"There he is..."
"Looks like it, Boss."
"Man, he really leaned into the 'delinquent' look, didn't he?"
Krieg and Gin watched from the shadows of a building as a young boy stood in an alleyway. He looked to be in his early teens, sporting a white mantle draped over his shoulders and simple leather trousers.
But his most striking feature was his hair—a massive, perfectly coiffed pompadour that swayed as he barked orders.
"Hey! Hurry up with those snacks!" he shouted, arrogantly directing a group of older teens who hovered around him like lackeys.
"What's the play, Boss?" Gin asked.
"I'm planning to bring him into the fold. But if I step out, it's just an adult bullying a kid. Gin, you handle it. If he's as arrogant as they say, he needs to realize that the 'power' he's leaning on isn't as invincible as he thinks."
"Understood," Gin replied shortly. He stepped out of the shadows and approached the boy—Pearl, the user of the Kachi Kachi no Mi.
Pearl was bored.
He understood, in a hazy way, that he'd had to eat that Devil Fruit long ago to survive. But ever since he'd moved here, the people looked at him like he was a freak. They wouldn't say it to his face, but their whispers followed him everywhere.
His father told him not to mind it, but the frustration built up inside him. Everything changed the day a group of pirates raided the town and Pearl single-handedly crushed them.
Instead of gratitude, the townspeople looked at him with even more fear. A child not even ten years old, defeating pirates? He's a monster.
So, Pearl decided to become exactly what they feared. He used his strength to subjugate the local thugs, rising to the top of Loguetown's underworld. He had a dream: to take his crew and head out to sea.
But today, a black-haired teenager stood in his path.
"You Pearl... I take it?"
The newcomer had short black hair and wore practical grey clothes. He had silver gauntlets on his arms and silver leggings reaching his knees.
Pearl sensed immediately that this wasn't just some random civilian. He raised a hand to restrain his rowdy subordinates.
"Yeah? I'm Pearl. Who the hell are you?" Pearl stood up, trying to look intimidating. At eleven, his height lacked impact, but his gaze was sharp.
"Nothing special. I heard you were strong, so I wanted to test that strength myself."
The black-haired boy—Gin—dropped into a fighting stance, unarmed.
"I don't know who you think you are... but don't talk down to me!!"
Pearl lunged, his arm hardening to the density of steel through his ability. He swung a heavy punch, but—
CLANG!
A sound like two girders colliding echoed through the alley. Gin caught the fist with his own silver-clad forearm, absorbing the shock without budging.
"I see. So this is the power they talked about," Gin muttered.
"No way! He stopped Pearl-san's punch!"
"Is that guy an ability user too!? Nobody blocks a steel punch like that!"
"Surround him! He's just one guy! We'll tear him apart!"
The thugs drew their weapons, but Pearl barked a command: "Back off, you idiots! Don't ruin a one-on-one fight!"
The lackeys retreated to the sidelines, realising they shouldn't ruin their boss's mood.
"Sorry 'bout that. My underlings are a noisy bunch."
"No problem. My turn now."
Gin launched a high, arching heel drop. Pearl blocked it, and again the sound of metal hitting metal rang out.
"Ha! That won't work! My body is steel! Iron-clad! I'm invincible!"
Pearl ignored the weight of the attack and charged forward, attempting to ram Gin with his shoulder. Gin caught the charge with both hands, using the momentum to push off and create distance.
"Heh, you're still standing after taking my hit? Not bad..."
"I haven't even fallen yet," Gin replied coolly.
"Shut up! Try this on for size!!"
Pearl crossed his arms. With a harsh, grinding noise, he rubbed his right arm violently against his left. The friction caused his right arm to glow a brilliant, searing red. This was a technique he'd developed through trial and error: using the friction of his steel-hard skin to generate intense heat.
"Oh? You can generate heat too? The Boss was right... you have potential."
"I'm gonna wipe that calm look off your face! Heat Knuckle!!"
Pearl swung his glowing, superheated fist.
"But... you're still lacking. You need to learn how high the wall really is."
Gin's voice was a mere whisper. He parried the flaming punch with his left arm—his silver gauntlet glowing from the heat—and simultaneously drove a lightning-fast strike into Pearl's solar plexus.
"Gah... what...?"
The world went dark, and Pearl's consciousness faded away.
Accompanied by the Pearl:
The Kachi Kachi no Mi grants the user the hardness of steel. To an average person, this is undoubtedly a terrifying threat; after all, almost any conventional attack is simply repelled by that rigid defense.
However, that doesn't mean there aren't ways to counter it. One could strike with enough raw power to shatter steel or imbue an attack with Haki.
There is also the option of using Seastone. In this instance, what Gin did was simple: he parried the boy's superheated fist with his left arm while driving a knee strike—imbued with Busoshoku Haki—directly into the boy's solar plexus.
As Pearl collapsed, a wave of panic swept through his followers.
"Pearl-san was taken down!"
"It's impossible! We can't win against them!"
The surrounding crowd buzzed with fear.
"What's this?" Gin provoked them. "Your boss is down, and you don't even have the spirit to come at me?"
"S-shut up! We only followed him because we thought we'd get a free ride! There's no way we're picking a fight with monsters like you!!"
The delinquents shouted back as they scrambled away. Gin sighed at their predictable cowardice, then hoisted the unconscious Pearl onto his back and returned to Krieg.
"Boss, it's finished."
"Take him to the ship and let him rest. He's just unconscious; he'll wake up soon enough."
Krieg and Gin, with Pearl in tow, headed toward the Beatrice anchored in the harbor. After leaving the boy in the infirmary, Krieg returned to his cabin. A short while later, a knock at the door announced that Pearl was awake.
Krieg immediately put down his pen and headed to the infirmary with Gin. There, they found Pearl looking around restlessly, clearly struggling to grasp the situation.
"I see you're awake," Krieg called out.
"Who the hell are you!? Where am I!?" Pearl snapped back aggressively.
"Calling me 'who the hell' is quite the greeting. You certainly developed a foul mouth compared to how you used to be..."
"Used to be? ...Have we met somewhere?"
"We have. When you were three years old."
"Three...?" Pearl rubbed his head, confused.
"That's right. About seven or eight years ago, wasn't it?"
"...I remember! You're the Marine who saved my old man and me back then!! Does that mean the black-haired guy who sent me flying is... Gin-anchan!?"
Krieg was impressed he remembered. "Exactly. We rescued you when you were stranded in the jungle. This is Gin, the one you cried so hard to say goodbye to. He's my Vice-Commander now."
Gin gave a slight nod of confirmation.
"...I'm grateful for what you did back then. But why did you bring me here now? What do you want?"
"...Your father asked me. He asked me to take you under my wing," Krieg explained.
Pearl's jaw tightened. "So... even after everything he said, my old man finally decided to throw me away, huh?"
As Pearl ground his teeth in frustration, Krieg held out a letter.
"Don't be so quick to judge. Your father gave me a letter for you to read... and hey, don't rip it up."
Pearl grabbed the envelope and looked ready to shred it, but at Krieg's warning, he reluctantly tore it open and began to read. Paul had told Krieg that he poured his true feelings for his son into those pages.
Pearl took a long time to read every word. Eventually, his shoulders began to tremble.
"Ugh... Dad... I'm sorry. I was such an idiot. I just kept shouting over him and ignoring him, but he was thinking about me the whole time... damn it!"
With tears blurring his vision and his lip bitten tight, the boy let out a choked sob. Paul's heart had clearly reached him.
"I'm sorry for everything I said! I know I'm being selfish asking this now, but... please, take me with you!"
Pearl dropped to his knees on the floor, pleading. Krieg stepped forward and helped him up.
"Calm down. Stand up straight. Are you sure you don't want to say goodbye to your father?"
"...The next time I show my face to my old man, I'm going to be a much better man than I am now," Pearl said, his eyes filled with a new, firm resolve.
"I see. Then, let me introduce myself properly. I am Krieg, Commander of the Marine Independent Vanguard. Rank: Rear Admiral. Glad to have you aboard."
Krieg extended his hand.
"I'm Pearl! I'm counting on you, Old Man Krieg! Gin-anchan!!"
Pearl gripped the hand back firmly.
First things first, Krieg thought, I'll have to do something about that 'Old Man' business and his manners.
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