As soon as Kai uttered his own name,
Gerson fell into deep thought.
At his side,
the beautiful Marine officer' Lilith suddenly widened her eyes, her pupils contracting ever so slightly—as if the name "Kai" had sent chills down her spine.
That fleeting look of fear…
did not escape Gerson's notice.
At once,
he stopped overthinking the issue, lowered his voice, and asked,
"You thought of something? You also feel that this name, Kai, sounds familiar? Like you've heard it somewhere before?"
Upon hearing this,
Lilith hesitated for quite a while before finally nodding.
"Colonel Gerson, I think… I may already know who this Mr. Kai truly is."
"Who is he? You've heard of him before? Why don't I have any impression at all?"
Gerson pressed on urgently.
"Colonel Gerson, Do you still remember what happened a month ago—at our East Blue Naval Branch Fortress? That incident that caused an uproar across the entire base!"
"I think…"
"You should still remember it, right?"
"That time, the entire East Blue Branch Fortress… was completely overturned by a single person!"
Lilith's voice trembled slightly as she spoke.
Hearing this,
Gerson's mind snapped to attention.
Yes—he remembered now.
Some time ago,
an earth-shattering event had occurred at the East Blue Naval Branch Fortress.
It had shaken the entire base from top to bottom.
From Vice Admiral Rost, who commanded the fortress,
to the newest naval recruits—every single soul at the base had been stunned by the news.
Tens of thousands of Marines…
and every one of them had been shaken by one unbelievable report.
Even though Colonel Gerson was stationed far away in Loguetown,
he had still heard whispers of what happened.
He remembered it clearly.
That shocking incident, the one that set the entire East Blue ablaze…
was caused by a single person.
A child—only four years old.
He was the one who'd singlehandedly triggered the uproar at the fortress.
"he White Ostrich Pirates, with a total bounty of twenty million Berries…"
"Their captain, White Ostrich Kukari—a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user…"
"All of them… were wiped out by one person!"
"The entire White Ostrich Pirates… defeated by a single child."
"In the end…"
"They were brought to the East Blue Naval Fortress for imprisonment."
"That was what caused such unprecedented shock throughout the Marinebase."
Gerson's eyes glazed over as fragments of that story flooded back into his mind.
When he first heard it,
he'd been completely dumbfounded.
Because—
the news was simply too absurd to believe!
The White Ostrich Pirates, destroyed by a four-year-old child?
Impossible!
A four-year-old defeating a pirate crew worth worth twenty million Berries?
Gerson simply couldn't accept it.
He even suspected that the story had been wildly exaggerated.
How could a mere four-year-old possess such power?
How could he possibly wipe out an entire pirate crew?
And one led by a Devil Fruit user, no less!
He'd heard, too, that the boy had personally slain Captain Kukari, the Zoan user himself.
That had to be nonsense.
So, back then,
Gerson had just laughed it off—
neither believing nor denying it,
simply dismissing it as an overblown rumor.
After all…
there couldn't possibly exist such a monstrous child in this world.
He'd quickly forgotten about it.
But today…
what a coincidence.
A four-year-old boy had once again captured a fearsome pirate—
this time, the notorious Buggy the Clown, with a bounty of twelve million Berries—
and had brought him in alive to Loguetown's naval branch.
This…
was identical to that other event!
Both involved a four-year-old.
Both defeated pirates with bounties exceeding ten million.
Could such coincidences truly exist?
No—
this wasn't coincidence.
It was inevitable.
"Colonel Gerson," Lilith whispered,
"Do you still remember… the name of that four-year-old child who wiped out the White Ostrich Pirates?"
Gerson swallowed hard, his throat dry.
"That boy's name… if I remember right… was Kai!"
In that instant,
the air froze.
A heavy silence blanketed the room.
Gerson was struck speechless.
Lilith's beautiful face went pale, her eyes wide in disbelief as she stared fixedly at Kai, unable to look away.
Could it really be… such a coincidence?
The same age.
The same level of impossible strength.
The same target—a pirate worth over ten million.
And the same name—Kai.
All those "coincidences" began to converge into one single, undeniable truth.
Lilith's heart pounded violently.
She already had the answer—
an answer so shocking that she could hardly breathe.
But she believed it.
Gulp.
Gerson swallowed nervously, his gaze locked on the boy before him, speechless.
Everything he had doubted before…
was now unfolding before his very eyes.
Not far away,
Buggy the Clown lay on the ground, half-dead and beaten senseless.
The infamous pirate who'd terrified countless civilians across the East Blue,
the man with a twelve-million-Berry bounty—
had been subdued and captured by this very child.
There was no mistaking it.
It was real.
"You…"
Gerson's voice trembled.
The truth was right there—
just within reach.
Even the young sailor nearby stood frozen stiff,
staring at the small figure before him with utter disbelief.
So it was him…
The four-year-old monster who had destroyed the entire naval fortress—
was standing right here!
Then,
under the horrified stares of Gerson, Lilith, and the others…
Kai sighed softly.
"Didn't expect my name to have spread this far already."
He chuckled lightly, then said calmly,
"Well, since you're all so curious, there's no point in hiding it."
"To put it plainly—your guess is correct."
"The one who overturned the entire East Blue Naval Fortress was me."
"The four-year-old who annihilated the White Ostrich Pirates—also me."
"The 'Kai' you've been talking about…"
"…is me."
He smiled faintly.
"Now then—does that answer satisfy you?"
As Kai's words fell—
the entire room descended into absolute silence.
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