In the silent depths of the forest, everything was eerily still. Sometimes, silence only amplifies fear.
A glint of light occasionally flickered through the dark underbrush, like the gleam in a predator's eyes upon spotting prey. If one looked closely, they might notice the shadow lurking among the trees, subtly different from the vegetation around it.
"Ugh... I really shouldn't have stayed up all night. My head is killing me..."
A voice filled with complaint suddenly broke the long-standing silence of the forest.
Tiny hands pressed against the ground, struggling to prop up a small body. Groggy eyes blinked open, scanning the unfamiliar surroundings.
Nearby, unknown creatures froze mid-motion as if caught in a paralysis spell, none dared to move a muscle.
Such noise hadn't been heard in this forest for a long time. Even the newborn beasts here were instinctively trained by their very genes to melt into the darkness upon birth.
Those who dared to make such reckless noise had long been digested in the bellies of predators and returned to nature as waste.
"Huh? Where... am I?!"
The child squinted, staring at the towering trees and the shrubs at eye level. Instinctively, he raised his hand.
"What... What's going on?"
Looking at the soft, delicate little hand, his pupils widened in shock, his jaw dropping.
"Did I... transmigrate?!"
"Ugh…"
With a loud yelp, the child collapsed back onto the ground in a faint.
Luckily for him, the beasts of this forest had never encountered a human before, so they hesitated to launch an immediate attack.
[Ding! System initializing…]
[Ding! System successfully bound. Host may access the interface by mentally saying 'System.']
Two cold, mechanical messages echoed in his mind.
But the boy, unconscious, didn't hear a thing.
In his dazed state, he began to dream.
The dream was vivid and strange. At first, it was just odd sounds, if he mimicked them, he'd be rewarded with tasty food. Over time, he grew up in the dream and learned to move around freely.
But life was dull. Eat, sleep, repeat, days passed meaninglessly. And then came someone he called "Grandpa."
Grandpa was kind.
Until one day, Grandpa suddenly grabbed him by the collar, dragged him to a terrifying place, and, without warning, let go, throwing him into a real-life free fall.
He awoke with a start, eyes wide.
Although everything felt surreal, the memories from the dream, and his knowledge of transmigration novels, made one thing very clear:
"Did I really transmigrate? And into the world of One Piece? My favorite series?"
"And I'm... Luffy, the main character?!"
He slowly got to his feet, the fog in his mind clearing.
He hadn't prepared for this, hadn't done anything special. He just died in his sleep. Sudden and senseless.
Back in his past life, he still had family, parents, and a younger brother.
His obsession with anime and manga had always created a rift between him and his parents. Even though he was a well-known content creator online with countless fans, his family saw him as a failure.
Thankfully, with the second-child policy in place, his younger brother was growing up well.
And with the money he left in his bank account, they should be able to live comfortably for the rest of their lives.
"I hope they won't grieve too much..."
He sighed.
But then, remembering the world of One Piece, the colorful characters and wild adventures, a confident grin crept onto Luffy's face.
Looking down at his small body, Luffy thought to himself:
"I've become Luffy... That means I've got some seriously good genetics."
"If I train hard, I'll become a top-tier powerhouse. And this body should have the most mysterious of all Haki types, Conqueror's Haki."
"I'm destined to stand at the peak of this world."
"Ahahaha, AH?!"
Luffy's laugh was cut short.
From the bushes ahead, a massive rat emerged, about the size of a husky.
An adult might've handled it fine, but Luffy glanced at his thin arms... then at the rat's front teeth, wider than his own thighs, and gulped.
Without another thought, he turned and ran for his life.
'I can't die here! Not when I've got such a bright future ahead! I refuse to become a rodent chow, especially not for a giant rat with bad dental hygiene!'
Luffy sprinted, but the rat rapidly closed the distance.
As its nose almost touched his backside, Luffy leapt forward with all fours, scrambling up a tree branch by sheer instinct.
"Huff... That was close."
Panting on the branch, Luffy calmed his breathing.
"The rat's huge, but its weight probably makes climbing hard."
"I really dodged a bullet there. Good thing I'm small and strong for my size."
The rat hesitated at the base of the tree, then, realizing its prey was out of reach, vanished back into the undergrowth, eager to avoid attracting other predators.
Luffy sat on the branch, catching his breath, still replaying the close call in his mind.
"I may be destined to become strong, but right now... I'm weak. Really weak."
Suddenly, a glint of dark green flashed across his chest.
In the blink of an eye, something coiled tightly around his body, only his head and arms remained free.
A venomous snake, camouflaged like the tree bark, had wrapped around him. Its jaws opened wide, diving straight for Luffy's head.
Reacting quickly, Luffy shoved his hands into the corners of the snake's mouth, holding it back just inches from his face.
But after ten seconds of struggling, sweat covered his brow.
"How did the original Luffy survive this part?!"
Just as his arms started to go numb, a shadow hidden nearby narrowed its eyes.
A gust of wind swept through the forest. The snake's eyes rolled back.
Its strength suddenly weakened, Luffy seized the opportunity, raised his finger, and jammed it deep into the snake's eye.
He stirred it viciously in the serpent's brain, only pulling out his hand once he was sure it was dead.
Blood soaked his fingers. Luffy stared in a daze.
[Ding! Host has killed one normal beast. EXP +5.]
"That was… the system?"
As that thought crossed his mind, Luffy's eyelids drooped.
The discomfort from transmigrating, paired with back-to-back brushes with death, overwhelmed him.
He passed out, again.
In less than ten minutes since arriving in this world, Luffy had already fainted three times.
Thud.
With a dull thump, Luffy tumbled from the tree, and into someone's arms.
The man wore a dog-head hat and white Marine uniform. Despite no wind, his cape fluttered naturally behind him. On the back, two bold characters were written: "Justice."
"Tch... Still not strong enough, almost got eaten by a weak beast," the man muttered gently, looking at the sleeping boy with eyes full of affection.
"How can you become the strongest Marine like this, Luffy?"
This was Garp.