Fishman Bright

In the latter half of the Grand Line, in a sea known as the New World, lies an island called Punk Hazard.

It's a desolate island with rolling mountains and lush forests, yet it has always been uninhabited. In fact, due to its proximity to a Marine base, even pirates avoid landing there.

But in reality, this is just a facade.

Beneath the island lies a massive experimental base, the headquarters of the Marine Science Unit, where cutting-edge research unknown to the outside world is conducted in secrecy.

Deep within the base, in a room made entirely of metal, Bright is performing squats, sweat pouring down his face.

Bright appears young, and he is indeed very young. He's only sixteen this year, but he's already over three meters tall, with a large, strong build that doesn't feel bulky at all.

His skin is excessively pale, which softens his rugged features slightly.

He seems to have been exercising for a long time, his clothes soaked with sweat, yet he continues to squat and stand like a machine.

The reason he's stuck in this repetitive motion is simple: he's wearing handcuffs and shackles, leaving him with only the option for relatively simple exercises.

Bright is not here as a researcher, quite the opposite. He was brought here as a subject of research.

"Hoo—"

Finally, Bright's body reaches its limit, and he collapses onto the floor with a heavy thud. He gasps for air, and only after sitting there for a while does his breathing begin to even out.

"I wonder how Arlong and the others are doing? They probably aren't having an easy time, being in Impel Down."

He leans against the wall awkwardly, his body twisted, and mutters to himself.

The awkwardness is due to a sharp dorsal fin protruding through his clothes on his back, preventing him from leaning fully against the wall.

Upon closer inspection, one can also see three slits on each side of Bright's neck, his teeth are very sharp, and there are even faint webbing between his fingers.

"Really, do I even have the luxury of worrying about them? I can barely save myself."

Bright grumbles under his breath.

I'm probably the worst transmigrator out there, right?

This is something he only recently remembered: he was a traverser, from another world completely different from this sea.

And the world he's in now is one he followed avidly in a manga during his previous life.

To think that transmigration is real, and to end up in a manga world. It's truly marvelous.

The Bright of this life comes from Fish-Man Island, located ten thousand meters below sea level, connecting the first half and the latter half of the Grand Line, a place where Fish-men and Mermaids live.

Strictly speaking, it's the Fish-Man District on Fish-Man Island. Bright spent the first thirteen years of his life there.

Bright is a Fish-man, but not entirely.

His appearance alone shows he resembles humans more than Fish-men.

He's a mixed-blood, or rather, a half-Fish-man.

Either his father or mother was a Fish-man or Mermaid, granting him Fish-man blood, while the other gave him human lineage. He doesn't know the specifics, as he's never met them.

But it doesn't matter; neither side changes the fact that he was abandoned in the Fish-Man District.

That place is the most chaotic part of Fish-Man Island. It was originally an orphanage but later became a gathering place for delinquents.

Bright's unique identity caused him a lot of hardship there.

Fortunately, the leader of the Fish-Man District, a man named Fisher Tiger, couldn't bear to watch a child with Fish-man blood die before his eyes.

Bright thus survived his childhood and, with a slight physical advantage, gradually earned the recognition of the Fish-men in the district.

From a young age, he followed behind several older brothers: Tiger, Jinbe, and Arlong. Of course, his greatest admiration was for Tiger.

So, three years ago, when Tiger caused a ruckus in Mary Geoise and returned to Fish-Man Island to form the Sun Pirates, the thirteen-year-old Bright unhesitatingly joined, becoming the youngest member of the crew.

After three years of free and unrestrained sailing, the nightmare finally arrived.

They only wanted to escort a certain child back to her homeland, but they were betrayed by the humans on that island and ambushed by the Marines. Brother Tiger died because of it.

Consumed by rage, Bright chose to follow the furious Arlong to seek revenge on the island's inhabitants, but they encountered a certain man.

A man who would soon be known by the title 'Kizaru'.

Even now, recalling the blinding light that flashed before his eyes that day, Bright still shudders.

That monster displayed overwhelming power.

It was at that moment, between life and death, that the memories sealed by his reincarnation were finally completely unlocked.

Bright remembered everything.

But it was too late. Brother Tiger was already dead, and he couldn't escape.

Everyone was arrested and sent to Impel Down.

However, at that time, Bright, who had regained his memories from his past life, wasn't too worried about this.

Because he knew that in at most a year, Jinbe would agree to the government's terms and become a new Shichibukai, and in exchange, all the arrested Sun Pirates members would be released.

Impel Down is not a good place, but if it were only for a year, Bright was confident he could endure it.

But, upon arriving at Impel Down, an unexpected situation occurred.

All the Fish-men were escorted off the ship and sent to Impel Down, except for Bright.

"Someone's very interested in your bloodline," Kizaru said.

Then he brought Bright here.

Bright hadn't expected that the very strength he'd relied on in the past would become his stumbling block.

His bloodline was indeed a bit special.

Bright was a Megalodon-type Fish-man.

In this world, Megalodons were also ancient fish that had disappeared from the sea long ago, but unlike his previous life, the Megalodons of this world were said to be even larger, super sea kings exceeding a thousand meters in size, the overlords that dominated the ancient seas.

However, even though Megalodons had disappeared, the Fish-man and Mermaid races inherited the bloodlines of all fish. The newborns on Fish-Man Island had random bloodlines; the bloodlines of Fish-men and Mermaids contained the bloodlines of all fish since ancient times.

Children born to the same pair of Fish-men or Mermaids often had vastly different bloodlines, and any of the bloodlines hidden deep within their bodies could awaken.

Bright was very lucky; his half-Fish-man bloodline was that of a Megalodon, which hadn't appeared on Fish-Man Island for a very, very long time.

As a half-Fish-man, he was able to grow up well in the Fish-Man District, and his bloodline helped a lot.

There were disparities even among Fish-men, and the Megalodon bloodline was certainly one of the highest-tier bloodlines among all Fish-men.

Ordinary Fish-men had an average strength ten times that of ordinary humans, and Bright himself was about ten times stronger than an ordinary Fish-man. After years of training, he could absolutely be considered a mini-superhuman.

It was with this strength that he had managed to establish a foothold in the Sun Pirates.

But now, it was precisely because of this strength that he had been noticed by a guy named Vegapunk, who wanted to glimpse the power of the ancient era from Bright's bloodline.

And so, Bright was now imprisoned here.

It had been over three months now.

For these three months, he had been very well-behaved. He ate when the Marines brought food, trained silently when they didn't bother him, and cooperated obediently when they needed his assistance for research.

The Marines' attitude towards him gradually relaxed.

So--

"Should be about time, right?"

Bright decided to do something. He didn't want his life to end in this base.

He took a shower in the bathroom attached to his cell, then lay on the bed, spacing out.

Time gradually passed.

"Tonight's fish feed."

The food slot beneath the tightly shut metal door opened, and a Marine outside handed in a tray full of food, taking back the empty tray Bright had placed by the door.

Bright stood up. Because of the shackles, he couldn't take large steps, but at least it wasn't so bad that he could only hop around.

He walked to the door, picked up the tray, and sat back down on the bed by the wall, starting his dinner.

The food was quite lavish: several fragrant roasted white breads, paired with large chunks of equally aromatic roasted meat, then a bowl of vegetable salad and a bowl of meat soup, and finally a large bottle of water.

Nutritionally balanced and calorically sufficient.

It was hard to imagine this was prepared for a prisoner.

And there wasn't the slightest sign of human discrimination against Fish-men.

But Bright knew there was only one reason for this treatment: Vegapunk didn't want him to be malnourished.

It was like wanting to keep a lab rat plump and healthy.

But Bright didn't care. It wasn't a bad thing, was it?

Since things were already like this, having good food was better than not having it.

However, Bright didn't finish his meal. Normally, even licking the plate clean only made him feel about 80% full, but tonight, Bright ate slower and slower. In the end, he left half the food with a worried frown and a glum expression.

Bright seemed to be in a lot of discomfort. He finally put the tray by the door, turned off the light, and lay back down on the bed.

He tossed and turned on the bed, clutching his stomach with a pained expression.

After about half an hour of this, Bright couldn't sleep and got out of bed to exercise. He flipped up, turned on the light, and stood upside down in the middle of the room, starting to do handstand push-ups.

He continued this for over an hour, until Bright was once again drenched in sweat.

Then, Bright's usually steady body trembled. Immediately after, his body suddenly fell to the ground with a thud.

Bright's expression became extremely contorted. Combined with the sweat all over his body, he looked quite ferocious. His body was bent like a shrimp, his hands clutched his stomach, and all his muscles were trembling.

He turned his head to look at a corner of the room, then forced himself to look back, gritting his teeth so hard that he didn't make a single sound.

He appeared to be suffering from a sudden, severe illness.

New author, new book, please be kind!