[Store your brain here; return in a hundred years for a 200% refund.][Brain storage promotion: Store one brain now, get a random Devil Fruit later.]
"Is this... the Flame-Flame Fruit?"
Dunn stared wide-eyed at the strange, flame-patterned orange fruit resting inside a primitive wooden chest.
"Am I really in the world of One Piece?"
He looked around, stunned. He was standing in a massive bird's nest at least twenty meters wide, perched atop a giant tree hundreds of meters tall. This definitely wasn't Earth. Back home, birds weren't this big and trees didn't reach the clouds—unless he'd traveled back to the age of prehistoric giants.
His last memory was crossing the street at night with a takeout bag in hand, staring into two blindingly bright headlights.
Had he literally "hit the jackpot" with a truck?
It felt surreal. What was even weirder was that while searching for a way down from this dizzying height, he'd stumbled upon this old wooden box. Inside was a fruit so iconic it was impossible to mistake.
As a fan of the series for twenty years, Dunn recognized it instantly.
"So, I really did cross over."
He picked up the orange fruit, his voice trembling slightly. He still couldn't quite believe it, but there was one definitive way to confirm his theory.
Dunn bit his lip. In a world as dangerous as One Piece, this fruit—often joked about as being "useless" by fans—was his only lifeline. Without it, he was just an ordinary guy. He couldn't defend himself against the monsters of this island, let alone the pirates he'd encounter if he ever reached civilization.
People could mock it all they wanted, but it was still a Logia. It was the power of fire, a force of nature. Even if he didn't master it, the passive "elementalization" alone would make him immune to most physical threats.
The only downside was becoming a "dry hammer" who couldn't swim. But compared to dying, that was a small price to pay.
Dunn's mind raced for a moment before his gaze hardened. He swallowed hard. If he ate it and gained the power of fire, it confirmed he was in the world of One Piece. If it turned out to be poisonous and he died? Well, then he was just out of luck.
Crunch!
Without another thought, Dunn took a massive bite.
Yep, that's the taste.
The second the fruit hit his tongue, he knew. In the anime, Devil Fruits were described as tasting foul beyond belief—some even compared them to literal trash. Now, Dunn understood. It wasn't just a bad flavor; it was a collection of every disgusting thing he had ever smelled or tasted. It felt like his soul was trying to reject the food.
But Dunn was a man who had already "hit the jackpot" once. He had a streak of ruthlessness in him. To survive, you have to be harder on yourself than anyone else.
He forced himself to swallow, then took another bite.
Crunch. Crunch.
He didn't stop until the entire fruit was gone. Dunn collapsed, his face turning a sickly shade of green. His body was reacting to the "poison" of the taste.
He finally understood why every protagonist complained about the flavor. He hadn't ever tasted actual trash, but he was pretty sure it would taste like a five-star meal compared to a Devil Fruit.
After a long while, the nausea passed, and Dunn sat up. A new sensation—a strange, primal power—began to pulse through his veins like an instinct.
Whoosh!
A ball of fire erupted from his palm. The heat didn't burn him; instead, it felt warm and comforting. Even his clothes didn't catch fire. Or rather, his sleeve had turned into fire itself and then reformed perfectly when he extinguished the flame.
"Confirmed. I'm in One Piece, and I'm a fruit user. What am I now? A Burning Man?"
He chuckled to himself. It was a defense mechanism to keep from panicking. Despite his calm exterior, he had been terrified. Especially after noticing three giant eggs in the nest that were taller than he was. No dinosaur on Earth ever laid eggs that big.
But now, with the ability to turn into fire, the immediate danger had vanished. As long as his enemies didn't know Haki, he was essentially invincible. He finally had the capital to survive in this world.
Now that his heart had slowed down, Dunn began to assess his situation.
He was in a nest roughly twenty meters wide. If the owner of this nest followed the laws of biology, its wingspan would be at least fifty meters—roughly the size of a heavy bomber aircraft. Even with his fire powers, he wasn't eager to fight a monster like that.
However, after looking around, Dunn's brow furrowed. Getting down was the problem. While his Logia body might survive a fall from two hundred meters, he wasn't Kaido. He didn't have a monster's physique, and he wasn't keen on testing his luck.
He looked at his body. He seemed to have regressed to his fourteen or fifteen-year-old self, though an old scar on his knee confirmed it was still his original body.
"This is a bit of a problem," Dunn muttered.
His eyes drifted back to the three massive eggs and the nest made of dry branches, grass, and giant feathers—perfect kindling.
He had an idea. He could set the nest on fire. His fire powers would protect him from the heat, and as the structure collapsed, he could ride the debris down to the lower branches.
Plus, he might get to try some charcoal-grilled monster egg while he was at it.
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