Chapter 59: The Devil Factor
July 1, 1516. You were adrift on the vast ocean, clinging to a piece of driftwood. You possessed nothing—no food or drink—save for the ring on your finger. You made no attempt to communicate with Roger, knowing he wouldn't wake until he had consumed a significant amount of food. Upon examination, you discovered that your Conqueror's and Observation Haki were still present, though weakened. Only your Armament Haki needed to be completely retrained. You speculated that the former two were based on the mind, while the latter was rooted in the body.
July 2, 1516. You began gathering food and practicing your Armament Haki by swimming. While your Observation Haki's range was limited, it was enough to pinpoint the location of a distant island. As you swam, you pondered your goals. During your previous journey, you had experienced the darkness of the Celestial Dragons firsthand. Perhaps finding the great treasure and overthrowing their rule would be a worthy objective. (Chaos Tendency +3)
July 4, 1516. After two days of travel, you arrived at the island. It was, as you expected, Windmill Village. The villagers were welcoming, and you soon ran into that obnoxious kid again—the future Pirate King, Luffy. You were well-informed about him, but this was the first time you'd seen someone use dried feces as a hidden weapon. It was completely unsportsmanlike, especially for the protagonist of a manga. How disillusioning. According to Luffy, he was defending Windmill Village… with feces. You only regretted not having a camera to record this embarrassing phase of his life.
July 8, 1516. The village chief of Windmill Village suddenly fell ill. Some things truly are destined. You arrived at his home with pinpoint accuracy and easily cured his ailment, leaving the villagers astonished.
July 9, 1516. With the help of the villagers, you temporarily settled down and opened a small clinic to make a living. At the same time, you began to train your body, striving to regain your Armament Haki as soon as possible. As the saying goes, a man must be self-reliant.
July 10, 1516. In your spare time, you began researching ways to make money. According to the price list at a nearby shipyard, a secondhand ship cost about 100 million Berries. You recalled that the warship you sailed on in your previous life was nearly twenty times larger and cost only 2.2 billion Berries, with vastly superior firepower and durability. Do pirates have their own mints or something? You also discovered that the most profitable industries in this world were all listed in the criminal code, followed by shipbuilding. Wasn't that a vicious cycle? If you could afford to build ships, why would you need the money in the first place? Finally, you decided to try submitting an article to Loguetown Magazine. Being a plagiarist in another world wasn't so shameful. As for the subject, love is an eternal theme for humanity, even in the world of One Piece.
July 11, 1516. Finally, some good news. Your grandfatherly companion in the ring awakened early. Yes, it was Roger, the amnesiac on death row. Through your interactions across two worlds, you had become as close as old friends.
July 13, 1516. Today, you ran into Luffy and Ace again. Luffy tried to be unsportsmanlike, but he was out of hidden weapons. After catching him, you pinched his stretchy cheeks until he yelped. He was furious, but after you treated them to a meal, you became instant friends. It was magical. During the meal, Roger told you that he felt an indescribable kinship with Ace. It was the bond between father and son.
July 15, 1516. You received a manuscript acceptance letter from Loguetown Magazine. Your short story, "The Necklace," would be published in the next issue, with a fee of 1.2 million Berries. At this rate, you'd need to copy one hundred short stories to buy a ship. But it didn't matter. You were stubborn. Besides, this was a way to leave your mark on this world. The money was secondary; the chance to personally change the world was priceless.
July to September 1516. You plagiarized over ten famous romance short stories, becoming the most renowned short story writer in the East Blue. You knew that Loguetown Magazine was owned by Morgans, the sole newspaper tycoon in the world of One Piece, so they weren't short on cash. As expected, your royalties skyrocketed. Meanwhile, your relationship with Ace and Luffy blossomed. You taught them the cultivation techniques for Armament and Observation Haki. However, in the dozen or so spars that followed, Ace failed to defeat you even once. By your assessment, Ace's current strength was somewhere between a Marine Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel, and his hand-to-hand combat skills weren't even on par with yours. Perhaps he would only truly take off after eating a Devil Fruit.
September 20, 1516. Your savings reached 25 million Berries, a quarter of your goal. On the same day, you successfully reawakened your Armament Haki, two months ahead of your previous timeline. Roger told you that your current strength was quite good, vaguely recalling that he might not have been as strong when he first set sail. But if you wanted to make further progress, you had to take to the sea. You agreed. After spending so much time together, you had formed a deep friendship with the two brothers. Ace and Luffy both considered you a friend and a brother.
December 21, 1516. Today was a mix of good and bad. The good news: you had completed two-thirds of your fundraising goal, and your fame as a writer had spread all the way to the Grand Line. Even princesses from several countries were your fans. The owner of the magazine, Morgans, personally visited you to request that your work be reprinted in the World Economic Journal, offering a generous fee. You had no reason to refuse. The bad news: that meddling old man, Garp, returned to Windmill Village. He was even more interested in you than in the previous timeline, especially after you defeated Ace in a sparring match. He kept trying to trick you into joining the Marines, but this time you held your ground. Nothing could sway your resolve.
December 27, 1516. After repeated attempts at persuasion failed, a regretful Garp gave up and turned his attention to training Ace and Luffy. According to him, both of his grandsons were destined to become admirals and would never lose to you. You curled your lip. Optimism was a good thing—for both sides.
January 22, 1517. Under the guidance of "Garp the Fist," Ace also cultivated his Armament Haki. At Garp's instigation, Ace challenged you again, only to be soundly defeated. Afterward, Garp personally treated you to a feast, and even Roger gloated at his expense. Those two old bastards were truly something else.
February 6, 1517. Garp had returned to Marine Headquarters a few days prior. Today, you finally achieved your first major goal, spending 88 million Berries to purchase a beautiful ship in preparation to set sail. That same day, Ace approached you. He wanted to sail with you, offering to serve as a navigator, cook, and combatant. When you asked why, Ace told you the story of his father, Roger, and his mother, Portgas D. Rouge. He wanted to see for himself what magic the ocean held that had so captivated his father that he left his mother behind and never returned. Of course, it would be even better if he could create a legend that surpassed Roger's with his own hands. After hearing this, Roger fell silent and repeatedly asked you to take good care of Ace.
February 21, 1517. You spent two weeks crafting some simple medical tools, including a microscope and a basic blood analyzer. With your Tony Stark-level research talent, this wasn't a difficult task. You earned the achievement: [Leeuwenhoek].
February 22, 1517. After making all the necessary preparations, you named your crew the Pineapple Pirates, painted a skull with a pineapple hairstyle on your flag, and officially set sail. After saying goodbye to Luffy, you promised you would meet again out on the sea.
March 15, 1517. Your first destination was Loguetown, after which you would pass through Reverse Mountain and enter the Grand Line. They say Stand users are drawn to each other; it seems the same is true for Devil Fruits. By chance, you obtained a Devil Fruit on a deserted island and gave it to Ace. In exchange, you took blood samples from him from before and after he consumed it. Under the microscope, you discovered some black, granular material in the latter sample. Perhaps this was the legendary Devil Factor.
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