White waves surged beneath a clear blue sky.
On the shimmering beach, several white-shelled sand crabs were cautiously approaching some food nearby.
Several vultures circled overhead. They seemed to have their eyes on the food on the beach too, and were preparing to swoop down and feast.
Suddenly, the approaching crabs stopped short, then quickly backed into their burrows in the sand. A trace of regret appeared in the eyes of the circling vultures.
Uh?... What's going on?
The food struggled to roll over, revealing a teenage boy.
The glaring sunlight kept him from opening his eyes for a moment.
"Huff, huff... cough, cough..."
Who am I? My body aches all over...
Suddenly, the boy's eyes flew wide, veins bulging on his forehead. "Aaah..."
A fierce headache struck, as if a red-hot branding iron had been shoved into his head. A flood of chaotic memories churned, collided, and mingled in his mind.
Even though he had no strength left, his body rolled involuntarily, tumbling over and over on the beach. Only after more than ten minutes did the agonizing headache gradually subside.
"Huff, huff..." His chest rose and fell as he gasped for breath. Opening his eyes slightly, he stared blankly at the blue sky, where several vultures were still circling.
I transmigrated? East Blue? Pirate King Roger?
Noah? Carnegie Noah! From today on, I'm Carnegie Noah! As for my old name, let it drift away with the wind!
Noah lay quietly on the beach, accepting the reality of his transmigration while silently sorting through the memories in his head. Whether they were memories of his previous life or those of the body's original owner, they were all extremely important.
The body's original owner was named Carnegie Noah. He was thirteen years old, 184 centimeters tall, and weighed 88 kilograms. He had been born on Starfish Island in the Polestar Islands (the Polestar Islands were the region where Loguetown was located). His parents had been killed by pirates three years ago, leaving him an orphan, and he now lived off their inheritance and the fish he caught.
He was lying on the beach today because he had encountered a sea beast while out fishing. His little fishing boat had broken apart at sea. Fortunately, the sea beast had been fighting another sea beast, allowing him to escape with his life and be swept by the current onto a nearby beach.
Fighting his exhaustion, Noah crawled beneath a coconut tree not far away.
A cool sea breeze and the shade of the coconut tree kept his body out of the scorching sun. With his back against the tree, Noah gazed out at the distant sea, but saw no sign of a boat.
Still, he figured he was somewhere near Starfish Island. After all, the body's original owner had been an ordinary person. If he had drifted at sea for too long, fish and sea beasts would have devoured him long ago.
Since he was here, he might as well make the best of it. Noah calmed himself down.
He continued sorting through the memories in his head.
It was the year 1501 of the sea circle calendar. It had been the morning of May 7 when he met with disaster, and the sun was still high overhead, so he guessed it was still May 7.
The original owner's family situation was simple. Three years ago, following the outbreak of the Great Pirate Era, the marines had been hunting down pirates setting sail around Loguetown. One group of pirates had fled to the vicinity of Starfish Island, where they had killed his parents.
Aside from his parents, he also had a paternal cousin-once-removed, Carnegie Joseph, and a younger paternal cousin, Carnegie Joshua, who were still alive. They were also fishermen on Starfish Island. Noah, who had only been ten at the time, had survived thanks to Joseph's support.
Uncle Joseph should notice I'm missing soon... Noah silently watched the sea. He had always let Joseph know before going fishing, so if he failed to return by evening, his cousin-once-removed would soon realize something had happened to him.
He recalled the area around Starfish Island.
Starfish Island lay approximately 168 kilometers north of Polestar Island, where Loguetown was located. It was the main island of the Starfish Archipelago, which belonged to the Polestar Islands. The Starfish Archipelago had three inhabited islands and sixteen uninhabited islands with vegetation.
The island beneath his feet was most likely one of the uninhabited islands in the Starfish Archipelago. He had visited all the inhabited islands, and there were many fishing boats and merchant ships around them. Here, as far as he could see across the sea, there was nothing but seagulls and white clouds. It was clearly away from the busy shipping routes.
He rested as he sorted through his memories.
Half an hour later, when Noah felt less exhausted and sore, he quickly got up and picked up a discarded bamboo pole more than three meters long on the beach.
He looked up at the coconut tree that had shaded him. More than a dozen green coconuts hung from it.
After poking at them for over twenty minutes, he finally knocked two green coconuts down. Noah licked his dry lips, picked them up, and began smashing them against a reef rock nearby.
Smack, smack...
Crack! As soon as he heard one split, he quickly turned it over and held the crack to his mouth. Sweet, refreshing coconut water flowed out through the split in the shell.
Gulp, gulp...
"Ah... that's better!" Noah wiped the coconut water from the corner of his mouth and kept drinking. Only after he had drained both coconuts did his stomach feel a little full.
He looked around. More than twenty coconut trees stood at intervals along this stretch of beach, all bearing green coconuts. Until he found fresh water, those coconuts were the source of life that would keep him alive.
After drinking the coconut water, he rested for another half hour or so.
Noah picked up the bamboo pole, then gathered several palm-sized stones from the beach and stuffed them into his pockets.
He planned to explore the small grove near the shore. Although a small uninhabited island like this was unlikely to have large predators, Noah still didn't dare let his guard down.
He grabbed a stone from his pocket and hurled it into a thicket more than ten meters away. At the same time, he swung the bamboo pole, beating the surrounding grass and bushes to startle out any creatures that might be hiding there.
Sure enough, he had been right to be cautious. A green snake in a nearby thicket was struck by the bamboo pole and quickly slithered away.
In a primeval jungle like this, the most dangerous things were snakes, insects, rats, ants, and poisonous plants, trees, and mushrooms.
After passing through more than twenty meters of coastal mangroves, he found the terrain beginning to rise, with quite a bit of bamboo growing there. He found no large wild beasts.
But he found no sign of the fresh water he was most concerned about, and Noah's heart sank slightly.
He continued exploring.
After going more than two hundred meters into the bamboo grove, his eyes suddenly lit up. Not far away was a broad expanse of jagged, rocky terrain, and a tiny trickle of water was seeping through the cracks between the rocks.
Rather than rush over, Noah continued beating the grass and bushes around him to avoid coming to grief through carelessness.
When he reached the spot where the spring water dripped down, he quickly caught a little and touched it lightly with his tongue a few times.
It's fresh water! Great.
With fresh water, he could hold out longer on the uninhabited island. After all, he couldn't drink coconut water indefinitely.
Noah took a pebble from his pocket and smashed it hard against a nearby rock. Before long, he had knocked off several stone flakes. He chose one with a sharp edge and retraced his steps to the bamboo grove.
Finding a bamboo stalk of a suitable size, he struck it with the stone's sharp edge.
After more than ten minutes, he finally broke through the bamboo.
Just then, Noah's eyes suddenly widened. He seemed to catch a faint glimpse of something.