"Resume: Captain of the Rocks Pirates..."
Lying back on a recliner on the deck of his personal ship, a tall young man was scribbling away with pen and paper. This had always been his habit.
Whenever he was bored, he liked to write down his experiences. It had become a sort of unique custom in the world of One Piece.
That was—the nautical log.
Some of the entries went like this:
Pirate Resume: Pirate King's crewmate, Great Pirate, Captain of the Rocks Pirates...
Marine Resume: Renowned instructor at the Marine officer training camp...
Celestial Dragon Resume: Auxiliary member of the God's Knight Order...
Underworld Resume: Already speedrun.
"Keek, you don't have to get so worked up..."
Orin felt a bit helpless. He realized that old man's "Orin-fan" was carved into his very bones. Even though they weren't technically family yet in this timeline, Keek treated him the same.
Back when Orin was small, once the old man discovered his natural gift for Observation Haki and monstrous strength, he had pinned all his hopes of creating a "Monster" on Orin.
He spoiled him with food and drink, and even taught him the basics of both Hakis from an early age.
Orin's innate Observation Haki made his learning extremely fast. Once he boarded Roger's ship, he advanced with incredible speed. Besides natural talent, it was clear that the old man's early foundation helped.
Now, having returned to the past, Orin only needed to show a hint of his overwhelming strength to once again win over Keek, this die-hard monster-worshipper.
And lately, since Orin had suddenly appeared on the seas, even joining the Rocks Pirates as a complete stranger and rising straight to the rank of division Captain, many began to doubt his true strength.
Keek, as Orin's devoted fan, was instantly furious. He waved a newspaper, cursing loudly.
"This is unbearable, Captain Orin!!!"
Keek stormed up to Orin, shoving the paper in his face.
"Look! People are spreading rumors that you're just weak—some smoke screen Rocks-sama threw out there!!"
His face was red with rage. Seeing Orin belittled made him even angrier than Orin himself.
Why? He couldn't explain. He just felt close to Orin, like family.
"Alright, alright... I get it."
"The next time I meet someone of real weight, I'll fight seriously."
Orin tolerated the old man's obsession patiently.
In the original timeline, whenever Orin did something that shook the seas, the News Coo would always make Duramos Island its first stop, delivering the paper to the old man.
Every time, the old man would puff up with pride, boasting to everyone:
"The king who suppresses this sea?"
"Oh... you must mean my precious grandson~"
To Orin's face he'd always call him a brat, but in front of outsiders, Orin was his prized treasure.
No one was allowed to speak ill of Orin. And once Orin grew up, hardly anyone dared to anyway.
Now, after traveling back, Orin found Keek was still the same—protecting his "Monster's" name with fierce devotion.
Perhaps, to him, "becoming a monster" wasn't just a goal. It was a value system—something everyone should respect and fear.
Orin waved him off and changed the subject:
"By the way, how's your practice with flowing Armament Haki coming along?"
He gave Keek a teacherly glance.
Orin knew he couldn't stay in this timeline for long. Who knew what butterfly effects he might cause? But giving the old man more power could only be a good thing.
Keek, however, immediately broke into a cold sweat, eyes darting nervously.
"Uh... I tried, but the Armament just won't move... it's stuck to me like glue..."
"..."
Orin's lips twitched. So much time, and still no progress? Flowing Armament was that hard?
When he was thirteen, he practiced it casually!
No wonder the old man always muttered about lacking the conditions in his youth. Orin figured he must have suffered countless hardships to barely learn the basics of Haki. His swordsmanship had never even reached swordsman-level mastery.
If it weren't inconvenient, Orin would've tried the Marine training camp's method on him already.
"Forget it..."
...
"Dotor Orin? Never heard of him..."
By a poolside, a young man with a scar running across his eye lounged lazily, surrounded by laughing women in swimsuits. He was slacking off on vacation.
At first, when his aide handed him the latest report with a picture of some unfamiliar face, Garp didn't care.
But then the aide explained the World Government's latest classified intel:
[A newly emerged monster on the seas, suspected to be Gol D. Roger's brother, with an extremely high threat level!]
Garp's laid-back demeanor shattered instantly. He leapt up, snatched the paper, and burned the young man's face into his memory.
"Roger, that bastard... he actually has a brother? And he joined the Rocks Pirates?!!"
"Alright! That's it!!!"
Amid the stunned stares of the surrounding Marines, Vice Admiral Garp, ever impulsive, made a declaration:
"Then I'll be the one to arrest him!!!"
...
From then on, the once-unknown name "Orin" began to spread across the seas.
After clashing head-on with Rocks and earning both recognition and wariness, Orin was granted authority to command part of the Rocks Pirates' forces.
He began answering challengers worldwide, crushing those who claimed his reputation was hollow.
Clang—
The sharp ring of steel echoed. Before Orin stood a swordsman wielding a black blade, a newcomer making a name in the New World.
He had come to challenge Orin, hoping to rise in fame.
He had arrived with a calm, confident smile.
Now, his face was drenched in sweat, frozen in disbelief. His spirit was shattered.
Staring at Orin, who had casually caught his strongest slash between two fingers, his worldview collapsed.
The last thing he heard was:
"You... are you doing a circus act?"
With a casual kick, Orin sent the ambitious swordsman into unconsciousness.
On the ships behind him, countless underlings cheered.
These were the grunts assigned to Orin's division by Rocks.
At first, they had grumbled about following some no-name Captain with no future.
But time and time again, after witnessing Orin's overwhelming monstrous power, they were conquered.