"Bad luck?"
Hearing the pirate's shout, Norton paused slightly and looked toward Sanosuke.
The situation had occurred suddenly, yet Sanosuke appeared unusually calm—as if incidents like this had happened countless times in his life before.
Noticing Norton's gaze, Sanosuke slowly spoke.
"As you can see, Captain… this is the bad luck I was born with."
"In the past twenty years, I've served eight different masters. Every one of them eventually died. Redbeard was the eighth."
He looked directly at Norton.
"You are the ninth."
Nami, who had steadied herself by leaning against Norton's back, peeked her head out from behind him. The faint blush on her cheeks hadn't fully faded yet.
"You mean this ship ran aground because of you?" she asked.
"Yes," Sanosuke said calmly, nodding.
"Interesting." Norton grinned. "Then why did Redbeard keep you around?"
Before Sanosuke could answer, one of the nearby pirates spoke up.
"Ever since Sanosuke joined our crew, nothing has gone right. Everyone says the bad luck follows him."
"But Captain Redbeard didn't want to lose Sanosuke's combat strength, so he kept him around anyway. To be honest… Sanosuke is stronger than Redbeard."
"If he's stronger than Redbeard, then why serve under him?" Nami asked.
"No idea." The pirate scratched his head.
Norton looked back at Sanosuke.
"Tell me your story."
Sanosuke hadn't expected Norton to be in the mood to listen to stories in a situation like this.
The ship had run aground.
That meant they were stuck at sea. Without rescue, there would only be one outcome: death. They could try escaping with small boats, but those could only carry a handful of people.
And with so many people aboard, the ship's supplies wouldn't last long.
"We should've brought our ship over too!" one pirate grumbled.
But there was no use complaining now. The Redbeard Pirates' ship had already been abandoned at sea. Norton had refused to take it—he thought it was filthy and reeked.
"So what do we do now?" the nobles and noblewomen asked anxiously.
"Let's wait for the moment," the duke said. "I've already sent the shipwrights to inspect the damage."
This vessel was a noble travel ship, equipped with professional maintenance staff. Wealthy people always placed their own safety above everything else—they hadn't finished enjoying life yet.
Soon, everyone's attention shifted toward Sanosuke.
No one could help being curious about someone cursed with such terrible luck.
Since there was nothing else to do except wait for the inspection results, listening to a story didn't seem so bad.
Sanosuke began quietly.
"The country where I was born was a non–World Government member state. From the moment I can remember… good fortune never came to me."
"When I was very young, my father died in war. After that, my mother had no one to protect her and was taken away by human traffickers."
"People in my village said misfortune had followed them ever since I was born. They all wanted to drive me out."
"Later, an old ninja from the village took me in. He had once been my father's teacher—and he became mine as well."
"My teacher told me that if I wanted to change my fate, I needed to find a teacher with powerful fate or fortune. Only someone like that could suppress my bad luck."
"So I set out to sea, traveling from island to island, serving different masters… but the bad luck never stopped."
The crowd reacted with uneasy expressions.
A non-member state meant a country not protected by the World Government. Such nations didn't have to pay the Heavenly Tribute, but in return they received no protection from the Marines.
As someone from another world, Norton knew even more.
Those nations weren't just unprotected—they were often treated as hunting grounds for Celestial Dragons.
Because no one governed them, they usually became lawless territories where pirates and human traffickers ran rampant.
"Did it never occur to you that the old ninja might have lied to you?" the duke asked. "Maybe he just wanted an excuse to drive you away and take your bad luck with you."
Sanosuke's eyes turned cold.
A hint of killing intent appeared.
"That's impossible! My teacher said that long ago there was someone with the same fate as mine—a so-called Star of Calamity. But after serving a wise king, his bad luck was suppressed."
The duke frowned.
"You're talking about the legendary King Edward, aren't you?"
"You know the story?" Sanosuke asked.
"Of course. It's a famous legend," the duke said with a cold smile. "But do you know how King Edward's story ends?"
"He was overthrown by his own queen and her lover, imprisoned in disgrace."
"According to the tale, he was brutally executed in prison. The executioner supposedly shoved a red-hot iron rod into him, burning his internal organs alive."
"It's said that the Star of Calamity brought that misfortune upon him. The bad luck transferred to King Edward!"
Nami's face went pale.
What a horrible way to die…
Sanosuke stared blankly, unable to believe it. It felt as if his entire world had collapsed.
"Looks like you didn't choose your masters very well in the past," Norton said with a grin. "But fortunately, you've met me."
"It seems I'm the one destined to suppress your bad luck."
"You're not afraid of being affected by it?" Sanosuke asked, a hint of hope appearing in his eyes.
"I like challenges," Norton replied casually. "If I can suppress your bad luck, wouldn't that prove I'm destined to become a wise king?"
His dream had always been to become a great king.
And this… sounded interesting.
Sanosuke was left speechless.
Nami raised an eyebrow.
What kind of logic is that?
Most people would avoid something like this at all costs.
But Norton seemed eager to conquer it.
Suddenly—
The ship lurched violently.
Everyone staggered as the deck shook beneath their feet.
The ship, stuck on the reef, seemed to be lifting upward, as if something enormous were pushing it from below.
"Sea King! It's a Sea King!" someone screamed.
The creature lifting the travel ship was a gigantic flat shark, its entire body a deep crimson. From the deck, people leaning over the railing could see nothing but an endless stretch of red skin.
The Sea King was so massive that the entire travel ship covered less than one-tenth of its back. As it surfaced, the surrounding ocean was swallowed by the enormous crimson body.
"It's at least 500 meters long! How could something this huge appear in the East Blue?!"
Sea Kings are the general name for enormous marine creatures that inhabit the oceans of the One Piece world. Though they exist in every sea, the largest ones usually live in the Calm Belt or the deep ocean.
Their immense size and bizarre forms make them seem like the rulers of the sea itself—hence the name.
They are the creatures sailors fear encountering most.
Sea Kings that appear in the Four Blues or the first half of the Grand Line are usually much smaller—rarely exceeding 100 meters.
A 500-meter Sea King was practically unheard of here.
"Bad luck! It must be Sanosuke's bad luck!"
At that moment, everyone thought the same thing.
"Duke! There's a massive hole in the bottom of the ship!" one of the shipwrights finally emerged from the lower deck, wiping sweat from his forehead. "It's impossible to repair, and water's flooding in fast! What's going on up here? Why is the ship shaking so badly?"
The duke silently pointed toward the gigantic Sea King beneath them.
The shipwright slowly opened his mouth in shock.
The reef the ship had struck—
…was actually growing out of the Sea King's head.