Prologue: Setting Sail

The sun was bright, and the sky was cloudless.

On the golden beach, a youth in somewhat tattered clothes lay sprawled out. With a blade of green grass between his lips, he gazed up at the sky, his eyes calm and gentle.

As waves rolled in one after another, just as they were about to touch his body, he spat out the grass and sat up.

"It's about time!"

Gazing at the vast, boundless ocean, Lu Zhuo felt a hint of excitement in his heart.

This world was the world of One Piece, and Lu Zhuo had inexplicably arrived here three years ago.

Thinking back to how he looked when he first arrived, a self-deprecating expression appeared on Lu Zhuo's face.

Back then, going from an ordinary shut-in to a member of the One Piece world, he had been incredibly excited and thrilled. He had nearly screamed at the heavens, "Nami-chan, Robin-chan, I'm coming!"

Of course, he later discovered that while he had transmigrated, he hadn't received a single thing!

Other people got to transmigrate with divine artifacts, equipment, and infinite power-ups. But he had arrived completely empty-handed; he hadn't even seen a single hair of a divine artifact!

However, as a well-read shut-in from the 21st century, he quickly found his own path to survival.

Just as he was reminiscing about the past, a giant beast the size of a house suddenly emerged from the sea before him. Its blood-red maw bit down without mercy.

Seeing this, Lu Zhuo was slightly startled. He dodged to the side, stood up, and then, with a light tap of his feet, retreated rapidly, narrowly avoiding the terrifying mouth.

"What the hell! Damn it, this one is a bit too big, isn't it!"

Looking at the violent, bloodshot eyes of this massive creature, Lu Zhuo couldn't help but curse out loud.

This world didn't have much, but it had an abundance of sea monsters. Lu Zhuo had intended to use himself as bait to catch a fish a few meters long, but he hadn't expected to hook a monster over ten meters in size!

Although the monster had come ashore, it suddenly flipped its body, sprang up, and bit toward Lu Zhuo once more.

To it, Lu Zhuo was nothing more than a snack.

Lu Zhuo cursed under his breath, but he didn't dare to be careless. Even after three years of frantic training, it was difficult for him to kill a beast of this size.

His expression turned slightly cold as his right hand gripped the sword at his waist.

"Draw Sword Slash!"

Amidst a crisp metallic ring, a dim, cyan-white sword gleam swept out.

Slash!

Blood rained down from the giant monster's mouth as half of its ugly tongue was severed by Lu Zhuo.

Looking at the pained giant monster, there was no smugness on Lu Zhuo's face; instead, he wore a bitter expression.

One had to know that for the past three years, Lu Zhuo had been practicing the art of the draw-slash. He had already challenged almost every swordsman in the town on this island.

Yet, a full-power strike like this, hitting the monster's most vulnerable spot, had only managed to cut off half of its tongue!

Injured, the monster's ugly, giant eyes instantly revealed a look of extreme violence. Its entire body seemed to go berserk as it lunged madly at Lu Zhuo.

Holding his sword with both hands, Lu Zhuo dodged continuously, not daring to clash head-on.

The injured monster had gone mad, completely disregarding the fact that it had ventured deep onto land.

After retreating a few more steps, Lu Zhuo suddenly sheathed his sword and waved with a smile.

"Bye-bye!"

The next moment, four massive logs suddenly appeared from the surroundings, shooting toward the monster. The tips of the logs had been sharpened to points, and their speed was so great that the monster had no way to dodge!

Boom!

After several loud bangs, the dust settled. The giant monster was pinned firmly to the ground by the logs, blood gushing out like a fountain. It twitched slightly before dying completely.

Looking at the dead monster, a trace of fatigue appeared on Lu Zhuo's face. He frowned and chuckled bitterly, "Looking at this thing, I've lost my appetite!"

Although he said that, the worry in Lu Zhuo's heart was a different matter entirely.

On land, he could set up all sorts of traps, and even a monster as big as a house would be played to death by him. But once he reached the sea, if he encountered a monster like this, he would truly be done for!

Having finally transmigrated once, Lu Zhuo didn't want to die again. Who knew if he would transmigrate again after dying, or if he would just be gone for good!

But...

Thinking of the mischievous Nami and the cold, wise Robin, a fire ignited in Lu Zhuo's eyes.

No matter how dangerous it was, he had to venture out! In this One Piece world, there was no such thing as a safe place. Besides, if he stayed here forever, his strength would at best remain that of a second-rate swordsman, not even as good as Zoro when he first set sail in the original story.

Through the dense leaves, he gazed at the sun in the sky, and the look in Lu Zhuo's eyes became resolute.

In the sixteenth year of the Great Pirate Era, four years before Luffy would set sail, a swordsman destined to shake the world was setting out to sea!