One Piece: The Legend of Beasts

The Calm Belt is a strip of sea located on both sides of the Grand Route. There is no wind or current in the entire sea area. It is so calm that sailboats powered by wind cannot sail on the sea. The thousands of giant sea kings living here are the absolute factor that determines that countless pirates dare not easily set foot in it.

And on this lifeless sea, a huge island stands alone, as if it has been forgotten by the world.

A long time ago, there was a group of people who drifted from the ocean. After a long period of wandering, they finally set foot on this land that had never been visited by visitors and lived here for generations. It is said that they had suffered some serious persecution in the past, but the specific reason is unknown. The only impression left to the world is the pair of conspicuous horns on their heads.

Looking around, the island is covered with lush vegetation, and the dense forests interweave into a green ocean. The sun shines through the gaps in the green leaves, casting mottled shadows. The air is filled with the fragrance of grass and trees, and from time to time you can see squirrels jumping between branches. The soft breeze blows gently, and the melodious singing of birds and the rustling sound of leaves being blown play a pleasant piece of music for nature.

In the center of the island stood a towering old tree surrounded by green shade. The huge tree roots were intertwined in the soil, like a giant snake stretching across the entire ground. The trunk, which was almost as thick as several mountains put together, soared into the clouds, reaching the sky like a pillar supporting the sky. The top was sharp and slightly curved, and from a distance it looked like a horn pointing to the sky, shrouded in mist and looking solemn and mysterious. The mottled bark was covered with irregularly arranged spiral lines, and the surface was rough and uneven, with a faint green light flowing on it, as if telling the traces left by the years.

Over the long years, this island is like a quiet and peaceful painting. It has never been invaded by wars, diseases, or natural disasters for hundreds of years. It is like a paradise away from the world, enjoying this rare tranquility and peace alone on this turbulent sea. The rich resources that can be found everywhere around the ancient tree can also easily achieve self-sufficiency. Therefore, the people living here all believe that this ancient tree with a long history is the gift and gift given to them by the gods they have always believed in. In order to thank this god for his selfless protection of them, people named this mysterious island Senuno Island after him.

The sudden change from years of escape to a comfortable and stable life made these people who originally had a sense of mission gradually forget their original intentions, and without exception, they all came up with an idea that they believed was correct.

As long as they do not leave this island that is like a paradise on earth and always remain closed and isolated from the outside world, they will usher in eternal peace and will never have to worry about foreign enemies approaching here. All the troubles that plague the world will stay away from them under the protection of the gods.

At this moment, under the towering ancient tree revered by thousands of people on the island, various voices of opposition were heard one after another, and the trend was gradually getting more and more intense.

"Chief, are you serious? We are living a comfortable life here, why do we have to deal with those overseas guys? Is there any place better than Senuno Island?"

"That's right, I heard that the world outside is full of wars and chaos, it's no different from hell! Only where we live is...

It is the safest! It can be said that it will never have any connection with war! "

"To be honest, our family is very grateful to you for keeping the village in good order, but no matter what, you are not allowed to mess around here! In short, you must give everyone an explanation today!"

A bustling crowd of people gathered in a relatively wide open space among the woods. With a few exceptions, most people had expressions of either surprise or indignation on their faces. They all started to make a lot of noise and raised their hands to protest against the man in the front who was the most sturdy and had an intimidating look. If there had not been a group of soldiers with sharp knives and spears maintaining order on both sides, some of the hot-tempered ones would have rushed up to grab the other man by the collar and demanded to know what was going on.

The man called "the chief" stood in front of the old tree with his hands behind his back. His coat was old and yellowed, but there was no stain on it. Facing his indignant compatriots, his expression remained calm. His calm attitude made it impossible to guess his true thoughts, as if he was fully confident that he could stabilize the situation no matter what happened.

In an open area not far from the man, a well-maintained beautiful woman stood there quietly, holding two children, a boy and a girl, in each hand. The three of them looked nervously at the man who had just made a long speech and was questioned by everyone, and they couldn't help but sweat for him.

After the noise died down, the clan leader coughed twice, scanned the crowd, and then said in an extremely calm tone: "I understand your feelings, but I still think it is necessary to explain to you that overseas is not as barren as we imagined in the past. On the contrary, there are so many islands in the sea that they are like the stars in the sky and it is impossible to count them. There are also places like Senuno Island with relatively rich resources. If we try to establish stable trade relations with those islands, won't those children who run to the shore from time to time and look at the endless sea with longing and expectation have the opportunity to understand the outside world? Won't we have the opportunity to change the long-standing misconception that 'the outside world is scary'?"

"You are still as innocent as you were when you were little, you haven't changed at all, Pan."

Following an old but steady voice, an old man with white hair and beard walked out of the crowd with a cane. Every movement he made seemed extremely slow. The horns on his head were covered with tiny cracks, and it looked like they would break at any time. Only his eyes were as clear and sharp as those of a young man. He walked to the patriarch with a staggering step and asked word by word: "Why did our ancestors choose to take refuge on this island? Why did they forbid the tribe members to go out to sea? As the head of the tribe, you must have a deep understanding of this, right?"

The man named "Pan" knew him as Kalong, the former chief and the most influential elder in the tribe. He was also the most stubborn conservative in the tribe. He bowed deeply to him with the etiquette of a younger generation and responded respectfully: "I understand what you mean, elder, but there are not only people overseas who are malicious towards us. On the contrary, there are also people who have gone through untold hardships to come here and are willing to understand us, and finally they have won unanimous recognition from everyone. Doesn't this prove that the people outside the island are not the demons we imagined in the past?"

Chiron listened to him quietly, glanced at the woman standing under the shade of a nearby tree, then returned his gaze to Pan, narrowed his eyes slightly, and said slowly: "Are you referring to Marianna...? I have to admit that as one of the few humans who have arrived here in the past few hundred years, your ladyship is indeed very popular on Senuno Island. This is inseparable from her approachable and hardworking qualities. It can be said that she is a unique exception... But what evidence do you have to show that all humans overseas are like her?"

At this point he muttered again, "You can't make conclusions based on wishful thinking. You're just a brat."

Every word of his words reached Pan's ears clearly, but Pan was not angry at all. Instead, he showed a gentle smile, and his voice was as gentle as his smile: "If we don't try to communicate with people overseas, how can we know what they are like? If we blindly believe in the answers we want, then misunderstandings and suspicions will continue. It's time for our generation to end the gap between the Wicca people and the outside world. We must not leave conflicts and disputes to the next generation."

His voice was not particularly loud, but his words revealed a sincere and genuine emotion, which moved everyone present. Those who originally held opposing opinions gradually eliminated their inner paranoia. Marianna, who had chosen to go to sea as an adventurer in pursuit of freedom and the unknown, and now had a family, was moved to tears. If it had not been for such a relatively serious occasion, she would have burst into tears without caring about her image.

Kalon was fully intending to embarrass him in front of the whole tribe so that no one would ever bring up the idea of ​​going out to sea again. However, instead of being shaken by his provocation, he gained an absolute advantage in logic and morality. His original arrogance immediately subsided a lot, but he couldn't swallow this breath, so he had to bite the bullet and quibble: "It's really inexplicable. The sacred tree has given us a unique living environment. Isn't it tantamount to suffering in vain to run to a place where we know nothing? If your wrong decision causes the entire Wicca tribe to fall into crisis, have you ever thought about how to bear this responsibility?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the people who had been somewhat persuaded by Pan immediately felt that what Chilon said made sense, and they once again cast suspicious glances at their chief, as if they were waiting for his next answer.

Rachel, who had been following her mother closely from beginning to end, could no longer hold back when she heard this and puffed up her cheeks, about to lose her temper on the spot. Uno, who was standing by, saw this and quickly stretched out his finger and made a "hush" gesture to his sister. Rachel then swallowed back the words that she was about to say, her pair of dark eyes widened, and she didn't understand why her brother didn't let her refute.

Under the gazes of hundreds of people, Pan still maintained his original calm demeanor, straightened his collar that was a little messy due to the wind, and said calmly: "Because of this, we should go to the outside world to find more resources to make the islanders' lives better than they are now. No matter what kind of civilization it is, it cannot stagnate, otherwise it will be abandoned by the tide of the times. Isn't this the original intention of the god Cernunnos to choose us to continue the Wicca civilization?"

"Humph, what nonsense..."

Chilon was still unyielding and wanted to refute something, but a soldier holding a spear hurried over along the forest path in the distance, and his eager and slightly excited shouting soon drowned out the old man's voice: "I'm sorry to disturb you during the meeting! I have an extremely important matter to report to the tribe leader!"

Hearing this, everyone turned their eyes to the soldier who had run to the center of the venue in a blink of an eye. Pan recognized him as one of the patrol members who was on guard at the coast today. He quickly strode over and held up his shaky body, asking, "Even you, who are usually calm, are so anxious. Does this mean that something unexpected has happened on the coast?"

The soldier stood up again with the help of Pan, nodded and said "Thank you, Chief", then held his aching knee and said breathlessly: "An hour ago... we found a seriously injured man... on the southeast coast... there were also shipwreckage beside him... Originally, everyone wanted to push him into the seabed, but the captain couldn't bear to hurt a human who had completely lost the ability to resist, so we... took him back to the treatment center for emergency treatment... Now the man has woken up and claimed to be Pecunia, a jeweler from the West Sea. He said he had something important to discuss with the chief!"

Grand Line, Jack Daniel's Kingdom.

A scarlet blood moon hung high in the sky, like the single eye of a monster, quietly overlooking the devastated land.

There was not a single intact building on the entire street, only rubble and ruins were left. The air was filled with a foul smell mixed with the stench of blood and decay, which seemed to never dissipate.

The ground was littered with corpses lying in all directions, including soldiers in heavy armor, nobles in gorgeous clothes, and even more civilians in thin clothes. Each person stared with lifeless eyes, mouths wide open, and faces full of expressions of despair and fear, as if they had suffered great pain before death. The skin all over the body was a grayish white without a trace of vitality, and shriveled like bark, looking indescribably horrible and weird under the scarlet moonlight.