The sky over Loguetown was the color of rusted iron, heavy clouds rolling above as if the heavens themselves were holding their breath. The air carried a sharp tang of salt and tension, the streets crammed shoulder to shoulder with merchants, Marines, pirates-in-disguise, and ordinary citizens who had all come to see history in the making.
The execution of Gol D. Roger.
I wasn't supposed to be here.
One moment, I had been walking home from work — a normal guy with a head full of manga spoilers and a grocery bag in my hand — and the next, there was only blinding pain, the screech of tires, and… darkness. No tunnel of light, no gentle voice, just a weightless plunge into nothing.
Then — voices. Loud, chaotic, real.
I opened my eyes, but the world loomed enormous. My hands… no, my tiny fingers curled and uncurled weakly. I was being held — cradled in the arms of a woman with tired but kind eyes. She swayed gently, murmuring something I couldn't understand, but my mind was spinning for an entirely different reason.
This street. Those banners. That gallows.
The gallows.
A man was led up the wooden steps — tall, proud, wearing a smile that didn't belong to someone about to die. The cheers and jeers of the crowd were deafening, but I heard his voice clear as day.
"My treasure? If you want it, you can have it! Search for it! I left everything in one place…!"
My breath caught. No way. That was the exact line — the spark that would ignite the Great Pirate Era.
In my old life, this was just a manga panel. Now, I was watching it play out in the flesh, from the eyes of… an infant.
I barely understood what had happened to me, but one thing was certain:
I'd been reincarnated into the world of One Piece.
And the Pirate Era had just begun.
The swords came down. The crowd erupted. My new mother held me tighter as chaos broke out, pirates shoving past Marines, Marines shouting orders. Somewhere deep inside, beneath the confusion and the impossibility of it all, a fire lit in my chest.
If this was my second life… I wasn't going to waste it.
---
Time skip: Twelve years later.
My name is Kael D. Raven. The name came from my mother, though I've never known why she gave me the middle initial 'D.' I only know that in this world, those who bear it are fated to stir the seas… and I'm no exception."
The docks of Loguetown were my second home. Salt in the air, wood beneath my boots, and the sound of gulls squabbling over scraps — it was as familiar as my own heartbeat.
I worked odd jobs for the fishermen. Carrying crates, patching nets, cleaning hulls. Not glamorous, but it paid enough for food, and it kept me close to the sea. I'd trained every day since I could walk — push-ups, running, wooden sword drills, anything I could think of. With no powers yet, it was all about building a body that could survive in a world of monsters.
That's when I saw him.
Tall, broad-shouldered, skin a shade of deep blue, gills fluttering faintly on his neck — a fishman. He was slumped against a stack of barrels, bleeding from a gash on his arm, a heavy-looking chest beside him.
The other dockhands avoided him, muttering under their breath. I didn't care. Fishman or not, he was hurt.
"Hey, you okay?" I asked, jogging over.
His eyes opened — dark, sharp, assessing me in an instant. Then, with a grunt, he pushed the chest toward me. "Help me… get this to the water."
I didn't ask questions. Together, we heaved the thing toward the edge of the pier, his breath coming ragged. When we got there, he collapsed to his knees.
"As thanks… take it," he said, nodding to the chest.
I blinked. "I can't just—"
"Take it." His tone left no room for argument.
Curiosity burned through me. I popped the lid open. Inside, cushioned in velvet, was a strange, spiraled fruit — purple with swirling red patterns that seemed to shimmer faintly.
My heart skipped. A Devil Fruit.
The fishman's gaze was steady. "That fruit is dangerous. Power without skill is a curse. Remember that."
I swallowed, but my hands were already moving. The stories said they tasted horrible — they were right. It was like chewing rotten rubber dipped in seawater.
The effect was instant. My limbs tingled, a strange heat blooming in my core. Something had changed.
I didn't know it yet, but the Moa Moa no Mi had just become mine.