"Fist Bone: Honesty!"
On the screen, Koby put his life on the line and unleashed an all-out blow, blasting apart a stone arm even larger than a warship!
"Holy shit, that punch was beyond Admiral level!"
"Koby's fucking aweso—me! (Voice cracks)"
"From an ordinary Marine to Admiral strength in just two and a half years. That's what putting in 200 times the effort gets you!"
"So Koby was the protagonist all along!"
"According to the anime, soldiers at Marine Headquarters train every day with 2,000 push-ups, 100 rope climbs, 200 laps around the training grounds, and hand-to-hand combat practice. Multiply all that by 200... my brain just overloaded!"
"If only Vice Admiral Garp..."
"Sakazuki: Why did only you guys come back? Where's Garp? Koby: I left him trapped in the New World!"
"Hahahaha, the guy above nearly killed me!"
"Ahem, ahem, let's get serious!"
"If even Koby could do it, wouldn't that mean we could recreate his miraculous growth if we got transported into the One Piece world and put in 200 times the effort too?"
"That makes a lot of sense!"
"Admiral level in two and a half years. Isn't that ten or a hundred times better than those novel protagonists with cheats? If hard work is all it takes, who needs a system to assign stat points?"
"So who's going to test it out?"
"The dump truck is ready!"
With Koby's strength skyrocketing, the various One Piece forums, which had only recently gone quiet, sprang back to life, with an endless stream of snarky jokes.
The year was 1515 of the One Piece Era Calendar, five years before Luffy set sail.
East Blue, Shells Town.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A bell rang by the shore. Its steady rhythm meant there was no danger, leaving only one possible reason for it to sound.
"The Marines are back!"
A warship belonging to the Navy 153rd Branch was approaching the harbor. They had set out to eliminate the Black Cat Pirates, who had been pillaging nearby islands.
The residents of Shells Town emerged from their homes and gathered along both sides of the street, waiting for their "heroes" to return.
The Marines meant security!
Whenever the Marines returned from an expedition, the townspeople gave them a warm welcome. It was not just out of respect and trust in the Marines, but also because their own family members served among them.
Yet the triumphant return they had expected never came.
Colonel Rhode, the commanding officer of the 153rd Branch, walked at the head of the procession. Half his face was wrapped in bandages, his left arm was gone, and large bloodstains still covered his clothes.
The other Marines were in equally terrible shape. Their heads, bodies, and limbs were covered in wounds and bandages as they supported one another along the road.
Several handcarts brought up the rear, carrying wounded soldiers who could no longer move on their own, along with bodies wrapped in white cloth and piled together like cargo.
The carnage was unbearable to look at.
"How awful..."
Many of the young people were seeing such a scene for the first time. Their faces instantly drained of color, and their dreams of becoming Marines vanished, leaving only profound fear.
They finally understood their elders' warnings.
Being a Marine could get you killed!
Compared with the frightened young people, the elderly were much calmer. Over the past decade or so, they had seen scenes like this more than once.
"So few of them came back."
"Ah, the pirates are getting more and more brazen!"
"Damn it, this is all that bastard Roger's fault!"
If they remembered correctly, the branch had sent nearly a hundred men on this operation, yet fewer than half had returned alive.
Ever since Roger ushered in the Great Pirate Era, even East Blue, a symbol of peace, had begun to suffer from rampant piracy. Countless villages and civilians were subjected to burning, slaughter, and plunder every day.
Marine casualties had become routine.
The street fell silent.
The returning Marines hung their heads, too ashamed to face the townspeople welcoming them. A lingering trace of fear remained in their eyes.
The expedition against the pirates replayed in their minds like a nightmare. The pirates had seen through their movements and ambushed them.
Worst of all was Captain Kuro of the "Hundred Plans," who appeared and vanished like a ghost. Even Colonel Rhode had lost an arm to his blades.
It had been a massacre!
Suddenly, the procession stopped.
A dozen or so townspeople blocked the way. Among them were gray-haired elders, young women who had only recently married, and children too young to understand.
Every face was deathly pale, every pair of eyes filled with dread.
An elderly woman squeezed her way in front of Rhode, clasping her wrinkled hands tightly together as she asked hopefully, "Colonel Rhode, may I ask why I haven't seen my son Jamie?"
"And my husband, Cole!"
"Did my big brother Hanni come back?"
They spoke over one another, asking about their families. Even though they had already guessed the cruel answer, they refused to abandon their last shred of hope.
Colonel Rhode's eyes were bleak.
"Bring them over."
The handcart piled with bodies was brought forward. Each white cloth bore a corresponding name. The one marked Jamie was only the size of a basketball, wrapped around his remains.
"The pirates ambushed us. Ensign Jamie was struck by a cannonball. This was all we could recover of his body."
Thud.
Clutching the bundle, the elderly woman collapsed to the ground in despair.
Ten minutes later.
The Marines resumed their march toward the branch fortress at the end of the street. Even after every last one had disappeared from view, anguished sobs still filled the street.
Early the following morning, the 153rd Branch posted a recruitment notice.
Outside the Food Tavern.
Luo Ya shouldered his pack.
"Luo Ya!"
Lilyca, the tavern's proprietress, held her daughter in her arms as she called out to stop him, a barely perceptible fear in her voice.
She had thought that witnessing the Marines' devastating defeat would make Luo Ya reconsider. Instead, he had not hesitated at all.
"Are you really going to join the Marines?"
"That's right."
Luo Ya nodded with a smile. Looking at the anxious mother and daughter, he thanked them sincerely. "Lilyca, thank you for looking after me all this time. And thank you too, little Lilyca. Your sweet rice balls were delicious."
"..."
Lilyca's expression darkened. She wanted to persuade Luo Ya to stay. Rather than joining the Marines, there was nothing wrong with working at the tavern and living out his life in peace.
After all, the island had a Marine Base. No matter how arrogant the pirates were, they were unlikely to invade this peaceful little town.
But she had no right to stop him. Luo Ya was only her employee.
"Big brother Luo Ya!"
Little Lilyca had no such reservations. She jumped down from her mother's arms and grabbed Luo Ya's trouser leg, her eyes brimming with tears. "Can't you stay? Mama and I both really like you."
"Lilyca, I really like you both too."
Luo Ya crouched down and smiled as he ruffled little Lilyca's hair. Out of the corner of his eye, he sneaked a glance at her mother, who seemed about to speak, as though she wanted to explain something.
What was that supposed to mean?
She wasn't even blushing?
Ha. Hilarious. It's not like I was all that interested in you anyway.
Three months earlier, Luo Ya had been transported into this chaotic, pirate-infested world, coming back to life in the body of a young castaway who had died in a shipwreck and washed ashore on the island.
Starving, he had collapsed outside the tavern. Fortunately, the kindhearted proprietress Lilyca had taken him in. Needing to earn a living, he had volunteered to stay and work there.
Three months of odd jobs at the tavern had been enough for him to learn what this world was like from snippets of the customers' conversations.
The World Government, Pirate King Roger, the Goa Kingdom.
This was the world of One Piece!
If he remembered correctly, Shells Town, where he was now, was where Luffy and Zoro met. Little Lilyca was the adorable girl who brought Zoro sweet rice balls.
As for her mother, Lilyca, her husband had once been a Marine, but pirates had killed him many years ago. That naturally left her opposed to anyone joining the Marines.
After spending three months together every day, some affection was inevitable.
Luo Ya had considered staying too.
He was not particularly handsome, merely possessed of regular features and a face that grew on people. But in a world filled with bizarre-looking people, having regular features already put him ahead of ninety-five percent of the competition, making it easy to win women's affection.
At the very least, affection could grow over time.
He had that much confidence.
But how could a man spend his life languishing beneath a woman's skirts?
Luo Ya put aside the idea of living off a woman and comforted the little girl. "Don't worry, Lilyca. I'm only going to become a Marine. I'll still come back to visit you both."
"But..."
Remembering the tragedy from the day before, little Lilyca could not stop worrying. She was afraid that pirates would cruelly kill Luo Ya, just as they had killed her father and those dead Marines.
Being a Marine really was dangerous!
Seeing that Luo Ya had made up his mind to leave, Lilyca thought of her dead husband. Her emotions gradually slipped out of control, and for the first time, she lashed out at him.
"Why! Why! Why! Why do all you men want to join the Marines? Can't you just live in peace?"
"Lilyca..."
Luo Ya took a pack of cigarettes from inside his clothes, shook one out, and placed it between his lips. He lit it with a match and took a deep drag.
The glowing tip reflected his ambition.
"I want to make something of myself!"
There was no lofty reason, no unwavering pursuit of justice. Whether in his previous life or this one, he had only ever wanted one thing.
To fucking make something of himself!
He wanted money, power, beautiful women, social standing, and respect—not to be a bartender ordered around by everyone, forever stuck at the bottom of society.
He was a man.
He did not want anyone looking down on him!