"As long as you lot stop resisting, I won't hurt you…"
Alvida was still grinning wickedly at the merchant crew, oblivious to the danger already at hand.
"Gum-Gum…"
At the sound of that magnetic voice, Little Fisherman turned—and saw the straw-hatted boy's arm snap backward, stretching four, five meters in a blink. No human could do that.
His eyes flew wide. The chat flooded with [Holy—!].
The arm recoiled—then, riding its own momentum, whipped forward.
With a thunderous bang, that rubbery limb smashed straight into Alvida. Her heavy body flew, skidding across the planks and crashing down hard.
"Damn it—who's the punk that— I'll—"
She hefted her mace and surged up—only for that voice to roll over the deck again.
"Gum-Gum…"
The boy struck a second time, this one colliding with the raised mace. Alvida's boots scraped furrows across the boards before she ground to a stop.
Her face twisted. "Straw-hat brat, you're dead!"
Then that massive body exploded into motion. In Little Fisherman's eyes—and everyone else's—she blurred, charging with impossible speed.
BOOM!
The spiked mace came down for his head. The straw-hatted boy only tilted his face up and stared at it, almost… blank.
[ Dodge! ]
[ That's a mace—no one survives a direct hit! ]
[ And that arm—did you see it? Like a rubber band. What is he? ]
Little Fisherman didn't read the barrage. He could only watch, breath caught, as the mace fell. Game or not, being there made it feel real. Watching a living person die in front of him—he couldn't accept it.
"Stop!"
His shout changed nothing.
The mace slammed down on the boy's skull. Before their eyes, his head squashed, his body pancaking under the blow.
Little Fisherman's lungs seized.
[ Shame. That kid was… different. ]
[ Heroes still lose to monsters. Pirates will be pirates. ]
[ Five hundred thousand Beli—Alvida is strong. ]
[ If that's five hundred thousand, how terrifying was the Hild crew from Kaka's stream? ]
[ I'm even starting to doubt Red Hair. If five hundred thousand hits like that, their captain's bounty better be over ten million. ]
Plenty had drifted over from Kaka's stream. The Red Force was in the middle of a laid-back feast—Yasopp talking about "a crybaby son on some island," Lucky Roux joking about wanting to meet "Luffy." Kaka was rapt; some viewers were bored, hopping to other Great Age of Sail streams.
[ Shame about the straw hat kid… ]
The lament wasn't finished when Little Fisherman's eyes blew even wider.
From beneath that mace, the boy spoke.
"Gum-Gum…"
The voice again—hair-raising in its cheer. Alvida wrenched her weapon back, and the boy's head sprung back to shape. Not a drop of blood. He popped upright, body rebounding like pliant clay.
Without a hint of injury, he flung both arms behind him this time, tendons singing.
Two arms. Two cords of rubber.
"Gum-Gum…"
"Pistol!"
Now everyone heard it—the name of the attack. Alvida didn't. She had no time.
Both fists rocketed forward and hammered into her bulk. The mace flew from her hands. Even she couldn't weather that force. Fat rippled, then her body lifted and shot backward, arcing toward the Swan.
She hit with a ship-shaking crash. On deck, her pirates shrieked:
"Captain! Captain!"
Back on the merchantman, the straw-hatted boy slid his eyes over the looters. His gaze barely touched them—and panic detonated in their chests. They dropped what they'd stolen and bolted, tumbling over each other to scramble back to the Swan and make sail with all haste.
One pirate didn't go.
"Um—you're amazing," Koby blurted, stars in his eyes. "You beat Captain Alvida…"
"If I were as strong as you… I could join the Navy, right?"
The boy grinned, and Little Fisherman stepped forward, speaking to his chat as he approached.
"Guys, I think I'm getting how this game works. It's not just fishing. It's chill and it's got story beats. Lemme talk to the NPC."
No massacre. No desperate life-or-death struggle. Saved, instead. If that wasn't a triggered quest, what was?
The viewers leaned in.
"Uh, straw-hat… how did you pull your arm like that?" Little Fisherman asked.
The boy tugged at his cheek. Up close, Little Fisherman watched his face stretch to an absurd length—something any normal person would scream to even try.
The boy released it; his skin snapped back, no sign of damage. He introduced himself with simple pride.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy—the man who'll become King of the Pirates."
"As for that power—I'm a Gum-Gum Devil Fruit user. My body can stretch however I like…"
He demonstrated again.
Little Fisherman, and the entire chat with him, went still.
Gum-Gum Fruit.
Devil Fruit user.
A body that stretches like rubber.
Become King of the Pirates.
What… what even was this game?
Extended thinking
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/HorizonStudios0