Fated Destiny

In the year 1484 of the Age of the Sea, on the eve of the God Valley incident.

New World, Hachinosu.

The blazing sun hung high as the casino roared with noise. Cheap perfume, body odor, cigars, rum, and countless other smells mingled together, enough to make anyone nauseous.

Before the roulette table, a purple-haired man wearing a black coat with nothing underneath, his muscular chest and abs exposed, tilted back a bottle and gulped it down, letting rum stream over his handsome face.

"Captain John, it's your turn to place your bets."

The scantily clad, seductive dealer urged the purple-haired man in a cautious tone.

John set the bottle on the table, pulled out a stack of Beli from his coat pocket, and placed the bills one by one on the numbered spaces from "1" to "35."

Only the black "36" remained unbet on.

Such a bizarre betting method drew the attention of the surrounding pirates. They wanted to mock the foolish approach, but the purple-haired man's notorious reputation forced them to hold it in.

After all, even a straight-up bet on a single number only paid 35 to 1 if the ball landed in the corresponding slot.

Splitting the wager across thirty-five numbers like this resulted in odds lower than even 1 to 1. Even if he won, he would lose money.

John had already drunk twenty-three bottles of rum that day, yet he was not drunk. On the contrary, his mind was remarkably clear.

He clearly saw the strange, "restrained" expressions on the pirates' faces, but he did not pick a fight. He merely lifted his chin at the dealer.

"Start."

"All right."

The dealer nodded timidly and reached out to spin the roulette wheel.

This was a bet destined to lose from the very beginning. The pirates had no expectation of a "miracle"; they were only curious what the money-obsessed purple-haired man was trying to pull.

"Clack, clack, clack—"

The ball bounced through the slots as the wheel spun, then slowly came to a stop in slot "36."

"Pfft! Hahahaha!"

"That's ridiculously unlucky!"

"Missing even like that? He'd better watch out while walking around, or some dagger might fly out of nowhere and stick right into his forehead."

There were thirty-six slots in total, and he had still missed after betting on thirty-five of them. The pirates present could no longer restrain themselves and burst into loud laughter.

John's expression darkened to the extreme. He picked up his bottle, drained the rum, then smashed it viciously down on the head of the pirate laughing the loudest.

The bottle shattered with a crack, and the laughing pirate toppled backward, his head covered in blood.

All laughter stopped abruptly. The pirates stared at the purple-haired man in terror, and the casino fell into an eerie silence.

John turned and left the roulette table. The pirates surrounding him hurriedly parted, watching as he swaggered out of the casino.

Only long after the purple-haired man's figure disappeared did the pirates turn their stiff necks to look at one another, their faces full of lingering fear at having escaped disaster.

"W-What's wrong with him?"

"How would I know? Which one of those officers isn't crazy? If I could understand them, that'd be something."

"Anyone would be in a bad mood after that. We should be careful and avoid provoking him for a while..."

Outside the casino, John stood on a street littered with trash and looked up at the scorching sun hanging in the sky, his eyes gradually narrowing.

"Fated destiny... damn it!"

The current John was not the Paramecia Magnet-Magnet Fruit user, but rather...

A Logia Rumble-Rumble Fruit user!

And his soul came from another world.

Several years ago, when he had transmigrated here, his soul had landed inside the Rumble-Rumble Fruit on a Sky Island. Like an unborn Nezha, he could only control that "ball" and bounce around everywhere.

Then, by accident, it had fallen from the clouds. On an island in the Blue Sea below, the young John found it and ate it.

From then on, his soul had hidden within John's body, lying in wait for an opportunity to seize control.

Because of his suppression, John could only use "electricity generates magnetism" and was unable to become elemental or wield more abilities.

Thus, both the world and John himself had believed it to be the power of the Paramecia Magnet-Magnet Fruit.

Until last night, when he took advantage of John's drunkenness to erase his soul in one stroke and completely seize control.

The real John had arrived!

His joy lasted less than three seconds. Using the previous owner's Observation Haki in conjunction with the "Mantra" formed by the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, John sensed something vague and intangible.

Death Omen Star!

In other words, the fate of imminent death!

In the predetermined fate, John would be ambushed and wounded during the God Valley Battle by Gan Sui, the Paramecia Bomb-Bomb Fruit user, before later being betrayed and killed by his subordinates.

Now that John had replaced his predecessor, he naturally had to bear the fate that should have belonged to him.

Death!

His bad luck at the casino was proof enough.

"Under sunlight, people always become so disheveled. Every bit of misery and ugliness is exposed without restraint."

John raised a hand toward the sky, wanting to crush that damned sun in his grasp.

"You... shine too brightly. As if everything in the world should become your backdrop, as if no one else is allowed to shine."

John gritted his teeth, utterly unwilling to accept it!

This was clearly a world filled with freedom and passion, yet countless invisible shackles bound him so tightly that he could barely breathe.

I just want to live!

"John!"

A rough voice rang out, interrupting John's thoughts.

John looked toward the voice and saw a three-meter-tall burly man shoving aside the pirates "blocking" his path as he strode toward him.

This was his second-in-command—Pete.

"Are you sober? Rocks is summoning the officers for a meeting. He looks like he's in a hurry, so get over there."

Pete approached and thoughtfully straightened John's collar, urging him helplessly.

John instinctively took a step back, his gaze toward Pete filled with vigilance.

If nothing unexpected happened, Pete had to be among the subordinates who would betray him!

Pete looked at the collar that had slipped from his fingertips and frowned in confusion.

"What's wrong with you, John? You've been acting strange since last night. Are you sick?"

As he spoke, he raised a hand to touch John's forehead and check his temperature.

John also realized that he had acted too "sensitive." Forcing out a smile, he grabbed Pete's outstretched wrist.

"No. I just forgot one of my treasure stashes, so I'm feeling a little irritated."

Everyone knew that the money-obsessed "Captain John" had plundered and hidden countless treasures. Forgetting one or two locations was perfectly normal.

At that, Pete's eyes flickered slightly. He forced a smile as well and softly reassured him.

"It's good that you're not sick. It's only a little treasure. We can just go rob more."

Then Pete leaned forward, bringing his head close to John's shoulder as he lowered his voice.

"What's most important right now is the officers' meeting Rocks summoned. I think it might be related to Maron's murder some time ago and Shakky's disappearance."

"There's news about Miss Shakky?"

Hearing that, John lost his composure and cried out.