One Piece: Investing In Whitebeard At The Start.

"How did that pirate come to Fish-Man Island?"

In a bar, a fishman holding a red harpoon was smashing furniture in a fit of rage. His fury made him almost uncontrollably irritable.

This was Fish-Man Street, the infamous slum district of Fish-Man Island.

Once intended as a haven for orphans, the shelter built here over a decade ago had devolved into a lawless zone due to poor management. Now, Hody Jones ruled Fish-Man Street with an iron grip.

"Damn it! Is that pirate going to ruin everything I've worked for?!"

Hody Jones growled, smashing bottle after bottle against the bar wall. Moments ago, he'd watched Vander Decken IX get captured. His closest ally had fallen, and Kalifa had cut off his prized hand. The memory of it still burned behind Hody's eyes, not just because of the loss, but the fear it awakened.

Vander Decken had been an important pawn. Hody still remembered the moment he witnessed Shirahoshi's terrifying ability at age six—commanding Sea Kings effortlessly. The realization that she was Poseidon, the ancient weapon, made her a threat beyond words. Hody's ambitions couldn't come true as long as she lived.

That's when Decken had appeared. A madman obsessed with Shirahoshi. Hody saw opportunity in the alliance. He wanted to overthrow King Neptune's rule and replace peace with dominance. Like the late Fisher Tiger, Hody loathed humans and saw coexistence as betrayal.

Neptune's foolish reign needed to end. Hody wouldn't just rule Fish-Man Island—he would become Pirate King.

It had all been going according to plan—until he showed up. That so-called "god," the infamous pirate worth 1.5 billion Berries, the man who killed three Celestial Dragons and defeated Admiral Akainu.

"Rhett Vane," Hody spat the name, smashing his fist through a table. "I'll kill him! He has to die if I'm going to see this through!"

"That idiot Decken, I should've known he was useless! Teaming up with trash!"

The fishmen behind him flinched as he seethed. Yet they looked at him with a mix of fear and reverence. To them, Hody Jones was the most powerful man in Fish-Man Street—stronger even than Kaikyo Jinbe.

"Human pirates, surrender to me or die," Hody muttered, clenching his fists so tightly his knuckles cracked.

He couldn't stop thinking about Vane. The new threat to his ambitions. He had to crush him—completely.

"Boss... can we really take him on?" one fishman asked nervously.

"They say he defeated a legendary navy monster, and he's got two Devil Fruit powers! His strength is terrifying."

"He's been called a man comparable to Whitebeard—the one most likely to become Pirate Emperor next."

The murmurs only fueled Hody's rage. He kicked one of his men through the bar doors. The fishman slammed into a wall and slumped unconscious.

"I'm the boss here! The strongest!" Hody bellowed.

In his mind, he was already the king of Fish-Man Street. The pirate Arlong had sailed to the East Blue and become infamous. Fisher Tiger was long dead. Kaikyo Jinbe, though strong, no longer had control here.

This territory belonged to Hody Jones now.

Jinbe's ideals—peace, coexistence with humans—mirrored those of the late Queen Otohime. But Hody despised them. From a young age, he'd seen humans abuse fishmen, enslave them, and even now, the human trade continued. He'd grown up warped by hatred. To him, Otohime was a traitor, and killing her was justice. He blamed humans publicly, but in truth, it was his hand that ended her life.

No one else knew that. And no one ever would.

He felt no guilt. Fish-Man Island deserved to be ruled by power, not compassion. Merfolk were superior. Humans were weak and vile. That was the belief Hody inherited from Arlong, though even Arlong seemed soft by comparison.

"My enhancement drugs are ready," Hody said to himself, patting his pocket. Inside was a vial of ES—the banned drug of Ryugu Palace. One dose gave the strength of a hundred men, but it came at a steep cost: rapid aging and the depletion of one's future potential.

But Hody didn't care. He needed power now, not later.

"With this, Rhett Vane won't stand a chance," he muttered. "I'll crush him, and the world will finally fear my name."

In the dark alleyways of Fish-Man Street, Hody's figure vanished, red harpoon in hand, destination unknown.

…

Meanwhile, Vane was unaware he'd become Hody's next target.

It was still night, though dawn approached. Vane had left Ryugu Palace, stirred awake by a familiar sound he hadn't heard in some time.

"Ding! Special fluctuation detected: Sunlight Tree Eve," came the prompt from the [Investment System].

"Sunlight Tree Eve?" Vane echoed.

It was the massive tree that supplied sunlight to Fish-Man Island, rooted thousands of meters beneath the sea. To the island's people, it was sacred.

"Special fluctuation... could it be a Devil Fruit?" he wondered, intrigued.

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