The New World, a certain island saturated with sickly-sweet aromas.
"Mamamamama! This is truly incredible news!"
Charlotte Linlin was not yet as monstrously obese as she would be two decades later. Though her frame was still massive, she retained a wild, voluptuous figure.
She sat on a throne piled high with biscuits and candies, pinching the newspaper between two fingers as if it were a napkin.
Her eyes were glued to the photo of Tatsuki, his handsome features still discernible despite the blood and grime on his face.
"That look in his eyes... this destructive power and Conqueror's Haki..."
Linlin stuck out her tongue, licking her lips painted with bright red lipstick.
"Mamamamama! Such excellent bloodline! If it could be combined with my family..."
She suddenly stood up excitedly, her massive body causing the entire palace to tremble.
"Perospero! Go! Find out everything about this 'Child of the Storm'!"
"I want him to become my husband! To bear me the strongest offspring! Mamamamama!"
...
A certain unnamed desert island, where the Beasts Pirates were recuperating.
The Beast Kaido of this time had not yet grown his iconic long beard, looking much younger and more ferocious than in later years.
He held a gigantic gourd of liquor.
"Wahhhh... That idiot Shiki... he actually got himself locked up just like that."
Kaido cried and drank simultaneously, tears and snot streaming down his face—a classic drunken tantrum mode.
"Talking about ruling the world and then gets taken down by a Marine brat... So shameful! Hic!"
He slammed the newspaper onto the ground, his spiked club, "Hassaikai," crashing down with a boom, creating a deep crater on the island.
"The Storm-Storm Fruit? Sounds pretty powerful." Kaido's crying abruptly stopped.
With bleary, drunken eyes, he picked up the newspaper, staring at Tatsuki's photo. His gaze gradually shifted from sorrow to a kind of destructive, brutal desire.
"If he can beat Shiki, does that mean he can kill me too?"
"Fuhihihihi!"
Kaido suddenly threw his head back and roared to the sky, his drunkenness instantly transforming into battle lust.
"Excellent! You Marine brat! Once I've firmly established myself in Wano Country, you're next! I'll come find you for a proper fight!"
"I hope you can kill me! Fuhihihihi!!!"
...
The whole world was shaking.
Whether it was the branch bases across the four seas or the pirates in the New World, everyone remembered the name "Tatsuki."
Overnight, he rose from an unknown rookie to a Marine Supernova powerful enough to shake the very structure of the seas.
And Tatsuki, at the center of this storm, was currently lying in the special care ward of Sengoku's warship, enjoying the privileges befitting a "hero."
"Tatsuki-sama! Here's the iced orange juice you asked for, I added honey specially."
"Tatsuki-sama! Could you give me an autograph? Right on my uniform. My little sister absolutely idolizes you."
"Tatsuki-sama, does your wound still hurt? If you don't mind, I can stay on duty tonight, I'm very good at massage."
Looking at the group of starry-eyed young nurses and Marines before him, Tatsuki wore his usual, signature "gentle" smile, perfectly replicating the heroic image from the newspaper.
"You're all too kind. I just did what was necessary for justice."
"Of course an autograph is fine, as long as you don't mind my ugly handwriting."
"No need to trouble yourselves with staying on duty. Everyone must be tired, please go rest. I'll be fine on my own."
He responded to each person with gentle words, his humble, polite, and considerate demeanor instantly moving his little fanboys and fangirls to tears.
Finally, the last young nurse, her face flushed with reluctance, closed the cabin door.
Click.
The lock engaged.
The "holy light" instantly vanished from Tatsuki's face.
He casually picked up the newspaper, looked at the front-page photo that portrayed him as righteous and glorious, and curled his lip.
"Tsk, that damn bird Morgans, couldn't he come up with a more cultured headline? 'Child of the Storm'? Sounds like someone selling fans."
Though he complained verbally, inwardly he was overjoyed.
With this newspaper and his newfound fame, he would now be synonymous with "hero" within the Marines.
This shift in status meant he could access higher echelons, be assigned to more lucrative departments, and even openly... engage in a bit of corruption.
After all, who would suspect an upright "Marine Hero" of embezzling a few hundred million Berries for personal gain? Everyone would just assume the superior officer must have his profound reasons.
However, empty fame was secondary.
The smile on Tatsuki's lips faded, his eyes turning clear and sharp. He subconsciously touched his chest, which was still aching faintly.
Although the outcome was his victory, he knew better than anyone that it had been the absolute limit.
Especially the moment he tried to control the super storm to clash head-on with that "Divine Departure." His body was instantly drained, every cell screaming in exhaustion and withering. That feeling of powerlessness was worse than death.
If his stamina had been just ten percent greater at that time, he wouldn't have passed out for two whole days.
'As expected, whether in my past life or this one, being a 'quick man' has no future.'
Tatsuki curled his lip, a flash of hatred for his "own shortcomings" in his eyes.
Look at Kaido, look at Big Mom, look at Garp who was just fine moments ago. Which of these true monsters didn't have health bars as thick as city walls, capable of fighting for ten days and nights without breaking a sweat?
Even Shiki, with a ship's rudder stuck in his head, could still cause trouble for another twenty years. That kind of vitality was simply unreasonable.
In contrast, he himself would be spent after one big move, needing to lie around like a corpse to recover his energy. This was completely incompatible with his grand blueprint of "manipulating the world from the shadows."
Only by being tough enough, enduring enough, transforming into an unkillable, inexhaustible tank, could he calmly jump back and forth between justice and evil, harvesting Violation Points.
Tatsuki's eyes became resolute. With a thought, a blue panel instantly unfolded before him.
A pale blue light screen spread open before his eyes. His gaze locked firmly onto the most fundamental, yet most crucial attribute.
Physique.
A comprehensive attribute encompassing vitality, recovery power, stamina, damage resistance, and total Haki capacity.
Tatsuki roared inwardly, with the extravagance of someone throwing money around, 'System, pump points for me!'
'Target: Physique. First, dump in... two hundred thousand!'