One Piece: Holy Light Swordmaster

"Brrr~ Brrr~ Brrr~"

"Brrr~ Brrr~ Achoo~"

On the snow-covered Minion Island, all traces of battle had long been buried under the thick, unrelenting snowfall. Beneath a slightly raised mound of snow, the faint sounds of a Den Den Mushi rang out—a tiny, frostbitten voice that even seemed to sneeze, as if it had caught a cold in the freezing weather.

But no one answered the call. The person who should have picked up was now buried beneath the snow.

Onboard the Donquixote Pirates' flagship, Doflamingo set the receiver down, veins bulging on his forehead.

"Fuffuffuffu~ Hey, hey, Doffy~ What's going on?"

The sticky, nauseating voice of Trebol, the top executive of the "Club" seat and wielder of the Sticky-Sticky Fruit, oozed as he leaned in closer to Doflamingo. "Can't get in touch with Vergo?"

"You're too close, Trebol," Doflamingo growled, turning his head away in disgust but still answering, "I've called three times. When Vergo can't answer, he sets his Den Den Mushi to an unavailable state. Always."

"Huh? The last three calls went through just fine—he just didn't pick up!" Diamante, the "Diamond" seat and another top executive, said loudly.

"..." The rest of the family remained silent, the growing tension sinking in as they realized what this might mean.

"Vergo's in trouble."

After a moment of uneasy silence, Doflamingo finally spoke.

"Doffy, what now—" came a shrill, piercing voice from Pica, the top executive of the "Spade" seat, who, despite his towering, giant-like physique, had an infamously high-pitched tone.

"..." Doflamingo clenched his fists, a dark expression crossing his face. Clearly, he'd thought of something ominous. "Shake off that hag Tsuru's pursuit as fast as possible. We're heading back to the family's base."

"I have a bad feeling about this!"

On the outskirts of the town near the edge of Minion Island, Wright stood with one hand on his face, exasperated as he watched Trafalgar Law and three children bickering noisily in front of him.

Sigh. So this was fate? Some cosmic force? The will of the universe? Or just the power of plot?

Wright had planned to take Law and leave Minion Island by air, heading straight for Swallow Island. He figured it would be a safe haven for now, far from the clutches of Doflamingo's family. After all, Admiral Sengoku and Vice Admiral Tsuru had previously orchestrated a trap there to corner the Donquixote Pirates, and since Law and Wright had wound up on Minion Island by accident due to the Op-Op Fruit, Doflamingo wouldn't risk retreating to Swallow Island—walking straight into a trap would be suicidal.

Thus, Swallow Island seemed secure, at least temporarily. However, as they reached the outskirts of the island, faint crying and mischievous laughter drifted toward them, along with the unmistakable sounds of a scuffle.

How could Wright ignore such a situation? He couldn't, of course.

And so, Wright brought Law to find what fate had in store: a group of destined companions.

Two troublemaking kids, Shachi and Penguin, were horsing around near the outskirts of town when they stumbled upon a lost, talking polar bear cub.

The cub, who stood upright and spoke human language, had startled the pair at first. But once they learned that he was just a 9-year-old cub, the two boys—aged 14 and 15—lost their fear. Being the little delinquents they were, they did what bullies do best: pick on the newcomer.

And so, they beat up the starving, shivering little polar bear. The poor thing didn't even fight back, simply whimpering and crying pitifully. That was when Wright appeared in the distance, wearing his Justice cloak and carrying his strikingly elegant long sword, with a slightly smaller child—Law—trailing behind him.

"..." Wright approached the scene and, after taking it all in, nudged Law forward. "Your turn. Handle it."

"???" Law stared back, utterly baffled. "What's going on here?"

"Those two little brats are beating up that... polar bear," Wright replied, clearing his throat when he saw Law's skeptical expression. "I might lose my temper and string them up if I go over there. So, it's up to you. Handle it in a kid-friendly way."

"..." Law shivered slightly, remembering everything Wright had done to him in the past. His reasoning seemed sound enough—this guy was an absolute sadist but surprisingly self-aware about it.

Reluctantly, Law stepped forward. He didn't want to risk Wright getting involved, knowing that would end badly for everyone.

"Hey, you two! What are you doing? Why are you hitting him?"

Shachi and Penguin turned to face the spotted-hat-wearing boy who was clearly younger than them. Where had this little guy come from?

"Who are you? Don't butt in!" Shachi said, hefting his baseball bat and glaring at Law. He shot a nervous glance at Wright, though—the Justice cloak was impossible to miss. Was this guy a Marine?

"Hitting someone? That's not a person—it's just a polar bear!" Penguin snapped, standing akimbo and glaring back at Law as if daring him to interfere.

"What did he do to deserve this? Why are you hitting him?" Law approached the polar bear cub, his confidence bolstered by Wright's presence. He wasn't afraid—if anything, he was saving these two idiots from Wright's wrath.

"He startled us! Popped up out of nowhere!" Penguin scoffed, oblivious to Shachi, who was watching Law warily.

"That's it? And you beat him up this badly for that?" Law crouched next to the polar bear.

"I'm sorry... I'm so useless..." the cub whimpered faintly, lying on the ground and looking completely defeated.

"Y-You can talk?!" Law's eyes widened in surprise before he turned to the two bullies, glaring furiously. "He can talk! Why can't you just get along with him?"

"Mind your business!" Penguin lunged toward Law, but Shachi tried to stop him. Unfortunately for Penguin, Law punched him square in the face, knocking him to the ground effortlessly.

Who was Law?

He had been groomed by the infamous Donquixote Pirates, trained in swordsmanship by Diamante, in hand-to-hand combat by Lao G, and even in artillery by Gladius. His medical knowledge had been personally curated by Doflamingo himself. Law had fought countless battles alongside Doflamingo's forces before Wright healed him of his ailments.

To Penguin, Law wasn't just another kid—he was a trained warrior, a soldier pounding a street thug into the dirt.

Shachi opened his mouth to beg for mercy, but Law's fist cut him off.

"Pow!"

"Whew!"

Law looked at the now-terrified pair of brats and exhaled deeply. Free from his old injuries, he felt invincible.

"This isn't violence. I'm saving you. If Wright got involved, you'd be dead," he muttered, comforting himself before crouching next to the bear. "You okay? Can you stand?"

"Y-Yeah... I think so." The polar bear cub slowly got to his feet, sensing no hostility from the spotted-hat boy. "My name... is Bepo."

Wright sighed as he watched the scene unfold. He hadn't wanted to get directly involved, but sometimes violence was the simplest solution.

Law had done well. Clearly, Wright's "guidance" was paying off.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder—why did those two punks start obeying Law after getting smacked around? Law used to run to Rosinante to tattle on him. Clearly, the kid wasn't hitting hard enough back then.

Something to work on next time.

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