Kairo Stoneheart quickly discovered that in this world, strength could be gained not just through training, but through eating.
More specifically, by consuming the meat of Sea Kings, the colossal beasts that roamed the oceans.
It was well known that the strong had massive appetites. And Sea King meat, packed with power, could nourish the body like no other.But at just ten years old, there was no way Kairo could take, one down yet.
The first priority was training. Real power. Once he had it, he could step into the sea and hunt his own Sea Kings.
The island where he washed up was small, barely home to a thousand people. The only inhabited area was a stretch of flat land by the port. The rest, over 90% of the island was covered in dense, wild mountain ranges where no one lived.
Perfect for training. Perfect for solitude.
Kairo was an orphan. No memory of his parents. Since birth, he'd been surviving off the charity of the mayor's family. But times had been tough. The original Kairo the body's former owner had gone fishing out of desperation, only to be swept into the sea and slammed into the rocks. That's when he awoke into this world.
Now, reborn in Kairo's body, he had a goal: To survive and Thrive.
With nothing but a machete in hand, Kairo walked away from the village without looking back, disappearing into the wilderness.
His mission? Become the conqueror of the mountain.
In the beginning, he lived off mountain spring water, surviving on fruits—nearly poisoning himself multiple times. But every time danger approached, an instinct would flare in his mind—like a sixth sense. It reminded him of Spider-Man's danger sense from his past life.
Except here, in the One Piece world, it was real.
As Kairo narrowly avoided another bitter-tasting berry, a strange clarity washed over him. It wasn't luck or instinct, he just felt the danger before it happened.
"So it's true," he thought, eyes widening with realization. "Observation Haki... Kenbunshoku Haki. It's not just an anime lore. It's real and I can sense it awakening in me."
By relying on this instinct, he foraged, hunted, and even started building simple traps to catch wild animals. He'd occasionally trek down to the village to barter animal pelts for tools or food, but otherwise, he lived like a phantom in the forest.
Surprisingly, this solitary lifestyle never made him feel lonely. In fact, he was energized. Every morning, he felt himself growing stronger. No longer was he the skinny kid tossed by the sea.
Now, he could go toe-to-toe with a wild boar.
Whenever Kairo got hurt, his wounds healed with surprisingly speed. A hearty meal after a tough battle, and by the next morning, he was already back on his feet, while getting stronger, more focused, and ready to train again.
This was the absurd biology of the One Piece world. And he was adapting fast.
But over time, the basic training he had relied on, push-ups, running, strength drills was no longer enough. He'd reached a bottleneck.
He needed much more training than this .
So, carrying a bundle of fine animal pelts he'd gathered over the past year, Kairo headed back into the port town.
As he entered the market, now standing nearly 1.5 meters tall and stronger than most grown men, people began to take notice.
"Wait… is that Kairo? Didn't he disappear?"
His rare appearances had become whispers. In truth, he had only come down from the mountain a handful of times during that entire year.
Without a word, Kairo spread a cloth over the cobblestones, laid out his furs, and sat cross-legged beside them.
People gathered, curious.
But their gawking irritated him.
"Your buying or not?" Kairo snapped, glaring at the crowd. "If not, get lost. Don't mess with my business."
The market fell into awkward silence. People stared at him like he was some wild animal.
Then suddenly, he sensed something was off, trouble was in the air.
A gruff voice cut through the murmurs. "Kid. Setting up a stall without knowing whose turf this is? You've got guts."
A group of thugs swaggered forward, the crowd quickly parting around them.
"It's the Wild Wolf Gang!" someone whispered.
The gang's leader stepped forward, cracking his knuckles.
"Get outta here, brat. This is our market."
Four or five rough-looking thugs from the Wild Wolf Gang pushed through the crowd, clearing a path. Leading them was a burly man with a thick gold chain around his neck and a flashy gold tooth gleaming in his mouth.
Kairo frowned at the sight, surprised to see gangsters in such a small town of just over a thousand people. But he didn't show an ounce of fear.
"Hey, kid! Don't think you can just set up shop here without paying your share," the gang leader snarled as he stepped up, flipping over the furs Kairo had laid on the blanket.
"Heh, these furs are too clean with no scratches or tears," the leader sneered, pulling out two furs that looked like fox pelts.
"These two furs? That's your payment." He waved his hand dismissively, like it was the best deal the kid could hope for.
Just as the leader tried to pull his hand away, Kairo grabbed his wrist with a firm grip and glared at him.
"That's it?" Kairo said flatly.
The leader frowned, yanking his wrist hard, but Kairo held tight. An unfriendly look crossed the leader's face.
"Pay me twenty Baileys, or pack up and leave," Kairo said coolly.
The leader burst out laughing, shaking his head in disbelief at the strange demand.
"Twenty Baileys? You gotta be kidding! I don't pay to sell my own stuff!" he chuckled loudly.
His cronies, not understanding the joke but seeing their boss laugh, they also laughed along with him.
"Hahaha! Give me the money? Never heard anything so ridiculous in my life!"
With that, the leader shook off Kairo's grip. He expected the kid to back down easily, but Kairo wasn't about to let go.
"You're asking for trouble," Kairo warned, grabbing the leader's wrist again.
The man stumbled back, trying to pull free, but Kairo held firm. When the leader tried to draw a dagger with his free hand, Kairo pushed hard, sending him sprawling to the ground before anyone could react.
"Boss!" one of the thugs shouted, drawing their own daggers and sticks as they rushed toward Kairo.
"You're dead, kid!" they yelled.
The leader writhed under Kairo's foot, struggling desperately to escape, but Kairo's grip was like iron.
"That kid's done for, he just crossed the Wild Wolf Gang. No one survives that here." some crowd said this.
Just when the crowd thought Kairo was finished, he twisted his body with lightning speed, landing three sharp punches and two precise kicks that sent all five thugs crashing down with cries of pain.
The leader on the ground stared in shock, and the watching crowd went silent, mouths agape.
Kairo ignored their surprise, crouching down to yank the gold chain from the leader's neck and ripping a gemstone ring off his finger.
Then, with one last punch to the man's mouth, the leader screamed in pain.