Disclaimer
I haven't awakened my King's Haki in real life yet, which is a pity! If I had, I would convince Eiichiro Oda to give me the rights to One Piece (with much respect, of course!).
Instead, I'm still here, training my Observation Haki to detect when my toast is burning, and my Armament Haki to... uh... open very tight pickle jars.
Maybe someday I'll master Conqueror's Haki and get my cat to stop waking me up at 5 a.m. A fan can dream! In the meantime, let's continue exploring the world of One Piece from our humble non-owner position.
Chapter 3: The Scent of Sand and Suspicion
The morning sun streamed through the arched windows of the palace, flooding the room with a golden, warm light that danced across the stucco walls. In the center of the room, on a finely woven wicker mat, Sung Lee meditated.
Seated cross-legged, his back straight as a reed, he kept his eyes closed, his face serene and focused. He was trying to quiet the torrent of thoughts that often assaulted his analytical mind. He was not seeking absolute emptiness, but a diaphanous clarity.
To sharpen his senses, to tune his perception like the string of a musical instrument until he could feel the slightest change in the air current, the most distant whisper carried by the breeze, the hidden intention flickering behind a fleeting glance.It was not strenuous physical training, like the royal guards' arduous sessions in the courtyard.
His practice was mental, sensory, and introspective. He concentrated on the scent of fine, ochre sand that persistently filtered through the open windows, trying to discern the subtle variations in its aroma depending on the capricious direction of the desert wind. He listened to the constant, distant murmur of the city that stretched beyond the palace walls, striving to isolate each sound within the urban cacophony: the resonant and melodious cry of a street vendor, the occasional strident squawk of a seagull flying over the rooftops, the distant and rhythmic hammering in the port's shipyards, perhaps building a new ship to brave the seas.
Sometimes, Vivi joined his morning sessions, although with much less zen patience and an overflowing childish curiosity. That morning, she was sitting restlessly beside him, her legs swinging in the air without touching the ground, listlessly flipping through an illustrated book of thick pages about the exotic desert fauna, but casting sidelong glances full of intrigue and a hint of contained mockery.
"Do you really feel anything with all this?" she finally asked, interrupting the morning silence with a touch of adolescent skepticism in her voice.
"You look completely... a stone statue! You don't even blink."
Sung Lee slowly opened his eyes, his gaze calm but penetrating, a slight, kind smile curving his thin lips.
"It's like tuning a musical instrument, Vivi. Imagine a desert lute, with its animal gut strings stretched taut. If you don't pay proper attention, if you don't focus your ear, you'll never notice the small, subtle out-of-tuneless. But when you sharpen your ear, when you train your perception, then you can hear the true melody hidden beneath the surface noise."
Vivi frowned adorably, wrinkling her nose in a thoughtful gesture, seemingly not fully understanding the musical metaphor, although grasping Sung Lee's seriousness.
"And what mysterious and hidden melody are you trying to hear right now? The one of the unbearable crickets in the palace garden? Because if so, I only hear 'cri-cri-cri' very loudly."
Something much more subtle and complex than the crickets' chirping"
Sung Lee replied patiently, closing his eyes again and resuming his meditation posture, but this time with a more definite intention in his voice.
"The almost imperceptible scent of suspicion that has begun to permeate the pure air of Arabasta. It's like a mirage in the desert, barely visible, but warning you of an approaching sandstorm."
In the days that had followed the sudden and resounding disgrace of the corrupt Count Bosco, a deceptive tense calm, like that preceding an earthquake, had settled in the opulent halls of the royal palace.
King Cobra, true to his reputation as a just but firm leader, had acted with commendable speed and determination. However, the insidious shadow of corruption, like an oil slick spreading silently over water, still stretched beneath the bright surface of Arabasta, invisible to the naked eye but deeply palpable to someone with Sung Lee's sensitivity.
Troubling rumors, muffled and fragmented whispers like echoes in the distance, were beginning to reach the capital from the remote port cities of the kingdom: mysterious shipments of goods disappearing without a trace, local merchants visibly frightened and reluctant to speak, the sporadic but disturbing presence of shadowy and enigmatic men dressed in long black coats who were asking indiscreet questions in taverns and markets, disappearing then like ghosts into the crowd.
In the vast and labyrinthine royal library, surrounded by towering shelves filled with dusty tomes bound in leather and ancient maps rolled on yellowish parchments, Sung Lee immersed himself in the obsessive search to make logical and coherent sense of that incipient chaos that threatened to engulf Arabasta.
He sought hidden patterns, subtle connections between seemingly isolated incidents, any fragment of information that could reveal the true nature of the dark threat that loomed implacably over the kingdom. He meticulously reviewed detailed trade reports, confusing customs records with illegible figures and names, even old and moldy historical annals of the kingdom that narrated revolts and conspiracies of centuries past, applying to each document an almost microscopic attention to detail that left even the most erudite and experienced librarians of the palace perplexed and amazed.
It was while leafing through an old trade map of Arabasta's sea routes, faded by time and barely legible, almost lost and forgotten behind a cluttered pile of official documents, where he finally discovered something anomalous that powerfully captured his sharpened attention. A small handwritten annotation, made with ink of a slightly different tone and barely visible to the naked eye in the dim light of the library, was carefully marked in the margin of the map with an unusual and enigmatic symbol: a double cross precisely inscribed within a perfect circle.
His incredibly sharpened perception, the fruit of his constant and disciplined morning training, had allowed him to notice that subtle discrepancy in the chemical composition of the ink used, the slight variation in the pressure of the calligraphic stroke, minimal details that would go completely unnoticed by any other observer, but which for Sung Lee's analytical mind unequivocally indicated that this mysterious annotation was inevitably after the creation of the original map, added with a hidden and premeditated purpose. With extreme caution, he meticulously examined the geographical coordinate so enigmatically marked on the map: Whiskey Peak.
The name itself did not evoke any concrete memory from his vague recollections of his previous life, but the unusual symbolic mark and the palpable feeling of secrecy and discretion surrounding that mysterious handwritten annotation instantly awakened his sharpest instinct of suspicion.
Could Whiskey Peak be the essential key to unraveling the complex and dark plot that was insidiously weaving itself in the shadows of Arabasta? The question resonated forcefully in his mind, planting a seed of unease and determination.That same afternoon, with the map carefully rolled under his arm, Sung Lee went in search of Vivi, finally finding her in the east garden of the palace, where the young princess was enthusiastically and determinedly engaged in routine fencing practice with one of the rigid royal instructors.
Her long, silky blue hair billowed freely in the wind as she dodged with agile grace her instructor's predictable attacks, the wooden blade whistling through the air with controlled speed. When she finally finished her lesson, panting slightly from the physical exertion but with a radiant smile of satisfaction illuminating her young face, Sung Lee approached her with strategic caution.
"Vivi, I urgently need your valuable help with something important"
Sung Lee began, addressing the princess in a confidential and slightly pressing tone of voice. "Have you ever heard of a remote place called Whiskey Peak?"
Vivi slightly narrowed her sapphire-colored eyes, frowning thoughtfully, while wiping the fine sweat beading on her childish forehead with the back of her hand.
"Whiskey Peak...? Hmm, let me think... I think so, vaguely. If I'm not mistaken, it's a town known for welcoming pirates, quite geographically distant from the royal capital. Merchants who know it say it's a relatively quiet place, famous throughout the region for its exquisite date sake... Why are you asking me this now, Sung Lee? What's with all the sudden curiosity?"
"I've found something very unusual, and potentially problematic, directly related to that town", Sung Lee replied seriously, carefully unrolling the old trade map and showing Vivi the mysterious symbolic mark he had discovered in the royal library.
"I firmly believe that this cryptic symbol could be intimately connected to the worrying rumors that have been circulating insistently throughout the palace lately about the strange problems that are multiplying in our main port cities."
Vivi studied the unfolded map with growing attention, the smile disappearing gradually from her lips as she seemed to comprehend the depth of the seriousness reflected in Sung Lee's usually calm face.
"Do you really think that...? Do you think all this could somehow be related to the sinister secret organization Baroque Works?"
Sung Lee nodded slowly, his gaze fixed on the symbol on the map, his voice now laden with a palpable tone of concern. "Right now it's just a simple intuitive suspicion, I admit, but my instinct tells me that we must investigate this matter thoroughly and with the utmost discretion. Whiskey Peak, due to its isolated geographical position and apparent insignificance, could perfectly be the clandestine entry point for... something illegal and undesirable. Or perhaps someone dangerous with hidden intentions".
The young princess, with her innate spirit of a rebellious adventurer always ready for action, nodded with a childish but contagious determination, her eyes shining with a mixture of excitement and bravery.
"Then what exactly are we waiting for, Sung Lee? We can go to Whiskey Peak personally to find out everything for ourselves! We could ingeniously disguise ourselves as... humble traveling merchants selling exotic spices and colorful fabrics! Or even better... we could pose as daring secret explorers sent directly by King Cobra on a special mission!"
Sung Lee smiled slightly at Vivi's overflowing youthful enthusiasm, but shook his head gently, quickly bringing her back to pragmatic reality.
"Not so fast, my dear Vivi. Launching ourselves precipitously to Whiskey Peak without more detailed information would be unnecessarily risky and unwise on our part. Before acting so impulsively, we first need to find out precisely what is happening in that remote coastal town. And to achieve this safely and effectively... I desperately need you to make the most of your privileged personal contacts within the royal palace itself."
Vivi instinctively tilted her head to one side, showing an adorably confused expression on her childish face. "My privileged contacts? What exactly do you mean by that, Sung Lee? Are you perhaps referring to the gossiping kitchen servants and the old gardeners of the palace?"
"I'm not just referring to them, Vivi, although all information is potentially valuable", Sung Lee replied with a mysterious strategic glint in his eyes, approaching the princess to confide his secret plan in an even lower and more confidential tone of voice. I mean all your contacts in the palace, Vivi. The loyal royal guards who watch the entrances, the discreet cooks who overhear conversations in the corridors, the observant gardeners who tend the inner courtyards... even your father King Cobra's own closest and most confidential advisors. I want you to ask shrewdly, to listen carefully between the lines, to observe every seemingly insignificant detail. I want you to find out if anyone in the palace has recently heard anything unusual or suspicious about Whiskey Peak, about the arrival of strange men on the coast, about any rumor or incident that may be indirectly related to all this. I want you to temporarily become my secret eyes and ears... in absolutely every part of the palace."
Vivi grinned from ear to ear with childish mischief, her blue eyes twinkling with pure playfulness, finally understanding Sung Lee's astute plan in its entirety.
"This is even much better than clumsily disguising ourselves with fake beards and ridiculous hats! I'm going to be like a true and legendary royal spy of Arabasta, in the purest style of mystery novels! The glorious kingdom of Arabasta is finally going to have its own professional elite secret agent!"
As the young princess ran off with overflowing energy, visibly excited and motivated by her new and thrilling palace espionage mission, Sung Lee remained momentarily alone in the garden, thoughtfully observing the extensive panorama of the capital of Arabasta spread out before his eyes like an ochre and vibrant tapestry.
The sun was slowly beginning to descend on the distant horizon, tingeing the desert sky with a warm and hypnotic palette of incandescent orange and deep reddish hues. The characteristic penetrating scent of desert sand intensified noticeably with the gentle evening breeze, implicitly reminding him of both the intrinsic fragility and the austere beauty of the kingdom of Arabasta, that arid and mysterious land that in such a short time he had decided to protect with all his might.
The task that lay ahead for both of them was inevitably uncertain and full of hidden dangers. But for the first time since his unexpected arrival in this strange and wonderful world of pirates and kings, Sung Lee felt in the depths of his heart something much more complex and human than mere cold calculating determination.
He keenly felt a strong personal purpose, a growing emotional connection with that arid and vulnerable kingdom, and an increasingly solid inner confidence in his unique ability to actively influence the uncertain destiny that awaited Arabasta. The dangerous game of power had only just begun, and the menacing shadow of the Baroque Works organization loomed on the horizon like a hungry vulture.
But Sung Lee, armed with his privileged mind sharpened like a katana and his now unyielding steel will, was prepared to play his cards with cunning and determination.