Just one day ago, as a result of working overtime late into the night, Kyoma had suddenly passed away, still at his computer desk.
When he opened his eyes once more, he found himself transported to another world entirely.
Before he could even begin to come to his senses, he saw a few faces, and then a sack suddenly came down from above and covered his head.
His eyes went dark once again.
When he finally woke up for the second time, he found himself in a strange and unfamiliar environment, and the situation was far worse than it had been before.
He had a heavy collar with an iron chain wrapped around his neck, and he was locked away in a dungeon, completely surrounded by all kinds of strange and unusual inmates.
There were towering giants standing over, bizarre people that looked similar to seafolk from the legends, and there was even a mermaid swimming in a large water tank...
In short, they were all fantastic and extraordinary species that could only be seen in fantasy works and stories.
'What's going on?'
For a long moment, Kyoma was completely stunned and thought to himself that he must either be dreaming or experiencing vivid hallucinations.
That is, until the mermaid girl in the water tank was pushed out and taken away by the guards.
Soon after that moment, the cell door began to shake violently, and at the same time, a loud roar was heard echoing through the cell wall somewhere in the distance.
"Camie, we're here to rescue you!"
Immediately afterwards, there were enthusiastic shouts of "Gomu, Gomu" and fighting sounds.
Kyoma suddenly experienced a very familiar sense of déjà vu washing over him.
He felt as if he had definitely seen this exact scene somewhere before.
Wait a moment, giants, fishmen, mermaids, and auction houses.
How come this entire series of factors combined together seems more than a bit familiar?
'Is it… ONE PIECE?' Kyoma thought.
"Kid, are you short of money?"
Suddenly, an old but surprisingly charismatic voice came directly to his ears, completely interrupting Kyoma's racing thoughts.
'Money? Why would anyone suddenly ask this particular question at this specific time?'
Kyoma turned his head around in confusion and bewilderment.
What came into his view was an old man with gray hair, an extremely strong and muscular body, and a mental outlook and demeanor that was completely different from all the other auction slaves trapped in the dungeon.
There was even some liquid visibly dripping on the old man's beard.
It was only at that moment that Kyoma realized that, as a slave confined in the same prison, this particular guy was being treated so well that he even had a wine jug held firmly in his hand.
Seeing that he hadn't answered him, the old man casually raised his head and took another big and generous sip from the jug, drinking up and finishing all the wine remaining in the jug.
The mouth of the jug was facing downwards, but there was not even a single drop left inside.
"Hey, the wine jug is completely empty now. How can an old man with nothing to do possibly stay here any longer?"
Seeing this entire scene unfold, Kyoma felt an itch in his throat, and his mouth felt painfully dry.
After being caught and imprisoned, he hadn't had even a single drink of water.
If he had known earlier that the old man had wine available, he would have immediately snatched it away and had a drink for himself.
But in the very next moment, the old man completely dispelled and eliminated his thoughts with his subsequent actions.
The old man casually placed the empty wine bottle on his waist, then slowly twisted his neck and moved his wrists around a few times.
Then, under Kyoma's astonished and shocked gaze, the old man casually reached out his hand and firmly grabbed the collar around his own neck.
With two distinct "crackling" sounds, the iron collar that had seemed so solid and hard to Kyoma shattered instantly in the old man's hands as if it were nothing more than paper.
The old man stood up tall, glanced over at Kyoma, who looked shocked, and asked in a calm and composed manner.
"How about it, kid, do you want to go out together with me?"
"You..."
Kyoma was completely stunned for some time before he finally came to his senses.
He looked at the old man with complicated and conflicted eyes for quite a long while, licked his dry and parched lips, and spoke the first words he had said after crossing over into this world:
"Can you steal some water before you steal the money, Silvers Rayleigh-san?"
The man looked at him deeply for a second.
"It seems you recognized me… in that case, what's your name?"
"…"
"It's Kyoma."
****
A few minutes later, Kyoma was able to drink the water just as he had wished.
"Ah, so cool and refreshing."
After greedily drinking down half a bottle of water, Kyoma carefully stepped over the guard who had been stunned unconscious by [Conqueror's Haki], followed closely behind Rayleigh's footsteps, and walked directly into the warehouse where the auction proceeds of the human auction house were stored and kept.
The crystal wall was brilliant and dazzling, sparkling brightly with golden light.
The piles upon piles of jewels were absolutely dazzling to the eyes, and the numerous boxes of Berries banknotes were countless and beyond measure.
"It looks like now, not only can I fill my wine jug, but I can even go to the casino once again."
Rayleigh grabbed a thick stack of bills from the box and casually put them in his trouser pockets, a satisfied and content smile appearing on his face.
After filling his entire body and all his pockets with the bills, Rayleigh looked just a little regretful:
"What a shame. If I had known this beforehand, I would have brought a large sack with me."
'Sack?' Kyoma felt a little offended when he heard this particular word mentioned, because he himself had been caught and captured in a sack.
But if he hadn't been caught and brought here, he wouldn't have had the chance to meet Rayleigh. I
f he hadn't met Rayleigh, he wouldn't have had the precious opportunity to come into contact with so much money in such a remarkably short period of time.
And at the exact moment he came into contact with the money, his cheat ability also awakened.
[Conditions for the summon: 10 million Berries]
[It has been detected that there are plenty of Berries near the Host. Do you want to absorb it?]
'Yes, my cheat is here.'
Kyoma's mouth curled up into a happy and satisfied smile.
'I knew it all along. How can a transmigrator possibly not have a cheat ability? Can one without a cheat ability even be considered as such?'
"Rayleigh-san, with your permission, I can take all the rest."
Before activating his cheat ability, out of deep respect for the lifesaver and world-class warrior standing in front of him, Kyoma decided to report it to him first.
"Oh?" Rayleigh raised his eyebrows in mild surprise.
"Kid, are you also a person with special abilities?"
Hearing this question, Kyoma hesitated for a brief moment, thought about it carefully in his mind for a while, and felt that it was not too much or inappropriate to describe his cheating ability as a kind of special ability, so he organized the words in his mind and nodded slightly in acknowledgment:
"You could describe it this way. My ability is to summon my faraway companions to my side at the cost of money."
The older man whistled.
"Wow, that sounds like an incredible and remarkable ability."
Rayleigh showed an amazed and impressed look in his eyes, then waved his hand expectantly and said:
"Don't worry about me at all. What I got and obtained this time is more than enough for my needs. Besides, this auction house is not going to go bankrupt suddenly. At worst, I can simply come back a few more times after I've spent all my money gambling in the casino."
However, the auction house will indeed go bankrupt. When they take this much money.
"Thanks."
After getting and receiving Rayleigh's permission, Kyoma did not hesitate for a moment and placed his hand directly on the box full of Berries, saying to himself: Start absorbing.
The next moment arrived.
Without any warning or indication, all the Berries in the entire warehouse, including the gold, silver and jewelry, disappeared and vanished in an instant.
It all happened so incredibly fast that even Rayleigh, who had a red glow visible in the corner of his eyes and his [Observation Haki] fully activated, didn't see it clearly enough. He could only sigh and marvel in his heart that the ability of an ability user is indeed truly special and unique.
[Obtain 1,320,000,000 Berries]
[The conditions for this summoning have been met. Do you want to start?]
'Am I going to be a billionaire now?' After slightly sighing at the astronomical and staggering figure, Kyoma continued on.
"Yes."
[Summoning is about to start. This summoning is for a character. Please prepare one of the following three summoning mediums.]
[A. An Umbrella]
[B. A bomb strong enough to kill a Sea King]
[C. A dragon scale]
'It actually needs a summoning medium? I knew it wouldn't be that simple.'
But where can he possibly find a bomb capable of killing a Sea King in this current situation?
Even if he somehow finds a bomb, how does he know and determine if it can actually kill a Sea King?
'And the scales of a dragon, uh...'
There were quite a few races among his cellmates just a short while ago. Why not ask something about them?
Dragon… where was he supposed to find a scale of one?
Considering the actual situation and circumstances at the moment, he could only choose the relatively simpler option A.
But even then, it's too difficult to find an umbrella in this human auction house.
'Huh?'
'There actually is one here…'