"Caw!"
I am a news bird.
Business was good today, I sold many newspapers, and the weather is clear. What a beautiful day!
After work, I definitely have to get some fries at the dock! That's a bird's life goal.
"I'm a little newspaper seller..."
"Bang!"
Tomorrow and accident, which comes first, is often unpredictable, but what's known is that fries are very likely out of the question.
News Coo: "Caw!!!!!!!"
Bai Yun: "Ah!!!!!!"
...In the forest, Garp and Luffy, grandfather and grandson, walked along the road.
The elder picked his nose with his pinky, and the younger also picked his nose with his pinky. Hmm, quite a pair of grandfather and grandson.
"Grandpa is a liar!"
"Didn't you say there was good food in the forest!"
"You kicked me off a cliff! Made me fight wild boars! And that tiger, it was so big!!"
Accusations from Luffy.
The training Garp put Luffy through before handing him over to Dadan showed they were indeed close grandfather and grandson.
He even managed to turn Life Return into a passive ability, and Luffy's powerful will was strong enough to shock Kaido and Big Mom.
Why am I not afraid of fire? Because my will is strong!
"Hahaha!"
"You brat! Just tell me, wasn't the wild boar meat delicious!"
"And what about that tiger? When Grandpa was your age, I rode them for fun!"
Garp replied with a laugh. He wasn't lying; as a child, he was a terror in this forest.
At the thought of wild boar meat, Luffy's mouth watered. Putting everything else aside, it really was delicious.
"Riding tigers for fun when you were my age? Grandpa is still lying!"
Luffy didn't believe Garp's childhood feats, but after he spoke, Garp didn't react. Little Luffy looked up.
The old man was already standing, asleep, with bubbles coming from his nose.
Little Luffy was used to Garp's "quirk."
Just wake him up. If he won't wake up, pop the snot bubble.
But before he could speak, he vaguely heard shouts from the sky.
"What's that noise?"
Luffy looked up to see a person, with a News Coo pressed against their back, falling down.
"Ah!!!!!"
"Caw!!!!!"
"Thud!!!!!"
They landed squarely on Garp's head, a "skull-thump echo" indicating that Garp's head was a good one... A man sleeping on the road, a man falling from the sky.
Garp, who had been sleeping soundly, was hit so hard that one of his eyeballs popped out. Bai Yun and the News Coo rolled off his head and landed in front of him.
"Who dares ambush this old man!"
Garp woke up with a start, immediately alert. Ambushing this old man in front of his grandson? Do you think my fists aren't hard enough, huh!
But he didn't see an "assassin"; instead, he saw two creatures in front of him.
A child and a News Coo.
Circles were spinning in their eyes; they were probably knocked out.
"Grandpa, they suddenly fell from the sky and hit you."
Little Luffy kindly reminded him.
Garp nodded. "How did this kid fall from the sky?"
..."Ugh..."
Bai Yun slowly opened his eyes, his vision gradually clearing from blurriness. What he saw was a wooden ceiling.
"Where is this?"
The standard line after waking up from unconsciousness.
Bai Yun felt his body was incredibly heavy, like a rock pressing down, as if it wasn't his own. Moving his body with difficulty felt like it was falling apart, the pain was unbearable.
He lifted his hands with all his might, only to see them wrapped in bandages.
He turned his head slightly to look around. The room was simply furnished: a bed, a bedside table next to it, and a clock on the opposite wall. There was nothing else.
"Which kind person saved me?"
Turning his head back, Bai Yun stared at the ceiling again. With nothing to do and lying in bed, it was a good time to ponder life.
"That idiotic system!"
Before he could even start thinking about life, the unique voice of that system echoed in his mind, making Bai Yun's teeth ache with anger.
"It only spoke halfway and then disappeared!!"
"Frail and sickly, I really 'thank' you for that!"
"Replication Fruit? If it can replicate others' skills, abilities, and even Devil Fruit abilities, then this skill is heaven-defying."
"Also, true name? Is this fruit like Luffy's Gum-Gum Fruit?"
"And most importantly, what is the third ability!!!"
For someone with Bai Yun's OCD, a system that speaks halfway and then leaves, providing only half the information, was absolutely terrible.
He tried calling out to the system in his mind several times, but his voice fell "into a bottomless pit," with no response whatsoever.
"It seems that guy really was attacked by a virus."
"...Trash!"
"I hope it will appear again someday to tell me the third ability."
Bai Yun prayed. He was persistent; if he didn't know what this third ability was, he feared he wouldn't rest in peace even in death.
"Forget it, I'll sleep for a bit first. Moving right now is uncomfortable. I'll see if anyone is here when I wake up."
Talking to himself, Bai Yun then closed his eyes.
But his eyes were like a switch. As soon as they closed, he heard.
"Clang!" a sound.
The room door was kicked open, the commotion sounding like someone collecting a debt.
Bai Yun was startled and immediately opened his eyes, not caring about the pain, and turned his head to look.
An old man and a young boy appeared in his line of sight.
Although Bai Yun wasn't a hardcore One Piece fan, if he didn't recognize Luffy and Garp, was he watching "Mountain Bandit King"?
...
A/N: The journey continues! If you're eager to read far ahead and support this story, consider joining the Eternal Phoenix community. You can find me on Patreon by searching for "Eternal_Phoenix".
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