Into the Pirate World

Luo Ya jolted awake in bed. The pain from his wounds made him suck in a sharp breath. "Where am I? Wasn't I hit by a car on my way home from work?"

The wooden furniture and surroundings looked nothing like a hospital. Luo Ya was about to get up and look around when the door creaked open.

A burly old man, at least two meters tall, came in. His hair and beard were white, and he had a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Judging by his build alone, you might have taken him for a bodybuilder.

"Your whole body was fractured, but you're sitting up after only two days unconscious? You've got a pretty tough constitution, kid."

"Seriously, my whole body was fractured? Did a truck hit me? I remember it was a Wuling Hongguang. I guess those things really are a force to be reckoned with.

"Thanks for saving me, old man. I'll transfer the medical expenses to you. Have you seen my phone?" Luo Ya asked with a bitter smile.

"What's a phone? You mean a Den Den Mushi? When I found you on the shore, you weren't even wearing clothes. What you've got on now is some of my old stuff.

"You don't have a single Beli to your name, kid. Get ready to work for me and pay off your debt." Maynard blew out a smoke ring, left a plate of food, and turned to go.

Bang! The sound of the door slamming brought Luo Ya back to reality. "Den Den Mushi? Beli? Am I in the world of One Piece?" Just then, a sharp pain stabbed through Luo Ya's head, and a jumble of memories surfaced.

The owner of this body had been named Luo Ya, too. He had been a sailor aboard some unknown pirate ship in the West Blue.

When another pirate ship attacked, he had jumped into the sea to survive. Then the current Luo Ya had taken over his body.

"If I had to be reincarnated, why couldn't I have been a Celestial Dragon? And I was about to get paid! Couldn't I have enjoyed myself first? Damn it!" Luo Ya said, flipping the sky the middle finger. The movement tugged at his wounds, making him suck in another few sharp breaths.

Well, what was done was done. He'd already grown tired of his old, uneventful life anyway. With that in mind, Luo Ya picked up the plate and wolfed down the food. He didn't know what kind of meat it was, but it tasted incredible. After finishing, he fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, a large hand lifted Luo Ya off the bed. "Kid, I don't have food to spare. Once you're healed, you'll work for me. Go deal with that Sea King outside and cut it up."

Maynard carried Luo Ya outside the wooden cabin.

A gigantic Sea King lay in the clearing outside. It looked like a massive snake, except for its mouth full of sharp teeth.

It was at least seven or eight meters long, and dark red blood had dried on the ground. A long slash had cut through the base of its head.

"Cut all the meat off, then skin it. Once you're done, go chop some firewood for tonight's barbecue. If I come back and find you slacking, I'll throw you into the sea!" Maynard said, tossing him an iron sword before turning to leave.

Luo Ya looked at the Sea King in front of him and sighed.

"First, I need to heal up and find out what island this is and what year it is on the Sea Circle Calendar. If it's the East Blue, that'd be great. I could go find Koushiro and ask him to train me. Devil Fruits are hard to come by, so learning some swordsmanship for self-defense would be good, too."

After saying that, he picked up the iron sword and swung it a few times, ready to start cutting the meat.

Suddenly, a whisper rang out in Luo Ya's mind. "All things in the universe, turn to ash. Ryujin Jakka."

Luo Ya suddenly found himself in a black space filled with scorched earth and ashes. A katana with a deep purple hilt floated in the center.

"Ryujin Jakka? As expected, every transmigrator gets a cheat. Hahaha!"

Ryujin Jakka was the strongest and oldest fire-type Zanpakuto, said to possess the greatest offensive power in the Soul Society.

The heat released by its Shikai could reduce everything in its path to ash. Its Bankai reached the temperature of the sun's core.

Basically, it had an unbelievably overpowered setup and an embarrassingly poor track record.

In the original Bleach story, it had barely killed anyone, and its wielder hadn't even dared to use Bankai. Zanka no Tachi, its Bankai, was said to be capable of melting the entire Soul Society.

Then, during the Thousand-Year Blood War, Yhwach simply took it out, and its Bankai was absorbed, too.

Luo Ya stepped forward and reached for the deep purple hilt. The whisper rang out again. "All things in the universe, turn to ash."

Then Luo Ya lost consciousness.

"Kid! You'd better explain what that pile of ashes has to do with the Sea King I had before—which was a lot bigger than this! And I told you to work, so why are you lying on the ground asleep?"

Maynard grabbed the dazed Luo Ya by the collar and hoisted him up.

"Ahaha, well, let me make something up—no, I mean, let me explain." Luo Ya rubbed the back of his head with an awkward grin. With a casual wave, the iron sword in his hand crumbled into fragments and drifted away.

Luo Ya and Maynard stared at each other as the sword fragments fluttered off in the wind.

"Forget the medicine I used to save your life. With the Sea King and the iron sword, you owe me a million Beli now, kid. You've got a fair, clean-cut look. Plenty of nobles are into that sort of thing," Maynard said through gritted teeth.

"Fine. I'll come clean, boss. I'm actually from the Spirit Clan. My ability just Awakened!"

"The Spirit Clan? And your Awakening gave you the ability to wreck the place?" Bang! Maynard punched him on the head, and a huge lump sprang up before their eyes.

"Ow! That hurts!"

After they finished fooling around, the two sat in the wooden cabin and ate some kind of beast meat.

"So, kid, you're saying you're the last one left from this so-called Spirit Clan, and today you Awakened a sword that spits fire, which burned up my sword and the Sea King?" Maynard stared at Luo Ya with eyes as big as bells.

"Old man, it's not a sword that spits fire! It's Ryujin Jakka! After Bankai, it's hotter than the sun. You'd better start sucking up to me while you still can. Later, don't go around secretly calling yourself my adopted father and taking advantage of me!"

Bang! "Kid, my name is Maynard. I don't care if you've got eight releases or a thousand. Right now, you're still a nobody! Finish your food and get to sleep. Tomorrow you'll make up for all the work you slacked off on today!"

With that, Maynard got up and left.

"My name's Luo Ya! I'm going to become the World's Greatest Swordsman. Remember that, old man!" Luo Ya jumped up and shouted.

After finishing his meal and clearing away the dishes, he saw a newspaper on the table. It said the year was 1516 on the Sea Circle Calendar. Luffy would set sail in five years! There wasn't much time!

Maynard seemed pretty strong. He'd better stick with him for a couple of years. With Ryujin Jakka, he'd surely stand at the top of the world. Then he'd have the Empress on his left and Shirahoshi on his right! Though they were quite different in size. Luo Ya chuckled as his mind wandered, then gradually drifted off to sleep.