He was the least talented among us.
Scrawny, muscles that never grow no matter how hard he trains, thick-headed, always daydreaming.
We used to bully him all the time.
Then some pirate named Roger tricked him into becoming a cook, and he never came back.
---
East Blue, Conomi Islands.
Goose Town, Imperial Fist Gym.
CP9 agent Ruki Ichijou set down his pen. "Do you know his surname? Any family left?"
A hulking muscleman scratched his head.
"He was an orphan the old village chief took in. After the chief died, he had no one. We called him Little Blondie—surname Beelzebub."
"Right. Beelzebub it is."
Ruki Ichijou hurriedly wrote:
Roger Pirates cook Beelzebub Astrix, fifteen, no Haki, no Devil Fruit.
Overall assessment: non-combatant.
Arrest priority: Highest.
Pirate King Roger was about to be publicly executed in Loguetown; the World Government had dispatched CP9 agents to secretly track down the rest of his crew.
The likes of Rayleigh and Gabban, the Pirate King's two wings, were far out of Ruki Ichijou's league.
But the little cook Beelzebub Astrix—he was a prize he could claim, and—
CP9 agent versus cook: the advantage is mine!
Fortune was knocking. Ruki Ichijou felt elated, tossed down thirty thousand Berries, and left in haste. The kid wasn't in his hometown, so he would almost certainly head to Loguetown to see Roger off.
Promotion and a raise hinged on this one move.
(๑Ő௰Ő๑)
Night had fallen; stars dotted the sky.
Amid the foam of rolling waves, a coffin-shaped little skiff docked steadily at Loguetown harbor.
At the prow, Beelzebub Astrix shipped his oars.
"Mihawk, we've arrived."
The youth called Mihawk opened hawk-like eyes. "You were really on Roger's ship?"
Mihawk couldn't fathom how someone like Astrix—no Devil Fruit, no Haki, not even a proper boat—could reach the final island.
Just that inexplicable self-confidence?
Mihawk glanced at him. How could such a weakling brim with such fierce confidence?
"Hey, what's with that look?" Astrix was used to it.
"I told you—I'm the cook!"
Beelzebub Astrix, the greatest chef on the Roger Pirates. As for combat… best not mentioned.
Truth be told, Astrix didn't want it this way either.
But with his wretched natural physique, even two hundred percent effort couldn't catch the geniuses—not only fail to catch up, the gap only widened.
Hawkeye took up the oar-black blade, Yoru. "Plenty of eyes in town—you… stick close."
The future world's greatest swordsman, Hawkeye Mihawk, had just turned nineteen. With the Black Blade Yoru on his back, he roamed the seas in search of worthy foes.
Hearing that the Pirate King would die in Loguetown, Mihawk had swung by Twin Capes and hired a boatman at top price: Beelzebub Astrix.
The reason—those who know, know.
After successfully freeloading passage, Astrix followed Mihawk into another freebie: a luxury king room in Loguetown.
With the door shut, Astrix soaked in the tub to ease the ache. Mihawk didn't want anyone seeing him rowing, so Astrix had paddled the whole way.
They had arrived just before the execution.
Unlike Mihawk, Astrix came only to send Captain Roger off—and to complete the final step of activating his system.
Sixteen years ago, the Great Fortune Celestial had run Astrix over with a truck into this world.
Though he had bound a system, the conditions to activate it had never been met, leaving it in standby.
[Multiverse Trade Platform: Standby]
Activation conditions:
Pirate King's Straw Hat 1/1
Whitebeard's Moustache 1/1
Shanks's Red Hair 1/1
Buggy's Treasure Map 1/1
Blackbeard's Teeth 2/2
Witness Pirate King's Death 0/1
Captain Roger's public execution would kick off the Great Pirate Age. Miss it, and Astrix's life was as good as over.
Unless he waited twenty-four years to witness the next Pirate King's death.
Twenty-four years—turnips would rot by then.
Reincarnated here with an average bloodline and no noble background, without a cheat, he couldn't survive.
Exhaling, Astrix's eyes blazed as he looked at the three gifts in his newbie pack:
Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
Innate Divine Strength.
Big Eater.
His confidence came from this.
Unlike the rest of Roger's crew, Astrix didn't mind eating a Devil Fruit—he couldn't swim anyway, so the side effect was moot.
But it had to be a top-tier fruit.
If anyone believed "there are no weak Devil Fruits, only weak users,"
they were the same fools who said, "there are no trash martial souls, only trash masters."
Idiots—go eat dirt!
Not only do Devil Fruits have tiers, people are born unequal.
A politician's son becomes a politician, a lawyer's son a lawyer; an ordinary man's son either stays ordinary or becomes cannon fodder.
But none of that applied to Astrix—
He was a noble cheater!
Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Innate Divine Strength, Big Eater—each filled a vital gap.
Put the Rumble-Rumble, Chilly-Chilly, Mag-Mag, and other Logia fruits in front of him, and he would still choose the Rumble without hesitation.
Because it was the most complete.
Intangibility, speed rivaling the Glint-Glint, destructive power matching the Mag-Mag, Observation Haki enhancement, cardiac restart, near-infinite energy—attack, defense, speed, healing, and Haki boost all in one.
It could even refine the body with lightning and develop electromagnetism, brainwaves, and bioelectricity.
Overall,
the Rumble-Rumble seemed like a Logia but was essentially a Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Type: Thunder God Form.
Sadly, it debuted too early and got sidelined by Oda; had it appeared post-Marineford, it would have been a finals contender.
And most important of all—
Rumble powers are cool.
Strength is patch-dependent; coolness lasts a lifetime.
Big Eater was standard protagonist fare.
For fifteen-year-old Astrix, reaching Emperor-tier height depended on this physique.
As for Innate Divine Strength, he had no concrete understanding yet.
Leaning back against the tub, thoughts drifting, he recalled that tomorrow's onlookers would include—
Sun-Sun Fruit user, high-tier-only fighter "Fifty-Fifty" Crocodile.
Shadow-Shadow Fruit user, future Shichibukai grave robber Moria.
Old pal, young Emperor, face-saving Red Hair.
Revolutionary Army leader, rescue maniac, cold-sweat Dragon.
String-String Fruit user, young Shichibukai newspaper king Doflamingo.
Old pal, Chop-Chop Fruit user, young Emperor, Haoshoku-luck holder Buggy.
And Smoker.
"What a gathering of talents!"