"Oi! You! Be the blacksmith on my ship!"
That day, the straw-hatted brat stretched out a hand to Ignis Fireheart.
"Sure thing!"
No hesitation, just straight onto the pirate ship. Ignis was a transmigrator, a guy who'd jumped worlds, and right now, he was smack-dab in the middle of the One Piece world!
Inside the Baratie, that floating sea restaurant.
"Gimme a discount! I'll work for a week, how's that?" Luffy was trying to haggle with Zeff, the restaurant boss.
"WAP!"
Zeff booted Luffy outta there, sending him flying, guess that negotiation went belly-up!
Ignis was fiddling with his anvil and little hammer, totally used to this kinda chaos. Before he got zapped here, he hadn't really watched One Piece, just kinda skimmed the plot, but even then, he knew his captain was a grade-A knucklehead.
Hawkeye's gonna show up any minute now, time for Ignis' big chance!
Back in his old life, Ignis was just a regular joe, but when he warped into this world, he got fused with Ornn's blueprint from League of Legends, BOOM! Blacksmith System unlocked!
The system was simple, play blacksmith, forge armor, weapons, the works, but these weren't just any weapons, they were straight outta League of Legends!
If Ignis could make the big shots in the One Piece world lose their minds over his League gear, he'd rake in the gold coins from the System Shop. More coins meant more forging! Beating down tough guys earned gold too, but that was way harder than just blowing people's minds.
Ignis had to shock Hawkeye, the dude was basically the toughest customer you could find early on, and he fought fair-ish.
But c'mon, these guys in One Piece? They ain't got nothing on Valoran! That place is crawling with gods, demigods, and artifacts that break the freaking scale!
This was his shot at the big time, a chance to swim in gold coins.
While Ignis was busy jawing with the System in his head, a gunshot cracked outside. A beat-up guy, blood trickling down his face, stumbled into the Baratie.
"Food, gimme somethin' to eat! Anything!"
"This is a restaurant, ya know?"
That had to be Gin, the muscle from the Krieg Pirates.
Krieg, the big cheese of the Krieg Pirates, was the meanest, nastiest pirate in these waters.
Basically, a mini-boss in the newbie zone.
Truth be told, Ignis wasn't a fan of pirates, too few Luffys in this world, ya know?
Most of 'em were just plain rotten. Early on, when he first unlocked the System, he'd even thought about joining the Marines.
But the Marines? Too much red tape, not enough freedom, Ignis hated being bossed around.
Most pirates? The "pirate" part came first, the "sea" part was just window dressing.
They weren't dreamers looking to conquer the ocean, nah, most were just slimy, selfish bastards.
Roger's last words? Just gave these creeps an excuse to unleash their ugly desires.
"This is a restaurant for PAYING customers! Get lost, you broke pirate!" Patty, the goofy-looking chef, tossed Gin out on his ear 'cause of the Krieg Pirates' rep.
Seeing the drama spill outside, Ignis didn't wanna stick around inside.
"Hey, Captain's working as a busboy to pay off his tab, gotta go check on the rubber-brained idiot."
He gave a wave to Usopp, Zoro, and Nami, who were chowing down at the table, and headed out for some entertainment.
He got to the door just as Sanji was heading out with a plate. Sanji saw him and figured he was heading out too.
"Did the customers enjoy the meal?"
"Best grub I've had in ages, Chef!"
Sanji's cooking? No joke! Ignis, who usually steered clear of seafood, was actually feeling hungry today.
Sanji gave a little bow to Ignis, then strolled over to Gin, who was still sprawled on the ground.
"Eat up."
The battered, broken man scarfed down the food, tears and snot mixing together.
Ew, did he just slurp his snot? He totally slurped it, didn't he? Why no tissue, man?!
Ignis, with his OCD kicking in, wanted to shove a whole box of tissues at Gin.
Seems like everyone in One Piece cries like that, tears and snot rivers! Gotta stock up on tissues for later.
"Ignis! Look! I found a killer chef!" Luffy popped up behind Ignis, pointing at Sanji with a grin that could split his face.
"Go get him, Captain! We need that guy on the crew, or we're gonna be eating nothing but sea-slug stew!" Ignis didn't trust Luffy's brains, but he trusted his main-character mojo.
The power to shake off any boss, the power to drag awesome teammates onto the ship.
"You got it! Wait for the good news!" Luffy charged off, all fired up.
Then got shot down faster than a cannonball, these guys are all stubborn, gotta be coaxed and prodded!
Ignis watched the trio in the distance start spouting their dreams, Gin pitching the Grand Line as the scariest place this side of hell.
Ignis only watched the early One Piece stuff, kinda spaced out after Crocodile went down.
Gin was making it sound like the Grand Line was the end of the world, but really? It's just the tutorial zone!
Back at the table, Zoro, Usopp, and Nami were still pigging out.
"Captain's recruiting again."
"Huh? Who's he after?" Zoro and Usopp were still shoveling food in, Nami was the only one paying attention.
"The chef who's been feeding your faces."
"Then we gotta get him on board! No question!"
"Luffy, don't screw this up!"
Hearing that, Zoro and Usopp finally slowed down their chomping. They were loving this grub too much to lose it.
"Vice-Captain, aren't you gonna give the Captain a hand?" Nami gave Ignis a sly look.
"Yeah, yeah!" Usopp mumbled through a mouthful of food.
"Go help Luffy," Zoro grunted in agreement.
"You guys are vultures! I step away for a second, and there'll be nothing left!"
Ignis saw their game. Everyone was polite and civilized when he was around, but the second he turned his back, the food vanished like a ninja smoke bomb.
"Ehehe!" Nami winked, all innocent. The three of them, busted, dropped the act and went back to their food frenzy.
"Seriously, you guys are like bottomless pits!" Ignis wasn't gonna fight 'em for scraps, he had bigger fish to fry.
The way this was playing out, Krieg was gonna pull a sneak attack any second, and Hawkeye was on his way, time to get ready.
"System!"
He called up the virtual panel. His stats popped up:
Host: Ignis Fireheart
Bloodline: Forge God
Level: 2
Skills:
Living Forge
Bellows Breath (Beginner)
Searing Charge (Beginner)
Personal Gear: Doran's Shield
Balance: 2900 Gold Coins
The System's gold was special. He got 20 coins free every day, but if he wanted more, he had to shock someone or kick some butt.
He'd been saving up for this day, today, he was going big!
He tapped the Shop icon, and the virtual storefront appeared:
Cloth (100)
Leather (100)
Iron (100)
Wood (100)
Magic Dust (100)
Crystal (100)
He scrolled past the basic materials, keeping his eyes peeled.
Knight's Vow Forging Recipe: 400 Gold Coins
Frozen Heart Forging Recipe: 700 Gold Coins
Nope, not quite, keep digging.
Randuin's Omen Forging Recipe: 700 Gold Coins
Hawkeye, baby, let's see if your "strongest sword" can crack my "strongest shield"!