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Chapter 9 – Fuck the Timeline, Feed the Future
MC POV (Sunny)
For hours after docking on Cocoyasi Island, my head was spinning.
Canon.
The word itself pressed against my skull like a hammer. I wasn't stupid. I knew exactly what year it was, exactly what was supposed to happen. Belle-mère's death. Arlong. Nami's chains. The whole tragic setup that would scar her until Luffy set her free.
But now? I wasn't just a reader anymore. I wasn't someone watching through a screen, crying into instant ramen. I was here. With her.
I paced the shore like a lunatic. My inner monolog went off like fireworks.
If I don't intervene, Nami suffers the same fate. She grows up shackled in fear, pretending to serve Arlong, dreaming of the sea but trapped in misery.
If I do intervene… the entire One Piece timeline collapses. Luffy might not even meet Nami the same way. The crew dynamic—the entire adventure—could be rewritten. What happens to Alabasta? To Enies Lobby? To Whole Cake Island? To everything that made the Straw Hats who they are?
But—
I slammed my fist into a tree, teeth gritted.
"Damn it! Damn it all!"
My voice rose like thunder over the waves.
"FUCK THE CANON TIMELINE!"
Birds scattered into the air. Even the wind seemed to pause.
Yeah. Screw it. If this world wanted me to be a spectator, tough luck. I'd already changed too much by existing. If saving one girl meant breaking the flow, so be it.
Because if there was one thing I learned from One Piece, it was this—friends mattered more than fate.
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Aqua POV (with added smugness)
The moment Sunny finished shouting like a madman at the sky, I sauntered over, brushing sand off my skirt.
"By the way," I said with a sly grin, "you kissed me first. And then I kissed you back. Don't think you're getting away without taking responsibility."
Sunny's face turned the color of a tomato. He opened his mouth, then shut it. Not a single word came out.
{Ego}: Correction: Host is speechless. File this moment as proof of emotional incompetence.
[System]: Master Sunny's flustered expression is at maximum adorableness. I recommend immediate eternal binding. Preferably marriage.
I smirked harder. Watching Sunny suffer from embarrassment was the one divine joy left to me.
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Reality Check (Also Known as We're Broke)
I twirled once, glanced around the island, then suddenly stopped.
"…Wait a second."
Sunny blinked. "What?"
"At least this place has a proper village. Houses, fields, people. But—" My face paled. "Sunny, we're broke."
His jaw dropped.
"We don't have a single Berry! Not one! How are we supposed to live here? Sleep on the dirt? Eat grass? You may be cute, but you're not cute enough to live off of staring at your face!"
I threw my hands in the air, screaming at the sky like he had earlier.
"DO YOU EXPECT A GODDESS TO LIVE WITHOUT MONEY?!"
The villagers nearby gave me weird looks. One man crossed himself. A child started crying. Sunny dragged me away by the wrist before I got us arrested.
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Berry-Belly Bonanza
Sunny, being Sunny, came up with the dumbest yet somehow most effective idea.
"Seakings," he said simply.
Ten hours later, after an insane clash involving Haki platforms, improvised knocking techniques, and me screaming about being splashed with fish guts, Sunny strutted back into Cocoyasi Village like a conquering hero.
Behind him, a market wagon creaked under the weight of a massive, glistening Seaking carcass.
A rich merchant nearly fainted on sight. "I'll pay anything! Anything!"
Final deal: 5,000,000 Berry.
I didn't even blink. My goddess instincts immediately kicked in. I grabbed Sunny by both cheeks, eyes sparkling.
"MY HERO!"
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Enter: Orange-Haired Menace
That's when she appeared.
A tiny girl, maybe nine years old, with orange hair tied up, eyes bright as the sea. She peeked at the mountain of belly in Sunny's hands, and her jaw practically hit the dirt.
I swear I saw drool. Actual drool.
"N-no way…" she whispered. "That's… that's FIVE MILLION BERRY…"
She looked at Sunny like he was the sun itself. Like he was her god.
And then something inside me snapped.
"Oi." I stepped between them, glaring. "What do you think you're staring at, little orange thief?"
"H-Huh?! I wasn't—!" Nami squeaked, cheeks red.
"Yes, you were! You've got greedy eyes! You're lusting after my Sunny's money! Or worse—you're lusting after Sunny himself!"
"W-WHAT?!" Nami yelped, stomping her foot. "I don't like him! I just—just really like money!"
"Same thing!" I declared, hands on my hips. "Do you know how dangerous that is? What if you seduce him with your orange-haired schemes, huh?! What if you lure him away with promises of tangerines and savings accounts?!"
Sunny: "…Why does this sound like the world's dumbest love triangle already?"
Nami and I both shouted in unison: "SHUT UP!"
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Dinner at Belle-mère's
Despite my suspicions, we somehow ended up at Nami's house that evening.
Belle-mère welcomed us warmly, placing steaming bowls of stew on the table. Nojiko, sweet as always, tried to keep Nami from glaring at me every five seconds.
Aqua sat next to Sunny, clinging to his arm like an octopus. Nami sat on his other side, sneakily counting the coins he'd earned.
Me? I kept smiling through my teeth while spooning stew.
Because even as laughter filled the little house, and Belle-mère's warmth made me almost forget the future—
—I knew.
In just a year, this family dinner was fated to shatter.
Unless Sunny really meant what he said on the beach.
Unless he really was going to break the canon.
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