One Piece: The True Codex

In the year 1507 of the Sea Circle Calendar, a world-shocking event occurred at the Holy Land Mariejois. A fish-man named Fisher Tiger broke into the residence of the "Celestial Dragons," the world nobles, and freed thousands of enslaved individuals of various races, helping them regain their freedom. The World Government quickly labeled the incident as the "Mariejois Attack" and issued a high bounty on Fisher Tiger.

Newspapers everywhere sensationalized the event, with various reports and updates dominating the front pages for over a month. Even the East Blue, separated by the Calm Belt and tens of thousands of miles away, was no exception. News outlets in the East Blue weren't particularly concerned about the safety of the Celestial Dragons; in fact, they might have secretly wished for more severe attacks on them. They were simply following the nature of the media, chasing every hot news story.

In the Isshin Dojo of Frost Moon Village in the East Blue, the youths William, Aramis, Agin, Vallon, and Edmond sat gathered behind a rock garden in the dojo's courtyard, reading a newspaper. They were well aware of this major event.

As for why they were reading the newspaper there, the reason was simple. As the "leader," William not only burdened himself with extra tasks, learning navigation in addition to swordsmanship, but he also kept his subordinates, who often loitered around him, busy. He assigned Aramis the task of teaching the semi-literate Agin and the illiterate Vallon to read and do arithmetic. William supervised, requiring them to take turns reading the newspaper to him each afternoon during his sword practice, both to stay informed about the outside world and to check their learning progress.

Edmond, on the other hand, simply joined in of his own accord. William's small group of four was quite the anomaly among their peers at the dojo. Having experienced life as pirates, they habitually viewed the other trainees as immature, carrying a sense of superiority. Moreover, these seventeen- or eighteen-year-olds, who bought houses and new swords, displayed obvious financial independence, which made them the envy of others at the dojo. Their dedication to training was unmatched, and Aramis, Agin, and Vallon often surrounded William with a mix of admiration and reverence, displaying remarkable obedience and discipline when he assigned tasks.

In short, these four teenagers exhibited traits typically associated with "adults"—maturity, purposefulness, financial stability, and methodical behavior. This made them stand out among the dojo's students, and for people their age, being distinct was something to be emulated and admired. Unable to grasp the deeper meaning behind William and his group's actions, the other students could only label them as "cool."

Of course, due to William's "aura"—mainly his caution around Koushirou and his desire to avoid attracting attention by recruiting "followers" at the dojo—many students' attempts to join their group were unsuccessful, leading them to eventually give up.

Only Edmond, self-styled as the "pirate's son," felt he was a "cool kid" and believed his grand ambitions and goals were misunderstood by the conservative peers around him. As he spent more time with William's group, he felt he had found his place, shamelessly tagging along and eventually joining them, thanks to his earlier role in helping them learn swordsmanship.

Humans are social creatures, inevitably influenced by the judgments of others, whether actively or passively, using them as a reference for their own choices. Seeing Aramis, Agin, and Vallon almost blindly follow William, combined with William's self-discipline and maturity in both swordsmanship and daily affairs, Edmond naturally placed himself alongside Agin and the others.

If William's appearance had suggested he was over thirty, or if Aramis, Agin, and Vallon hadn't been the initial core of the group, Edmond likely wouldn't have made such a quick decision.

"One, two, three... eight, nine! Nine digits," Vallon counted with his fingers, struggling over the newspaper's content, "That's... that's over two hundred million in bounty!"

He seemed to want to express some sentiment but only managed to say, "That's a lot of money!"

Edmond snatched the newspaper, his nose almost touching it as he scanned the bounty line, half envious and half jealous, saying, "It's not that much, and it's inflated. If he hadn't attacked the Celestial Dragons' residence, there's no way the bounty would be that high."

Aramis glanced sideways at Edmond and then looked away. After spending over six months together, he had come to understand Edmond's peculiar mindset, knowing that to Edmond, a pirate's bounty wasn't a sign of increased Marine pursuit but rather a dazzling badge of honor.

After all, he was the kind of oddball who proclaimed himself a pirate to everyone he met. The fact that he hadn't been mistaken for a real pirate and jailed by the Marines was sheer luck.

"Just attacking the Celestial Dragons' residence warrants such a high bounty?" Agin questioned.

"If you disrupt a farmer's chicken coop, causing chaos and letting all the poultry escape, the farmer would hold you accountable," William remarked meaningfully. "And the Celestial Dragons are far more significant figures. If you let their 'livestock' escape, do you think they'd just settle for some compensation like a country farmer?"

"Livestock?" Edmond glanced at the newspaper again, struggling to accept it, "These are people, thousands of people!"

"Thousands of slaves," William corrected. "To the Celestial Dragons, they're akin to livestock, perhaps even less so, because farmers need livestock to make a living, whereas the Celestial Dragons... keep them merely for amusement."

The four young men found it hard to accept, and naturally, they didn't think to ask William how he knew so much about these matters.

William took the newspaper from Edmond, clicking his tongue at the front-page photo of the Holy Land on fire. A sense of schadenfreude subtly surfaced in his heart, not from the memories of "Sun Bo" but from those of the original owner.

Had he not escaped successfully, Morgan William might have been one of the thousands of slaves freed, provided he hadn't been killed by his original "master," Saint Tordos.

But reality had no room for "what ifs." Now, someone else had met their end, and William sneered.

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