Chapter 29: The Failed Experiment — The Cage of Iron
[System: Rank 46 — Part 1: The Zero of Germa 66.]
The imagery was unsettling. It showed a massive, floating fortress shaped like a snail, a kingdom of science where the sound of marching boots replaced the sound of birds. In the center of a high-tech laboratory, four children were shown in incubation pods.
They were the Vinsmoke brothers.
The world watched as a man with a golden crown and a heart of cold steel—Vinsmoke Judge—stood over the pods, his voice echoing with an obsession for power.
"I have modified their lineage factors," Judge's voice boomed through the global broadcast. "They will be superhumans. No fear. No mercy. No 'useless' emotions. They will be the ultimate weapons to reclaim the North Blue!"
The screen flickered forward. The brothers were five years old now. Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji were shown performing feats that made the Marines in the audience pale. They were crushing boulders with their bare hands and running faster than elite scouts.
Then, the camera panned to Sanji.
He was struggling. He was panting, his face bruised, falling behind in every drill. While his brothers looked like porcelain dolls—perfect and unfeeling—Sanji was crying. He was bleeding. He was human.
The reaction in the chat was a mixture of confusion and growing fury.
> [Judge Vinsmoke]: "System! Why are you showing this?! This was the shame of Germa! That boy was a mistake—a biological dead end! He has no place on a list of sovereigns!"
> [Reiju Vinsmoke]: "Quiet, Father. The world needs to see what you tried to kill."
> [Big Mom]: "MAMAMAMA! So the Vinsmoke 'failure' really was just a normal human? How did a weakling like that end up with a bounty higher than my officers in the future?!"
> [Sanji]: (Standing in Sabaody, his hands trembling as he lit a cigarette. He didn't look at his crew. He just stared at the screen, his eyes shadowed by his bangs.)
>
The scene on the screen turned darker. It showed a small, dark dungeon. A heavy iron mask was being locked onto the face of a sobbing child.
"You are a disgrace to the Vinsmoke name," Judge's voice echoed as the heavy metal doors slammed shut. "From this day on, you are dead to this world. I will tell the kingdom you died in an accident."
The world watched in horror as a five-year-old boy was left in total darkness, his only crime being that he had a heart. The screen stayed black for several seconds, letting the silence of the dungeon sink into every viewer's soul.
Then, a small light appeared. It was the light of a single candle.
The young Sanji was shown in his cell, not training his fists, but cooking. He was using scraps of food to try and make something for his sick mother. Every time he burned his fingers, he didn't quit. He smiled through the iron bars of his mask.
> [Tony Tony Chopper]: (Wailing loudly in Grove 12) "SANJI! THAT'S SO MEAN! WHY DID THEY PUT YOU IN A MASK?! YOU WERE JUST A BABY!"
> [Nico Robin]: (Her eyes cold enough to freeze the ocean) "To lock a child away for being kind... the World Government isn't the only monster in this sea."
> [Monkey D. Luffy]: (He wasn't picking his nose anymore. He was staring at the screen, his Haki leaking out in small, pressurized waves.) "Sanji. When we find that big snail ship... I'm going to kick it into the sky."
>
The scene shifted to the night of his escape. Reiju was shown bending the bars of the cell, her eyes filled with tears.
"Run, Sanji! Don't ever come back! The sea is vast... somewhere out there, you'll find people who will treat you right!"
The young boy ran through the rain, clambering onto a departing ship called the Orbit. As the fortress of Germa faded into the distance, the boy ripped the Vinsmoke crest off his clothes. He wasn't a prince. He wasn't a weapon.
He was just a boy who wanted to find the All Blue.
> [Rocks D. Xebec]: (Singing in a low, somber opera tone) "♪ A CAGE OF IRON~ A HEART OF GOLD~ THE BRAVEST STORY~ EVER TO BE TOLD~ ♪"
> [Zeff]: "Hmph. So that's where you came from, you snot-nosed brat. No wonder you were so hungry when I found you. You were starving for more than just food."
>
The screen began to glow with a soft, sunset orange. The Orbit was shown sailing peacefully, with a young Sanji in the kitchen, learning to peel potatoes. But in the background, a dark silhouette of a ship with a red-bearded figurehead was approaching.
[System Note: Before the leg can burn, the soul must be forged in the coldest darkness.]