Project Mirage

(Location : Rocky city)

Rocky City, one of the many places in Grand Line, a beautiful city who was one of the few places where the Grand Line weather was actually quite good and pleasant, the city was overall pretty peaceful but it had one huge flaw.

Bang

Bang

Bang

Shots were heard as numerous persons began to flee from the armed masked man.

"Hahaha!" In between shots, he was seen laughing maniacally at the chaos he just started.

"Uh?... What the..." This continued for a few moments till he remarked that an old lady was calmly walking oblivious to what was happening around her.

A distorted smile appeared in the man's face as he made his way towards the old madam "Hey there, grandma! Give me all of your stuff, now" he threatened pressing his gun against her head.

"Uuuh..." she slowly took her purse in confusion "... I don't have nothing anything of value, young man" she argued but the man only stared at her.

"Do I look like I care? Just give what you have, if you don't want to die, that is!" He shouted at the woman who trembled in fear.

"Okay..." she grabbed something from her purse and quickly took out a pistol, pointing it at him.

Bang!

Drop

She let out a sigh watching the body of her aggressor on the ground "... I told you I didn't have anything of value, dickhead" she spat on the man's eye before putting away her gun, walking away from the masked man.

This, was the notorious problem of the city, it was crowded with criminals, assassins, thieves and everything in between. It even had retired pirate hunters and much more, it was a city where there was no rule written.

Surprisingly, it isn't a place of just chaos as the people living there tended to be normal and behave like normal citizens, but there's still a lot of misbehaving people who didn't follow any moral rules or values around, essentially making a unstable city to live in.

"Hey..." while she was walking down the street she was interrupted by a small boy whom she didn't notice at first, something that's was unusual but she paid no mind to it.

The boy had his hand out "Do you have a candy on you, ma'am" he calmly asked, surprising the woman of his calmness when he was not very far from a now rotting body.

Now that she her attention on him, she finally noticed his appearance which made him stood out from the others.

He was a child that seemed to be 8, he wore a pair of black shaped earrings, a plain white shirt and a black short, but was captivated the attention of others, was his grey hair and his emotionless red eyes, features that were unique to only him.

(The best that I could find)

"Now... where are your parents? It's dangerous to walk alone here" she asked the boy

"I don't have any parents" he calmly stated, not showing an emotion of anger, sadness or anything like that.

"I see..." the elderly woman then took out a lollipop from her purse before handing it to the boy ".. . That's unfortunate, but still, have avoid day, young boy"  she said walking past the kid.

She suddenly stopped "could you say what's your name?" She asked.

The boy seemed confused as to why she wanted his name but he answered regardless.

"I'm Gaku" he said, bringing a smile to the woman's face.

"Be careful around here, Gaku" she finally walked away from the young boy.

"Thank you ma'am" he said before leaving the street without a sound.

The woman looked back at him but didn't found him, and so she just continued her road, but she took out a Den-Den mushi and called someone who quickly responded her.

"What is it?" The deep manly voice asked.

"Now, now, not even a little good morning?" She taunted which apparently angered slightly the man on the other side.

"You're not one who calls without a purpose, melydia, drop the act already" he called her out, then, the elderly lady began to straighten up, her bent posture slowly turned up right, her pace quickly accelerated, and she took out her skin, revealing it to be fake along with her grey hair.

She put her hand on her mouth, reaching for her throat, pulling out what seemed to be a voice changer "Aaarrghh... still unpleasant..." she commented with her new, or rather her original voice.

She revealed herself to be a rather attractive woman, she had long black hair and red eyes, along with various earrings, she also wore a collar with two cross appearing on the front, her outfit didn't allow much skin to be seen but she was tattooed all of her body.

"So, is the project mirage still going?" She asked with a more serious tone.

"Yes, it's still ongoing, even though it's not showing the results we expected from it yet" upon hearing this the woman let out a small smirk.

"So..." she began to play with her after sitting down on a bench "... the requirements to enter the project are...?" She asked the man who understood where she was leading this conversation to.

The man let out a sigh before answering " The child must be under the age of 10, they can't have any parents or guardians who take care of him, and most importantly-"

"They have to be talented enough to qualify, I know, and If my memory serves me right... the one who appoints the greatest talent of the projet gains 1 billion berry, right?"

".. yes" he answered.

"...You're saying that you found someone skillful enough to take the first place?" He asked, but it seemed more of a threat than anything, however it didn't even matter to melydia.

"Well... he's skillful enough to not make any sounds while walking, even though he doesn't know it yet" she commented leaving the man in silence for a few seconds.

"...Where is he?"

__________________________________

(Few hours later)

After a few hours, the sun began to set down and while most of the citizens of Rocky city were either asleep or doing something illegal, Gaku was just laid on his back, viewing the beautiful sky.

He watched for a few minutes, till he grew bored and stood up, then, suddenly, he was attacked by a white figure.

Quickly enough, Gaku side stepped the attack eyeing the man who attacked him.

The man wore a white bowler hat, a dark purple and blue polka dotted scarf, a white long coat, and what looks like a dark blue, light yellow-gold, red award ribbon on his blazer. He wore his tie loosely. He had a flat face with a thin mustache and beard, a scar under his light-colored right eye, and markings under his pure black left eye and had a white paint on his face.

Even though Gaku was just attacked, he retained his neutral expression which picked the interest of the man "Good... You seem promising, kid" he commented confusing Gaku a little bit, it was far from his first time being attacked but something was off.

But, the man didn't let him think about it, as he blitzed the young boy who could do nothing but curse "Shit-" he was shortly but surely knocked down by the mysterious man with a chop on his neck, he then was picked the back of his shirt before he could fall over.

Step

Step

Step

As he was thinking about what just happened, Melydia approached them, her hips swaying left and right "So... what do you think, Guernika" She asked, since they agreed to test Gaku's potential.

The man now known as Guernika put the boy on his shoulder "Even though I don't like to admit it, I would be a fool to not accept the fact that he's very talented" he complimented the boy's strength.

"Normally, he already should've been dead..." he commented, his first attack was meant to kill the average human, Gaku dodging it, while being caught off guard is something that definitely screams potential.

Melydia approached the young boy, brushing the dust of his face " He's definitely a step above everyone else, he probably— no, he surely will become one of the strongest men on our side"

"Yes, I'm looking forward to what he will show us" Guernika said, directing himself to his shop, where a unexpected but necessary destiny awaited Gaku.

__________________________________

(Location : ???, Hour : ???)

"Uregh... my head, what happened?" Gaku woke up confused as he didn't know where he was and how he did he get where he is.

He opened his eyes but light didn't came to his vision, he quickly concluded that he was in a room without any lights on, as he was trying to get to a wall or door, a voice was suddenly heard throughout the room.

"Hello, Gaku. Welcome to the project mirage"  the voice said, catching Gaku's attention.

"How'd you know my name? Is it the old lady who told you?" He calmly asked, he didn't usually share his name with anyone but he did an exception to the elderly woman since she was the first nice person to him since a good while.

For a few seconds, no one talked, so as Gaku was about to say something, the voice echoed again " You're way calmer than I thought you would be, to be honest. To answer your question, yes, it was her who told us about your name, and most importantly, your talent" as soon as he finished talking, lights came crashing down in his front, showcasing an empty chair.

"To explain to you simply, Project Mirage is where you're going to hone your skills, be faster, smarter, stronger and better. The Government saw never seen potential in you, and so you've been selected to train to become the government's best asset-"

He was cut off by Gaku "Don't wanna" he brushed it off, looking for the exit.

"You can't, it is either this or death" he warned, Gaku wasn't convinced but knew better than try to defy his words.

"So, this is basically a level up event?" He asked, comparing his situation to a video game system.

"You could say that, if you want" the man behind the micro seemed a bit confused but went with the flow of the conversation.

"So what's my first quest?" Gaku asked and soon after, a tied up man was brought into the room, struggling against his bonds as he was placed in the chair in front of Gaku. The man's face was bruised, and he looked terrified, his eyes darting around the room.

The voice over the intercom returned. "Your first assignment, Gaku, is simple. Eliminate the target in front of you. He's a dangerous criminal, and this is your chance to prove yourself."

Gaku stared at the man in the chair, expression neutral, his mind processing what he'd just been told. He didn't have any particular attachment to the stranger, but the concept of taking someone's life as if it were some "quest" still felt strange, even to him.

The man in the chair pleaded, "Please, kid! I don't know what they've told you, but I don't deserve this! I'm just—"

But Gaku's attention wavered as he thought back to the games he liked. If this was truly the "level-up" event they claimed, he reasoned, maybe he could play along...at least for now.

He walked closer, standing directly in front of the man, and his red eyes met the man's desperate gaze. Gaku asked him in a quiet, almost curious tone, "Do you know why they put you here?"

The man stammered, "N-no, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time!"

Gaku tilted his head, pondering, and then looked up at the ceiling as if addressing the voice from earlier. "So, what's my reward for this quest?"

The intercom buzzed for a moment, then replied, "Complete this task, and you'll advance to the next stage of training. Fail, and... well, let's say that won't be an option."

With a sigh, Gaku's expression turned from thoughtful to blank, as he made his decision. He took a deep breath, focusing his resolve. For now, he'd play their game. He calmly took the weapon he'd been handed by a masked woman and aimed at the man, and-

Bang!

He completed the task without hesitation, though his face remained cold and unreadable.

As the echoes of the shot died down, the intercom voice returned, sounding almost pleased. "Congratulations, Gaku. Consider this your first step toward greatness."

But as Gaku stood there, looking down at the now-motionless figure, he felt a flicker of something unsettling in his gut. This "game" was different from anything he'd ever played, and he wasn't sure if he liked it. But he brushed it off for now—he had chosen to join, and he would see where this "quest" would lead him.

With this first step, he began his journey, one that would eventually shape him into one of the most formidable assassins under the World Government. Yet, deep down, his spirit remained restless, the desire for freedom and genuine fun never quite leaving him.