The ship creaked gently as the sun bathed the horizon in warm orange hues. Seagulls circled overhead, their cries echoing like whispers of freedom. The sea stretched wide, calm for once, as if catching its breath after Rex had just shaken its waves with pure speed.
He stood at the front of the ship again, back straight, arms folded, eyes lost in the endless blue ahead. The wind caught his black hair and coat, but he didn't react.
He was still processing it.
What he had just done back there.
Moved faster than sound. Danced around bullets. Ran through enemy lines.
And for a brief moment…
Felt like his feet didn't even touch the ground.
[…Combat Trait Mutation Detected. Phantom Core speed module reaching new compatibility. Kinetic dispersal signature unlocked. Secondary passive evolution: Grav-Shift Initiated. New integrated trait: "Phantom Drift."]
"Phantom Drift…" Rex whispered under his breath.
[…You can now manipulate low-atmospheric pressure directly beneath your frame for micro-levitation. Movement in short-range vertical and diagonal space now possible without ground support.]
He clenched his fist slowly, the cool breeze brushing across his knuckles.
His speed wasn't just getting faster.
He was beginning to defy gravity itself.
"Hey!" Nami called from behind, breaking his silence. "Don't just stand there looking cool! We're arriving!"
Rex turned slowly. He didn't smile, but his eyes were calm again.
Behind him, Luffy was jumping like a kid high on sugar.
"Orange Town! Orange Town! I hope there's meat! Or a talking dog! Or a big fight!"
Zoro rolled his eyes. "Can we go one island without a cannon to the face?"
Nami looked to Rex. "What about you? You're always so serious."
Rex looked toward the distant docks ahead. A quiet town. Silent. No movement.
Too quiet.
"I'm serious," he said softly, "because something's coming."
He was right.
Orange Town – 15 minutes later
The place looked deserted.
No townspeople.
No movement.
Shops shuttered. Doors broken. Flags torn. It looked like a ghost town that had been shaken by a storm.
"This doesn't feel right," Zoro muttered, gripping his sword.
"Maybe pirates?" Nami guessed, her grip tightening on her staff.
"HEY! HELLOOOO! ANYONE HOME?!" Luffy yelled into the street.
Rex narrowed his eyes, scanning the area.
He blinked once.
[…Area scan complete. Heat signatures: 7. Location: Warehouse – northeast. Suspicion of forced confinement.]
"We're not alone," he said.
And just as he did, a loud metallic clang echoed through the street.
From the rooftops above, pirates leapt out with wild grins, machetes, and chains in hand. One of them wore clown paint—Buggy's men.
"I thought we burned that ship," Zoro said dryly.
"Guess some escaped," Rex said. "Let's clean up."
"GET THEM!" the lead pirate shouted.
They charged.
Zoro pulled his swords and dove into them without hesitation.
Luffy grinned, stretching his fists. "Let's gooo!"
Rex, however… didn't run forward.
He exhaled.
And stepped up.
His body began to glow faintly, like the shimmer of heat rising from sand.
And then, without warning, he levitated.
Just a few feet above the ground.
His body floated like a ghost. Calm. Controlled. He wasn't flying—no wings, no flashy jump—but hovering, gliding through air with purpose.
[…Phantom Drift active. Micro-pressure balancing achieved. Aerial dash ready. Movement potential unlocked: mid-air step chaining.]
He moved through the sky like wind reborn into flesh.
The first pirate looked up.
"Wha—?! IS HE FLOATING?!"
Rex descended like a hawk, elbow crashing into the man's collarbone with brutal speed.
Before his boots touched ground, he spun sideways in the air, body gliding just above the earth, kicking another pirate's knee from behind, sending him sprawling face-first.
A third man tried to aim a rifle.
Rex shifted in mid-air, curling into a tight spin, then flipped sideways like a blade and smashed into the gunman's chest, shattering his ribs.
He landed softly.
His eyes glowed faintly for a second.
"I can move however I want now," he said under his breath.
Nami had stopped in her tracks.
She was staring.
"He… he's flying…"
Zoro slashed two more down and grunted. "He's not flying."
Luffy stretched up a rooftop to fight another group. "He's air-dancing!!"
[…Grav-Shift now linked to Phantom Core. Vertical acceleration increased by 16%. Manual boost limit extended by 3 seconds.]
A pirate captain stepped out from the shadows of an alley. Huge. Thick armor. An iron club.
"You're all just bugs!!" he roared, swinging his club straight toward Rex.
Rex didn't blink.
He hovered upward, sliding above the swing without touching the ground.
And then—
He descended like lightning, both feet slamming into the captain's chest, using air-pressure manipulation mid-strike.
BOOM!!!
The ground cracked beneath the pirate captain's body as he was driven through the cobblestone street like a hammer blow from the gods.
Silence followed.
Dust settled.
Rex landed gently, arms folded.
Behind him, the town echoed with cheers as the hidden civilians slowly came out of hiding.
The mayor, a tiny man with thick glasses, approached.
"You… You saved our town!"
Luffy grinned. "Nah, he did all the cool stuff."
Rex didn't respond.
He turned to walk back toward the group.
But Nami stopped him.
She stepped close.
Too close.
"…That was impossible," she said quietly. "What you just did. No Devil Fruit. No wings. Nothing."
Rex's voice was calm.
"I'm just evolving."
She looked him in the eyes.
"…You're more dangerous than Luffy."
Rex stepped even closer, only inches away.
"Then don't stand so close," he whispered.
She blinked—and stepped back with a fast-beating heart.
He smirked.
And looked to the sky.
Because he knew…
This sea wasn't ready for what he would become.