Year 1518 of the Sea Calendar
East Blue · Goa Kingdom · Royal Palace
"How can this ugly bastard be worthy of the princess?"
"Your Royal Highness, would you mind changing fiancés?"
A bloodstained longsword was embedded in the chest of a blond, bowl-cut nobleman. It swayed gently, as if basking in the chaos like a carefree dandelion in the breeze. Crimson blood pooled across the floor, reflecting the golden glow of the palace torches.
On the gleaming throne sat a black-haired young man, casually cradling a trembling blond princess in his lap. With an air of calm dominance, he gently lifted her chin.
Sally De Cannette princess of the Goa Kingdom.
At that moment, Sally's eyes were wide, her body frozen. Her expression was a storm of fear, awe, fury... and, somehow, a touch of gratitude.
The firm hand around her waist kept her rooted in place, even as her gaze darted from the bodies strewn across the floor to the mysterious man now seated on the throne.
Among the dead lay the mushroom-headed corpse, two other nobles in ornate attire, and over a dozen fallen guards.
"M-My father and royal brother... were they really poisoned... by them?"
Sally pointed with a trembling finger at the corpses of Oterluk III and Sterry, her voice cracking with disbelief and rage.
Sterry her fiancé.
They were supposed to be married next month. He was set to become the consort of Goa, basking in royal status and power.
And Oterluk III? The most respected duke in the king's inner circle.
But now... they were traitors, dead on the floor of the palace.
"They actually plotted to assassinate the royal family...?"
"Your Highness," said the young man, "didn't you hear their heartfelt 'confessions' just before their heads hit the floor?"
He leaned in slightly and breathed in the sweet scent of Sally's perfume. A spark of ambition danced in his eyes.
He never could've imagined this. Victor Shaw, once a shut-in college student from Blue Star...
Now holding a royal princess in his lap in the palace of a kingdom he had just usurped.
Months ago, he'd awakened in Edge Town, the most dangerous slum in the Goa Kingdom a place where criminals and drifters gathered like flies to carrion. It was a place no sane citizen dared to tread.
He was just a soon-to-be graduate, stuck in his dorm during a pandemic, attending online classes and barely scraping by. Now, he was fighting for his life in a pirate-infested hellhole.
The adjustment had been brutal.
Language? Foreign. Culture? Deadly.
But luckily, thanks to one of his quirky hobbies back on Earth, Victor had taught himself Japanese.
That random skill had probably saved his life.
Without it, he wouldn't have understood a thing and would've been dead in days.
As he clawed his way through Edge Town, he stumbled across a mysterious Devil Fruit.
No hesitation.
No questions.
He ate it.
He had no idea what kind of power it held. He didn't care. All he knew was: survival was everything.
And from that moment on, everything changed.
With his strange new ability, the cruel and hostile world around him began to soften.
The same criminals who once beat him down now smiled nervously, keeping their distance.
One by one, Victor Shaw climbed the ranks of Edge Town not by making friends, but by leaving enemies buried.
As the power within him grew, so did his ambition.
He started thinking bigger. Beyond Edge Town.
He wanted to sail. To challenge the infamous Seven Warlords.
To rise above the chaos and become a name feared across the seas.
That was the plan...
Until the king and crown prince of the Goa Kingdom mysteriously died within days of each other.
Victor, already poised to leave for adventure, saw the opening.
A shortcut.
A chance to skip the grind and leap straight to power.
"Why risk my neck as a pirate," he thought, "when I can become king right here?"
If a loser like Sterry could inherit the throne, why couldn't he Victor Shaw a bonafide transmigrator?
In this world, toppling a kingdom wasn't that unusual.
Doflamingo took over Dressrosa.
Bartholomew Kuma overthrew a king and was crowned in the Sorbet Kingdom.
Dalton stepped up after Luffy KO'd Wapol, renaming the Drum Kingdom to Sakura Kingdom, while still enjoying World Government perks.
Even Wapol, after being exiled, started the Evil Black Drum Kingdom in the South Blue and was still recognized as a world leader.
As long as you paid your tribute, the World Government didn't care who sat on the throne.
The only one who failed was Crocodile, who tried to seize Alabasta but he had the bad luck of targeting a kingdom with deep royal history and loyal citizens.
…
And now, the final piece fell into place.
As Victor held Sally in his arms and watched the royal blood soak into the velvet carpet, he smiled.
Because somehow, it had worked.
Under the crushing weight of survival in Edge Town, he hadn't hesitated for even a second.
Victor Shaw devoured the Devil Fruit without a care for what powers it held.
And just like that everything changed.
The moment the strange power took root inside him, the world seemed to transform.
The thugs that once bared their teeth at him... now smiled with forced friendliness.
Those savage men of Edge Town after enough bruises, broken bones, and crushed pride began to reveal what Victor jokingly called their "warm sides."
It reminded him of something Wang Mou Bo once said online:
"When you're strong, the world is gentle. Everyone you meet becomes a 'good guy.'"
And it was true.
The more he grew, the more respect even fear he earned.
Victor had already been developing and refining his Devil Fruit powers in secret, thriving in the cutthroat chaos of Edge Town.
His ambitions were grand.
Soon, he would set sail.
He dreamed of throwing punches at the Shichibukai and landing kicks on the Four Emperors.
But just as he was preparing to leave...
Word swept across the Goa Kingdom like wildfire:
The King and Crown Prince were both dead.
Two sudden, unexplained deaths one after the other.
And Victor, who had just finished gathering supplies, crewing up, and prepping a boat, paused.
A shortcut.
That's what it felt like a golden shortcut handed down by fate.
"Damn it," he muttered at the time.
"If I can skip all that trouble and become king, why the hell would I waste time being a pirate or bounty hunter?"
This kingdom he had already usurped it in his mind.
If a clown like Sterry could wear a crown...
Why not him, Victor Shaw a transmigrator with knowledge, powers, and nothing to lose?
In the world of One Piece, was becoming a king really that hard?
Doflamingo snatched Dressrosa with ease.
Kuma ousted the old Sorbet king and somehow ended up crowned earning the name "Tyrant."
Wapol was launched into the sky by Luffy, only for Dalton to take the throne in the Drum Kingdom, rename it the Sakura Kingdom, and still keep a seat at the World Government table.
Even Wapol came back strong establishing the Evil Black Drum Kingdom in the South Blue. The World Government recognized it like nothing had happened, giving him a spot among the Fifty Allied Nations.
Why?
Because as long as you paid the celestial tribute, the World Government didn't care who ruled.
Kings could fall, coups could happen, as long as the money kept flowing.
The whole thing was a circus.
Well... unless you were like Crocodile, who dared to take on Alabasta a kingdom with deep royal bloodlines and loyal citizens. He failed because he underestimated the people.
But most others?
They succeeded.
…
Victor felt Sally De Cannette slowly relax in his lap.
Her body, once stiff with fear, began to soften.
A smug grin crept onto Victor's lips, twitching like the recoil of a rifle ready to fire again at any moment.
He honestly hadn't expected things to go so smoothly today.
He had snuck into the palace expecting resistance maybe a brawl or a failed escape.
Instead, he walked in on Sterry and his entire family gathered in the throne room, laughing and rehearsing their takeover of the kingdom.
Victor listened quietly from the shadows.
And then?
He revealed himself... and showed them a few torture methods from ancient Chinese history things he remembered from dark corners of the internet.
Turns out, Oterluk III, the Didit couple, and even Sterry weren't as brave as they acted.
They broke instantly.
The moment pain hit, they folded like wet parchment.
They confessed everything.
Their plot to poison the royal family.
Their plan to crown Sterry.
Their goal to use Princess Sally as a tool to marry her and claim legitimacy.
Victor didn't even have to try very hard.
They begged for mercy.
But mercy wasn't on the menu.
Oterluk III had sung like a canary, spilling every detail of their plan to assassinate the royal family and replace them with their own bloodline.
…
"You want to marry me? Become the King of the Goa Kingdom?"
Sally De Cannette looked at the young man holding her with a complicated expression. A part of her had already resigned herself to fate. If even Oterluk III and her fiancé Sterry had plotted to steal the throne, was there anyone she could truly trust?
This man Victor Shaw had appeared out of nowhere. He killed Sterry with ease and exposed their entire scheme without flinching.
And earlier, hadn't he said something like, "Would you mind changing fiancés?"
Even someone as sheltered and naïve as Sally could see it clearly:
Victor's ambition was no secret.
She slowly turned toward him.
To be fair… Victor was definitely more handsome than Sterry, who always looked like a mushroom with legs.
And then there was that strange Devil Fruit power both terrifying and mysterious.
After a moment's hesitation, Sally lifted her arms and, with slightly shaky hands, wrapped them gently around Victor's neck like a lover unsure of her first embrace.
Seated on his lap, her body instinctively leaned into his.
"Thank you… for avenging my father and brother," she said softly.
"Tomorrow… I'll tell the court about the conspiracy. About how Oterluk III and Sterry tried to usurp the throne."
"And you… my hero… you'll be my fiancé. The new King of Goa."
As she spoke the words, she looked into Victor's eyes and pressed her lips to his in a gentle kiss.
She had made up her mind.
In this chaotic situation, marrying Victor Shaw was the only way to stabilize the kingdom.
With her father and brother gone and Oterluk III dead she was the last of the royal family.
There was no way she could hold the kingdom alone.
And truthfully… she had no intention of giving up her life of luxury and power.
"Then congratulations to you too," Victor whispered with a grin, "for becoming Queen of Goa."
He wrapped his arms around Sally and deepened the kiss, pulling her close into their first full, immersive embrace.
Sally's breath hitched. Her mind went blank.
Her eyes grew hazy, lost in the moment.
But then her gaze flickered to the corpses still lying across the floor.
They weren't married yet. The room still reeked of blood.
And noble etiquette was something she still clung to.
"Ack No~"
"Please…"
She pushed Victor away with gentle urgency, panting slightly. Her cheeks were flushed bright red.
"I… I enjoyed that a little too much…"
She looked away, embarrassed. After all, they'd only just met. It hadn't even been three hours.
"Come with me," she said, standing quickly. "We need to secure the palace guard."
"Once that's done... tomorrow night, I'll come to you again."
Victor raised an eyebrow in amusement, a sly grin on his lips.
Sally noticed and quickly added, "It won't take long!"
Victor chuckled, composed himself, and rose from the throne with her. He gently calmed the fire stirring within him, choosing strategy over passion.
Sally, stealing a glance at his reaction, saw something in his expression that made her heart skip.
A flicker of anticipation.
A spark of shyness.
A hint of... something she wasn't ready to name yet.
After tidying their clothes, Victor began piling the bodies together. As he stared at the lifeless forms of Oterluk III and the Didit couple, a strange thought crossed his mind.
If Sabo ever recovered his memories... would he come after Victor for killing his biological parents?
Meanwhile, Sally slipped away briefly and returned with a noble's royal attire one that shimmered with authority.
"Come," she said, straightening the collar of his coat. "Let's take control of the palace's forces, my King."
Only now did Sally feel a deep, delayed fear settling in.
She hadn't realized just how many guards and servants Oterluk III had already corrupted.
No wonder they'd been able to poison the King and Crown Prince without being noticed.
Had Oterluk not needed her for a political marriage, she would've been the next to die.
She was never meant to rule.
She was only ever a pawn a stepping stone for the Oterluk family to claim the throne.
But now?
Now she had Victor Shaw.
And this time, the game had changed.
"As you command, my Princess," Victor said with a grin full of momentum and pride.
In just one move, he had ascended the throne.
He never imagined that usurping a kingdom could be so easy.
"Tomorrow… night… I'll come to you again."
Seeing that Victor Shaw was still a little reluctant to let go, Sally De Cannette quickly looked up at him with a shy, inexperienced gaze, afraid he might take her retreat the wrong way.
"It won't take much longer," she added softly, as if making a promise.
Victor gave a faint smile. He stood from the throne with her in his arms, gently suppressing his growing desires and… calming the storm his "brother" had just stirred.
Sally caught the flicker of restraint in his expression and something about it made her heart flutter.
There was anticipation in her eyes.
A little fear.
A little hope.
And more than a little curiosity.
After tidying their clothes and composing themselves, Victor got to work piling the corpses in a corner of the grand throne room.
He paused for a moment, looking down at the twisted remains of Oterluk III and the Didit couple.
A thought crossed his mind:
If Sabo ever regained his memories... would he come for revenge?
After all, those two lying dead before him were his biological parents.
Meanwhile, Sally returned, holding a set of regal garments woven with gold thread.
"Here," she said gently, "you'll need to look the part."
Victor changed quickly. The outfit fit well as if tailored for his new title.
"Let's go, my consort," Sally said, fixing his collar. "We need to take control of the palace's military."
Now that the adrenaline had faded, a delayed sense of fear sank into her chest.
She hadn't realized just how many guards and attendants Oterluk III had already corrupted.
No wonder the King and Crown Prince were poisoned without a whisper of suspicion.
If Oterluk hadn't needed Sally for a royal marriage to legitimize his plan
She would already be dead.
She understood it now.
She had never truly been part of the plan.
Just a prop.
A stepping stone for the Oterluk family to replace the royal line.
And yet now things had flipped completely.
"As you command, my Princess!" Victor said with a grin, snapping into stride beside her.
He couldn't help it. He felt like he'd just stepped into heaven.
He had taken the crown… with barely a fight.
He had to admit:
He never imagined that usurping a kingdom would be this easy.