Story Quote: "In war, visibility is mercy. In the fog, mercy dies first."
The Fumigator cut through the calm waters of the East Blue like a knife through smoke. A thin, silvery mist trailed behind it, coiling in lazy tendrils that glowed faintly under the sun.
At the bow stood Kairo D. Veil, his long black coat billowing, his hand resting on the hilt of a blade that shimmered like liquid steel — his sword, Kusanagi, the Grass Cutter.
Forged in Loguetown by a master smith who owed Kairo's family a debt, the weapon was modeled after an ancient legend Kairo remembered from his previous life — the sword of Sasuke Uchiha. Straight, elegant, and built for speed, it was a conductor of his gas and plasma alike. When sheathed, it seemed almost mundane, but when drawn, faint arcs of ozone sparked along the edge, whispering with contained fury.
Kairo didn't fight like a traditional swordsman. He didn't clash blades or block. He appeared, cut, and vanished — a phantom that moved faster than eyes could follow, using gas bursts to propel himself and confuse his enemies.
Shells Town — The Caged Swordsman
The Gas Chamber Pirates arrived in Shells Town under the guise of merchants. The air buzzed with gossip — a Marine Captain named Morgan ruled the town with an iron fist, and a bounty hunter named Roronoa Zoro was awaiting execution.
Kairo had already known this from his memories of the world's "future."This was where Luffy would first make his mark.
But seeing it in person — the caged swordsman, tied to a cross under the blazing sun — stirred something in Kairo's chest. Zoro's eyes burned with that same defiance Roger once showed on the execution platform.
"So this is how it really looks up close," Kairo murmured, leaning against a stall in the market, the hood of his coat pulled low. "The start of a legend…"
Aria nudged him.
"Captain, we're not here to play historian. The Marines spotted our ship's flag earlier. If we linger too long, they'll—"
"They'll what?" Kairo smirked. "Try to catch the wind?"
The Rescue in the Mist
That night, under the cloak of darkness, Kairo moved.Gas flowed from his skin like breath, coating the town square in a low, creeping fog. Lanterns flickered and dimmed as the oxygen thinned, causing Marines to stumble, coughing and dazed.
From the mist, a whisper:
"Sleep."
Kairo exhaled a faint narcotic gas. The guards slumped to the ground, snoring softly.
He approached Zoro's bound form, eyes sharp.
"Roronoa Zoro," Kairo said quietly. "The man who'll one day stand beside the Pirate King."
Zoro blinked, half-delirious from thirst.
"Who the hell are you?"
"A pirate," Kairo answered simply. "But for now, just your liberator."
With a flash, Kusanagi sliced through the ropes in a single motion — clean, silent, surgical.
As Zoro staggered to his feet, Marines began shouting in the distance. The fog thickened again, glowing faintly blue as Kairo raised his sword.
"Can you fight?" he asked.
Zoro grinned despite the situation.
"Always."
"Then fight your way out of my fog."
What followed was chaos — beautiful chaos.
Zoro, weakened but fierce, first seized a passing Marines sword and began to cut through silhouettes in the mist. Kairo danced around him, gas bursting in flashes of light as plasma arcs carved through muskets and armor.
When Captain Morgan appeared, roaring and swinging his massive axe-hand, Kairo turned to face him, unsheathing his blade in one smooth motion.
"You rule through fear," Kairo said coldly, "but fear is my domain."
He vanished.
Then — a thunderclap.
Kairo reappeared behind Morgan, blade dripping with heat. The Marine captain collapsed, his axe-hand cleaved in half, the air shimmering where plasma had burned oxygen into ozone.
"You're… not human…" Morgan wheezed.
Kairo smirked.
"No. I'm just gas."
The Dawn and the Straw Hat
By morning, the town was free. The mist lifted, revealing unconscious Marines and cheering townsfolk.
Zoro leaned against a wall, looking at Kairo's retreating figure.
"Hey, you. The fog guy. What's your name?"
"Kairo D. Veil," he said over his shoulder. "Captain of the Gas Chamber Pirates."
"You have the initial 'D' too…" Zoro muttered. "Tch. What a world."
Kairo chuckled, stepping onto the gangplank of the Fumigator.
"The world's about to get smaller, Zoro. Keep your blade sharp. You'll need it soon."
As the ship sailed away, a small boat appeared on the horizon — a boy with a straw hat, grinning like the sun itself.
Kairo's eyes narrowed as he watched Luffy's ship drift closer to Shells Town.
"So it begins," he murmured. "Let's see if fate's still following the script."