East Blue, Windmill Village
On the hilltop where Dadan's bandit family resided, things were anything but quiet.
At that moment, Dadan sat helplessly beside Ace and Luffy, the two boys caught in yet another of their daily arguments.
"There they go again…" Dadan sighed, clearly at her limit.
Suddenly—
"Dadan!"
A loud voice startled her, making her jerk up in fright.
Dadan groaned, "Oh no... it's him again!"
She scrambled to her feet. Sure enough, Garp was approaching from the distance, walking leisurely with a familiar grin.
"Mr. Garp, you—" she began nervously, but her words trailed off as she caught sight of a new face behind him.
A little boy was following closely behind Garp.
Dadan's eyes widened in disbelief. Another one?
Does this old man think I run a daycare?!
Garp gave a hearty laugh as he stopped in front of her. "Let them meet. He's going to be living here from now on."
Dadan sighed. This had become routine.
Not that she had much say in the matter.
Turning to the two boys, Garp gestured toward the newcomer.
"Luffy! Ace! This is Shen Yuan! He's your new partner-in-crime—uh, training partner!"
Ace, still thin and scrappy at this age, wore a half-sleeve shirt with the word "Power" emblazoned across it. He grinned, eyeing Shen Yuan with curiosity and a hint of challenge.
Luffy, meanwhile, stood there looking rather dazed—his vacant stare and lack of expression already reminiscent of the Luffy of the future.
Garp nodded. "You three get to know each other. I'm off to help Shen Yuan settle in."
And with that, Garp turned around and left.
No sooner had he disappeared from sight than Ace made his move.
He stepped forward, pointing at Shen Yuan. "I want to challenge you!"
Shen Yuan smiled calmly, clenched his fists, and raised a hand.
The tension ignited immediately.
Dadan didn't bother stopping them—just another scuffle between kids, after all.
"Whoosh!"
Shen Yuan made the first move. In a flash, he appeared in front of Ace and landed a punch squarely in his stomach.
"Urgh!"
Ace choked, coughing up spit as the force launched him backward. He slammed into a nearby tree, snapping it clean in half.
Boom!
Ace groaned, struggling to his feet. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Shen Yuan stood still, arms crossed, his voice cool. "Still want to fight?"
Ace wavered, barely able to hold the pipe in his hands.
But Shen Yuan dashed forward again, lightning-quick. He unleashed a spinning kick!
Ace reacted quickly, raising his pipe to block—but the force was overwhelming.
The impact flung him backward again, this time crashing into the bushes.
[You've defeated Plot Character Ace (Childhood). Level Up: LV6!]
Shen Yuan clicked his tongue. If I actually kill him, old man Garp would rip my skin off...
This time, Ace didn't get up.
The pain from Shen Yuan's kick radiated through his body like he'd been hit by a cannonball.
Just then—
A tiny fist flew toward Shen Yuan.
"Don't bully Ace!"
Luffy had charged in.
Shen Yuan easily deflected the punch, laughing softly. "I just finished beating him. Now it's your turn."
With a simple kick, Shen Yuan sent Luffy flying several meters.
[You've defeated Plot Character Luffy (Childhood). Level Up: LV8!]
Three levels gained in rapid succession!
Shen Yuan quickly allocated the unused points into his skill tree.
He unlocked the remaining Six Powers (Rokushiki) techniques: Tekkai (Iron Body), Geppo (Moonwalk), Shigan (Finger Pistol), Kami-e (Paper Art).
He added another point into Sword Mastery, maximizing it.
The moment the system completed the unlocks, muscle memory and training instructions flowed into his mind like a flood.
It was as if the Navy's elite physical techniques had been engraved into his bones.
Dadan watched all of this in stunned silence.
How the hell did Ace go down in two hits?!
Still, she knew better than to stand idly by. If Garp found out she didn't even try to intervene, she'd be next.
Decision made, Dadan grabbed a thick club and charged toward Shen Yuan.
She had to look like she cared, at least!
Shen Yuan dodged her clumsy swing and retaliated with a Shigan—his finger striking with such force that it pierced through the air and impacted her shoulder with precision.
The pain spread like fire.
Dadan gasped, dropping her cigarette as her body fell to one knee.
[You've defeated Plot Character Dadan. Level Up: LV9!]
Another level.
This time Shen Yuan put the stat into Agility.
He stood coldly over the three who now lay groaning on the ground and turned his gaze to the other bandits nearby.
"So? Any of you want to try next?"
They froze.
They wanted to avenge Dadan—but none dared step forward. Fear gripped them all.
Then Shen Yuan sighed and his expression softened.
He offered a hand and pulled Dadan to her feet.
Then he walked over and helped Ace and Luffy up as well.
"My grandpa told me all about you. Said you two were troublemakers. Asked me to keep you in line."
Ace was still panting. There was fury in his eyes—but also resignation. He'd lost fair and square.
Luffy didn't seem injured at all.
Instead, he clung to Shen Yuan's leg and chirped, "Big bro Shen Yuan, that move you did—can you teach me?! It was so cool!"
Dadan, still catching her breath, slowly realized what was going on.
This was Garp's plan all along.
"Alright," Shen Yuan replied. "But the training's brutal. You sure?"
"I'm not afraid!" Luffy puffed out his chest.
Ace, grinning even through the blood on his lip, said, "If you beat me, you're my big brother now. I want to train with you too. I want to learn those fast moves!"
Shen Yuan gave a small nod.
Ace… lucky and unlucky all at once. If I can help him survive... then maybe…
At that moment, Garp returned to the hilltop.
His brows raised at the sight of the bloodied trio.
Dadan quickly told him what had happened.
Garp was silent for a few seconds—and then burst into laughter.
"You brat… You've already mastered the Six Powers?"
He was genuinely surprised.
Though he had explained the Rokushiki techniques to Shen Yuan, he didn't expect him to learn them this quickly.
Shen Yuan simply nodded.
"Heh... You really are this old man's great-grandson! Alright then—next month, I'll teach you Haki. Don't slack off!"
Shen Yuan's eyes lit up.
His cold demeanor cracked for a second—replaced by raw excitement.
Finally… Haki!
He stared at Garp like a lion eyeing its prey.
Garp felt the chill.
Quickly, he popped open a bag of rice crackers and munched loudly. "Alright kid, show me what you got."
Shen Yuan stepped up to a nearby tree. He drew a finger and shouted—
"Shigan!"
The attack punched a hole through the trunk.
Not finished yet, he leapt into the air using Geppo and unleashed a Rankyaku (Storm Kick)!
The compressed air blade sliced cleanly through the trunk. The tree split and crashed to the ground.
Then, in a blink, Shen Yuan used Soru (Shave) to return in front of Garp.
The old Vice Admiral nodded approvingly.
"With that kind of skill, you're bound to become a Marine Admiral someday."
He turned to the three kids. "You lot, meet me in the forest tomorrow. I'll personally supervise your physical training!"
With that, Garp wandered down the mountain, casually picking his nose. Shen Yuan followed behind him.
"Brother, where are you going?" Luffy called out.
"Home."
"But what about replying to Grandpa?"
Shen Yuan glanced back.
"If I don't reply… are you going to take care of me?"
"I… I can't afford it…"