Chapter 2: The Hero, the Bandits, and the Three Ninjas
There he was. The real deal. The Hero of the Marines, the living legend: Monkey D. Garp. I was so excited to meet him that I had barely slept a wink the night before.
As soon as he came into view, I sprinted toward him, screaming "Grandpa!" at the top of my lungs. Since I had all of the original Luffy's memories, acting like him was second nature. In fact, it didn't even feel like acting; our personalities had merged flawlessly. I could be calculating and mature one second, and the world's most rubber-brained child the next.
Seeing me charge at him, Garp broke into a massive, booming grin. I leaped into the air and tackled him in a hug. He looked surprised for a fraction of a second—probably just thinking I missed him—before wrapping his massive arms around me with a roaring laugh.
Still grinning, he hauled me into Makino's bar. As we stuffed our faces, he dropped the bomb: he was leaving me in the mountains with Dadan and her bandits. I just smiled and nodded, completely unbothered, which seemed to please him.
We were just getting ready to hike up Mt. Colubo when one of the locals called out from the street. "Oi, Luffy! What happened to all your shouting about becoming the Pirate King? You should say that to your grandpa! He used to fight the Pirate King, you know! If you really have the guts, say it to his face! Gahahaha!"
My blood ran cold. The guy was practically serving me up on a silver platter. I tried to laugh it off, but a sudden, terrifying pressure loomed over me. I slowly turned my head. Garp's brow was twitching violently, thick veins pulsed on his forehead, and his fist was already raised high in the air, coated in a terrifying aura.
Panic set in. I definitely didn't want a taste of the Fist of Love. I'd seen Garp's Galaxy Impact in the manga right before I transmigrated; I knew exactly what those hands could do.
"Grandpa, wait! Let me explain—!"
WHAM.
It felt like I was hit by a speeding train. My vision flashed white, and suddenly, stars were dancing around my head. The Fist of Love was absolutely no joke.
I peeled myself off the dirt, a throbbing, comical lump already forming on my head. Garp was glaring down at me, his face red with fury. "Listen here, Luffy! You will not become some damn filthy pirate! You are going to be a strong Marine of justice! Do you hear me?!"
Before I could even squeak out a reply, he snatched me by the collar and dragged me toward the mountain. The whole way up, he bragged loudly about his pirate-catching days and Marine justice, but I tuned him out. My heart was pounding for a completely different reason. I was about to meet Ace.
We reached the bandit hideout, and things played out mostly like canon. Dadan panicked, Garp threatened her, and then... there was Ace. He glared at me, eyes full of that feral, untamed anger, and hocked a wad of spit right at my face.
Thanks to my boosted stats and the Observation Haki I'd been practicing on the local beasts, I saw it coming from a mile away. I simply tilted my head, letting it fly past. But I didn't stop there. In a blur of motion, I swept his legs and pinned him firmly to the dirt.
The bandits gasped, their jaws dropping to the floor. They knew exactly how strong Ace was; he regularly brought down massive, deadly beasts to feed them. Seeing a six-year-old effortlessly put him in the dirt made them look at me like I was a monster.
Standing over one of my favorite characters in the entire series, I made a silent vow. Ace, we're going to be brothers soon. There is absolutely no way I'm letting you die like in the manga. I'll do everything in my power to keep you alive. Count on it.
My internal monologue was cut short when Garp's hand clamped onto my collar again. Wham. Another fist to the head. He scolded me for fighting, while the bandits stared at us like we were a family of demons.
From there, Garp left. Ace was hostile, holding a grudge for the takedown, but I gave him space. My immediate focus shifted to Dadan. I always felt Oda didn't give her enough credit, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I wasn't going to be a problem child; I was going to do a complete 180 and be the best thing that ever happened to them.
I started waking up early, cooking them massive, nutritious breakfasts to cure their hangovers. Using the System, I bought subtle enhancements—things to boost their strength, vitality, and even top-tier health supplements, which I seamlessly mixed into Dadan's drinks and meals.
After a few months, the bandits noticed massive changes. They were stronger, faster, and healthier. Dadan underwent the most drastic transformation. She shed the excess weight, her features sharpened, and she was genuinely becoming a beautiful woman. None of them could explain it. Whenever they brought it up, I just flashed a massive grin and claimed my cooking was magic. Lacking any other explanation, they accepted it with extreme gratitude. I quickly became the golden boy of the Dadan Family, doted on so much it was almost suffocating.
As for Ace and Sabo, we bonded just like in canon, sealing our brotherhood over sake. But instead of just sparring, I taught them actual techniques: the Shadow Clone jutsu, the Transformation jutsu, and advanced hand-to-hand combat. I secretly fed them System items to give them the necessary energy reserves to pull the moves off. We dubbed ourselves "The Three Ninjas." Whenever they asked where I learned this, I vaguely credited a "mysterious master" who visited me before I moved to the mountains. They bought it hook, line, and sinker.
Time flowed on. Sabo's canon incident with the Celestial Dragon still happened. He went missing, presumed dead by the others. I didn't panic, though; I knew exactly whose ship had picked him up. Some fates were just hard to change.
My heavy involvement with the bandits and my brothers yielded a massive amount of Fate Points. Dadan had transformed into an undeniable knockout—an easy 8.5 out of 10. The Mt. Colubo bandits were now the undisputed apex predators of the mountains, entirely due to the stealthy upgrades I provided. They worshipped the ground I walked on and genuinely believed I was a miracle child destined to be the Pirate King.
Every time Garp visited, he noticed our skyrocketing strength, muttering about what the hell we were eating in those mountains. Just before Ace turned seventeen, Garp paid us a visit. This time, I looked him dead in the eye and declared my intention to be the Pirate King.
He exploded, and a full-blown fight broke out. I hadn't trained my absolute hardest over the years because I didn't want to completely derail the timeline—I needed the Marineford War to happen so I could properly save Ace in front of the world—but I was still a powerhouse.
I fought Garp to a near standstill. He was forced to use advanced techniques, treating me like one of the monsters from his era. Our clash leveled three mountains. The spectators could only watch in terror, solidifying our reputation as a bloodline of freaks. I gave Garp the same "mysterious master" excuse, and while highly skeptical, he had no choice but to accept it.
A month later, Ace turned seventeen and set sail. The newly-glamorous Dadan, the buffed bandits, and I saw him off.
With Ace gone, it was my turn to prepare. I remembered my vow to surpass Whitebeard, so I spent the next few years grinding like an absolute madman. I pushed my Haki to the absolute pinnacle.
The day before my seventeenth birthday, I pulled up my status with a wide grin.
Name: Monkey D. Luffy
Level: 999
Age: 16 (Mental Age: 38)
Strength: 30,911
Agility: 35,063
Vitality: 50,765
Haki: Armament (Lv 12), Observation (Lv 14), Conquerors (Lv 19)
Abilities: 300+
Fate Points: 1,107,881
I was beyond satisfied. My Armament Haki allowed for effortless internal destruction. My Observation Haki gave me ten full seconds of Future Sight. My Conqueror's Haki was suffocating. With over 300 abilities, including the Rinnegan, I was a walking natural disaster. I was confident I could mop the floor with Prime Whitebeard or Roger. Even Imu, sitting on the Empty Throne, didn't scare me.
Before leaving Foosha Village, I decided to leave a parting gift. For a mere 100 Fate Points, I bought a fully functioning Movie Theater from the System and placed it near the village edge.
The villagers were completely baffled by the massive building appearing overnight. I hired locals to run it and loaded it with enough movies from my old world to last them a decade. The entertainment-starved villagers treated it like a gift from the heavens, thanking me endlessly.
And finally, the day arrived.
I stood at the docks, a small wooden boat bobbing in the water beside me. I pulled the straw hat down over my eyes, a grin stretching across my face.
It is time for the world to know its king.