Sea Calendar Year 1498, New World, Above the West Blue
Opening her eyes again, Sakura felt the wind from her fall stinging her cheeks, her ears filled with the roaring sound of rushing air.
Once again, she found herself hundreds of meters in the air.
"Wait, why did I say 'again'?"
The déjà vu left Sakura momentarily speechless.
Adjusting her stance, she used chakra to activate Moon Step, slowing her descent.
[Notification: Survival Achievement Timer Started — Current Days: 0]
"System, you little %$#@!"
The free-spirited breeze of the open sea lifted Sakura's mood, but it was quickly ruined by the system's task-dumping nonsense. She was here for adventure, not to feel like she was clocking in for a job!
Fuming, Sakura was busy cursing the system, pushing the boundaries of creative language, when she spotted something in the distance.
Not far off, a battered merchant ship was being chased by a vessel flying a skull-and-crossbones flag.
"Boss, look up there!"
On the pirate ship, a headscarf-wearing lackey pointed at the petite figure walking through the sky.
"What? Someone's walking in the air? No, that's CP's Moon Step!"
The man called the boss gaped at Sakura, who was descending like she was strolling down a staircase. His eyes nearly popped out of his head.
Panic flashed across his face for only a moment before a wicked idea sparked.
"If we take out a government agent, won't that make us famous across the seas?"
His words ignited a frenzy among the pirates around him, their faces twisting into manic grins.
Hell yeah! This was the Great Pirate Era that Roger had kicked off. Wealth, fame, power—everything in the world was theirs for the taking. The World Government? Screw 'em!
Caught up in the feverish excitement, the pirates laughed wildly as they adjusted their cannons, aiming at the figure in the sky.
"Die, you government brat!" the captain snarled, pointing his sword at Sakura and bellowing, "Fire! Fire! FIRE!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The cannons roared, the sound deafening.
On the worn merchant ship ahead, a white-haired woman in a trench coat gasped in shock.
"Oh no, those scum are targeting an innocent person now!"
"But we don't have any long-range weapons, Dr. Nico!"
The wind whipped up a crew member's hat, carrying his voice to the stern.
Hearing this, Nico Olvia, standing at the ship's rear, slammed her fist against the railing in frustration. "Damn it!"
As a heavy silence spread among the scholars on board, a clear voice rang out across the sea.
"God's Evasion!"
In an instant, the sea's light was consumed by a blazing cyan sword slash that tore through the air.
Clang!
Black lightning crackled in the sky, the blade's light shattering the sea's shimmering reflection.
Amid a boisterous laugh, the pirate ship was sliced clean in two by the ferocious strike.
Blood rained down, screams and wails swallowed by the roaring waves and the cleaved ocean.
"Whoa!"
"It's… cut in half?!"
On the merchant ship, the eyes of all 33 scholars practically spiraled out of their sockets.
A petite, pink-haired girl strolled through the air, landing lightly on their deck.
Clank!
Sakura spread her arms wide, striking a pose like a magician waiting for applause and flowers after a successful trick.
"A… kid?"
The scholars instinctively stepped back. That flying slash that had just carved through the sea was downright terrifying. Even though the girl before them seemed harmless, sailing these seas demanded constant vigilance.
"Was that slash your doing?"
Pushing through the crowd, Nico Olvia, the group's leader, stepped forward.
"Yup! Pretty awesome, right? So, can I join you guys?" Sakura grinned. "I can smell adventure on you… er, I mean, achievement!"
She plopped down cross-legged on the deck, hands resting on her ankles, swaying slightly with an innocent smile.
"Sorry, kid. We're grateful for your help, but we can't let you join," Olvia said, crouching in front of Sakura and gently wiping seawater from her face with a handkerchief.
"Everyone on this ship is a scholar. Without enough knowledge, you can't join our work."
Olvia's tone was soft, like she was talking to a child. Despite Sakura's ship-slicing swordsmanship, as a mother, Olvia couldn't see a girl around her daughter's age as anything but a kid.
"Knowledge? Oh, I've got that! I can read Ancient Giant script!" Sakura chirped.
Her words barely landed before her Observation Haki caught a bespectacled scholar darting into the cabin.
After a flurry of rummaging, he rushed back with a stack of documents and thrust them toward Sakura.
"Kid, can you translate this?" he asked, his eyes gleaming with hope as he pointed to a drawing and some text.
"Let me see," Sakura said, spreading the documents on the deck.
The image depicted a red serpent, its body covered in text, though most of it was faded from time.
Sakura pieced together what she could from the few legible characters.
"Serpent of Hellfire… seawater… world, Great Kingdom?"
Hearing her translation, the scholar hurriedly jotted it down, cross-referencing it with their existing records.
"Olvia, this kid really knows Ancient Giant script! Maybe we should let her join?" the bespectacled scholar suggested, turning to Olvia with a serious expression.
"No way, you old fool!" Olvia snapped, baring her shark-like teeth as she bonked him on the head.
"What's the big deal? You're stuck on your research about the Void Century anyway. If I join, I might help you make a breakthrough!" Sakura said casually.
The air on the ship froze.
The scholars, who moments ago were thrilled about the translated text, now felt like they'd been plunged into icy water. Their mouths hung open, speechless.
In this world, digging into that forbidden history was a strict taboo, outlawed by the World Government.
And now, their secret was laid bare before this girl.
Olvia clenched her jaw, unsure how to handle Sakura. Fight her? They couldn't win. Ignore her? That'd put every scholar at risk.
Just as the silence on the ship grew suffocating, the pink-haired girl spoke up.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself!"
Sakura stood, sticking out her tongue and lightly tapping her head with her fist.
"I'm Sakura Haruno, a pirate, and a crew member of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger."
"So, scholars chasing history, can I join you?"
Her words short-circuited the scholars' brains, their faces draining of color until they were ghostly white.
"HUH?!"
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