An Oni in God's Valley

After a few weeks of sailing, the Koa Pirates arrived at the place of the Sabaody Archipelago. It was the place where the Strawhat Pirates were split and where the New World Arc would start. Koa and his crew docked their ship in Area 27, as there was a port located in here. Koa and his crew then unboarded the ship to explore more and more around the Sabaody.

"Alright, everyone, you can explore the Sabaody. Just remember where we docked, alright? Plus, make sure to avoid trouble altogether. We are near Marineford, and they could afford to send backup almost instantly," Koa said, as he reminded his crew to be mindful around the Sabaody, especially since there are a lot of Marines, Cipher agents, and slave traders that would take advantage of those careless individuals for a chance of profit.

The crew then agreed, as Koa went his separate way. He wanted to explore the Sabaody Archipelago with some peace and quiet, as he was getting tired of the bickering in the ship, especially with Greenbull and Kuzan, as both of them would always pick a fight against each other to see who were stronger, and even if Koa ordered them to stop, they would just continue after a few minutes.

'I guess the World Government decided not to publish my latest action. Hmmm, that makes sense considering that they care a lot about their faces,' Koa thought. While walking, Koa could feel the stare of the civilians towards him, as they were afraid of his bounty and the trouble it would bring. His bounty would certainly attract much attention, especially coming from the bounty hunters and those pirates who wanted their name to be well known throughout the sea.

Like clockwork, the civilians' worry came true, as they noticed a huge number of people following behind Koa. While Koa was still browsing, not caring about the ones that were following him, they just continued following Koa until their numbers reached around 1000, to which Koa was then confronted by their sort of leader.

"Maui D. Koa, HAHAHAAHAHAH, how stupid of you to walk around alone. Now, I will use your name to make myself well known around the sea," the leader said, as he began his speech in front of Koa, laughing hysterically. He was confident that Koa was just some fraud that managed to get away since he had companions that are Logia users, but now, Koa was alone.

Koa, not even bothered to learn their names, summoned multiple magma arrows and started targeting those who had bad intentions towards him. Koa made sure that all of them died without even realizing what happened to them while also making sure that no civilians were harmed in the process.

After just a few minutes, all of the companions of the leader were dead, as he was the only one who was alive, as Koa did not kill him, as he wanted him to soak in the despair first before killing him. The reaction of the leader was funny. He pissed and shit himself due to fear, as he was struggling to get words out of his mouth. Koa just approached him.

"Hmmm, I thought you would be stronger. How boring," Koa said, as he then punched the leader's head so hard that it exploded from impact, in which Koa's attire became dirty from the blood.

"Ahhh, now I'm filthy, great," Koa said as he then continued to walk, leaving behind a massive amount of corpses and a group of scared civilians. But what Koa did not know was that among the civilians, there was a child who had a shine in his eyes as he looked at Koa with admiration. The efficient killing that did not even touch the civilians and the overwhelming strength to do it—it was something that he hoped to have in the future. The child then decided to follow Koa, despite the dangers, as he wanted to get to know more about his idol.

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As Koa was walking around the streets, he then suddenly stopped as he looked behind him. The moment the child followed behind him and was staring at him, Koa already knew about it, but he just let it be, as he thought it was just some curious bystander. He did not feel any malicious intent too. But it was getting annoying, as he was supposed to be enjoying this day on his own, but the stare of the kid was distracting him from having fun.

"Oi, kid, what's with you?" Koa then yelled as he looked back to see a kid with green hair, attempting to hide in a box crate. But when the kid heard that he was being called by Koa, his face suddenly shone as he then ran to the side of Koa.

"Mister, allow me to join you," the kid then said towards Koa with a hopeful expression. He also had a feeling of slight desperation, something that Koa could feel. Curious, he then took a look at the kid, as it was slightly familiar to Koa, but he couldn't place where he knew the kid.

"What's your name, kid?" Koa then asked, as he wanted to hear if it was really someone that he would recognize.

"Gild," the kid replied, introducing himself.

"Gild?" Koa then asked, as he now placed where he recognized the kid with green hair. It was Gild Tesoro, someone that would become influential in the future, as he would be the richest person in the world.

"Yes, boss, if you allowed me to join you, I could do anything for you. I could rob, steal, kill—anyone that you wanted me to," Gild then said, as he began listing everything that he could do for Koa, as he thought since Koa was a pirate, he would want someone that could do this. Koa just looked at Gild with curious eyes and decided to ask:

"What's your dream, Gild?" Koa then asked, which caught Gild off guard; he did not expect Koa to ask this kind of question.

"I wanted to become a powerful person," Gild then answered, as he lied to Koa, despite knowing what he wanted to become. As despite turning to a life of crime, he always had a dream for himself.

"I would walk away the next time that you lie. What's your dream? Tell the truth this time," Koa then warned Gild, in which Gild became silent, as if he was hesitating, since everyone that he told his original dream to laughed in his face. Koa, feeling Gild's hesitation, lent his arm towards Gild's shoulder, which made Gild look at Koa.

"I want to become the most popular singer in the entertainment industry," Gild then said truthfully, which made Koa smile towards him. Gild thought he was being made fun of by Koa, but Koa then talked:

"Good, I'll accept you," Koa said, as he then continued to walk, leaving Gild, who was stunned at the acceptance of Koa. Gild then forcibly snapped himself out of it, as he then ran towards Koa with a smile on his face.