Infancy and some secrets

I stared at the old lady with curious eyes. She looked at me too and sighed. Next to her was another old lady.

"Look Catharine, another child without parents. He was probably abandoned. Why do people think we can take better care of their children. We barely have funds to run this orphanage"

The old lady carrying me spoke. I didn't get most of it since she spoke in Japanese and without subtitles. Being a veteran weeb in my past life I could still understand a word or two but nothing more than that.

As far as I know from the series, there are two major languages in this world. English and Japanese. Everyone speaks in Japanese which is even understood in a closed-off country like Wano. The language was probably invented there. Japanese is also used in Marines' coats for the 'Justice' kanji.

English was used for bounty posters, sails, signboards, etc.

As for other languages on Earth, they seemed to exist, 'Diablo Jambei' has a Spanish word and a French word.

Now I had to master Japanese as well. I knew English pretty well. After all, studying the language from childhood, and working as a software developer with foreign clients polished my English a lot.

"Dorothea-nee, the parent has at least named their child. Look it is written on the paper pinned to his clothes. His name is Shiv D. Jai. "

I thought for a second if I had parents in this world or ROB just dropped me into this world out of nowhere.

There was no use thinking on this topic and I am more leaning toward the second option.

"Let's get this lad inside Dorothea-nee. It is cold outside. We are barely managing the orphanage, if he were to fall sick treating him will cost even more money".

'Now that you mention it I started looking around. It is snowing. I expected North Blue to be cold. Even in Law's flashback, this area was snowing.'

'Wait, didn't Shanks and Buggy debate about which was the colder one, North or South until Rayleigh bonked them. If this is gonna be the weather, then vegetation will be scarce, food will be low, and my growth will be hampered.'

I was stressing about that but then thought to leave it to some other time. I had time till I could even move around. I will study the situation till then.

Was it all those thinking or the weak muscles, but I felt the urge to pee. I started crying because I can't do anything with this young body and called for help in my own limited way. Dorothea also looked at me and tried to calm me down but then she felt something wet.

What to do? It was quite embarrassing, to a mind of a 26-year-old guy. Dorothea also sighed. Dirtying clothes is a big problem in this orphanage. You don't have enough money to buy new diapers.

You can use clothes to replace diapers, but drying clothes after washing them is another problem in this cold weather where the clothes will freeze. They do not have money for machines as well.

She still provided me with a new set of clothes.

Feeling bad for the old lady I started to think of something till the time I can speak. I came up with an idea.

For the next few times I am about to excrete, I started crying in a different way, a different rhythm. I started doing this before doing the job.

The adults, of course, noticed this and the next time I cry in that rhythm they know what to do. In this way, I solved the problem. Elders were shocked but just attributed it to one of my quirks.

I didn't even waste my time in my infancy. I pushed my limits and moved my arms and legs as much as I could at least till I was exhausted. After one month I started noticing a decent change in my body. I did every possible movement with my body. I felt having better stamina at least.

And thus after 3 months of my "birth", I was able to crawl. Damn!!! I truly did inherit a One Piece body.

I also tried speaking a lot. Even though it is nowhere clear, I still made some progress.

This was surprising to everyone. A child who could crawl in 3 months' time, and who made such clear progress in talking was definitely not common. I didn't even throw tantrums or cry out of nowhere so it was kinda odd to them.

I also came across other orphanage children. During these 3 months, I counted the total amount of children to 14. All of them are older than me.

They are good kids. All of them dote on me. There were surprisingly no bullies among them. They were bought up by the old ladies, who had a very good experience in this job. Knowing how to raise children, has its perks alright. And discipline was ingrained in their bones. Grandmas did their job with all their heart.

The children also help them around and the ladies teach the kids like a regular teacher.

I also tried to pick up as much information as possible. Helping me improve my Japanese.

One thing to note was that the food was really scarce here. Everyone barely managed to have their daily food. The Old ladies even skipped meals at times. If I had proper meals, I would probably progress much faster. But I can't just selfishly demand more food. It is unlike me. So I compromised.

But I proceeded with whatever exercises I could do. Being able to crawl opens up more options to exercise and I must say it still worked.

I am now 5 months old and I can already walk. Not properly, but still, I can walk. This surprised everyone again. Children were not that shocked since the oldest was only 7 and didn't know much about biology. They just thought it is possible. But the grandmas were shocked by a lot. I heard them talk one day about it when the children were asleep, and I pretended to be asleep.

"Catharine, how is Jai able to develop so fast. It is unnatural"

"I know Dorothea-nee. Very few people can show this type of development since their childhood and they have all shaken the World"

"That bitch Linlin, her brat Katakuri, Kaido, our good ol' Garp"

Wait wait wait!!! What the hell I am hearing. How do they know all of them? And 'good old Garp'? Do they know him? But they continued.

"Garp was the strongest in our batch when we joined. It opened our eyes to strength."

"Aah... those good old days. Garp, Tsuru, Sengoku, Zephyr... The way Garp messed around with Sengoku, Kong, and Tsuru"

"He did hide his sadness behind those antics. He after all learned to look away from the darkness of the world government, something we could not after that day"

"Nee-chan, you still seem to have a thing for him. I still remember the day you awakened your haki when Linlin talked about collecting Garp-san's seed. Even though she was not injured, she still became a childlike person after your `high drop`". Catherine teased her elder sister.

"What has happened has happened. He eventually found Dragon's mother and the rest is history. My feelings stayed with me and I moved on."

"I do miss Tsuru and Momu chan though. She has flourished into such a good marine and a decent lady."

"She has taken up our roles. We both were called `Tsuru's right and left hand` after all. Her strategy and our ability to keep up with it, without a single word. We were a team made in heaven."

I was way beyond shocked after listening to them. All those big names and the grandmas know them. Even good friends with them and the Vice-Admiral Tsuru's subordinates!!!

"It also breaks my heart every time I remember that day. Our resignation was like a bomb."

"Tsuru, Sengoku, and Kong-san relentlessly persuaded us that day to stay. That new job offer as a trainer was not bad either. Rear Admirals leaving is a big deal to the Marines. Tsuru and Garp were the only ones who truly understood us."

"Of course, they would nee-chan. Tsuru was like our sister. She always knew how much the dark side affected us. Garp on the other hand was the one who was most affected by the dark side. Especially after his son deserted"

"Advantages outweigh the disadvantages. It is all for the greater good. If marines quit their jobs, who will stop the pirates. I am not doing any bad things to the innocent with my own hands, it is my bosses doing it."

"Both of us kept saying those lines to ourselves again and again. But we never thought a day like that would come with such a dark mission"

"That day, that incident touched our bottom line after all"

"But enough about that nee-chan, let's not duel in the past. Do you think this child is capable of reaching the heights like them?"

"I believe so my little sister... I believe so. This child is both smart and strong. He also has a big appetite. The way he drinks milk and the way he keeps looking at others while they eat proves that. But he surprisingly never demands more milk. It seems like he knows we don't have enough."

"He also doesn't seem to be the obedient type. He keeps causing trouble, needing someone to keep an eye on him constantly. Whatever he will be in the future, he will definitely increase the number of gray hair on Sengoku's head. He has not awakened it, but I am sure he is born with it."

"Cathathatha... Are you sure about that nee-chan? How do you know the path he will take?"

"A guy like him, will definitely join the navy or become a pirate or any other profession that involves fighting, limelight, and greatness. Joining marines means one more Garp, if not a bigger headache than Garp. Garp is a blockhead, but Jai is too smart. He will definitely give a bigger headache than Garp to Sengoku"

"Joining piracy means a headache like Roger. We have to raise him well. Even if he follows the path of piracy, he must be like Roger or Newgate, not Xebec or Kaido. They might have been our enemies, but they were good people, at least better than our 'Gods'. They have never ever hurt a civilian intentionally."

I felt good listening to this. I am getting compared to those badasses I was just a fan of. Everyone wants to be badass like them and I know with the aid of the system, I will definitely surpass them. Also, I feel great to have conqueror's haki on my own, rather than buying from the system. Though it is not confirmed. After all, they are making these conclusions based on my "super talent" which is actually the mind of a 26 year old.

"That is true nee-chan. But I am sure he will be a good person. The sad look he gives us when we skip meals feels like he knows what is going on. I sense compassion in him."

Oops!!! Looks like I got caught. I doubt it is possible to hide such things from these old masters. They are extremely perceptive.

"He seems to be sensitive to emotions a lot. He might be a beast with Observation haki if he ever trains in it"

Looks like my secret is still a secret. Hope they don't ever sense the adult inside of me.

"But we are still not able to feed them properly. The beasts in the jungle are quite strong. Our cover will definitely be blown once we start hunting there. The plants' parts edible for humans are rare in that jungle, most of it is safe only for animals"

"We are both devil fruit users so hunting sea creatures is still not possible. Also, imagine two old ladies carrying a huge sea king walking through the town, our cover will be blown. The same goes for bounty hunting. Our cover will be blown."

"Some `Wing guardian sisters` we were. Can't even feed a few children to their fill"

"Can't help it, Catherine. Sleeping hungry is still better than a visit from our old enemies. At least, the kids are not skipping meals, even if they are not full stomach"

"Let's hope Wolf and others can keep donating whatever they can and something more comes in our way. Our part-time jobs are not able to keep up with the expenses"

Hearing the entire conversation, I felt very bad. I knew things were not going well for us, but knowing grandma's story was another thing. They are living in guilt. This orphanage probably also exists because of that guilt and atonement. Whatever the incident was, it scarred them for life, something they could never move on from.

I made myself a promise to give them a better life.

Next day onwards I increased my training. I kept in mind to keep it natural, like doing fun activities instead of push-ups and sit-ups. Imagine a 5-year-old child doing push-ups and sit-ups. That will be very suspicious to the ladies.

Eventually, time passed. I made sure to learn knowledge and develop my body daily.

And today I am two years old.