Chapter 80

Eight years ago, on the sky island of Bika.

“Big ears, big ears.”

A group of Bika children with tiny white wings on their backs were making faces at the boy ahead, the ringleader grinning grotesquely and dragging out his taunt.

“Big ears, big ears~”

“Nobody wants big ears~”

Enel, the target of their mockery, acted as if he heard nothing, continuing forward on his own. Ahead lay a dense thicket of vines entwining massive trees—rarely visited by villagers.

Precisely because no one came, he could steal a moment of peace.

The wind blew, swirling fallen leaves and scattering the fading taunts behind him.

Enel gazed into the depths of the thicket, his eyes filled with coldness and detachment from everything around him.

He had never been like other children.

Not just because of his conspicuous large ears, but because of an innate isolation that made him unfit for the group—Bika’s children refused to accept him, and the adults often looked at him as if he were a monster.

To this, Enel could only sneer.

“A bunch of ignorant fools.”

“Spending their whole lives stuck in Bika.”

Entering the deep thicket, lush foliage blocked out all light and noise from the outside world.

Only when he could walk no further did Enel lean against a tree root, burying his face in his knees—his forced indifference shattered instantly, leaving only overwhelming loneliness.

Those taunts constantly reminded him: here, he would always be an outcast.

Enel longed for the legend of the Infinite Land, dreaming of the day he could reach it himself, far away from Bika, this land of sorrow.

Just as that loneliness threatened to swallow him whole, a strange fruit, entirely golden and glowing like a bolt of lightning, rolled out of nowhere to his side.

Enel stared at the fruit he had never seen before; his loneliness receded slightly, replaced by bewilderment and curiosity.

“This… doesn’t look edible.”

The surroundings remained silent, yet the golden fruit seemed to silently invite him, as if trying to illuminate his dark childhood.

Enel held the fruit in his arms, studying it.

“Can this… be eaten?”

(｡ò∀ó｡) The Line of Fate.

Konomi Islands, Housha Port.

A group of burly teenagers surrounded a small cart, staring at the white-haired child selling food—their dark, looming shadows completely blocking the sun.

“White hair brat, nobody wants you!”

At nine years old, Seven sat bare-chested, silently glaring at the troublemakers—back in his past life, he would have kicked them all into the sea.

Too bad his reincarnation skills were terrible.

Delivered by the Grand Destiny Lord to a pirate world where everyone was a powerhouse, he had neither noble birth nor even a decent physique.

After the village chief’s death, he barely survived by selling fish balls at a stall, constantly harassed by these troublemakers—living out the most tragic reincarnation ever.

Seven silently clenched the fish-killing knife at his waist.

“Big Head, wait till I finish selling.”

The boy called Big Head stepped forward and kicked the fish ball cart with all his strength, flipping it over.

“Sell? What kind of stall are you even trying to run?”

“White hair brat, last time we just fell asleep and you got lucky—this time you’re done for.”

“Big Head, don’t waste time with him.”

The narrow-faced boy gritted his teeth. “It’s this white hair brat who cursed the village chief to death—he must be driven out of Housha Town, this bad omen.”

“Yeah, beat him up.”

Many thugs wanted to beat Seven, and the reasons were always the same—

He was the kid their parents used as an example of “someone else’s child,” and girls his age followed him around like puppies.

Most importantly, no one stood up for him.

Having lived two lives and possessing a mature psyche, Seven had always ignored these thugs—but they had just kicked over his food.

“F*** you!”

Seven drew his fish-killing knife and swung the flat of the blade at Big Head, the ringleader.

A howl of pain erupted.

The thugs froze for half a second, then erupted into furious shouts, rushing at Seven with wooden sticks and broken bricks.

The dock descended into chaos.

Shouts, fists and feet slamming, the dull thuds of knife-blades hitting bone and flesh—all mixed together, kicking up clouds of dust.

At that moment, a massive ship docked at the pier.

On the bow of the red-sailed ship, a man with a mustache that looked more like nose hairs stared toward the dock, his expression brimming with morbid curiosity.

“Lei Li, did you see that?”

Beside him, a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses nodded.

“I saw it—the white-haired kid, the instant he drew his knife… a flash of Conqueror’s Haki.”

Lei Li could hardly believe it: such a small, frail child possessed the qualities of a king—even among Roger’s many candidates with royal potential, none had awakened Conqueror’s Haki so young.

The East Blue truly teems with talent.

“Go check it out—we’re short a cook.”

When Roger and Lei Li arrived at the overturned cart, Seven was picking up scattered fish balls, his fish-killing knife now stained red.

Roger picked up the fish balls and devoured them in big bites—bursting, savory, chewy… each texture dazzled him.

Roger immediately reached out with an invitation—

“Kid, your fish balls are good.”

“Come join my ship.”

Seven looked up, squinting through bruised eyes against the sunlight, staring at the absurdly large nose hairs—his mind echoed a voice that left him frozen, unable to recover for a long while.

His eyes shimmered with tears from excitement.

【Ding, the Multiverse Trading Platform has been successfully bound. Complete the prerequisite to activate the system.】

【New Player Gift Pack locked: Thunder-Thunder Fruit, Glutton, Innate Super Strength】

The boy’s excited expression made Roger smirk at Lei Li, his face saying: See? Isn’t my charm irresistible?

But Seven’s next words shattered Roger’s confidence completely.

“Mr. Big Nose Hair, who are you?”

Roger chuckled awkwardly. “I’m Roger. I’m a pirate. My ship needs a cook…”

“Alright.” Seven nodded firmly.

“Captain Roger, I’ll go pack my things.”

The thugs hiding behind dock crates, waiting to ambush Seven, turned to their leader upon hearing this.

“So big—White Hair got tricked by that pirate Roger into becoming a cook. Should we still beat him?”

Big Head, clutching his wound, growled.

“Monkey, you stay here. We’re going to find the village chief—what if White Hair’s being tricked? I heard pirates love to kidnap kids.”

The narrow-faced boy nodded.

“Alright.”

When the thugs dragged a group of adults to the dock, they saw only the red-sailed ship in the distance—its tiny figure waving at them.

“Bye-bye.”

The protagonist’s first voyage.

Sky Island, Bika.

Deep in the lush thicket, Enel leaned against the tree root, blinking silently, unable to say whether he felt sorrow or resignation.

Just moments ago—

The strange fruit that had appeared out of nowhere had vanished from his arms just as mysteriously.

It felt as if it had all been a dream—a dream he could touch but never hold.

Now, the dream was over.

“I should’ve taken a bite… just one.”

(｡ò∀ó｡)