"Lynn!!"
"Was it you who attacked Luffy just now?!"
"Even if he's an idiot, he's still our captain—I want an explanation."
"Bastard! After what you did to Kaya… now this?!"
The blood-stained docks of Syrup Village had become a trial ground—the Straw Hats versus their own.
Lynn stood silent, eyes lowered, face unreadable beneath the setting sun.
He waited.
Only when the trio finished their righteous outburst did he raise his head, sneering coldly:
"So that's what you think of me."
"The one who attacked Luffy was Captain Kuro. I don't owe you any explanations."
"And what happened with Kaya… Usopp, that's none of your business."
"You... you bastard!" Usopp snarled, grabbing for his slingshot——but froze in place, caught by Lynn's razor-sharp gaze.
"If trust no longer exists between us… then from this moment forward, we are no longer crewmates."
"Wait—Lynn! Maybe this was all just a misunderstanding, if we just—"
"Enough. I, Lynn, formally resign from the Straw Hat Pirates."
"Oi oi! What kind of joke is this, Lynn?!"
"I'm not joking."
East Blue – Gecko Islands – Syrup Village
The remains of a broken mast pierced the cracked dock. Crows circled overhead, their cries blending with the ocean breeze. Corpses littered the battlefield. Destruction was everywhere.
Lynn, dressed in a sharp black suit, crouched at the harbor's edge. The salty sea wind rustled his dark hair. His well-built frame stood in stark contrast to the unconscious rubber-bodied teen beside him.
"Tch... I got caught after all," he muttered.
He flicked the boy's cheek—stretchy, of course—and sighed.
"I was careful with the ambush. You're really a hassle, Luffy."
That calm demeanor earlier?
All an act.
This boy was Monkey D. Luffy, future captain of the Straw Hat Pirates.
According to canon, Luffy should've been forming his crew—recruiting Usopp right about now.
And Lynn?
He was never supposed to exist in this world.
He was a Womb Reincarnator.
Reborn into the world of One Piece, Lynn awakened memories of his past life at the age of thirteen, following the death of his parents. Grief unlocked his consciousness—and with it came his golden finger.
—Tag Plunderer.
A power that allowed him to see others' abilities as RPG-style tags... and steal them.
Tags came in six ranks:
White, Green, Blue, Red, Gold, and the legendary Rainbow.
Only a few special tags—like fate-bound or devil fruit types—couldn't be stolen.
But everything else? Fair game.
Lynn trained in solitude for years, hiding in the forests of nearby islands. He hunted entire packs of beasts, unlocking his first power:
[Magic Beast – Blue]
With his knowledge of canon, he self-studied and mastered the Navy's Six Powers—Rokushiki—to a basic level, all without a teacher.
At age 18, finally strong and cautious, he set sail with one ambition:
To ignite the flames of freedom across the Grand Line.To plant the Red Flag on every island in the sea.
But ambition without power was just hot air.
And Lynn?
Was anything but reckless.
So he aimed for the one with the biggest protagonist halo of all: Monkey D. Luffy.
He orchestrated a "coincidental" meeting.
Showed just enough strength to be impressive.
And got himself smoothly recruited into the Straw Hat crew.
His one goal? Steal the main character's template.
And today, it had finally happened.
Luffy lay unconscious, eyes rolled into cartoonish spirals.
Lynn gently lifted the straw hat from Luffy's head and tied it around his own neck.
"Read Tags."
Unlike the dull, white-tier tags he'd seen on beasts in the forest… what appeared before him now shimmered with radiant, rainbow-colored light.