I understood that I had been reincarnated.
The revelation hit me like a thunderbolt when I first gazed upon a familiar map. There it was—the unmistakable words "Grand Line" sprawled across the parchment. I knew exactly what world I had stumbled into, and more importantly, I understood who I had become.
This was the world of One Piece, a manga I had devoured in my previous life. When I caught my reflection in a mirror, I saw a face I recognized—younger than I remembered from the series, but undeniably familiar. The sharp features, the calculating eyes... I had become Kuro, the infamous Black Cat Pirates' captain.
But my knowledge of the future hadn't prepared me for the chaos that would follow.
"There he is! The bounty hunter!"
The shouts echoed across the small port town as I ducked behind a stack of crates. How had things spiraled so far out of control? I had tried to keep a low profile, avoiding the main storyline characters and their adventures. Yet here I was, a wanted man with a bounty that seemed to grow by the week.
"You're wanted for not only defying the Celestial Dragons but also for making abusive remarks!"
Defying? I snorted internally. I suppose it's considered defying when you scream "Hell no!" at some bloated excuse for nobility who demands you become their personal slave. The memory still made my skin crawl—that particular Celestial Dragon had been a walking nightmare, combining Don Krieg's bulk with the arrogance of their entire bloodline.
"We've confirmed he's defeated numerous bandits and stolen their valuables over thirty times!"
Well, that part was technically accurate. Though I preferred to think of it as community service. Those bandits had been terrorizing innocent villages, and I simply... redistributed their ill-gotten gains. The fact that I kept a portion for myself was merely practical—a man has to eat, after all.
"The skill with which he captures human traffickers, strips them of their possessions, and sells them back to their own networks!"
Now that was efficient justice. When slave traders attacked me, thinking I'd be easy prey, I made sure they experienced their own merchandise firsthand. The irony was poetic, really. Plus, the look of despair on their faces when they realized their fate? That actually did fetch quite a high price from their former competitors.
"And to top it all off, he's a menace who sank a Navy ship and looted its contents!"
Sank? That was a gross exaggeration. The ship was already beached when I found it, probably from some storm or navigational error. I had simply been searching for seastone—a valuable resource that Naval vessels often carried. The crew was rescued properly, I made sure of that. But apparently, good deeds don't matter when you're already branded a criminal.
"He's only thirteen years old and has a bounty of 23 million berries! 'Slippery Kuro!' We're here for your head!"
The bounty hunters charged forward with weapons drawn, their eyes gleaming with greed. Twenty-three million berries was no small sum, especially in the East Blue where such amounts were practically legendary.
"This is troublesome... I can't keep holding back..." I muttered, feeling the familiar tension in my legs as I prepared to move.
The next few seconds were a blur of motion. Kuro's incredible speed—even without his signature cat claws—was more than sufficient for these amateur bounty hunters. They hit the ground before they could even register my movement.
Thud.
"Is it over already?"
I surveyed the unconscious forms scattered around me. As expected, the East Blue truly was labeled the weakest of all the seas in the original story. Even with my limited training focused primarily on leg strength and speed, Kuro's natural physical abilities were extraordinary.
I didn't possess his signature "Cat Claws" yet—those would need to be crafted—but I wondered if I'd even be able to wield them effectively when the time came. The weapon was as much a part of Kuro's fighting style as his speed.
"What should I do now?"
This latest batch of attackers had been bounty hunters, just like nearly everyone else who came after me. The irony wasn't lost on me—the Navy seemed content to let amateur bounty hunters handle what they saw as a minor threat. My initial bounty had been a measly 1,000 berries, barely enough for a decent meal, and it was marked "Only Alive."
That small mercy meant that only inexperienced bounty hunters bothered pursuing me at first. But as my actions continued to draw attention and my bounty climbed, the situation became increasingly complicated. The "Only Alive" designation had somehow changed to "Dead or Alive" despite my efforts to avoid killing anyone.
Sure, I had suspended captured bandits and pirates upside down while completely naked—a humiliating but non-lethal punishment. Perhaps setting their pubic hair on fire with oil had been going too far, but they had been terrorizing innocent people. Sometimes harsh lessons were necessary.
"For now, I'll strip these bounty hunters of their weapons and drop them off at the nearest inhabited island. The real problem is figuring out what comes next."
I glanced toward the harbor where my small boat waited. In a world dominated by ocean travel, losing that vessel would mean certain doom. Before my bounty had grown to its current size, I had attempted to purchase sea charts and study navigation techniques, but the East Blue was dotted with countless islands, each presenting its own challenges and opportunities.
The situation was becoming untenable. Living in the shadows might work temporarily, but finding sustainable income in the relatively peaceful East Blue was proving difficult. Eventually, I would need to venture into more dangerous waters.
That meant leaving the East Blue entirely—a prospect that filled me with dread. Sea travel to other oceans meant crossing the Grand Line, and overland travel would require traversing the treacherous Red Line. Both options were fraught with dangers that made my current troubles seem trivial.
The future stretched before me, bleak and uncertain. I pulled out a worn hand mirror I'd carried since beginning my life as a fugitive, hoping to at least maintain some semblance of dignity in my appearance.
My hair had grown long during months of constant movement. While I kept the front neatly trimmed, the back sections had become unmanageable, forcing me to tie them up to keep them out of my face. What had once been ordinary eyes now held a sharp, calculating gleam that perfectly matched my new identity.
The reflection staring back at me was undeniably that of Captain Kuro, despite the different soul residing within.
"Even though the person inside has changed, the exterior remains the same..." I whispered to my reflection. "So I'm still Captain Kuro, whether I like it or not."
The weight of that realization settled heavily on my shoulders. I possessed knowledge of future events, but lacked Kuro's supposedly "100% strategic" mind that had made him so formidable in the original story.
"My planning abilities are nowhere near that level, so what should I do?"
The question hung in the air like a challenge, and I had no immediate answer. All I could do was continue moving forward, one step at a time, and hope that my knowledge of this world would be enough to keep me alive in the adventures that lay ahead.