Chapter 001
On the golden sands of Biya Island in the East Blue, a boy around eight years old, dressed in strange clothing, was continuously running laps around the entire island…
"Damn it… why did I have to transmigrate into the One Piece world without getting even a single Devil Fruit?!" Kai muttered curses between slightly labored breaths as sweat dripped down his face. He didn't slow down at all.
As a rich second-generation playboy idolized by countless girls in the 21st century, Kai had everything he could ever want. While he didn't quite change sports cars every single day, he wasn't far off. At twenty-one years old, he had finally graduated from an elite aristocratic university and was ready to live a life of pure extravagance—when the heavens decided to pull the biggest prank imaginable on him.
That so-called "transmigration" actually happened to him. He had simply been driving his latest limited-edition hypercar at insane speeds when he somehow crashed straight into a wormhole. When he woke up again, he was already on an island in the East Blue of the One Piece world.
And that wasn't even the worst part. Because of the transmigration, his body had been reverted to when he was eight years old. For someone who had already gone through childhood and adolescence once, this was pure misery. Starting over was bad enough—but being unable to pursue girls properly at this size was what truly infuriated Kai.
Moreover, having read plenty of One Piece fanfiction (even though 99% of them ended up as dropped novels), Kai knew the tropes well. Most protagonists who transmigrated here got everything: a Devil Fruit, a powerful background, cultivation techniques, divine artifacts… Kai had none of those four classic "golden fingers." The only thing that gave him any comfort was that his latest limited-edition hypercar had somehow crossed over with him.
Not only had the car not shrunk like his body, but after the transmigration it had become even tougher and flashier. Right now it was parked on the island with its stealth mode activated. The solar-powered engine made Kai grin every time he thought about it.
Whenever he imagined cruising across the Grand Line in that sleek, futuristic car using its advanced navigation system, he couldn't help but laugh smugly to himself.
But that was all for the future—after he became strong enough. Without real power, there was no way he could take that eye-catching car out to sea. A vehicle this novel and flashy would be targeted and stolen the moment it appeared.
After completing another full lap around Biya Island, Kai finally entered a wooded area and walked straight to the center, stopping beneath a massive ancient tree. He looked up at the trunk—countless tiny fist marks covered its surface, some embedded as deep as one-fifth of the way in. These were the marks he had left every single day for the past year while testing his punching power.
After calming his heavy, exhausted breathing a little, Kai stood steadily in front of the giant tree. Despite his small, childlike frame, an intense aura of raw strength emanated from him. A closer look would reveal that every muscle on his tiny body contained explosive power far beyond what any normal child should possess.
Staring directly at the trunk, Kai let out a short shout. His small right fist slammed accurately into the tree—bang! The massive trunk shuddered violently under the blow, and an even deeper fist imprint appeared the moment his fist pulled away.
That punch had carried at least over 100 kilograms (220+ lbs) of force.
A slight smile curled at the corner of Kai's mouth. Although his body had shrunk due to transmigration, his strength hadn't weakened at all. In other words, inside this eight-year-old body was the raw physical power of his twenty-one-year-old self—or rather, transmigration had created a freakishly talented eight-year-old Kai.
"Still way stronger than most people… but it's still too weak. If only I could get my hands on a Devil Fruit…"
While pleased with his steadily growing strength, Kai still muttered with regret.
Devil Fruits—after watching One Piece, every fan dreamed of having one, and Kai was no exception.
In the One Piece world, his favorite power system was the bizarre and varied abilities of Devil Fruits, followed by Haki and swordsmanship, then pure physical techniques. Shooting and firearms? He had almost zero interest.
Muttering to himself, Kai slowly removed all the weights he was wearing—twenty kilograms (44 lbs) on each limb, for a total of 80 kg (176 lbs) of zinc blocks hidden under his clothes. No matter which path he eventually chose, improving his physical foundation was essential. And weighted training? That was the conclusion he had reached after devouring countless novels.
After stretching his body, a series of low, powerful popping and cracking sounds erupted from his small frame—like tiny explosions going off inside his muscles.
Crackle! Pop!
"It's been half a year since I last trained without weights… let's see if I can take this tree down in one punch now…"
Feeling incredibly light and full of energy without the burden, every cell in his body seemed to sing with joy. Looking at the giant tree, Kai spoke with anticipation.
He clenched his right fist again. With a fierce gaze fixed on the trunk, he swung with explosive force—whoosh!
BOOM! Crack—
A deafening impact rang out. In Kai's delighted eyes, the giant tree shuddered violently—then toppled backward!
Creak… creak… BOOM!!
With an earth-shaking crash that echoed through the forest and startled countless birds and animals, the towering tree snapped and collapsed.
"Hahaha…"
Seeing the tree fall, Kai burst into joyful laughter. He quickly picked up the weights from the ground, strapped them back on, and excitedly headed toward Biya Town on the island. The heavy weights were once again concealed inside his slightly oversized sleeves—no one could tell that this small boy was carrying over a hundred kilograms on his body!
...
"Hahaha… this feels great!"
Inside Biya's tavern, a group of pirates was feasting and drinking wildly. Their captain—a man with a ferocious knife scar across his face—laughed heartily.
"Come on, boys! A toast to our Scar Pirates!"
The scarred captain, Clart, raised his large mug of ale.
"Cheers!"
"To the Scar Pirates!"
"To Captain Clart!"
"Cheers!!"
The pirates roared in response, downing their drinks in one go.
"Hahaha, another round—to the fortune we're about to claim!"
Clart laughed again, and no wonder he was so excited. They had just received information about a major merchant ship. The wealth on board was worth at least several tens of millions of Berries—several times higher than Clart's own bounty!
"Captain, is it true there's a Devil Fruit on that merchant ship too?" one of the pirate grunts asked curiously after emptying his mug.
Before Clart could answer, a small figure at the tavern entrance froze for a moment upon hearing the words "Devil Fruit." Then he stood motionless, ears perked, listening intently—clearly very interested in that piece of news.
"Hahaha! Yes, it's true! Besides the tens of millions of Berries worth of treasure, there really is a Devil Fruit on board—worth at least 100 million Berries!"
Clart didn't bother hiding it—there was no need. He laughed loudly and announced it to the whole crew.