One Piece: The Legend of Beasts

Thick clouds piled up together, like huge black mountains, pressing heavily on the sky, brewing an impending storm.

And under this gloomy and depressing sky, the tall and straight ancient tree still stands between heaven and earth. The intricate treetops extending in all directions are like a dome, blocking out the clouds and the sun, completely supporting the east and west banks of Senuno Island, like a wide bridge spanning the entire island, exuding a magnificent and majestic vitality even in the howling wind.

At this moment, under this huge tree that even a hundred people couldn't hug, there was a dense crowd of people. Each person was wearing a spotless white robe and stood quietly on the soft and wet grass, as if they were welcoming some kind of most solemn and respectful special ceremony.

"Today's weather doesn't seem very good, especially on such an important day..."

Pan wiped off a few drops of water from his forehead and looked up at the gray sky. He couldn't help muttering to himself. Then he looked at the short, white-haired old man beside him and asked with some concern, "I want to confirm the arrangements after the ceremony. You should have no objection, right, Elder Kalon?"

"Hmph, why do I need to make a decision on such a matter? You can do whatever you want!" Chilong, whose head was occasionally smoking, crossed his arms over his chest and turned his head away angrily. It was obvious that he was very angry.

"I'm sorry, this is all for the future of Senuno Island."

After bowing solemnly to him, Pan seemed to remember something and waved to the fully armed warrior standing on the huge rock like a stone statue not far away, ready for battle. "Brother Kate, how is the investigation I asked you to do last night going?"

The warrior leader who was in charge of the security of the entire island was scanning the surrounding forest with a vigilant look on his face. He was startled when he heard the clan leader's loud voice. Then he jumped down from the huge rock, walked quickly to him, half-knelt on the ground, and replied in a guilty tone: "Report to the clan leader, we have searched almost the entire island, but we still can't find the figure who appeared near the sacred tree without permission yesterday. We don't even know what the person looks like. The only clue is the traces left at the scene."

As he spoke, he pointed towards the open space around the sacred tree, and saw a pool of dark red blood on the ground covered with green grass. As a day had passed, the blood had dried up and solidified into lumps, but it still could not conceal the shocking sight.

"Blood stains? They don't look like they were left by injured animals. I have also observed the tribesmen present, and none of them have any obvious scars..."

Pan stared at the strange pool of blood and pondered for a while, then leaned over and gently helped Kate up. "Thank you for your hard work during this period, brother. From now on, focus on the sacrifice, and leave the rest to me."

"Yes!"

Watching Kate bow respectfully to him and walk towards the outside of the forest with steady and powerful steps, Pan's face gradually became solemn, as if he was worried. At this moment, a gentle and calm voice sounded from behind him: "You should have noticed it too? The jeweler named Pecunia has been acting suspiciously recently."

Hearing this deliberately low and familiar female voice, Pan turned around without hesitation and saw his beloved wife Mariana approaching him and looking at him with a serious, concerned and trusting look in her eyes. He immediately felt a warm feeling in his heart, nodded, and said his thoughts in the same inaudible voice: "Three days ago, someone saw him talking to someone in his residence when they went to clean the house, but when they entered the house, they found that no one else was there. Although Mr. Pecuña later claimed that he had the habit of talking to himself, the person involved reported that he smelled a faint smell of blood on him that day..."

"These days I've learned that Pecuña is a tough guy. Although he may not commit murder or arson, it is not ruled out that there are others who are secretly colluding with him."

Mariana held her chin with her right thumb and index finger in an "eight" shape, frowned and said softly, "I personally counted the population of the entire village, and there is no one missing. The person sent to monitor Pecunia also contacted me and said that he is currently staying at home and there is nothing unusual. But no matter what, you must never let your guard down at any time, and you must strengthen the vigilance around the sacred tree during the sacrifice."

At this point, she bit her lip, stood on tiptoe and whispered in his ear, "In fact, I know very well that this is probably the only way for you... no, for the entire Wicca tribe to contact the outside world. That's why you insisted on completing the transaction with Pekunia despite the opposition of your tribe members, even though he is definitely not someone you can trust..."

"Yeah, that's exactly what I thought."

After listening to his wife's advice, Pan tacitly agreed with her, took out a cigarette from his arms, put it in his mouth, lit it with a lighter, and slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke rings.

Whenever he was in a state of extreme confusion, smoking became the best way to relieve stress. Only when the strong smell of tobacco hit his nose would his tense nerves gradually relax and his brain return to its usual calm.

However, now, no matter how hard he puffed on the cigarette that was about to burn out, his inner restlessness was not relieved at all. Instead, it became more chaotic than ever before.

If Pecuña was simply a profit-seeking businessman, then opening up Senuno Island to the outside world and solving the tribe's resource crisis would all fall on him.

But if Pekunia had evil intentions and wanted to harm his people, then as the tribe leader, I would undoubtedly become the great sinner who pushed the Wicca tribe step by step to destruction.

"Dad...Is Uno brother okay over there?"

A childish voice interrupted Pan's thoughts and quickly turned his attention to Rachel, who was being held by her mother's hand and looking at him with concern. A loving smile suddenly appeared on his face, and he reached out and gently stroked her soft hair: "Don't worry, the boy will be fine. Trust your mother's ability to deal with special situations. When the day comes to go to sea, Dad will explain to you all the strange phenomena that happened to him."

Rachel was stunned for a long while. Then, her adorable little face revealed an angelic smile. Her eyes curved into a pair of crescents. She said with a grin, "Yes! Daddy must keep his word!"

"must."

After lightly bumping fists with his daughter, Pan raised his head, the smile on his face instantly faded, and he looked towards the village in the distance, an anxious look emerging on his furrowed brows.

- Uno, I'm sorry to leave you alone at home, please don't have any accidents before the sacrifice is over!

The messy room was littered with broken household items and glass bottles. Even a spacious wooden bed was cracked into a spider web. It was so horrific that it was hard to describe.

At this moment, Uno sat with his legs open in the center of the crack, motionless like an old monk in meditation, just staring quietly at his right hand wearing a pair of dark green gloves. His young face was covered with a solemnity that was completely inconsistent with his age, and he seemed to be thinking about something.

"You mean, the toy you fixed for your sister suddenly broke into pieces? After your arm glowed? ...Hehe, it seems that things are getting interesting~"

"Yeah, the more you try to fix it, the more it will break, and the same thing will happen to anything you touch afterwards. It's been like this since I ate that disgusting fruit last night, and even if I tried to be as careful as possible, I still made a mess of the house... Mom, you seem to have been laughing non-stop since just now! What's so funny about that?!"

Uno, who was talking about his own experience, accidentally saw the smile on his mother's face, and immediately turned into a shark face, and couldn't help but protest to her loudly. Although he knew that his mother, who always loved to joke, had no ill intentions, it was still unbearable for him to think of the miserable situation of half of the family being destroyed by his strange right hand.

"Oh, I didn't expect our little Uno to have such an excited side~"

Mariana sat on a wooden chair, holding her chin with her hand, winking at the seemingly angry Uno and smiling playfully, with a mischievous and cunning light in her eyes. It was not until her son's face was almost distorted by anger that she put away her smile and said slowly, "If I'm not mistaken, it's probably because your father was in a hurry and accidentally mixed the devil fruit into your fruit platter."

"Eh? Devil Fruit?!"

Uno, who was unable to follow his mother's logical thinking for a moment, widened his eyes in surprise and looked incredulous. He had no idea what the devil fruit his mother was talking about was.

As if she could see through Uno's confused face, Marianna smiled and began to tell him the story tirelessly: "That is a 'secret treasure' I obtained in a precious adventure in the past. After taking it, you will gain a magical ability, but at the cost of being unable to swim for the rest of your life. Your father and I don't intend to become landlubbers, so we have kept this fruit until now, but I didn't expect you to eat it by mistake.

"Based on the debris at home, Uno, you should have gained the ability to decompose any substance."

"break down......?"

Uno looked down at his hands which were glowing green, and could not help but be stunned. He could not believe that the strange thing happening to him was actually a magical power beyond common sense.

"Since you just took it not long ago and you are too young to control your abilities freely, you will activate them unconsciously from time to time."

As Mariana spoke, she stood up from her chair, took out a pair of dark green gloves from the cloth bag on the table, walked to Uno, who had not yet fully accepted the current situation, and carefully put on the gloves for him, saying softly, "Before you master your abilities, temporarily wear this pair of special rubber gloves. Don't take them off unless it is absolutely necessary..."

His mother's instructions kept echoing in Uno's mind, causing him to jump up from the uneven pile of sawdust, stretching his arms to loosen up his numb muscles, and muttering, "First, I have to tidy up the house, otherwise I won't be able to leave a good impression on my parents..."

Just as he was about to walk out of the room to get the broom, there was a sudden rapid knock on the door, which made him stop at the threshold in alertness. Several thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.

——Is it Dad or Mom? No! The ceremony will not end until late at night, and they all brought spare keys, so there is no need for me to open the door! Apart from the tribesmen who participated in the ceremony, everyone else is guarding the main roads in the village. Even if there is an emergency, they will use Den Den Mushi to contact first, so the person knocking on the door now is definitely not someone from the village!

——The only other possibility is the outsider named Pecunia, but he should have been under close surveillance by my father's subordinates since yesterday, and there was no abnormal situation until my father left. Could it be...? !"

With a loud bang, the violent sound of breaking the door interrupted Uno's thoughts, and he flashed into the room like a reflex, leaning against the wall, and secretly looked out of the door. He saw a thin figure standing outside the door that fell to the ground. The man held a long flintlock in his hand, and wisps of hot smoke were still coming out of the muzzle. He was wearing a set of black tights so that people couldn't see his specific appearance. He even wore a pair of wide sunglasses where his eyes were, obviously not wanting his true face to be known by others.