"I'm a Brain-Brain Fruit user! Hand over your brain, or else!" the voice taunted.
Consciousness returned to him just in time to see the front of a one-hundred-ton truck, a cold, unyielding metal wall, rushing towards him. Boom!
"I thought it was a speed bump," a voice said, sounding like it came from a little girl. He heard the unique electronic music of a Cybertronian.
"Tell my insurance agent."
"We're all just trying to live our lives."
Damn it! he thought, overwhelmed by a sense of injustice. My 512GB USB drive with all my files...
Then, a tearing sensation ripped through his body, followed by boundless darkness.
When he finally opened his eyes, he was in a completely new world.
The air was filled with a salty sea breeze and the wild scent of a primeval jungle. Giant, unfamiliar trees blotted out the sky, and strange bird calls and animal roars echoed all around. Rough gravel dug painfully into his skin.
"What the hell? Where am I? Is this even my country?" A tender, weak child's voice came out of his mouth.
He sat up in a panic and felt his body. His arms, legs, kidneys, and everything else seemed to be in one piece—but they were tiny. He was a three-year-old child! Stranded on a deserted island. This was not a good situation at all.
Memories from his past life were fragmented, like a broken mirror, and the memories of his new body were chaotic, only vaguely recalling a shipwreck. The first thing that hit him was a wave of hunger, followed by a sudden chill as the sea breeze blew through his thin, tattered clothes. The sounds from the jungle sent shivers down his spine.
Survival instinct took over, pushing aside the chaos and fear. He scrambled on his hands and knees, finding a small cave half-carved out by the waves. It was just big enough to shelter him from the wind and rain, and he crawled into the deepest part. The cave smelled damp and musty, but he didn't care. He listened to the sound of waves crashing against the rocks and the faint chewing noises coming from the forest.
"System?" he whispered.
"Grandpa Ring?"
Silence. His questions were drowned out by the sound of the ocean. He finally calmed down and took stock of his situation.
The good news: he had been reincarnated.
The bad news: his new life was a nightmare from the very beginning.
"I am Kyle Grylls, and I'm going to show you how to survive in some of the most extreme and dangerous places in the world!" he said to himself, trying to sound like the host of a survival show.
Deng~ deng~ deng deng~
He was just a couch potato from a peaceful world who, at most, would leave a comment like "I could do that too!" on a wilderness survival video. Now, he was all talk and no action.
Using a small puddle inside the cave, he looked at his reflection. He had black hair, golden eyes, and a small, thin face that hinted at a handsome man he might become. He had one goal now: survive.
Three years had passed.
Do you know what he had been through in those three years?
His body grew at an unbelievable rate, becoming stronger and more agile than any child his age should be. This made him realize that this world was not normal. His muscles were smooth, firm, and full of explosive power from years of running, climbing, and fighting.
"Hey, guys, I found food again!" Kyle said to himself, skillfully cleaning a wild rabbit and muttering strange things. "Today's lunch is roasted rabbit and some strange fruits! Let's go, everyone!"
"Ah, sugoi, burp!" he exclaimed after devouring the rabbit. He sat on a rock, about to enjoy a strange white fruit covered in concentric circular patterns.
"Wait, I think I've seen this somewhere," he mumbled to himself, trying to remember. "What was it? Oh well, I'll find out when I taste it!"
The moment he took a bite, his face turned from green to white. His stomach churned as if a thousand monsters were throwing a party inside.
"Ugh!"
Even with his extensive experience, he had never eaten anything so disgusting. He spat it out, trying to get rid of the terrible taste. "It tastes like fermented socks mixed with a three-month-old dead rat, all cooked together for forty-nine days. It's barely a stench!"
He shook his head, trying to forget the Devil-like taste and the fruit's weird appearance. He had more important things to do. The sun was still high, and his daily training had not yet begun.
At six years old, his small body was far stronger and more agile than it should have been. A beautiful day for Kyle started with a run on the beach. His bare feet sank into the wet sand, pushing off with surprising speed. He left a trail of small footprints that the incoming tide quickly washed away.
Next was strength training. He had explored the jungle for a long time and found a perfect "gym" with rocks of all shapes and sizes. He lifted, carried, and threw them, repeating the same monotonous movements every day. His muscles, much more developed than those of his peers, were firm and used to the burning sensation.
During his training, he would sometimes curse and hum songs from his old life.
"The squid of that day!" he sang.
He let out a low growl, his arms bulging with veins as he lifted a rock twice his height and threw it with a loud thud.
For agility training, he used the jungle as his obstacle course. He leaped between fallen trees, swung on thick vines, and dodged small predators that ambushed him. His senses had become as sharp as a blade. He could tell what was happening from the rustling of leaves and the wind.
He didn't have any fancy fighting moves, just simple and deadly skills he learned from fighting for his life. He used a self-made spear to practice thrusting and sweeping on tree trunks, focusing on speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness.
"Eat this, Monkey Steals the Peaches…ugh, what am I doing? Get serious, Kyle! You're going to be the man who punches Bear Grylls and kicks Ed Stafford!"
He would stop to catch his breath and wipe the sweat from his forehead. A hint of cunning, unusual for his age, flashed in his eyes before he returned to his training.
As the sun set, Kyle sat on his favorite cliff, his personal "viewing platform," and looked out at the endless blue ocean. The fatigue from his training came with a sense of satisfaction. It meant he had survived another day and pushed his limits a little further. He flexed his arm, showing a solid bicep that didn't match his small frame.
"Homelander? No, no, I don't eat beef," he muttered to himself. "Bad news in the fitness world: a six-year-old Superman with the power of nine dragons is lifting weights online!"
These fantasies were his way of dealing with the loneliness. He had to find a way to have fun in the middle of all the survival struggles. But beneath the jokes, he was confused about his own body. His growth rate, strength, and ability to recover were not normal. Even with the unique food and harsh environment, he shouldn't have become this strong.
The last rays of light disappeared below the horizon, and cold stars began to appear in the night sky. He stretched and went back to his cave. As the night grew deeper, the waves made a gentle whoosh sound on the beach, mixed with the chirping of insects.
He lay on his "bed" of dried leaves. Usually, he would fall asleep right away after a day of hard training, but tonight was different. His thoughts were a mess, like the tide receding on the beach. He thought about the shadows in the jungle, the endless ocean, the strange creatures, and that disgusting white fruit.
The taste… Kyle shivered just thinking about it, and his stomach started to feel queasy. But it wasn't just the taste that bothered him. It was the pattern on the fruit—concentric spiral patterns, like ripples in water.
Spiral patterns…
He felt like he had seen that unique pattern somewhere before, but the memory was hidden behind a cloud.
Wait!
Spiral patterns? A disgusting taste?
Suddenly, a memory from his past life hit him like a lightning bolt. It was a memory of a fantastical world full of pirates, Marines, and incredible adventures. It was a world where a special fruit with a unique spiral pattern could give people amazing powers. The only catch was that the person would be hated by the sea and would taste terrible.
Devil Fruit!
Kyle sat up in shock, his eyes wide in the dark cave. The spiral patterns, the awful taste, his own strange strength and recovery—everything suddenly made sense. All the clues came together like a puzzle. The strange creatures on the island, the endless ocean, and the feeling that this world was different from his own.
He remembered the shipwreck and the memories of his old body. It all pointed to one thing.
"Damn it… it's a Devil Fruit!" The words were forced out from between his teeth, filled with shock and a hint of excitement.
"This place…" His voice was barely a whisper. "This place… is the world of One Piece!"