"Run! Everyone, Run!" a scientist screamed, his voice cracking with pure terror. "It's gone out of control! It's going to blast in any second!"
The air in the room didn't just feel hot; it felt like it was being compressed by a giant's hand.
"Everyone, move! Exit, now!" Darius bellowed, his voice cutting through the panic. He shoved Sarah toward the stairs and signaled Jax and Ghost to move. He was the last one in line, acting as the shield for his team.
But it wasn't enough.
The sphere didn't just explode; it erupted. A blinding white light consumed the lab, followed by a shockwave that turned the concrete walls into dust. Darius felt a moment of searing heat, and then... nothingness.
He was floating in a black void. There was no sound, no weight, only his consciousness drifting in the dark.
Did I die? he thought bitterly. Just like that? I'm too young... what will happen to my parents? And I didn't even get to see what the One Piece is... how damn unlucky can one man be?
As his thoughts spiraled into despair, a tiny pinprick of light appeared in the distance. It grew rapidly, swirling like a galaxy of diamonds.
What is that?
His consciousness was pulled toward the light with the force of a vacuum. A flash brighter than the explosion blinded him, and the sensation of falling returned with a vengeance.
The Awakening
Darius's eyes snapped open. He gasped, his lungs filling with air that tasted of salt and tropical blooms. He wasn't in a lab. He wasn't dead.
He was lying on sand.
"What...?" he croaked, sitting up and wincing as his muscles protested. He looked around. To his left, a crystal-blue ocean stretched to the horizon. To his right, a dense, vibrant jungle rose up like a green wall.
"Where am I? Didn't I die?" He touched his chest, feeling his heartbeat. "Don't tell me... I transmigrated? The stories were actually true?"
A spark of hope lit up in his chest.
"If this is another world... please, God, let it be One Piece. At least accept this one wish." He looked at his hands, expecting a floating screen to appear. "Wait, where is my System? Don't I get a cheat code? Or maybe the one in charge of Systems is still cooking something good for me..."
He stood up, his military instincts kicking in. He was still wearing his combat gear, which was heavy and stifling in the humid air.
"No use waiting around," he muttered. "Let's find out where I am."
He marched into the jungle. Within minutes, sweat was pouring down his face. The heat was oppressive, a wet blanket of humidity.
"Forget this," he grunted. He unzipped his heavy army jacket and peeled it off, then started to remove his tactical vest. He stopped, his eyes scanning the thick foliage. "No... who knows what enemies are lurking here. Better to be hot than dead."
He threw the jacket over his shoulder but kept the olive-drab army vest on, checking his sidearm—still there, though he had no idea if the gunpowder would even work here.
As he pushed through a thicket of ferns, a sound drifted through the trees.
Clang! Shing! AAAAGH!
"Swords clashing? And shouting?"
Darius dropped into a low crouch, moving with the silence of a man who had survived a dozen black-ops missions. He moved toward the sound until the trees opened up into a wide, bowl-shaped clearing.
What he saw made his blood run cold.
It was a makeshift arena. In the center, dozens of men—rugged, scarred, and desperate—were hacking at each other with rusty cutlasses and axes. It was a bloodbath, a free-for-all for survival.
But it was the perimeter that caught his eye.
Surrounding the ground was a high stone wall. Standing on top of that wall were men in crisp, white uniforms. They wore blue-rimmed caps and neckerchiefs, and they were laughing, cheering as the pirates slaughtered one another below.
Darius zoomed in on the insignia on a nearby officer's cap. Two stylized letters sat beneath a seagull: MARINE.
Darius's face broke into a wide, manic grin. "It worked... it's the world of One Piece! Thank God! I'm actually here!"
But as a pirate below was run through with a spear and the Marines cheered for the 'entertainment,' his smile faded into a grimace. Tears of frustration pricked his eyes.
"But why did you send me here?!" he whispered harshly. "In the middle of a gladiator pit? You couldn't have put me in a peaceful village in the East Blue? You sent a soldier straight into a hellhole!"
Suddenly, one of the Marines on the wall turned, his eyes scanning the tree line where Darius was hiding.
"Oh, shit! They saw me!" Darius hissed, spinning on his heel. "I need to move!"
He burst through the undergrowth, branches slapping against his face. Behind him, the sound of heavy boots echoed.
"Hey! You there! Stop or we'll Kill you!" a Marine shouted, his voice full of the arrogance of the World Government.
"Like hell I'll stop!" Darius panted, his lungs burning. "I know how the Marines work. They won't ask for an ID; they'll just think I'm another pirate and throw me in a cage or worse. I'm not ending up in Impel Down on my first day!"
Huff... huff... The Marines were gaining. They were younger, fresher, and used to the tropical heat. Darius's tactical boots dug into the mud as he rounded a massive banyan tree. He needed a plan, and he needed it now.
His hand instinctively flew to his belt, running over his gear. Three M67 fragmentation grenades were still clipped to the webbing. On his hip, his standard-issue 9mm pistol sat holstered, and strapped to his thigh was his trusted Kukri—a heavy, curved blade built for chopping through bone and brush alike.
Should I bomb them? he wondered, a grim smile touching his lips. They're just low-level grunts. They've probably never seen modern tech before.
Darius skidded to a halt in a small clearing. He turned around, standing his ground.
"Hey! Over here, you idiots!" he roared, waving his arms.
The two Marines burst through the bushes, panting. "There he is! Nowhere to run now, you—"
Darius didn't let him finish. He snatched a grenade from his belt, hooked his finger through the pin, and clink—he yanked it free. With the practiced form of a star quarterback, he lobbed the olive-drab sphere high into the air.
"What is that?" one soldier asked, squinting as the small object arched toward them.
The other Marine's eyes widened. "It... it looks like a Devil Fruit! A small, metal one!"
The first Marine's face lit up with greed. "A Devil Fruit?! If I eat it, I'll become an Admiral! Out of the way, it's mine!" He actually stepped forward, opening his mouth wide as if he were catching a fly ball.
The grenade didn't make it to his mouth. It hit the dirt right between his feet.
BOOM!
A violent eruption of fire and shrapnel tore through the quiet of the jungle. The shockwave knocked Darius back a step, even at a safe distance. When the smoke cleared, the two Marines were flat on their backs, their uniforms shredded and charred. Small wisps of gray smoke escaped their open mouths as they lay unconscious—or worse.
Darius stared at the carnage, then at the empty pin in his hand.
"A Devil Fruit? Seriously?" He shook his head, half-laughing and half-horrified. "I forgot how dumb the average grunt is in this world. But that blast was too loud. Every Marine on the island is going to be headed this way now."
He looked down at his Kukri. He could feel a strange pulse in his hand
"No System, no powers yet... just me and my gear," he muttered, unsheathing the heavy knife. "Time to see if an Army Captain can survive this Pirate Era."