Sea Circle Calendar, year 1484.
A summer island.
A gentle sea breeze blew along the beach.
Garp basked in the sunshine, in an excellent mood.
Buru buru!
The Den Den Mushi rang.
Kong, the current Fleet Admiral, shouted anxiously:
"Garp! The Rocks Pirates are going to attack God Valley!"
Garp was still on vacation.
He had already anticipated this move from the Rocks Pirates.
About a week earlier.
To hold their triennial nation-destroying game, the Celestial Dragons had.
Selected God Valley, which did not pay the Heavenly Tribute.
For the game's prizes, they had selected six powerful Devil Fruits.
The Holy Knights and the Navy had seized them while the Rocks Pirates' main forces were away.
How could Rocks possibly swallow that insult?
He had decisively chosen to attack God Valley and reclaim the treasures!
(PS: In the latest manga storyline, the Celestial Dragons took several Devil Fruits and treasures from the Rocks Pirates to use as prizes.)
Kong knew Garp had no interest in protecting the Celestial Dragons.
So he added another line.
"Garp, that Roger is getting ready to join the fun too!"
"What?!"
Garp's eyes nearly popped out.
"That bastard Roger is on the move again?"
Move out. Move out immediately!
"Bogard, vacation's over!"
Bogard, who wore a crisp suit and sunglasses even on vacation, immediately stood up.
The New World.
A week earlier.
The center of the chaos in the Rocks era.
Hachinosu.
The Rocks Grand Fleet had returned from a campaign, victorious but in an utterly foul mood.
Although its ranks included a bunch of wildly overrated fighters, the Rocks Pirates' strength was beyond question.
Yet they had returned from their outing to find their home raided. How were they supposed to play like this?
Countless low-ranking pirates, especially the rookie apprentices, had been killed or injured.
In a corner of Rocky Port.
An unremarkable young pirate named Shane crawled out onto the beach.
His internal and external wounds were healing too quickly for the naked eye to follow.
Even the bullet hole over his heart expelled a cartridge casing.
Still shaken, Shane sat by the sea, holding a compass the entire time.
"Why would a huge truck come charging at me when I was swimming in the sea?"
"Good thing I was lucky enough to survive!"
The coastal scenery looked completely different from his memories. He had never seen it before.
The enormous skull mountain in the island's center was a shocking sight.
There was no way Shane would not recognize it. This was a setting from the One Piece manga he had followed since elementary school.
In terms of accuracy, it was even more perfect than the live-action movie!
"Hachinosu?"
Everything about Shane's body felt wrong, and his clothes were in the style of a young pirate.
"The compass is still here?"
It was this very compass, a souvenir he had specifically bought at the beach while on vacation. There had only been one.
On its back was a skull, embedded in the rear silhouette of a laughing demon.
On its front was an ordinary compass needle.
Unfortunately, the Grand Line's seas were abnormal, so it would be useless.
Blood from his hand seeped into the compass, and it immediately began working.
[Ding!] [Duang!] [Demon Compass verification successful] [Compass owner: Rona D. Shane] [Age: 15] [Place of origin: West Blue] [Once verified, the compass can be hidden and stored at will] [Cannot be taken away; usable only by the compass owner] [The Demon Prologue is visible only to the owner]
Demon Prologue?
Shane understood. It probably meant the floating text before his eyes.
[The Demon Compass will appear at the owner's fate singularities, offering choices and granting different rewards] [The owner has returned from death, activating a fate singularity] [Choice 1: Devour the original body's owner Shane's memories and skills-rewards: double memory, double comprehension, double soul strength, double physical strength, double proficiency in original skills] [Choice 2: Do not devour the original memories; explore the seas on your own-reward: commendable courage; the brave start from zero]
Shane tapped "commendable courage."
He then confirmed that it was not some kind of trait-based reward.
"11111!"
The Demon Compass spun rapidly, and Shane devoured the original owner's soul.
He devoured all the memories and skills, replacing them with a stronger soul, memory, and comprehension.
The original Shane had only known that his name contained a D. He had not even known his surname!
Shane had thought this person with the same name merely had an extra D. He had not expected him to have a surname as well.
He knew a little marksmanship and swordsmanship, but his hand-to-hand skills were terrible.
Shane's physical capabilities underwent an earth-shattering transformation.
Even his worst skills doubled in proficiency, and his actual combat strength reached roughly five times that of the original body.
"The captain and the others are back in triumph!"
"Woohoo! Now we can definitely get revenge and show those Navy bastards and Celestial Dragons!"
"Hurry up and clear away the bodies! We lost a lot of rookie pirates!"
"Hey, rookie! Since you're not dead, hurry up and move the bodies! You expect us to do it?"
The main forces had returned.
A cheerful atmosphere once again filled Hachinosu.
Of course, that had nothing to do with the rookie pirates.
As soon as someone discovered Shane was still alive, he was scolded and ordered to move the bodies and clean up the port.
At that moment, the Demon Compass spun again.
[Choice completed] [A new fate singularity has appeared, triggering new choices] [Choice 1: Refuse to move the bodies. In the Rocks Pirates, strength reigns supreme; swallow your anger for a moment and stay angry all night-reward: Finger Pistol, an essential physical technique for rookies] [Choice 2: Give in out of fear, continue moving the bodies and cleaning the port-reward: doubled confidence; believe your day will come] [Choice 3: Dive underwater and sneak away. Refuse to be a pirate in a pirate paradise, even if it means feeding the fish-reward: doubled diving skill]
"11111!"
Shane felt the other choices were nothing but a waste of time!
What use was that stuff?
After making a choice, he had to act accordingly.
Perhaps because he was a rookie pirate, Shane stood only a little over 170 centimeters tall.
After his transformation, he had grown taller, but he was still not as big as the pirate before him.
The man wore a fierce scowl and carried a saber over his shoulder, looking thoroughly arrogant.
According to his memories, this man was called Doron, a veteran pirate quite proficient in swordsmanship.
With a bounty of over ten million Beli, he could throw his weight around with some of Hachinosu's rookies.
While I'm still growing, I need to eat better and get some sun. Otherwise, I won't be able to measure up to those monsters later.
Shane took a moment to adjust to his body.
The other rookie pirates were all moving bodies and feeding them to the fish.
When Doron saw Shane standing unmoved, he shot him a sidelong look and swiftly brought his blade down.
This was Hachinosu. There was no point wasting words. If someone refused to obey, you struck first.
Swish!
With his new physique, both his bodily functions and perception had doubled.
He easily dodged the strike, the cold gleam of the blade sweeping past his side.
Shane glanced at Doron out of the corner of his eye. "I refuse!"
[Choice completed]
The compass spun, and Shane felt his fingertips tremble slightly.
The muscles throughout his body felt as though they had undergone countless rounds of tempering.
Finger Pistol came to him at once. Everything felt like bodily instinct.
"You're dead!"
Seeing this rookie pirate dare to act so insolently before him, Doron swiftly reversed his blade, intending to cleave Shane in two.
"Finger Pistol!"
Shane turned sideways and thrust a finger, the force striking through the air and severely wounding Doron.
At the same time.
He also grew another centimeter taller, and his physical capabilities rose to the point where he could perfectly withstand Finger Pistol.
Swish!
Blood sprayed, and Doron's eyes bulged.
Before he could draw his blade again, a hole appeared in his throat.
"Move the body!"
Shane stepped over Doron's corpse, and the rookie pirates carried it away with fear in their eyes.
Here on Hachinosu, a pirate paradise where the strong preyed on the weak.
Paradise belonged only to the strong!
The victor survived. That was Hachinosu's rule, and it was Rocks's rule all the more!
Cheers rose from Rocky Port.
The Rocks Pirates' Pirate Flag fluttered above an enormous pirate ship.
Those legends were still young, while some overlords had already reached their peak.
Before you continue