One Piece - I Am A Different Luffy! BOOK1!

Chapter 4 - Koby.

[Chapter Length: 1691 Words.]

Koby's POV

Somewhere in the sea, East Blue.

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...

After obtaining a small boat from the commercial ship, Luffy and Koby got into it and started rowing, moving away from the ship.

While Koby was relieved to finally see Alvida's ship moving away, forgetting about his existence as the ship's handyman, he was also terrified. In front of him was a man who looked more like a monster than a human, even worse than Alvida.

'Who says they like someone and shows it by punching them?!' Koby had this terrible thought as he continued to row.

This man in front of him may have a screw loose in his head for hitting on Alvida like that, but he was still a monster in strength. What kind of human would do that with just one punch? I didn't even see the trajectory of the poor woman! Koby exclaimed internally, not wanting to provoke this aberration in front of him, who had already given him orders to row towards Shell City, which he did with all the speed he could muster.

The man himself was sitting, looking out at the sea, admiring the view without paying much attention to Koby.

"You know, it's rude to stare at people like that," his mouth moved as he spoke those words without turning his face away from the horizon.

"HM?! AH!! I'm sorry for that!!!" Koby quickly apologized as if his life depended on it.

"Hehehehe! Relax, buddy, it's not like I'll eat you just for looking at me, will I?" He laughed, seeming to enjoy Koby's fear.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Koby said the only thing that came to his mind.

"Tsk, you apologize too much. Annoying, just keep rowing then." He said, and Koby quickly followed his order.

It was a strange moment for Koby. On one hand, he felt fearful of the idea of this man, who looked like a stylish thug, wanting to kill him at any moment. But the man had been quiet all this time, and while Koby was rowing in a certain direction after checking the maps, he didn't seem to care much about the pink-haired boy. He continued to enjoy the view of the sea and its breeze.

But that didn't last the entire journey. At some point, this man felt bored and spoke after a long silence since the last exchange of words.

"Tell me something, kid. Where are you from?" He suddenly asked, catching Koby a bit off guard.

"Hm?! Me? I-I'm from a small village on a nameless fishing island, Mr. Luffy..." The pink-haired boy mumbled.

"And how did you end up on Alvida's ship, kid? You're clearly not a pirate..." He asked while looking directly at Koby, who shuddered and shrank back from those fierce, red, and dangerous eyes.

"I-I'm an orphan, so one day I went fishing to feed myself... but I ended up being captured by Alvida and her crew, and since then, I've become her servant..." Koby replied, regretting it after gathering the courage to answer those piercing eyes.

"I see. I won't say that's unfair to you. Life in this world is more or less like that, the stronger eat the weaker. I just think you should become stronger; otherwise, you'll be at the mercy of others for the rest of your life." He said, and Koby lowered his head. He had dreams, but he didn't have the courage to voice them, even though this man seemed willing to listen.

Once again, silence took over the small boat.

Koby, seeing this, finally mustered the courage to talk to this man on his own initiative.