"I don't remember much about my life before I arrived on Base #45. Honestly, I think those days were so horrid, my mind mentally blocked them. At times I'd have nightmares about my bare feet walking from coast to coast on an island, in search of life but all my eyes would be met with was sand and sea." Junbei recollected, his eyes jammed tightly aboard the Flying Dutchman, sleeping under the hue of the moonlit sky.

Tears steamed down the face of a younger auburn haired musician, sitting beachside, night after night as his body deteriorated from malnutrition. He was scrawny thing, no more than fifty pounds, if you poked him in his ribcage, his brittle bones would've probably collapsed. His sky blue eyes were mostly glazed, dreaming often of other places for his reality was much to cruel for him to handle. Three feet tall in height, his age only four more than his height and his nails, top to bottom dingy from the constant bitting his half rotten teeth had dug into. Shaking in the jungle, embowered beneath the flora for warmth, a futile request of mother nature, Junbei simply cried.

"In those times... I think I've shed all of my tears. So much so by the time I made it to that Hell... I had already lost my will to live." Junbei recollected, as fresh tears would trickle down his face as he slept. "Then, one day a bunch of hunters came searching for game in the jungle and my half dead body was discovered. For moment, I thought I was saved." Junbei thought. For the first time in years, a smile stretched across my face but I was met with a few words from the hunters that to this day I would never forget. "Putrid little thing." the hunter announced.

"In retrospect, I probably was. Covered in my own urine and faeces. I hadn't showered in years, to be honest it was a miracle I was even alive." Junbei thought. "However these bounty hunters were also slavers in their free time and they knew the perfect place where they could sell someone like me once I was all cleaned up." Junbei thought. "They picked me up, wrapped me into a cloth or blanket of sorts, among them was a doctor, I can remember the pain expression on his face." Junbei concluded.

The explorers took the child, hooking Junbei's body up to a series of bags and parading his body with shots. The pain levels were immense, especially for a child and the primitive medical equipment they possessed. "I think it was around this time, I released I was a mute." Junbei stated. As the men would try to ask him a series of questions about his origins, he'd try to speak but no sound would come out. The food from the kitchen added insult to injury, after being starving from what seemed to be months on end. As the first bite into the lamb's mutton flushed through his mouth, it was like he was in heaven. A small bit of heaven it may be but as though the soup was a bit salty, the sides a bit spicy and the meat slightly overcooked, it didn't matter. As the boy scarfed down the food, several of his teeth fell onto the table, the child would pause, looking towards the hunters smiling.

He'd been mostly cleaned up now, fresh change of clothes, a long hot shower and albeit, the clothes were a tad bit baggy, the child's dingy auburn hair was no longer plastered with mud, ticks and plant residue. The men sat in a circle, their faces seemed quite, perplexed. "I can remember exactly what they said." Junbei thought. "What in the world are we gonna do with this kid?" one of the bounty hunters exclaimed. "We came to that island in search of a mark not some brat!?" the man shouted loudly. "Furthermore, a stupid mute!-" the man shouted as another man grabbed him by his collar, discarding him into the floor. "Like I said, I know a guy whose paying top dollar for orphans... It's not like we could've freaking killed our mark or let alone capture him. Look, he's paying 10,000,000 for kids with no records, basically orphans, that's 3 million a man." the man announced.

"I'm selling the kid. You guys can do whatever you want. Risk your life. I'm tired of this line of work, I can make much more selling this kid off." the bounty hunter said grinning, snatching Junbei from the table. The child froze, almost like a mannequin in a display window, latching onto the last bit of meat on his plate. The angered bounty hunter picked up his Den Den Mushi, only to be met with two swords penetrating his back.

"The bounty hunter was a liar." Junbei thought recollecting the night. "He had no plans of selling me but the other two did. After nursing me back to health, I guess he had some kind of emotional connection to me. He was the doctor of the lot." Junbei concluded. "However, 'everyone whoever cared for me ends up dead eventually.' At least that's how I thought back then" Junbei's thought's wondered. As the man's blood filled the deck's cracks, the other two men placed a bag over Junbei's head. "I wasn't afraid at this stage. I couldn't be, the fact that I was still alive proved I meant something to them." Junbei thought. As the bag was lifted from his head several days later, the ropes which constrained his body was now removed, though, pointless as Junbei was completely submissive.

"When that blindfold came off and I saw that man's smiling face. I swore it was one of welcome, however, I would soon find out later that this would be the place... That'd forever break me mentally." Junbei stated. Walking off the deck of the ship, climbing down the stepcase towards the deck, the bounty hunters walked towards the marine guarded facility, knocking on the door, they were prompted to enter. "Great." a man wearing decorated marine uniform would step forward, he hand quite the blank look in his eyes and his blonde hair was shiny, as if he'd placed a thousand jars of gel into it. "We're did you guys stumble across this one?" the marine Captain said, inspecting the product, Junbei.

"We were bounty hunting on an island and stumbled across the kid, malnourished and trembling. We fed him somewhat, I know you've been looking for new prospects like himself with no record or whatever." one of the bounty hunters stated, picking his nose. "Indeed. I'll take him." the marine Captain said smiling towards Junbei as to which the child replied by grinning back with his missing tooth. "He can't speak by the way, he's a mute." the other bounty hunter declared. A smile shot from ear to ear on the man's face, "That's perfect. I have a few experiments I want to run on someone with his rare condition. From this day, you'll be known as Echo. Since I'll be using experiments from the Echo Project on you. Follow me." the Captain said smiling ending his hand to Junbei. "It was at this point, I knew for the first time what the Devil's hand feels like. It's actually quite warm." Junbei declared.