"South Blue..."
Storm looked up at the sky, feeling an overwhelming sense of disorientation.
Before landing on the island, he had been thinking about how to recruit crew members, how to charge into the New World, and how to compete with the Emperors.
But after landing, forget charging into the New World—he had already crossed the Calm Belt and left the Grand Line entirely!
What the hell was South Blue!?
Storm felt utterly bewildered.
This feeling was like everyone imagining how earth-shattering the battles between the Emperors should be...
Only to turn around and see two short-statured Pirate Emperors grabbing each other's collars and choking one another in the middle of the road in Loguetown...
The absurdity of the scene was beyond words!
Fine.
Since he was already here...
Storm shook his head, pushing aside irrelevant thoughts.
He pulled out a 10,000 Belly bill from his pocket—the remainder of his unspent Marine salary.
"I need a local guide, and I'd like to ask about some things."
Storm waved the large bill in front of the crowd.
"Is anyone willing to take on this job?"
Staying in South Blue was out of the question.
Storm's first thought was to rest briefly on the island before immediately setting off to return to the Grand Line.
Many among the onlookers at the dock showed interest at the sight of the 10,000 Belly bill.
But when they looked up at the majestic Blue-Eyed White Dragon in the sky, not a single person dared to step forward! Seeing the crowd's lack of response, Storm immediately realized the issue.
He raised his hand and beckoned to the sky, and the Blue-Eyed White Dragon immediately flapped its wings, diving toward him.
But before the White Dragon could land.
The people at the dock erupted into terrified screams.
"Ah! Run for your lives!"
"That White Dragon is charging at us!"
"The White Dragon is going to eat people!"
Amid the chaotic shouts, the crowd scattered in all directions, fleeing the dock as fast as they could.
In the blink of an eye, the dock was completely deserted.
Storm watched the fleeing backs of the crowd, his lips twitching slightly.
He had overestimated how well ordinary people could handle the sight of a [Blue-Eyed White Dragon]...
The shrunken White Dragon perched lazily on Storm's shoulder like a housecat, idly flicking its tail.
Storm looked at the White Dragon, staring into its deep blue eyes.
"Too bad you're a dragon. Oh well..."
The next moment.
The Blue-Eyed White Dragon's appearance began to change—its wings vanished, its neck shortened, and its limbs grew slender and graceful...
Even the pale Dragon Scales covering its body transformed into glistening, snow-white fur.
Most miraculously of all.
The White Dragon's thick, powerful tail fanned out like a peacock's feathers, splitting into nine distinct fox tails!
This was no longer the [Blue-Eyed White Dragon].
Instead, it was—
The [Nine-Tailed Fox]! The alluring, snow-white fox leaped down from Storm's shoulder.
It held its head high, strutting forward with its little rear raised proudly, its nine fluffy tails swaying in the air.
"Still... I have to admit, the furry version is definitely cuter than the scaly one..."
Storm strolled leisurely behind the Nine-Tailed Fox, hands clasped behind his head as they made their way toward the island's town.
"At least like this, we won't scare ordinary people, right?"
He hadn't walked far when a noisy group approached.
By human standards, these people looked rather grotesque.
But after spending considerable time in Impel Down, Storm found them quite normal-looking.
Just as Storm noticed them, they spotted the stranger too.
Perhaps their numbers gave them confidence.
They openly sized Storm up right in front of him.
"A face I've never seen before..."
"His clothes are strange too—that symbol... looks like the World Government's."
"The World Government? Pfft! Those high-and-mighty bastards wouldn't care about a place like this!"
"Hey! Everyone! Look at that fox! It has nine tails!"
"A nine-tailed fox? Are you still drunk from last night?"
"It really has nine tails! Is this fox some kind of monster?!"
As they chattered excitedly, the red-haired spiky leader bellowed angrily.
"Enough!"
The redhead clearly commanded respect—silence fell instantly.
"You!" He pointed at Storm.
"Did you just come from the docks? Did you see a monster there?"
"Monster?"
Storm glanced at the redhead, then gestured toward the Nine-Tailed Fox, currently the size of a house dog.
"You mean this one?"
"This?"
The redhead frowned.
"This white furr—"
Before he could finish "fox," the Nine-Tailed Fox ballooned in size like an inflating balloon.
In the blink of an eye, the knee-high fox transformed into a hundred-meter-tall legendary beast!
Nine massive, fluffy tails whipped through the air, their shadows engulfing everyone present.
"F-F-F—"
The redhead gaped at the colossal fox, brain short-circuiting.
His companions froze in terror—none of these South Blue islanders had ever witnessed such a horror.
Panic bred chaos.
Chaos spurred flight.
The once-bold mob fled screaming, leaving only two behind.
Apart from the redhead, the sole remaining local was a towering man with waist-length golden wavy hair. "Kid!"
The golden-haired man grabbed the redhead's shoulder, roaring hoarsely.
"RUN!!!"
But before the redhead could react, the Nine-Tailed Fox's massive claw snatched both men up.
"Killer!"
Finally, the redhead snapped out of his daze.
Too late.
The two struggled desperately, but they couldn't break free from the Nine-Tailed Fox's claws. They couldn't even create the slightest space to catch their breath.
Just as the golden-haired wavy-haired man was about to resign himself to fate.
The red-haired spiky-haired youth let out an earth-shaking roar.
"What kind of joke is this! I can't die here!"
Magnetic arcs crackled around the red-haired spiky-haired youth as he unleashed all his strength.
"I'm the man who's going to become the Pirate King!!"
"I think I heard something quite interesting."
Storm glanced at the Nine-Tailed Fox, and the fox immediately brought the two men before him.
"What was it you said you were going to become again?"
The red-haired spiky-haired youth was too focused on resisting the Nine-Tailed Fox's grip to respond to Storm's question.
In response.
Storm simply pulled out a weapon from his pocket.
The moment the [Sea Stone Baton] touched the red-haired spiky-haired youth.
The magnetic arcs surging around him vanished without a trace.
Instant shutdown!
The red-haired spiky-haired youth was completely cornered.
His desperate outburst had been nothing more than a futile struggle from start to finish.
Touched by the [Sea Stone Baton], the red-haired spiky-haired youth seemed to have lost even the strength to speak.
Summoning what little energy he had left, he barely managed to ask.
"Who... who the hell are you?"
"Before asking for someone else's name, it's polite to introduce yourself first, isn't it?"
Storm studied the peculiar duo of the red-haired spiky-haired youth and the golden-haired wavy-haired man, already forming a preliminary guess about their identities.
He withdrew the [Sea Stone Baton] and signaled the Nine-Tailed Fox to release them.
"Your name? Red Hair?"
"Kid!"
The red-haired spiky-haired youth—or rather, Kid—cast a wary glance at the weapon in Storm's hand.
"Eustass Kid!"
Just as I thought!
Storm then turned his attention to the golden-haired wavy-haired man beside him.
Before he could even ask.
The man spoke up on his own.
"Killer."
"Good, Eustass Kid and Killer."
Storm had the Nine-Tailed Fox shrink back to its normal size, then beckoned to the two.
"I just arrived at Belfast Island and need a local guide.
"You two are hired!"
...That's it? Kid and Killer, who had expected to meet their end here, exchanged silent glances.
"Oh, one more thing."
Storm pulled out the 10,000-Belly bill he hadn't spent earlier.
He was about to hand it to Kid but reconsidered and pulled out another 10,000-Belly bill from his pocket.
"This is your payment as guides—10,000 Belly each.
"What are you waiting for? Take it!"
Huh!?
Kid and Killer numbly accepted the bills handed to them.
For some reason.
Even though they were earning money, they felt as if their dignity had been thoroughly trampled underfoot.
This loss of dignity felt even worse than being captured by the Nine-Tailed Fox earlier! Storm didn't care what Kid and Killer were thinking.
He had finally found an inhabited island after so long.
The top priority now was to clean up, freshen up, and then find a restaurant to fill his stomach! Preferably with some vegetables and fruits...
Over the past few days, Storm had been eating Sea Kings' meat until he grew tired of it.
"Lead the way, my two guides!"
Storm raised his hand in gesture.
"While we're at it, tell me if anything interesting has happened recently."
"...So you two plan to set sail together? What about the group from earlier? Did they run away so you're abandoning them? Good luck then!"
"...I'm not interested in what happened on Berufast Island. I want to know about major events reported in the news!"
"...The 'One-Man Revolution' incident broke out in Sorbet Kingdom?"
"Tyrant Kuma?"
Regarding Eustass Kid's timeline:
-1501: Kid was born.
-Unknown time: Kid unified his birthplace island and decided to set sail.
-1520: Kid had already gained considerable fame.
According to [Manga Chapter 999], when Ace traveled to Wano Country, he mentioned three and a half "rookies."
The half was "Caven"—likely referring to Cavendish.
The other three were:
-Kid from the South Blue.
-Law from the North Blue.
-Bege from the West Blue.
Thus, by 1520 at the latest, Kid had already made a name for himself—even supernovas like Ace had heard of him.
As for why Kid had already set sail by 1520 but only arrived at Sabaody Archipelago alongside Luffy in 1522...
That's a question for Oda.
This book's [setting],or rather [secondary canon],states that Eustass Kid officially set sail in 1518 at the age of 17.
This aligns with the typical age for pirates to begin their journeys...