One Piece: SSS-Rank Haki at Age Seventeen

"Lord Luffy… is the outside world really filled with so many amazing places?"

Shirahoshi leaned forward slightly, cupping her cheeks in both hands.

Within her ocean-blue eyes seemed to reflect the incredible sights Luffy had just described.

"An island where pink snow falls… seas made entirely of clouds… and islands floating in the sky…"

"Yeah! Of course there are! And they're a hundred times more amazing than how I described them!"

Luffy nodded vigorously, his grin bright and infectious.

Sitting cross-legged atop a coral table, he looked up at the giant princess whose massive body contrasted sharply with her childlike innocence.

"So? Is there anywhere you really want to go? I'll take you there!"

Shirahoshi's eyes instantly lit up like stars igniting in the darkness.

But the light quickly dimmed beneath layers of long-ingrained worry and hesitation.

Her enormous tail swayed uneasily.

"I… I can't be that selfish. If I just leave whenever I want, I'll definitely cause trouble for Father and everyone in the palace…"

"You really are—"

Seeing how desperately she suppressed her own desires despite longing for freedom, Luffy scratched his head helplessly.

"If I got locked up in a place like this for ten years—heck, even ten days—I'd smash through the roof and escape! I'd go crazy from being stuck here!"

"That's because Lord Luffy is strong… and free."

Shirahoshi tried to smile, attempting to make her words sound lighthearted.

But hidden within that smile was an unmistakable loneliness buried deep inside her heart.

That expression made Luffy feel strangely uncomfortable.

He suddenly stood up and planted his hands on his hips.

"Alright! Stop overthinking it! Just tell me where you want to go—I've got your back! I'll make sure you get there safely!"

"B-But…"

"What do you mean 'but'?!" Luffy interrupted immediately.

He jabbed his thumb toward the door confidently.

"If your useless— cough— if your dad says no, I'll go talk to him myself! Let's see if he dares refuse!"

"L-Lord Luffy… you shouldn't say that about Father…"

Shirahoshi corrected softly.

But before she could finish, huge crystal-clear tears suddenly spilled uncontrollably from her eyes.

They rolled down her smooth cheeks and splashed onto the palace floor with soft plops.

Ten years.

Ever since Queen Otohime had been murdered, Shirahoshi had been confined inside this tower due to Vander Decken's terrifying threats.

It was both her sanctuary…

And her prison.

Fear.

Loneliness.

Grief.

And the carefully hidden longing she carried for the outside world…

All of it burst free at once.

She trembled as quiet sobs escaped her lips, gradually growing louder.

"L-Lord Luffy… th-thank you…"

She spoke between sniffles, desperately wiping away tears that wouldn't stop falling.

"Actually… there's always been… one place I've wanted to go… more than anything…"

"Ah…"

Watching Shirahoshi cry like a child who had finally found someone she could rely on, Luffy's usual carefree expression softened.

He scratched his head awkwardly, unsure how to comfort her.

What a hopelessly pitiful person…

Images of Shirahoshi's past surfaced in his mind.

Because of that creep Vander Decken, she hadn't even been able to attend her own mother's funeral.

Because of his endless threats, the most beautiful ten years of her youth had been spent trapped alone within these walls.

And then there was that bastard Hody Jones and everything he had done to Fish-Man Island…

A quiet fury began rising within Luffy's chest.

A rare coldness flickered through his eyes.

Sooner or later…

All those debts would be repaid.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG—!!

A series of violent impacts suddenly exploded against the impenetrable walls of the Hard-Shell Tower!

"Kyaaah—!!!"

The sudden noise terrified Shirahoshi.

Her face instantly turned pale as panic overwhelmed her.

Acting entirely on instinct, she grabbed the nearest thing beside her—Luffy—and tightly clutched him in her hand before pressing him directly against her soft, towering chest like a shield.

"Hah… hah…"

Her eyes remained tightly shut, long eyelashes trembling violently.

Several seconds passed before she finally caught her breath.

"T-That scared me so much…"

But almost immediately, she realized something felt wrong.

"Huh…?"

The sensation in her hand…

"Lord Luffy? Lord Luffy, where are you?!"

She hurriedly loosened her grip and looked around frantically.

Yet the small figure was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm… in here…"

A muffled voice emerged weakly from between the overwhelming softness of her chest.

"KYAAAH—!!!"

Shirahoshi froze.

Then her entire face turned bright red at a speed visible to the naked eye, the blush spreading all the way to her ears and neck like blooming coral.

Flustered beyond belief, she carefully and gently used her fingertips to pull Luffy out from where he had nearly disappeared entirely into the soft white valley.

"L-Lord Luffy! I-I'm terribly sorry!"

Her voice trembled from embarrassment.

Her long pink hair fell forward, nearly hiding her burning face.

"I was so frightened that I didn't notice…"

"N-No problem!!"

Luffy scratched the back of his head awkwardly while sitting in her palms.

Even he could feel the slight trembling of her fingers from embarrassment.

No matter how he looked at it, he was the one who benefited from the situation.

Yet somehow the terrified girl was the one apologizing desperately.

Even a straightforward pirate like him felt weirdly guilty.

He quickly shook off the awkwardness and turned sharply toward the thick wall where occasional impacts were still echoing.

Pulling down the brim of his straw hat, his expression darkened beneath the shadow.

"Looks like that annoying pest still hasn't learned his lesson."

His voice carried open irritation and the unmistakable urge to start throwing punches.

"Come on. I'm gonna go clean up that trash once and for all."

"L-Lord Luffy… you shouldn't use bad words…"

Shirahoshi reminded him softly.

But what truly troubled her was the second half of his sentence.

A conflicted expression appeared on her face as she spoke timidly.

"A-And… could you maybe… not hurt Vander Decken?"

"H-He might… not actually be that bad?"

"Pfft—!"

Luffy nearly choked.

He stumbled and stared up at Shirahoshi in complete disbelief.

Was she just unbelievably soft-hearted…

Or did she genuinely possess some kind of saintly soul?!

Anyone else in the world who had suffered ten years of obsessive harassment and imprisonment from a lunatic like that would probably want to feed him to Sea Kings!

"Shirahoshi, that way of thinking is dangerous!"

Luffy tried to reason with her, wearing a rare serious expression.

"If someone wrongs you, you hit back!"

"Especially with creeps like him! If you forgive people like that, they'll just think you're easy to bully and come back even worse next time!"

"That's the iron rule for surviving on the seas!"

"B-But…"

Shirahoshi fidgeted nervously with her fingers.

"Mother always taught us… to forgive others… and try to let go of hatred…"

For a moment, Luffy felt like his brain had just been rammed by a Sea King.

How did this suddenly turn into life lessons from the previous generation?

That gentle queen's ideals and the horrifying reality her daughter was facing now were two completely different things!

Looking into Shirahoshi's timid, confused, yet kind blue eyes, Luffy realized there was no way he could explain complicated principles to her right now.

Pirates solved things more directly.

"I don't care about any of that!"

Luffy gritted his teeth.

His eyes blazed with absolute determination.

"This time, you're listening to me!"

Shirahoshi opened her mouth slightly.

In the end, she simply nodded softly.

"…Okay."

Outside the Hard-Shell Tower, within the dark palace corridor…

"Hurry! Move faster! This is our last chance!"

"Open the gate! Once the passage connecting Ryugu Palace to the outside of Fish-Man Island opens, we'll finally be free!"

More than ten drenched and miserable-looking pirates struggled to their feet from the cold floor.

Their terrified eyes now burned with desperate hope, as though they had seized the final lifeline in hell.

They were prisoners and expendable pawns thrown here by Vander Decken IX using the powers of the Mark-Mark Fruit, launching them across the sea like living projectiles.

—CLANK!

The massive doors of the Hard-Shell Tower slowly opened from the inside.

The sound echoed clearly through the silent corridor, instantly stopping every movement and whisper.

All eyes turned toward the doorway.

A figure stepped out first.

A simple red vest.

Short black hair.

A worn but iconic straw hat.

And ordinary sandals.

His posture wasn't aggressive, yet his mere presence felt as immovable as a mountain.

"…'Straw Hat'… Monkey D. Luffy?!"

After a brief silence, one pirate finally stammered out the legendary name.

In an instant, all joy vanished from the pirates' faces.

Only despair remained.

Their hearts sank into icy depths.

Why?!

Why was this legendary figure here?!

Why would one of the Emperors of the New World appear in the deepest forbidden area of Ryugu Palace?!

"M-My lord! Please spare us!"

"We were forced into this! Vander Decken threw us here!"

"Please show mercy! I still have an old mother back home!"

"We haven't done anything! We really haven't!"

The pirates immediately collapsed to their knees, bowing frantically with terror written across their faces.

Before absolute power and reputation, resistance itself felt laughable.

All they wanted now was a chance to survive.

But Luffy barely even glanced at them.

He simply lifted his eyes slightly.

BUZZ—!!

An invisible yet overwhelming pressure erupted outward from him like a collapsing mountain.

It was the supreme domination that stood above the will of ordinary people.

The corridor air instantly froze.

The pirates' pupils widened—

And one after another, they collapsed silently onto the ground, unconscious.

The entire process was eerily quiet.

Luffy expressionlessly looked away as though brushing dust from his shoulder.

Then he turned toward the doorway and spoke calmly.

"Let's go, Shirahoshi. We're heading to the banquet hall."

His voice was gentle—

Yet absolute.

"Y-Yes! Lord Luffy!"

Taking a deep breath, Shirahoshi slowly followed behind the figure beneath the straw hat, her enormous pink tail swaying with cautious but determined resolve.