Luffy smiled brightly and said, "My name is—"
Lynn interrupted, "Monkey D. Luffy, right? Everyone knows that. Hurry up, I'm starving."
Luffy blinked in surprise, then laughed. "You're such an interesting guy. Come on, I'll treat you to a feast!"
Lynn's eyes lit up instantly. "You're a good person."
"Hahaha..." Luffy beamed. "Don't worry about it. By the way, what's your name again?"
"Lynn," he replied. "Hyde D. Lynn.'"
Luffy nodded as if he had an epiphany. "Oh! I get it now. That's such a weird name. Did someone give it to you?"
Now it was Lynn's turn to be puzzled. "Why do you ask?"
Luffy gestured to the woods. "Well, the bear in the forest is named after it—dog and bear, forest and sea…"
Lynn's face filled with black lines. He turned and looked at Luffy suspiciously. Was this guy actually getting back at him?
As they walked deeper into the woods, Lynn suddenly snapped out of his daze. "Luffy, this path doesn't lead to the village. Is there a restaurant out here?"
"Restaurant?" Luffy scratched his head. "What restaurant? We're going into the forest."
Lynn slapped his forehead. "So when you said you were treating me to a big meal… you meant hunting?"
Luffy, oblivious to Lynn's rising frustration, gestured with his hands. "The food in restaurants isn't enough, and you need a lot of Berry. I don't have any money. But the forest has tons of meat—super delicious! You'll be full for sure—Hey, why'd you hit me?!"
After a while, as they walked, Luffy turned and asked curiously, "Are you also Grandpa's grandson?"
Lynn paused, then replied with a malicious grin, "Yes. So that means you have to call me big brother."
Luffy blinked. "Why?"
"I'm 19. How old are you?"
"I'm 16."
Lynn spread his hands. "Exactly. I'm older."
Luffy nodded. "Oh, I get it!"
As they chatted, Lynn pulled up Luffy's system panel:
Monkey D. Luffy – Protagonist of the Pirate World
Strength: 1600
Agility: 150
Physical Strength: 3000
Devil Fruit: Gum-Gum Fruit (Mythical Zoan – Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika)
Passive Trait: Protagonist's Luck. Potential increases with battle intensity. Can turn misfortune into blessing…
…
Looking at Luffy's panel, Lynn exclaimed, "Damn!" Then he glanced at his own stats and immediately felt a little disheartened…
After a while, both of them noticed something off—the forest was eerily quiet. Then came a low growl, and a massive bear lumbered out of the trees.
Luffy's face turned serious. "This guy's tough. Lynn, step back—I'll handle it."
He assumed a stance, pulled back his arm, and yelled, "Gum-Gum… Bullet!"
The bear roared and charged straight into Luffy's punch.
Boom!
Luffy jumped back, landing nearby. "Tch, this bear's strong—but I'm not losing! Let's try again—"
The bear, riled up, charged once more.
At that moment, Lynn's eyes narrowed. He let out a sudden burst of Conqueror's Haki, flooding the area.
The charging bear instantly froze. It let out a low whimper, sweat beading on its head. Then its eyes rolled back, and it collapsed with a thud, unconscious.
Even Luffy, caught in the aura, staggered from the shock. Lynn still didn't know how to control it.
Dripping with sweat, Luffy stared at him in awe. "T-That felt like Shanks… or Grandpa!"
He turned to Lynn. "S-Sugoi! Hey, Lynn, how did you do that? Can you teach me?!"
Lynn waved him quiet. "That's easy. But first—"
He walked over to the bear and gave it a kick. "You think you can scare people, huh? You picked the wrong guy today."
Luffy stared at him with dead eyes. Seriously? That's what this was about?
It felt like a flock of crows flew over his head. "Lynn… what are you doing?"
Soon, the scent of roasting meat drifted from the forest, and smoke curled upward.
After eating, Lynn scowled. "I barely got any meat. You ate everything! Where's our next meal coming from?"
Luffy grinned. "Because it was delicious."
"That's not what I mean!" Lynn snapped. "Did you even think about food storage? Are you planning to live meal-to-meal forever?"
"Hehehe." Luffy scratched his head. "Relax. There's always more food. Didn't we just eat?"
Lynn was so frustrated he walked over to a tree and began banging his head against it. "I can't take this anymore…"
"Hey, Lynn, don't go crazy!" Luffy grabbed him quickly.
…
Brought to Windmill Village by Garp, Lynn had been living with Luffy for a few days. He'd gradually adjusted to the pace of life here—though he still complained sometimes.
There was no electricity. No computers. No late-night Coke. Worst of all… no young ladies twisting their waists in livestreams!
Every day was either hunting or sleeping. He felt like a caveman. So boring!
One day, as usual, Lynn and Luffy set out from Dadan's cabin into the forest.
"The sky is clear, the air is fresh, there's a gentle breeze… Towering mountains and lush forests by the sea…" Lynn scratched his head, struggling to recall more poetic lines. The more he tried, the emptier his brain felt.
"Sugoi, sugoi!" Luffy's eyes sparkled. "What's next? What else?!"
Lynn sighed. "Do you even understand what I'm saying?"
"Nope!" Luffy grinned. "But it sounds really cool!"
Lynn rolled his eyes, then suddenly brightened. He looked around and asked, "Luffy, you've lived here for years—are there any beautiful women nearby?"
Luffy thought for a second. "Not sure about beauties, but Dadan's a woman, right?"
"…" Lynn's face instantly darkened. "Forget it. Don't say anything."
Thanks to Lynn's help, hunting became easy. After their meal, they lay in the grass, resting.
Out of nowhere, Luffy said, "Lynn, I'm going out to sea next year. What about you?"
"Me?" Lynn shrugged. "I'll go with the flow. Why are you heading out? Running out of food?"
Luffy ignored him. "I made a promise to a man. I'll go to sea, become Pirate King, and give this hat back to him. Hey, Lynn, want to come with me? Adventuring together would be fun!"
"Go with you?" Lynn raised a brow. "So I get to be the captain?"
"No way! I'm the captain!"
"Then what's my role?"
Luffy thought hard. "You'll be my partner."
"That's too vague. I want a proper title. I'll be the vice-captain."
"Vice-captain? Awesome!" Luffy's eyes sparkled. "Hehehe, Ace already went to sea. I don't know how he's doing. But I'm going soon—and now I've got a partner already! I wish time would pass faster…"
Lynn sneered. "Faster? With your rookie level, you'll probably starve or get shipwrecked the second you leave shore."
Luffy ignored him. "No way. I won't die. I'm going to be the Pirate King!"
"???" Lynn rolled his eyes. "So what? Big deal. I'll be Pirate King too, then!"
Luffy stood up and shook Lynn. "Hey, teach me that move that knocked out the bear!"
Lynn sighed. "That's called Haki. There are three types. The first is Conqueror's Haki—the one I used. You felt it earlier.
The second is Observation Haki, which lets you sense and predict your opponent's moves. If you don't have it, you'll get beat up by those who do.
The third is Armament Haki. You coat your body or weapon to increase offense and defense. If it hurts when you hit someone, you're using Armament. Advanced stuff can wait—first, train your body. That's the foundation."
Luffy wiped sweat from his forehead, eyes shining. "Sugoi! When can I learn it?!"
Lynn shook his head. "Don't know. It might awaken once your physical strength reaches a certain level—or under special conditions. Instead of talking, how about we fight?"
"Yes! Come on!" Luffy leapt back and took a stance.
"Space Field." Lynn activated his ability.
Luffy grew alert—he'd been tricked by that before.
But even with his guard up, he couldn't react to the spatial shift.
And just like that, bonk—Luffy was smacked away by Lynn's stick again.
"Damn it!" Luffy stormed out of the trees, fuming. "One day I'll beat you!"
"Hahaha." Lynn snorted. "And I'm still getting the hang of my abilities. Once I'm proficient, you'll stand no chance."
"I will beat you. I'm going to be the Pirate King!"
Lynn rolled his eyes. "Pirate King this, Pirate King that. You're so proud. I'm the Pirate King too, so what?"
"Ow!" Luffy snapped. "Stupid Space Fruit!"
"What'd you say?!"
"Stupid space."
"You little—!"
As time passed, Lynn began doing sit-ups, squats, frog jumps…
Luffy watched in awe. "Does that really make you stronger?"
Lynn raised an eyebrow. "Of course. This is the secret to fitness, Pirate King."
Luffy immediately copied him. "Then I'll do more than you!"
Later, Lynn pulled out his knife from the space backpack. It resembled Zoro's Wado Ichimonji—silver-white, clean, simple, perfectly matched to Lynn's build.
He hadn't named it yet. After racking his brain and failing to come up with anything elegant, he settled on a random name: Gao Feng.
Luffy noticed the sudden appearance of the weapon. "Whoa! How'd you do that?!"
"I ate the Space Fruit," Lynn explained. "I've got a space backpack. I just took it out from there."
Luffy's eyes sparkled. "Cool! Can I go inside and play?!"
Lynn was speechless. "Living things can't go in."
"What? Rubbish fruit." Luffy crossed his arms.
"Rubbish?" Lynn smirked. "Watch this."
"Space Field…"
A film expanded from Lynn's hand, covering a nearby tree.
"One-Sword Style—Cake Slice!"
A flash of white light.
The tree split cleanly in two.
Lynn turned to Luffy, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "How about that?"
"S-S-Sugoi!!! Can you do it again?! That was awesome!"
-End Chapter-
Visit the Patreon!!
Read 30 chapters ahead, more on the way!
[email protected]/TrashProspector