Year 1482 of the Sea Calendar.
A small pirate ship sliced across the first half of the Grand Line, riding the waves like it had something to prove.
On the sunlit deck, three young men crouched around several opened treasure chests. Gold and jewels spilled out in messy piles, reflecting the light in blinding flashes.
"Alright, you two," Fushiguro said, a lazy grin on his face. "Open everything."
"AYE, CAPTAIN!"
Jasper and Theo didn't need more encouragement.
They practically tore through the remaining chests. Locks snapped. Lids flew up. More glittering treasure poured onto the deck.
"We're rich!" Jasper shouted, his voice cracking in sheer excitement.
Theo tried to keep a straight face, but even he couldn't stop the small smile tugging at his lips.
"This is… a lot," he muttered. "Even for you, Captain, this haul is insane."
"Told you that 'small, broken island' had potential," Fushiguro replied.
They were still riding the high when Jasper suddenly froze.
"C-Captain."
Fushiguro turned at the tremor in his tone.
Jasper was standing completely still, both hands carefully holding a strange, silver-white fruit. Its skin had a metallic sheen, covered in swirling, intricate patterns like carved metal.
For a moment, the world went quiet.
Fushiguro's eyes narrowed.
"…A Devil Fruit."
Theo leaned closer, his usual calm expression tightening.
"That's not a normal fruit," he said. "That's a 'your-life-is-about-to-get-weird' fruit."
Jasper swallowed. "This was inside one of the chests. So that island really had a Devil Fruit…"
Fushiguro stepped forward, gaze focused on the strange patterns.
"Didn't expect a backwater island to be hiding something like this."
Jasper's eyes were shining now.
"Captain, what kind do you think it is? Maybe you should eat it! If you get a strong ability, the Infinite Pirates will be unstoppable!"
Theo snapped his head toward Jasper.
"Oi. What if it turns him into a tiny old man? Or a kid? Or a giraffe? You really want to start the 'Captain Transformation Arc'?"
Jasper flailed. "Why are you obsessed with giraffes?!"
Fushiguro chuckled under his breath and took the fruit, weighing it in his hand.
"Go get the Devil Fruit encyclopedia."
"On it!"
Jasper sprinted off into the navigation room and returned a minute later with a thick, battered book.
All three of them sat on the deck and flipped through the pages, matching the fruit's shape, color, and patterns with the illustrations inside.
"…Not this one."
"No, that one says purple, not silver."
"This one's close, but the pattern's wrong."
After a long stretch of searching, Fushiguro finally closed the book with a soft thump.
"Nothing. It's not in here. Our encyclopedia's incomplete."
Jasper stared at the fruit like it might explode.
"If it's not listed… does that mean it's rare?"
Theo clicked his tongue.
"Rare, or really stupidly dangerous. Or both."
Fushiguro tossed the book back to Jasper.
"Judging by how it looks, it won't be weak."
None of them had Devil Fruit powers yet.
One good fruit could change everything.
Jasper hesitated.
"C-Captain… you're really not going to eat it?"
Fushiguro waved his hand casually.
"I already tried my luck a long time ago. Twice, actually."
Both Jasper and Theo stared.
"You what?" Theo asked.
"You WHAT?" Jasper repeated, louder.
Fushiguro shrugged, like he was talking about something trivial.
"Found a weird fruit out at sea years back. Thought it was a Devil Fruit. Ate it. Sweet taste. No curse. No ability. Still swim just fine."
Theo's expression twisted.
"You ate a Devil Fruit and nothing happened?"
"Yup. Thought it was fake," Fushiguro said. "Then, about a year later, I found another one. Ate that too. Same result. So I'm done playing Devil Fruit roulette."
Jasper looked personally offended.
"How are you this casual about eating TWO Devil Fruits?!"
Theo sighed.
"I feel like the universe is trolling only you."
Fushiguro stood and walked toward the bow.
"You two can talk it out. If you're scared of getting some weird power, we can store it and wait for something more predictable."
He left them to argue and hopped up on the dragon-shaped figurehead at the ship's front, resting there as the salty wind brushed past.
The Grand Line stretched out before him.
Behind his eyes, another sky flashed.
Earth.
He wasn't just some random kid from this world. He'd been born here, yes, but he carried another life's memories from Earth—another ocean, another sun, another everything.
The day he realized he was in this world—the pirate world—he'd made a decision.
No wasting time.
No easy days.
If this world wanted monsters, he'd become something even the monsters would fear.
Ten years ago, his town had been wiped out.
Punishment for failing to meet a Celestial Dragon's tribute.
He still remembered the thick, black smoke in the sky before he saw the flames. Still remembered the silence before he saw the bodies.
By the time he'd swum back from his training in the sea, it was over.
No one left.
Not the old shopkeepers, not the children, not even the skinny little dog that always followed him around.
There were too many dead and not enough of them left whole to bury.
So he burned what was left.
That was his goodbye.
He had just been the baby they'd picked up and raised, but they treated him like family.
And then they were gone.
He stayed on the island until his body was strong enough, then stole a boat and set sail.
Along the way, he found that first black fruit with dragon-like patterns. He'd believed it was a Devil Fruit and swallowed it without hesitation.
Nothing.
The second one, a year later, was the same.
So he stopped betting on Devil Fruits.
Haki. Training. Raw effort.
That was the path he chose.
"It's already been twenty years…" he muttered, glancing back at Jasper and Theo.
Both of them had lost their homes too, crushed by the cruel reality of the Grand Line. He found them in the East Blue and took them aboard.
Jasper was eighteen. Theo, nineteen.
Close to him in age, but far behind in experience.
Right now, Jasper was still the weakest.
So the choice was obvious.
Fushiguro hopped down from the figurehead and walked back toward them.
Jasper had fluffy golden hair that curled slightly, his bangs falling over one eye, giving him a softer look. He was tall and lean, about 185 cm, with long limbs and decent muscle.
Theo stood beside him, around the same height but with a more disciplined build, wearing white clothes and carrying a katana at his waist.
Fushiguro stopped in front of them.
"Jasper."
Jasper straightened instantly.
"Y-Yes, Captain?"
"Eat it," Fushiguro said. "A metal-looking fruit in the hands of a guy like you? I want to see what happens."
Theo stared.
"That is NOT a scientific method."
Fushiguro smirked.
"You want it instead?"
Theo paused.
"…I only need my sword."
"Thought so."
Jasper gulped and stared at the Devil Fruit in his hands.
He took a deep breath.
"Okay. I'll do it."
He closed his eyes and took a huge bite.
Half a second later, he regretted everything.
"BLEHHHHH—WHAT IS THIS TASTE?!"
Theo panicked and clamped a hand over his mouth.
"SWALLOW IT, YOU MORON! What if it stops working if you spit it out?!"
Jasper made the most tragic muffled noise in human history, but he forced it down, face scrunched in disgust.
Fushiguro raised an eyebrow.
"You good?"
"No," Jasper croaked. "Emotionally, no."
The fruit's power had already flooded his body the moment he swallowed.
They stood there in silence.
Ten seconds.
Thirty.
A minute.
Jasper closed his eyes again, trying to feel for anything.
Slowly, something unknown stirred inside him.
"Captain… Theo… I feel weird," he murmured. "Like something's pulling me."
His hand drifted toward a nearby iron barrel.
The barrel rattled.
Then slid.
Then suddenly shot into the air and hovered above the deck.
All three of them stared.
Theo's jaw dropped.
"No. Way."
Fushiguro's lips curled into a sharp grin.
"Well, damn. We just got ourselves a metal manipulator."
Jasper stared, eyes shining as the barrel floated around him.
"I… I can control metal… I can control metal!"
Theo threw both hands up.
"HOW IS YOUR LUCK THIS GOOD?!"
Fushiguro chuckled.
"Relax, Theo. There are plenty more Devil Fruits out there. If you still want one, you'll find it."
Theo shook his head.
"I told you. I only need one sword."
Fushiguro believed him.
Behind Theo's complaints and deadpan attitude, his swordsmanship was serious.
Dead serious.
Fushiguro clapped Jasper's shoulder.
"From now on, you're our walking scrap-metal nightmare. Use the treasure and the barrels to practice. Control and finesse. Learn both."
"Yes, Captain!"
Jasper shouted, eyes burning.
Within minutes, he was practicing, floating metal objects around, occasionally sending something way too far.
"STOP THROWING OUR TREASURE OFF THE SHIP!" Theo screamed.
"I'M STILL LEARNING!" Jasper yelled back.
Fushiguro stretched out on a deck chair and watched them with a faint smile.
He didn't have a system.
Didn't have a cheat code.
But his body responded to training like it was built for combat, his senses were too sharp to be normal, and his instincts were downright unfair.
If Devil Fruits wouldn't work on him…
Then he'd carve his name into this world with his own hands.
He looked at the sky.
The world was already shifting.
The God Valley incident was drawing closer.
And this time, he wasn't going to watch from far away.
He was going to be there.
Right in the middle of the storm.
—
Author Note:
Hope you enjoyed Chapter 1! Let me know if you like Fushiguro's crew dynamic so far.