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Last night I hung out with Drick—well, I've been calling him "Yami" lately.
Why Yami? 'Cause his dark skin looks like it's just eating up all the light.
Honestly, just spending the night talking to someone—even if they can't actually talk back—lifted so much weight off my chest. I hadn't said a word to anyone in six months.
When I woke up, I did a few stretches to wake myself up. Yami was still lying there, like he was sleeping.
I teleported straight to the sea and took a quick rinse. After that, I found some fruit, ate my fill, then popped back over to Yami.
He snapped to attention when he saw me, but calmed down once he realized it was just me.
I squatted in front of him and said, "Yami, today I'm taking down the other island boss—and I need you to make sure your monkey army doesn't jump in on me."
He nodded like he got it.
I leapt up onto his back and told him to head for the rival's lair. With every step he took, the ground shook like a little earthquake.
Thirty minutes later, we rolled up on the monkey lord's spot. The instant the others saw Yami, they all got on high alert and started screeching—like they were trying to scare him off.
But then everything went silent as the big boss ape emerged from his cave.
He glared at Yami, grumbling threats under his breath. I jumped off Yami right in front of him. He looked surprised—like, what's this tiny thing doing challenging me?
I motioned at Yami and said, "See Drick over there? Until yesterday he was one of the two big bosses here—just like you. But I beat him, made him my underling. Today, you're meeting the same fate."
He snarled louder, clearly pissed that a little runt like me was talking smack. No more waiting—I sprinted at him, jumped up, and slammed my heel right into his forehead. He rocked back, but didn't go down.
You could tell he felt humiliated that I even connected a punch.
His underlings started to move in, but Yami roared and they froze—clearly afraid to cross him.
I looked at the monkey lord and taunted, "Looks like you can't even count on your own troops. Without them, you're nothing."
That set him off—I could see the rage boiling, his eyes turning blood-red.
He charged. I sidestepped and, as he thundered past, I hammered a kick into his leg and sent him flying.
He staggered up, picked up a rock the size of a watermelon, and rocketed it at me. I barely teleported out of the way in time.
"Man, I didn't think you'd stoop to dirty tricks!" I yelled.
No sooner had I finished than another rock came hurtling toward me—this time I ducked under it.
"Yeah? You think you're the only one who can throw stones?" I shot back, snagged the rock he'd thrown, and rolled out of the path of his next throw. When I stood up, I chucked the rock as hard as I could—and smash! It shattered against his chest, spurting blood everywhere.
He froze for a second—almost clarity in his eyes—then went berserk again, blood-red veins pulsing in his eyes.
He ran straight at me. I powered up, leapt, and punched him square in the face with my super-charged fist. Boom! He crumpled to the ground.
Thinking he was out cold, I walked over—only to have him grab me by the torso-like legs and hurl me into a pile of jagged rocks. Ouch… felt like dozens of sharp shards piercing my back.
Fuming, I teleported back near him, opened a space-slash across his chest, and let the blood fly. Didn't stop there—I blinked over to his left shoulder and, using every ounce of my strength, kicked his temple. His eyes rolled back and he collapsed.
I wasn't satisfied he was down for good, though. I jumped on his chest and pummeled his face, hurling every insult under the sun.
"Dirty ape! You think you're stronger than me? I let this fight drag on just to bash you with my raw strength. You're nothing but a stepping-stone to make me stronger!"
My final punch cracked one of his fangs clean out. When I looked down, his eyes had gone completely white. I hopped off and delivered a crushing kick to his corpse—felt good, like taking out every back-stabber I've ever hated.
…Whew. I glanced around—every other monkey was staring at me like I was some terrifying monster.
I didn't stick around to bask in it. Ever since landing on this island, I've been running my senses—smell, hearing, vision—at max power. I was starving and tired, and the cave I'd been flung into smelled like… monkey wine?
Looks like after this fight, I'm about to get a feast.
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Hey everyone, I'm a new writer, and honestly, I never planned on talking directly to you, my readers. I'm writing this fanfic purely to pass the time.
I got started because lately all the new web novels I've seen are getting so formulaic—full of clichés, one-dimensional heroes, and pointless battles. It was driving me nuts.
So I decided to write my own fanfic… but who could've imagined that my country would fall into a war so eerily similar to the world of One Piece? People in power are crushing millions just for their own gains, and it's horrifying.
I'm sorry if this got heavy—I just really wish for peace for all of us. I hope no one ever has to wake up to news of death anywhere in the world. Personally, the past two weeks have been really tough on me.
Here's to hoping for peace everywhere and that those who hold power learn to curb their greed.
Thanks for listening to what's in my heart. Sorry I haven't uploaded a new chapter—been without internet. Hope to be back online soon!