I Want to Make Something of Myself!

Fist Bone: Honesty!

In the footage, Koby's all-out, life-risking strike blasted apart the massive rock arm, even bigger than a warship, right down the middle!

"Holy shit, that punch is beyond Admiral level!"

"Koby is fuc—king awesome!"

"In just two and a half years, he went from an ordinary marine to having Admiral-level strength. That's the true value of putting in 200 times the effort!"

"So Koby was the real protagonist all along!"

"Based on information from the anime, Marine Headquarters soldiers train with 2,000 push-ups, 100 rope climbs, 200 laps around the training ground, and hand-to-hand combat practice every day. Multiply all that by 200... My brain has overloaded!"

"What a pity about Vice Admiral Garp."

"Sakazuki: Why did only you come back? Where's Garp? Koby: I blocked him in the New World!"

"Hahahaha, that guy upstairs nearly killed me laughing."

"Ahem, ahem, let's get serious!"

"If even Koby can do it, then if we transmigrated into the One Piece world and put in 200 times the effort too, wouldn't that mean we could replicate Koby's miraculous growth?"

"That makes a lot of sense!"

"Admiral in two and a half years—wouldn't that be ten or a hundred times better than those novel protagonists with cheats? If effort is enough, who needs a stat-boosting system?"

"So who's going to test the route?"

"The truck is ready!"

As Koby's strength skyrocketed, the major pirate forums, which had only recently gone quiet, became lively again, with sarcastic jokes appearing one after another.

--

One Piece Era Calendar, year 1515. Five years before Luffy set sail.

East Blue, Shells Town.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

A bell rang out by the coast. Its steady rhythm indicated there was no danger, leaving only one reason for it to be ringing.

"The Marines are back!"

A warship belonging to the Navy 153rd Branch was approaching the harbor. This time, they had gone out to suppress the Black Cat Pirates, who had been plundering the nearby islands.

The residents of Shells Town emerged from their homes and gathered along both sides of the street, waiting for the "heroes" to return.

The Marines represented stability!

Whenever the Marines returned from an expedition, the townspeople would greet them enthusiastically—not only out of respect and trust, but because some of their family members served among them.

Yet the triumphant return they had expected never came.

Colonel Rhode, the highest-ranking officer of the 153rd Branch, walked at the front of the formation. Half his face was wrapped in bandages, his left arm was gone, and large bloodstains still marked his uniform.

The other marines were in just as terrible a state. Their heads, bodies, and limbs were covered in wounds and bandages as they supported one another forward.

At the rear were several carts carrying wounded soldiers unable to move on their own, as well as corpses piled together like cargo, wrapped in white cloth.

The horrific sight was unbearable to look at.

"How tragic."

Many young people were seeing such a scene for the first time. The color instantly drained from their faces, and their dreams of becoming marines vanished, leaving behind only deep fear.

They finally understood the elders' warning.

Being a marine could get you killed!

Compared to the panic of the young, the elders were much calmer. Over the past decade or so, they had seen scenes like this more than once.

"So few came back."

"Sigh, pirates are getting more and more rampant!"

"Damn it, it's all that damned Roger's fault!"

If memory served, nearly a hundred soldiers had been deployed by the branch for this operation, yet fewer than half of the marines before them had returned alive.

Ever since Roger began the Great Pirate Era, even the East Blue, which symbolized peace, had suffered from rampant pirate attacks. Every day, countless villages and civilians were burned, killed, robbed, and plundered.

The Marines' sacrifices had become routine.

The street was completely silent.

The returning marines hung their heads, too ashamed to face the people who had come to greet them. At the same time, an inescapable fear lingered in their eyes.

Their experience fighting the pirates echoed in their minds like a nightmare. The pirates had uncovered their movements and laid an ambush for them.

Especially Captain Kuro, the ghostlike "Hundred Plans," who appeared and vanished without warning. Even Colonel Rhode had lost an arm to him.

It had been a slaughter!

Suddenly, the formation came to a stop.

More than a dozen townspeople blocked the road ahead. There were gray-haired elders, young women who had only recently married, and innocent children.

Every one of them was deathly pale, their eyes filled with profound unease.

An elderly woman squeezed her way in front of Rhode. Her wrinkled hands were clenched tightly together as she asked hopefully, "Colonel Rhode, may I ask why I don't see my son Jamie?"

"And my husband Cole!"

"Did Brother Hanni come back?"

The dozen or so people spoke over one another, asking after their families. Though they had already guessed the cruel answer, they still refused to give up their final shred of hope.

Colonel Rhode's gaze was dim.

"Bring them over."

The cart carrying the corpses was pulled forward. Each white cloth bore a corresponding name. The cloth marked with Jamie's name was only the size of a basketball, containing his remains.

"We were ambushed by pirates. Ensign Jamie was hit by one of their cannonballs. This is all we could recover of his body."

Thud!

The elderly woman clutched the bundle and collapsed to the ground in despair.

Ten minutes later.

The marine formation continued onward toward the branch fortress at the end of the street. Even after they had vanished from sight, grief-stricken sobbing still filled the street.

Early the next morning, the 153rd Branch posted a notice recruiting new soldiers.

Outside the Food Tavern.

Luo Ya slung his pack over his shoulder.

"Luo Ya!"

The tavern owner, Lilyca, called out to stop him while holding her daughter, Lilyca. An almost imperceptible fear trembled in her voice.

She had thought that seeing the Marines' devastating defeat would make Luo Ya hesitate, but she had not expected him to show no hesitation at all.

"Are you really going to become a marine?"

"Yes."

Luo Ya nodded with a smile. Looking at the uneasy mother and daughter, he thanked them sincerely. "Sister Lilyca, thank you for taking care of me these past months. And Lilyca, thank you too. The sweet rice balls you made were delicious."

"..."

Lilyca's expression darkened. She wanted to persuade Luo Ya to stay. Compared to becoming a marine, working at the tavern and living out a peaceful life was not necessarily a bad choice.

After all, there was a Marine base on the island. No matter how arrogant the pirates were, they were unlikely to invade this peaceful town.

But she had no reason to stop him. Luo Ya was merely her employee.

"Brother Luo Ya!"

Lilyca had no such reservations. She jumped down from Mama's arms, grabbed Luo Ya's pant leg, and looked up at him with teary eyes. "Can't you stay? Lilyca and Mama both really like you."

"Lilyca, I really like you both too."

Luo Ya crouched down and smiled as he rubbed Lilyca's head, while secretly glancing at Lilyca, who seemed to want to say something but hesitated, as if she wanted to explain something.

What does that mean?

She didn't even blush?

Heh, hilarious. I never had that many thoughts about you anyway.

Three months ago, Luo Ya had transmigrated into this chaotic world overrun by pirates. He had been reborn in the body of a stranded young man who had died in a shipwreck and washed ashore on the island.

Because he was too hungry, he had collapsed outside the tavern. Fortunately, the kindhearted owner, Lilyca, had taken him in. To make a living, he had then voluntarily stayed behind to work at the tavern.

Three months of doing odd jobs at the tavern had been enough for him to learn about this world through the scattered conversations of its patrons.

The World Government, One Piece Roger, the Goa Kingdom.

This was the world of One Piece!

If he remembered correctly, the Shells Town where he currently was was the place where Luffy and Zoro met. Little Lilyca was the adorable girl who brought Zoro sweet rice balls.

As for Lilyca's mother, Lilyca, her husband had once been a marine, but he had died at the hands of pirates many years ago. That was why she was instinctively opposed to joining the Marines.

After living together day and night for three months, they had naturally developed some feelings.

Luo Ya had considered staying.

He was not particularly handsome, merely well-featured and pleasant to look at. However, in a world full of bizarre-looking people, decent features already put him ahead of 95 percent of the competition, making it easy to win women's favor.

At worst, affection could grow over time.

He had that much confidence.

But how could a true man, born between heaven and earth, remain miserably under a woman's skirt for long!

Luo Ya put away any thoughts of living off a woman and comforted the little girl. "Don't worry, Lilyca. I'm only going to become a marine. I'll come back to visit you."

"But..."

Lilyca recalled yesterday's tragedy, and she could not stop worrying. She feared that Brother Luo Ya, like her father and those dead marines, would be brutally killed by pirates.

Being a marine was truly dangerous!

Seeing that Luo Ya had made up his mind to leave, Lilyca thought of her dead husband. Her emotions gradually spiraled out of control, and for the first time, she got angry with Luo Ya.

"Why? Why? Why? Why do you men all want to become marines? Can't you just live peacefully?"

"Sister Lilyca."

Luo Ya pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his clothes, shook one loose between his lips, lit it with a match, and took a deep drag.

The glowing ember reflected his ambition.

"I want to make something of myself!"

There was no lofty reason, nor any persistent pursuit of justice. Whether in his previous life or this one, there had only ever been one thing he wanted.

To fucking make something of himself!

He wanted money, power, beautiful women, social status, and respect. He did not want to be a bartender who was ordered around by others, forever stuck at the bottom of society.

He was a man.

He did not want anyone looking down on him!