'Ah... I haven't messed up this badly in ages.'
I sighed, thinking to myself.
Lately, things had been going so well, both with my writing career and my bounty hunting work. Maybe I'd gotten complacent.
To fall for a trap like this... I'd grown soft, lost my edge, let my guard down. It's pathetic, even I have to admit.
Well, not that it's entirely my fault, you know? I'm definitely not the one to blame here.
The real villain is the one who tricked us. I'm the victim.
Right now, I'm locked inside a massive iron cage. It's big enough to hold several full-grown adults, and there are others trapped here with me.
Around the necks of everyone here, including mine, were sturdy metal collars. Chains extended from them, bolted to the wall.
Anyone familiar with One Piece would immediately understand the implications and grimace at the sight of them. It was that kind of collar.
To put it bluntly, these were the infamous Slave Collars. The kind that explode if you try to escape or remove them. Without the key, they're practically impossible to take off.
Being fitted with one of these meant... I'd been kidnapped again and was about to be made a slave.
Well, not quite yet. I hadn't been sold off yet, but that was coming.
So, how did I end up in this mess?
After turning fifteen, I was still happily juggling my life as a writer and a bounty hunter, living each day to the fullest.
During one of my adventures, or perhaps while gathering material for a story on a certain island, I stumbled upon a pretty big-shot pirate with a hefty bounty on his head. Coincidentally, another group of bounty hunters happened to be there too, so we teamed up and took him down.
Facing his entire crew was tough. They had numbers on their side, and their captain was no pushover. But in the end, we won. We even managed to protect all the islanders.
We decided to split the bounty evenly, figuring the other group needed the funds more since they were a group. To celebrate our victory and build camaraderie, we had a celebratory drink together.
...And that's when things got fuzzy. My memory just... cut out.
All I vaguely remember is being shaken awake, feeling groggy and disoriented, and then being carried somewhere...
When I came to, this was the situation.
The bounty hunters I'd been happily drinking with were now smirking at me from the other side of a cage, their eyes glinting with amusement.
'Ah, these guys...' It finally clicked. They weren't just bounty hunters—they were moonlighting as human traffickers.
In other words, I'd been neatly set up and completely taken advantage of.
They'd almost certainly slipped something into my drink during the party.
I'd forgotten that in this world, if you let your guard down for even a moment, you'd be devoured by scum like this. Time for some serious self-reflection.
Okay, enough dwelling on the past. Being kidnapped is what it is.
First things first: I need to figure out what to do next. To do that, I need to assess my current situation.
Right now, I'm almost certainly out at sea.
I think I'm being transported on their ship. I can feel the rocking.
I overheard snippets of their conversation, so I'm pretty sure they're headed to a slave trader to sell me off. I don't know exactly where, though.
If there's any silver lining, it's that they probably plan to sell me as merchandise, so they haven't tried anything indecent, and it doesn't seem like they will.
They stole all my belongings, but at least they left me my clothes. My stolen stuff... I bet it's stashed somewhere on this ship. If not, well, I'll deal with that later.
What worries me more is my ship. I had to leave it anchored back on the island.
I paid the dock fees in advance, so it should be safe for a while. But if the deadline passes, they might tow it or confiscate it. That would be a real pain.
'I need to escape and get back home as soon as possible. The escape itself seems pretty straightforward.'
And here's the crucial part: I'm not being restrained by Sea Stone right now.
As I mentioned earlier, this thing around my neck is a dangerous explosive collar.
I don't know if it's made of steel or some other alloy, but it's definitely not something I can easily break. I'll need a key to remove it.
Apparently, there are some people who can take these things off using unconventional methods, but let's just consider them exceptions.
For most people, just being forced to wear this collar would feel like utter despair. But for me, it's no big deal.
I'm a Paper Human. If I turn my body into paper, I can slip right out of this thing.
Normally, when I fight, I rely mostly on hand-to-hand combat and swordsmanship—though I'm really just swinging an umbrella around. I rarely use my ability, mostly to avoid becoming overly dependent on it.
That's why very few people know I'm an Ability User.
Even when I fought alongside these guys, all I did was swing my umbrella around, sweeping enemies away. I did use a little Haki, but they probably figured the Explosive Collar was enough to keep me in line.
If they'd known I was an Ability User, they likely would have prepared something like Sea Stone. I got lucky there.
So, escaping right now wouldn't be too difficult... but causing a ruckus on the open sea to flee? That's a bit too risky.
Even if I wiped out all the human traffickers and seized the ship, I have no idea which direction to sail to reach the nearest island. We'd just drift aimlessly, and I really don't want that.
Besides, I'm not even sure if I can single-handedly pilot this ship.
Fortunately, they're underestimating me, thinking I'm helpless and completely caught.
So, for now, the best thing to do is play along and let them take us to the island where they'll sell us off. Once we arrive, we'll make our escape.
Alright, then... it'll be boring until then, but I'll just have to be patient and keep pretending to be a weak little girl, looking downcast and acting all despairing.
I hope we get there soon. I have no idea where we're even going.
***
Two days later, the ship finally reached its destination—the place where the slave traders who would buy us were waiting.
But I never expected it to be here...
"This is... the Sabaody Archipelago...!"
"Oh, you know this place, Missy? That's right, this is where the buyer who's going to take you in is waiting."
The human trafficker smirked lewdly as he spoke.
Ignoring him, I gazed at the bizarre, almost mystical landscape unfolding before me.
It was exactly like in the manga. A land formed from mangrove branches and roots, with soap bubbles of all sizes drifting lazily in the air.
'Look at those flying things...' Could that be the infamous Bonchari? I'd love to ride one later.
The Sabaody Archipelago looked like a fun place, a vibrant tourist destination packed with sights to see. But beneath the cheerful facade lurked a darker side—a lawless area where people like us were about to be sold.
As the final stop on the First Half of the Grand Line, it felt like a place where all sorts of human vices and desires converged in every imaginable form.
Most importantly, this place is notorious for being frequented by the infamous Celestial Dragons.
Thinking about that... well, it's terrifying. The adventurous spirit I'd felt earlier instantly cooled, as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on me.
'Whatever. It's fine.'
I made it to my destination safely. That's enough, right?
Alright, then... time to escape.
*Click.* I reached for the slave collar around my neck.
The human trafficker watched me, sighing in exasperation. "Hey, hey," he said, sounding annoyed, like I was being a pain. "I warned you already, Missy. If you try to take that collar off the wrong way, it'll explode. That pretty face of yours will get blown to smithereens—"
'Blown to smithereens,' huh?
But before he could finish, I yanked the collar off with all my might.
In that instant, my neck turned to paper and unraveled, the collar sliding right off sideways.
"...Huh?"
The human traffickers stood there, dumbfounded, unable to grasp what had just happened.
Before their eyes, my neck instantly snapped back to normal, the collar now neatly detached and in my hand. Useless, I tossed it aside.
The clatter of the collar hitting the ground seemed to jolt them awake. They finally realized what they'd witnessed: I was free.
Panic flared. They scrambled for weapons, shouting, "Grab him!" "Freeze!" "An Ability User?!"
Well, no need to play nice anymore.
"You—!"
"Paper Razor Blizzard!"
And that was that.
The completely unprepared group of traffickers vanished beneath a sea of blood.
I guess they're still alive, though I didn't bother patching them up or anything.
On the way out, some staff from the Human Auctioning House came out, weapons drawn, trying to subdue us. We just kicked them aside too.
Honestly, I don't feel any guilt or regret about it. In fact, I think I did a good thing clearing out this scum that the Marines turn a blind eye to.
Anyway, that's how I got free. But when I glanced back, I saw several other people still locked in cages, wearing Slave Collars just like mine.
Most of them seemed stunned, still trying to process what was happening. But some were staring at me intently, as if hoping for something.
Occasionally, their gazes would flicker toward the fallen human traffickers—more specifically, toward the keys to the cages and collars they carried.
Alright, alright, I get it.
I wasn't planning to save myself and leave everyone else to rot, so relax.
I snatched the key ring from the human trafficker's belt and unlocked the cell. Then, with a "Help yourselves" kind of gesture, I tossed the keys inside.
Naturally, the would-be slaves swarmed the keys, frantically removing their collars and bolting for freedom. Good for them—they got rescued before being sold off.
Well, they were transported by ship, so they're probably nowhere near their original homes. They'll have to figure that part out themselves.
Meanwhile, I ransacked the traffickers' belongings and warehouse, retrieving my stuff and money.
Thank goodness... Either they hadn't had time to sort through everything yet, or they were planning to do it later, but my luggage was still intact. Even my weaponized Japanese umbrella.
While I was at it, I helped myself to all their cash and valuables—compact precious metals and such—as compensation for the trouble. I wasn't about to show any restraint or mercy to human traffickers.
And just to rub salt in the wound, I decided to add a little extra humiliation.
I threw the traffickers into their empty cages, snapped explosive collars around their necks, chained them to the walls... then *whoosh!* I chucked the keys into the sea! So exhilarating!
'Whew', that felt good.
Afterward, since I was already there, I took a peek inside the Human Auctioning House.
I'd knocked out all the staff, leaving only the slaves—the "merchandise" waiting to be sold.
On a whim, I swiped the keys from the wall, unlocked the cages, and told the slaves to take off their collars.
They were startled at first, but quickly grew overjoyed.
I moved from cage to cage, freeing them one by one... but then...
"Mmm... huh?!"
In one of the cages, I saw something that made me do a double take.
Naturally, the cage was meant to hold slaves, but the creature inside wasn't human.
It was a Fish-Man.
Moreover, it had six arms, reddish skin, a large, round forehead, and a protruding mouth...
"Nyu~!? What the heck are you? You one of the human traffickers too?!"
That voice... unmistakable.
It was Hatchan, through and through. In One Piece, he's one of the relatively harmless and friendly Fish-Man characters from the original work.
He started out as an enemy but later became an ally, accepted not only by Luffy and the others but even by Nami.
I wonder how old he is now. Being a Fish-Man makes it hard to tell. I don't even remember his age from the original work... He looks about my age, maybe a little older.
Well, let's put that aside for now.
"No, no, I'm not a human trafficker. I was kidnapped myself."
"Huh? Really? But you're outside, and you don't even have a collar on!"
"That's because I escaped and took it off... Hmm, talking through these bars feels weird, doesn't it? Hang on a sec..."
I unlocked the cage door, just like I did for the other slaves. Then I fumbled with the collar's lock. 'Is this the right key?'
"Whoa! What's going on? Are you letting me go?!"
"Yup. Well, I already took care of everyone here, so you might as well escape while you can."
"Awesome, thanks! You're a good guy, even if you're human! Oh, I'm Hatchan. Call me Hachi!"
He grinned widely, his gratitude so genuine it made him seem like an easygoing, even a bit childlike, older brother type. Just a regular dude.
Just like in the original story, Hatchan was so innocent, almost naive. He was pure, for better or worse.
I figured he'd soon be navigating the Fish-Man Pirates' complicated situation and way of thinking, but there was no point in dwelling on that now.
"Ow, ow, ow!? Wait, wait! That hurts!"
"Huh? What hurts?"
Hatchan suddenly started wincing in pain. I looked closer and saw that a part of his collar was tangled in his hair. Trying to untangle it only pulled on his hair, which explained the pain.
And it was tangled in such a weird way that it didn't seem like I could get it out easily.
"Hey, mind if I just cut your hair? I don't think I can untangle this."
"Ugh... Fine, go ahead... uh..."
"Oh, right, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Sue."
While introducing myself, I pulled out a small knife.
Carefully, I untangled the strands of Hatchan's hair, trying not to hurt his skin...
THUD!
"Ugh... what the...?"
Without warning, a violent jolt slammed into me, like my brain had been violently shaken.
I had no idea what had happened, or who had done it. I couldn't even turn my head, and my limbs felt heavy and unresponsive. My consciousness began to slip away.
"Hey?! What's wrong all of a sudden?! Stay with me!" Hatchan's panicked voice reached me, sounding distant and muffled.
Without understanding anything, unable to do anything... my consciousness sank into darkness.
***
"...I don't recognize this ceiling."
The words slipped out of my mouth so naturally as I woke that I wasn't sure whether to be surprised or exasperated. Either way, it didn't really matter.
For just waking up, my head felt surprisingly clear. I remembered everything right up until the moment I lost consciousness—or rather, the moment I blacked out.
It felt like something had slammed into my head... though not like being hit with a blunt object. More like a direct shock to my brain—a completely unfamiliar sensation I'd never experienced before.
I'd assumed some surviving human traffickers had ambushed me. 'Great, when I wake up, I'll probably be back in a cage with a slave collar.' But unless they were using Haki, no physical attack should have worked on me. And it was strange that my Observation Haki hadn't picked anything up. Wait a minute... Haki?
...Could that have been...?
Being suddenly knocked unconscious... it must have been Conqueror's Haki.
Just then, a voice startled me.
"Oh, you're awake, Sue-chan?"
"Huh?"
I instinctively turned toward the sound.
A woman stood there, as if she'd just opened the door. She held a washbasin and a towel.
I recognized her immediately.
Her clothes and the aura she radiated felt quite different from my memories, but that gentle, composed smile... that familiar warmth... there was no mistaking it.
After all, she was the one who saved my life. How could I ever forget?
Come to think of it, we were on the Sabaody Archipelago, right? Running into her here shouldn't be so surprising.
"Shakuyaku-san...!"
"It's been a while, Sue-chan. I'm glad to see you're doing well."
To be continued...