"HELP!!!"
High above the scorching sea, a huge pink flamingo soared freely through the sky, a straw-hatted boy dangling from its beak.
The boy's head was literally inside the bird's mouth. (Yes, exactly what you're imagining.)
That ear-splitting cry for help came from none other than the boy himself.
Far below on the ocean, a green-haired man with three swords at his waist was lounging on a tiny sailing boat. When he heard the scream and spotted the boy, his relaxed posture instantly turned to panic. He grabbed the oars and rowed like mad, yelling up at the bird, "Idiot! What the hell are you doing?!"
So noisy.
On the flamingo's back, a ring of clouds slowly condensed into the shape of a person. Long, jet-black hair, an impossibly slender and frail figure—waist so tiny that even most women would be jealous. His skin was pale as clouds, his face so delicately beautiful that anyone seeing him for the first time would assume he was a girl.
This wasn't his original appearance. The culprit was a Logia-type Devil Fruit he had eaten: the Floating Cloud Fruit.
Hearing the commotion, Yun Tianxiang slowly opened his eyes and looked around. The vast blue ocean was nowhere in sight—only sky. He sighed inwardly: Great, I turned into a cloud and drifted off again while sleeping.
As a Floating Cloud human, whenever he fell asleep his body would automatically elementalize into clouds and float away with the wind.
"HELP MEEE!"
Who's that?
Yun Tianxiang lowered his head and froze the moment he saw those iconic clothes.
Red sleeveless vest, blue shorts, flip-flops… and that body that could stretch like rubber.
No way. That's Monkey D. Luffy—the guy with the strongest plot armor in the entire One Piece world!
Did I seriously drift from the Grand Line all the way to the East Blue?
…Actually, this might not be so bad.
Propping his chin with one hand, one leg crossed over the bird and the other dangling lazily off its wing, a flash of surprise crossed Yun Tianxiang's face. Then he began seriously considering whether he should join Luffy's crew.
Following the protagonist of this world basically guaranteed endless "experience points." The only problem was—he was just a fragile transmigrator from Earth with no system. Could his delicate little body handle that kind of growth package?
"Save me!!"
Grab!
Suddenly, a hand latched onto his dangling right leg.
"Save your ass! I'm a Devil Fruit user too! We're over the ocean—if you pull me down, the sea will curse us both!"
Luffy was desperately clinging to Yun Tianxiang's leg and trying to haul himself up. Terrified of being dragged into the water, Yun Tianxiang started cursing out loud.
Right now he was starving and low on stamina, so he didn't want to waste energy elementalizing to break free.
"Sorry, sorry!" Luffy apologized with a huge grin, yet his hand never let go. "Hi, I'm Luffy! Wanna join my crew?"
Feeling the warm grip on his leg, Yun Tianxiang realized he was in trouble—this guy had already set his sights on him.
He glanced toward the horizon and spotted a small island approaching fast. Is that… Orange Town?
He couldn't be 100% sure. Everyone knew the One Piece world had countless "what-if" timelines; the order in which Luffy recruited his crew could differ.
"Hey! What's your name? You still haven't answered me!" Luffy pressed, grinning ear to ear, completely ignoring the fact that he was still dangling from a bird's beak.
"Yun Tianxiang." He smirked. "And join you? You really think I'd join a crew whose captain gets his head bitten by a bird?"
In truth, he had already given up struggling and just let Luffy hold on. He was saving his last bit of strength to elementalize and survive the upcoming cannon fire.
"Hahaha! I was hungry and thought I'd catch a bird to eat! Welcome aboard!" Luffy laughed like he'd already recruited him.
Facepalm.
Yun Tianxiang slapped his forehead. Right—he forgot this guy was a complete blockhead.
Whatever. Ending up in this world was an accident anyway. Might as well go on an adventure with him.
Just as he was about to agree, a random memory flashed through his mind—a certain yellow-haired guy reading newspapers in Impel Down. Yun Tianxiang suddenly broke into a huge grin.
"Hey, Luffy! I'm gonna become the strongest newspaper-reading king in the world! What about you—what's your dream?"
Luffy's smile stretched even wider. He threw his head back and roared at the sky:
"I'm gonna be the Pirate King!!!"
The shout echoed across the sea, ringing out forever.
"Hahaha!" Yun Tianxiang laughed along, tears inexplicably appearing in his eyes.
BOOM!
A cannonball came screaming from the island and slammed into the pink flamingo.
The explosion cut their laughter short.
In pain, the bird opened its beak.
Monkey D. Luffy plummeted straight down.
"Whoa, that was close."
Yun Tianxiang instantly elementalized, turning into a cloud and hovering in mid-air. Watching Luffy fall, he breathed a sigh of relief.
That guy almost died to a random cannonball just now.
Unlike the Straw Hats, he was a transmigrator with no system. The Floating Cloud Fruit he ate had literally been picked out of a trash heap. That made him one of the glass cannons of this world—able to sit at the "Top 8 Fragile Characters" table without shame.
A gentle breeze blew. Yun Tianxiang nearly drifted away again.
Gritting his teeth, he used the last of his stamina to rocket toward the ground.
On the ground, Luffy stood up amid the smoke, dusted himself off, and grumbled, "Where'd that cannonball come from… Man, I'm starving."
Surrounding him were seven or eight armed pirates. To Luffy's left stood an orange-haired girl.
The girl looked at the clueless, stunned Luffy and flashed an evil little grin.
She quickly stepped forward, clasped her hands in front of her chest, and cried out in the most admiring tone possible: "Boss! You came to save me!"
Luffy turned his head dumbly, meeting her sincere gaze, completely lost.
The pirates watched the scene with deadly serious expressions.
Before Luffy could speak, the girl suddenly bolted away, calling back over her shoulder, "I'll leave the rest to you!"
"Hey, that woman ran off!"
"No need to chase. Her boss is right here anyway."
"Yeah, makes sense."
A brown-haired pirate with a zebra-patterned bandana turned to Luffy. "So you came to rescue your subordinate?"
Luffy, who had been staring after the girl, turned around with a serious face and started rubbing his hands together. "Hey, do you guys know where I can get some meat?"
"Don't joke around, you bastard!" One burly pirate roared and threw a punch.
Luffy casually leaned back and dodged, but the wind from the punch sent his treasured straw hat flying.
The next second, Luffy's fist stretched out and sent the pirate flying. Deadly serious, he declared, "Don't… touch… my treasure!"
Classic scene!
Hovering in the air, Yun Tianxiang reached out with a restored human hand and caught the flying straw hat.
"Here, Luffy. Stop letting your hat fly off."
He tossed it down and slowly descended.
"Thanks, Tianxiang!" Luffy's arm stretched impossibly far to catch the hat with a huge grin.
Yun Tianxiang glanced at the stunned pirates and said impatiently, "Hurry up and finish this."
"Roger that! Gum-Gum… Rocket!!!"
Luffy pulled both arms back and launched forward. The remaining pirates couldn't dodge in time and were sent flying, knocked out cold.
On the now-empty street, only Luffy and Yun Tianxiang remained standing.
From the second-floor balcony of a nearby building, the orange-haired girl sat watching, eyes sparkling.
"Amazing!"
Both boys looked up at her at the same time.
The girl gave them a thumbs-up and praised Luffy, "You're really strong! Beating armed pirates with your bare fists!"
Luffy shouted back, "Hey! Who are you?"
The girl raised her left hand in a strange gesture Yun Tianxiang didn't recognize, then introduced herself with a bright smile:
"I'm Nami, a thief who only steals from pirates. Wanna team up?"
Perfect. It really is Nami. The navigator is secured.
Yun Tianxiang smiled faintly.
Luffy tilted his head. "A thief who only steals from pirates?"