Chapter 1: On the Other Side of the Sea is the Pirate King
[Dear Lieutenant Commander Ripa,
I hope this letter finds you well.
By the time you read this, I will have already become a pirate sailing the high seas!
Pirates don't know what attendance reports are, nor do they need to train hard every day, because pirates are free and unbound! Pirates will sail through the fiercest waves, discover ancient treasures, and find a crew of female pirates with ample bosoms and firm bottoms to ride the winds and waves together.
Pirates will adventure freely across the seas. And you, my respected Lieutenant Commander Ripa, I hope you can also break free from Captain Morgan's rule soon and become a true Marine who protects the people.]
—Your dear subordinate, Lieutenant Allen.
East Blue, Sea of Marine Branch 153, on a sunny and calm day. Inside the base, in a certain lieutenant's office.
A black-haired man in a short-sleeved Marine uniform put down his pen and folded the finished letter with satisfaction.
Standing up, the man looked around his office once.
"I never thought I'd have to leave so soon after arriving. How unpredictable life is..."
Allen shook his head with a wry smile, a hint of a sigh in his tone.
This was Marine Branch 153, ruled by the iron-fisted and cruel Captain Morgan.
Yes, *that* Morgan, the one who felled a Marine Hero with one axe, respectfully nicknamed 'Axe-Hand' Morgan.
Waking up in such a place, even Allen was momentarily stunned. But after sorting out his situation, he decisively decided to leave.
As for where to go...
Having crossed into the world of One Piece, of course he'd become a pirate.
That's right, he was a transmigrator, having arrived in the One Piece world just two and a half hours ago. He'd hit the jackpot again this time.
One Piece was undoubtedly a dangerous world where the strong preyed on the weak. Few ordinary people who went to sea met a good end.
But staying on land was even less of an option for survival.
Most countries upheld a sick and twisted aristocratic ideology, where ordinary people could only be endlessly oppressed, exploited, or even enslaved.
Even being born in a quiet little village in some remote corner of the sea wasn't necessarily lucky. Who knew when a pirate raid might destroy your home and family, leaving you a refugee.
In such a world, if you didn't want to be slaughtered, you had to choose to pick up the blade yourself. The only thing you could truly rely on anywhere was your own fists.
Allen didn't complain about arriving in such a dangerous world. It was a second chance at life, better than just dying.
His original self had been a Petty Officer serving at Marine Headquarters, who later applied to become a Lieutenant in an East Blue branch. He thought he could live a stable life as an officer in the weakest sea.
But then...
"To be assigned to Morgan's branch, and then die of depression under the long-term high-pressure rule..."
Allen's eyes turned dead-fish like, feeling somewhat speechless.
But perhaps this was also a form of liberation.
...
Putting away the letter, Allen walked out the door, looked left and right, and headed towards his direct superior's office.
His direct superior was Lieutenant Commander Ripa, the second-in-command of this branch base, a righteous Marine who had shown his former self considerable care.
Unfortunately, Ripa was timid by nature. He resented Morgan in his heart but dared not resist.
In fact.
Everyone in the entire base had long harbored grievances against Morgan's oppressive rule. If Lieutenant Commander Ripa dared to stand up, the Marines here would probably have rebelled with him long ago.
...
*Knock—Knock—Knock!*
Walking down the brightly lit corridor, Allen arrived at Ripa's office door, knocked, and waited a few seconds...
No response.
He crouched down, slid the written letter under the door crack, stood up, and left directly.
Allen's gaze was calm as he walked down the long corridor. He took out a stack of bills from his chest and glanced at them.
A total of 2,000,000 Berries, his savings from the past two and a half years. Converted to currency he was familiar with, it was roughly equivalent to 100,000.
Now, he would use it as initial capital for setting sail. After buying a small rowboat, there should still be some money left to get by for a while.
As for the future...
Allen put the Berries away and looked down at his palm, clenching his fist.
With a cheat ability, no matter how poorly he did, he shouldn't have trouble surviving at sea, right?
Allen couldn't help but think.
Transmigration—of course it had to come with a golden finger to make sense. What he obtained was a "Baki" cheat.
"Baki" referred to that fighting anime that masquerades as martial arts but is actually low-fantasy + pseudo-science.
Allen's body had not only been transformed by the blood of the Hanma lineage, but his mind was also filled with a vast amount of martial arts and combat techniques from the Baki world, including techniques like "Xiao Li" (Redirection of Force) and supersonic punches.
The Hanma bloodline caused his physical abilities to skyrocket in all aspects. Although there was still a significant gap compared to the strong of this world, the Hanma blood also granted him terrifying combat instincts and learning ability.
In the long run, this unparalleled growth potential was far more important than a one-time power-up.
Moreover, he still had plenty of room for growth. This world also had many methods to increase strength.
Consuming large amounts of energy-rich Sea King meat, coupled with high-intensity training and combat to further strengthen the body.
Then there was Haki, a power mastered by almost all strong individuals in this world, and one he would inevitably learn in the future.
Besides that, this world had an even simpler and more brutal method—Devil Fruits!
If he could get his hands on a relatively powerful Devil Fruit, Allen would not hesitate to eat it.
As for that little side effect...
"No sensible person could lose their fighting ability from a bucket of water, right?"
Allen waved his hand dismissively with a laugh.
Impossible, impossible. How could there be such idiots in the world?
In short, the cheat only gave him a solid foundation. How far he could grow in the future still depended on whether he could utilize it well.
Shaking off the miscellaneous thoughts in his mind, Allen reached the end of the corridor and prepared to go down the stairs.
Suddenly, a faint "rumbling" sound came from above, followed by a slight tremor.
"Hmm?"
Allen looked up in puzzlement, seeing several fine cracks appear on the ceiling, constantly shaking loose dust.
The next instant.
*Boom!!*
Under his astonished gaze, a gigantic human head statue smashed through the ceiling above him!
"What the... hell...!!"
*Boom!!*
Before he could finish, the head statue, along with countless broken walls and rubble, came crashing down, burying Allen on the spot.
Forming a huge mound of a grave.
...
*Tap—*
A man wearing a red vest and a straw hat jumped down. His sandaled feet landed on the grave mound, and he held several long swords in his arms.
After steadying himself, the man adjusted his straw hat, looked around, and finally saw the bound figure on the training ground.
Luffy grinned, his face excited as he jumped out,
"Hey—! Zoro, I found your swords! Hahaha!"
*Boom!*
From the grave mound, an arm broke through the pile of stones and stretched out.
At that moment, a large group of Marine soldiers came rushing from behind.
"Don't let the intruder escape!"
"Hurry, chase him!"
"He's going to rescue Roronoa! Keep up!"
*Rumble rumble!*
White figures scrambled past. A large number of Marines trampled over the grave mound from above, packing it down solidly and leaving countless messy, dense footprints behind.
A severed arm stood upright on the stone pile, twitching pathetically.
A breeze blew, swirling a few withered yellow leaves, adding a touch of desolate color to the scene.
...
*Boom!*
"Pwah—! Pah! Pah!"
The stone pile was violently blasted open, revealing Allen's dust-covered upper body. He spat out a few mouthfuls of saliva mixed with grit, looking indignant.
After pulling his body out of the stone pile, Allen glared fiercely towards the training ground, gnashing his teeth.
"Those bastards!"
He wasn't really injured. With his current physical toughness, he could take a cannonball head-on, let alone be killed by a few rocks.
But it *hurt*! It really hurt!
"Those idiotic Marines! And also...!"
"Eh? Straw Hat?"
Seeing that figure, Allen suddenly froze, blinked, and leaned forward to get a better look, finally confirming the other's identity.
Luffy? Morgan's base? Did he come to rescue Zoro?
Allen stroked his chin, recalling some plot points in his mind.
"So, I've crossed over roughly around the time Luffy sets sail?"
As he was pondering, a low, cold voice suddenly came from behind.
"What are you doing here?"
A tall, burly shadow loomed over him from behind. Allen turned towards the sound.
The next second, he saw a grim-faced Morgan looking down at him with a gaze full of pressure.
"Oh, Captain Morgan. Good afternoon." Allen smiled and raised a hand in greeting.
"Hmm...?!"
Morgan's eyes widened. His expression held more anger than surprise as he leaned down and roared again:
"I'm asking you! Why aren't you up there fighting yet? Go kill those two for me now!"
"Eh?"
Allen was taken aback. He glanced back at the two figures wreaking havoc on the training ground.
"Me?"
Allen turned back to Morgan, pointing at himself with a bewildered look.
"Me, go kill Straw Hat and Roronoa?"
"No, no, no. Captain Morgan, you must be mistaken. How could I possibly beat them?"
Allen waved his hands dismissively with an awkward laugh.
Kidding? Those two were max-level newbie accounts.
Fighting one of them, he might give it a try. But taking on both at once...
Currently, in the entire East Blue, besides Smoker with his Logia advantage, he doubted there was a second person who could do it.
But Morgan was clearly unsatisfied with his answer. He was furious at Allen's response, his face gradually contorting.
"Are you saying you intend to disobey orders?!"
"My subordinates! I have no use for useless ones! They... or me... which one will you choose!"
While berating, Morgan placed his left hand on the axe mounted on his right arm. The blade glinted coldly, and a threatening glint flashed in his eyes.
"This... If you put it that way..."
Allen waved his hands awkwardly, then looked back at the distant fight on the field. Under the shadow, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
Turning back to face Morgan, Allen's tone became teasing:
"Looks like taking you down is much easier, my esteemed Captain Morgan..."
"What did you say?!"
Morgan's eyes widened in shock. A chill ran up his spine, making him shudder and involuntarily take a step back.
For some reason, he suddenly felt that Allen before him was like a fierce tiger ready to pounce at any moment, inexplicably making his heart race with fear.
"You...! You bastard!"
When he regained his senses, Morgan's face flushed red with anger and humiliation. Veins bulged on his forehead as he roared, raising the giant hand-axe.
However, a black shadow was faster!
Just as Morgan raised his axe, Allen abruptly dropped his smile. His eyes turned brutal, gleaming with a crimson, savage light.
Pivoting his body, his right leg shot out like a whip, whistling through the air as it explosively lashed towards Morgan's face, landing squarely on his cheek!
*Smack!!*
"Pwah—!"
Morgan's face twisted in pain as he spat out a mouthful of blood. His eyes rolled back, pupils trembling violently.
*Whoosh!—Boom!!*
Carried by the terrifying force, Morgan flew backward, crashing through the wall like a cannonball and smashing into the base interior.
"Not bad. Feels completely different from before."
Allen slowly lowered his leg, looked down at his toes, tapped them on the ground, and evaluated with satisfaction.
Training at Marine Headquarters was very strict. Even ordinary soldiers had to do 2,000 two-finger push-ups, climb ropes a hundred times back and forth, run 200 laps, plus sparring practice every day.
A high roundhouse kick was one of the most basic combat techniques for Allen, something he was long familiar with. But using it this time gave him a completely different feeling.
It wasn't just the physical enhancement from the Hanma bloodline.
Whether it was the fluidity of movement, force application technique, striking position, or timing of the kick—everything felt natural and seamless, just like those Rear Admiral-level instructors in the training camp who had honed their physical skills to perfection.
Perhaps even surpassing them.
If you ignored physical stats and Haki, and just compared pure combat technique, he felt he might really be able to compete with top-tier physical combatants.
... Unfortunately, you couldn't ignore them.
Allen looked towards the inside of the base.
As the dust settled, rubble tumbled from a newly formed hole in the wall. A figure, hunched over, struggled to stand up, one hand supporting the wall.
"People in this world really have frighteningly tenacious vitality."
Allen couldn't help but sigh. He thought a guy like that would die from one kick.
"Cough—Cough cough!"
Morgan coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood, his face etched with extreme pain, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
"You bastard... How dare you... How dare you!"
His gaze fixed on Allen again, Morgan's bloodshot eyes filled with rage and hatred. He swept his battle-axe, dispersing some dust, and growled low in his throat:
"How dare you attack me! You bastard, today I'll chop you into mincemeat!!"
Morgan's eyes burned with fury as he charged forward fiercely with large strides.
Standing casually atop the stone pile, Allen looked down with contempt, unmoved by Morgan's charge.
Only when the other was upon him, raising his axe for a furious downward chop, did Allen move. He shifted his body slightly, easily dodging the falling axe blade.
*Boom!*
The axe blade missed, striking the ground and cleanly slicing through a section of broken wall, embedding itself in the earth.
Allen lifted his foot and lightly stepped on the back of the axe. Leaning forward, he closed the distance with Morgan.
With Morgan's strength, lifting several Allens would be more than enough.
Yet now, a bizarre scene unfolded.
Morgan's face turned ashen. No matter how hard he strained, veins bulging on his arms, he couldn't pull the axe out even a fraction.
"What's the matter, Captain Morgan? Can't bear to strike your excellent subordinate, is that it?"
Allen taunted with a laugh.
*Aikido, Kōketsu Style: Using minimal movement to enter the opponent's point of power application and center of gravity line, disrupting their balance, and using the opponent's own force against them.*
Watching Morgan's flushed, straining face, Allen gave a light smile. He grabbed the other's collar with his palm, turned his back, and lifted.
*Shoulder Throw!*
Morgan's mind went blank, a sudden feeling of weightlessness washing over him. When he came to, he was shocked to find the sky had turned upside down.
Allen casually tossed him aside. The movement was effortless, yet it sent Morgan's burly body flying through the air, arcing across the sky before crashing heavily onto the training ground!
*Boom!—Thud! Thud!*
Morgan's body hit the ground, bounced, and finally landed lying on his back, limbs splayed.
"This guy... how can he be this strong..."
Cold sweat dripped from his forehead. Morgan's face slowly became one of pure terror.