Inside a modest civilian house, silence lingered for a moment before it was broken.
"?! Am I dead? Hehe~" The old man touched his body repeatedly, as if trying to confirm he was still alive.
Several figures sat across from him, watching.
"Old man, you're not dead!"
Hearing that, the old man finally focused on the people in front of him. Confusion filled his eyes as he asked, "Who are you? Did you save me? Hehe~"
Despite his laughter, there was still a trace of caution in his voice.
He clearly remembered facing the gun barrels of Orochi's soldiers. By all logic, he should have died back then.
Yet here he was, safe inside a house. The only explanation was that these well-dressed strangers had saved him.
"I am Monkey D. Luffy, the man who will become the Pirate King!"
Luffy spoke without hesitation, full of confidence as always.
The others could only rub their foreheads at his bluntness.
The old man thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Monkey D. Luffy? I've never heard that name before. Still, thank you for saving me. Hehehe~"
Luffy did not take offense. Instead, he grinned. "That's fine. One day, that name will shake the whole world!"
He leaned forward slightly. "By the way, old man, why were those people trying to capture you?"
At that, the old man lowered his head. His laughter continued, but his voice turned heavy.
"I had a daughter. During the last festival, Orochi saw her and decided he wanted her as his wife, hahaha. But she refused, and so did I, hahaha. Orochi didn't care. He took her by force and brought her to the Shogun's palace, hahaha."
His laughter grew louder, yet his pain was unmistakable.
"Once someone is taken there, they rarely return. This time, I only wanted to see her, but they wouldn't allow it, hahaha."
Luffy frowned. "What do you mean about the Kozuki Family returning?"
At that moment, Yugen stepped forward and began explaining what had happened over twenty years ago.
After hearing the story, Luffy's expression grew serious. "Kozuki Oden was amazing. No wonder he was respected as Wano's daimyo."
Ace nodded in agreement. He had heard parts of the story before, but hearing it again still stirred anger within him.
"Kaido and Orochi are disgusting," Ace said coldly.
Luffy suddenly stood up, his fists clenched. "Hey, Rolan, I'm going to beat Kaido and Orochi right now!"
"You should leave Wano," the old man said, still laughing. "Kaido and Orochi are very strong, hahaha. If they hear your intentions, you might die, hahaha."
His words were serious, yet his face remained locked in a smile, tears almost forming from constant laughter.
But Luffy only crossed his arms, completely unfazed. "I don't care who they are. I'll beat them anyway. If I run every time I meet someone strong, how am I supposed to become Pirate King?"
The old man looked at him, momentarily stunned. Luffy's confidence was strangely infectious, as if nothing in the world could stop him.
"Hahahahahahaha."
Luffy tilted his head. "Old man, something's been bothering me. You've been laughing this whole time. This is serious, so why are you laughing?"
Robin, Hancock, and Ace all turned their attention to the old man.
They had noticed it too. His laughter never stopped, and often didn't match what he was saying.
With their Observation Haki, they could clearly sense that he wasn't truly happy.
Something was wrong.
The old man's eyes dimmed slightly as he spoke.
"Orochi's men once gave us a basket of strange fruits. We thought it was odd for someone as stingy as him to be so generous, hahaha."
"There were over a hundred of us who ate them, hahaha. Two were taken away by Orochi's men. The remaining ninety-eight… lost all other emotions, hahaha."
"All we can do now is laugh. Hahahaha."
The room fell silent.
Anger rose in everyone's hearts.
At that moment, Rolan finally spoke, his tone calm and indifferent.
"I'll explain."
He leaned back slightly, his expression unreadable.
"Kaido wants to dominate the world. To strengthen his crew, he planned to build an army of Devil Fruit users."
Everyone focused on him.
"Real Devil Fruits are rare," Rolan continued. "So he turned to artificial ones."
That revelation stunned them.
Artificial Devil Fruits?
Robin frowned. "If they can mass-produce them, the world would fall into chaos."
Rolan gave a faint, almost mocking chuckle.
"It's not that simple. True Devil Fruits are born from human desires. They can't be easily replicated."
He paused briefly.
"Only Zoan types can be artificially created. The one who developed this technology is Vegapunk."
The name carried weight.
"Even he admitted the process is flawed. Less than ten percent of people who eat these artificial fruits gain abilities."
"The other ninety percent gain nothing… except a permanent side effect."
Rolan's eyes shifted toward the old man.
"They lose all emotions. The only thing left is laughter."
A heavy silence filled the room.
"And these artificial fruits have a name," Rolan added. "SMILE."
Understanding dawned on everyone.
The old man wasn't laughing by choice.
He couldn't stop.
Ace's fists tightened, his knuckles cracking. "Damn Kaido… damn Orochi!"
The old man trembled slightly, though his laughter never ceased.
"So that's the truth… hahaha. I thought those fruits were meant to amuse him… hahaha."
"We were just experiments… hahaha."
"If we succeeded, we'd join Kaido's army. If we failed… we'd be discarded like this, hahaha."
His voice wavered beneath the forced laughter.
Rage filled the room.
But before anyone could say more, Luffy suddenly stood and walked toward the door.
"Hey! Luffy! Where are you going?" Ace called out.
Luffy didn't even turn back.
"I'm going to beat Orochi."