific Town to slowly reveal the truth to them; after all, it was something he couldn't keep a secret forever.
After a few minutes, Orion and Kalifa arrived at a waterfall, where a teenager was training with a katana.
It was, of course, Yukimura, the Named Character he had come to see.