One Piece Seat Void

On the first half of the Grand Line, a massive ship sailed continuously on the open sea. All the pirate and merchant ships along the way, upon seeing the flag flying on the ship, promptly veered away and fled. The flag on the ship belonged to the New World Pirate Emperor, the Locke Pirates.

Rock sat lazily at the ship's bow, fishing and frequently yawning. Since leaving Grimms, Locke has traversed Fish-Man Island directly with Thaitol, Ares, Louis, Spike, and Perona, reaching the first half of the Grand Line without stopping.

Locke had no interest in this route that he had traveled countless times. However, it was full of excitement for Ares and the others, who were embarking on their first journey. At each island, they would nag Locke to dock the ship so they could explore and enjoy themselves.

After a week of this back-and-forth journey, they finally left the New World and entered the first half of the Grand Line. "Dad, how much longer until we reach the Skypiea you mentioned?" Ares, growing impatient, approached Locke. 

Locke glanced at Ares, shifted his position, and continued fishing. "What's the matter? You're finding it boring already and in such a short time?"

"Hmph, it is quite boring! I thought going out to sea would be an exciting adventure, but all the people we encounter either bow down to us or run away. There's no challenge at all," Ares complained.

They had encountered many pirate and merchant ships on the way, and all of them had either fled upon seeing their ship or approached them enthusiastically, offering their respects. Ares had been hoping for actual battles, but there was no opportunity.

"Alright, we're almost there. If you find it boring, you can train," Locke replied, waving Ares away and instructing him not to disturb his fishing. Seeing his dad's disdainful look, Ares reluctantly left. Two days later, they finally arrived at their destination, Mock Town.

Locke disembarked with Ares, Louis, Spike, Perona, and Thaitol. All the pirates in the port who recognized their flag dared not make a sound, trembling and keeping a safe distance as they watched Locke and his crew depart. At the entrance of a bar, Rock stopped.

"All of you, feel free to explore this island. Rest for a day, and then we'll head directly to Skypiea." With that, Locke entered the bar and ignored Ares and the other kids.

Watching their dad finally pay them no attention, the children became excited.

"Dad's not here anymore. It's time for the Ares Squad to embark on our adventure!"

Ares, as the leader of the group, announced.

"Oh, the adventure begins!"

"Hmph, how boring."

"Blacky, Blacky, now we can finally go shopping." The kids headed towards the busiest street in the town, causing a commotion and drawing attention from the locals. In a dark corner of Mock Town, a group of rather unsavory-looking individuals observed the noisy Ares and his companions.

"Boss, do we need to catch those kids? They're with that Emperor Locke, and the kids even call him 'dad.' If we catch them, Rock definitely won't let us go!" a trembling underling asked.

"You fool!" Their boss slapped the underling's head. "Those kids are alone, and Locke isn't with them. If we catch those kids quickly and leave the area, we can sell them later and make a huge profit. We'll be set for life." Hearing their boss's words, the other underlings started to get interested.

"Alright, Mard, riches lie in danger!"

"Let's go, boss!"

"That's right, if we're fast enough, we can succeed!" The boss looked at his underlings with satisfaction, a smug smile on his face. At the same time, Ares and the others were enjoying themselves in the streets, completely unaware that a group of unscrupulous human traffickers had their eyes on them.

"Hey, Ares, take a look. There's an extraordinary guy over there!" Spike suddenly spotted something unusual and pointed it out to Ares. Ares turned his head to see what Spike was indicating. 

There, a tall, dark-skinned man with short black hair, dressed in robes and sporting a pair of white wings on his back, was flirting with a voluptuous woman.

"Hey, he's got wings. Is he from the Lunarians, too, like Uncle Jin? And do you want to be my partner?" Ares, wearing an interested expression, asked the winged man.

"Hey, who are you, little brat? Get out of the way. Can't you see I'm busy?" The man was getting annoyed and impatient with Ares, completely ignoring the boy's inquiries.

"Heh, monk, you haven't answered my question yet. Are you a Lunarian, and do you want to be my partner?" Ares continued to pester the monk. The monk was irritated by Ares but maintained his smile and put his hands together. 

"Little one, I only have 50,000 Beli. If you're interested, I can pay you right away. How's that?" The woman, already fed up with the monk, readily agreed, "Fine, 50,000 Beli it is. You're such a cheapskate! I dropped my price from 100,000 to 70,000 Beli, and you still tried to haggle!"

The monk was not affected by the woman's insults and was prepared to follow her.

However, Ares, whom the monk had pushed aside, was unhappy. He covered his palms with a layer of black smoke, unleashed a terrifying gravitational force, and shouted, "Stupid monk, how dare you refuse my invitation and push me away! Dark Hand!"