[Dear Lieutenant Commander Ripper, seeing these words is like seeing my face.
By the time you see this letter, I will have already become a pirate galloping across the sea!
Pirates don't know what attendance records are, and they don't have to train hard every day, because pirates are free and unrestrained! Pirates sail through the most turbulent waves, find ancient treasures, and find a group of female pirates with big chests and curvy bodies to ride the wind and waves together.
Pirates roam and adventure freely on the sea, and you, my respected Lieutenant Commander Ripper, I hope you can also get rid of Morgan's rule soon and become a true righteous Marine who protects the people.]
— Your dear subordinate, Lieutenant Ellen.
East Blue, the sea territory of the 153rd Marine Branch, inside the base, in a certain officer's office.
A black-haired man wearing a short-sleeved Marine uniform put down his pen and satisfiedly folded the written letter.
Standing up, the man looked around the office.
"I didn't expect to have to leave right after arriving. Life is truly unpredictable..."
Ellen shook his head and smiled, his tone carrying a hint of a sigh.
This is the 153rd Marine Branch base, ruled by the iron-blooded and brutal Captain Morgan.
Yes, the one known as "Axe-Hand Morgan" who knocked down the Marine Hero with a single axe strike.
Opening his eyes to find himself in such a place, Ellen was initially a bit dazed. But after clarifying his situation, he decisively decided to leave.
As for the destination...
Since he traveled to the world of One Piece, he would of course become a pirate.
That's right, he was a transmigrator. He had just reported to the world of One Piece two and a half hours ago; this wave was another stroke of luck.
The world of One Piece is undoubtedly a dangerous world where the weak are prey to the strong. Most ordinary people who go to sea do not end up well.
But it is even harder to survive without going to sea.
Most countries practice a twisted, morbid aristocratic ideology, where ordinary people can only be endlessly oppressed and exploited, or even reduced to slaves.
Even being born in a quiet little village in some corner of the sea isn't considered lucky. There's no guarantee that one day a pirate raid won't destroy the family and turn them into refugees.
In such a world, if you don't want to be slaughtered, you have to choose to pick up a blade yourself. The only thing you can rely on wherever you go is your own fist.
Coming to such a dangerous world, Ellen didn't complain. At least he was living again, which was better than dying like that.
He was originally a Sergeant serving at Marine Headquarters. Later, he applied to come to the East Blue branch as a Lieutenant. He thought that by coming to the weakest sea as an officer, he could spend his life peacefully.
The result...
"I was actually assigned to the branch where Morgan is located, and then died suddenly from depression under long-term high-pressure rule..."
Ellen revealed dead-fish eyes, feeling somewhat speechless.
But perhaps this could be considered a form of liberation.
...
Tucking away the letter, Ellen walked out the door, looked left and right, and headed toward his direct superior's office.
His direct superior was Lieutenant Commander Ripper, the second-in-command of this branch base. He was an upright Marine, and Ellen's original body had received a lot of care from him.
Unfortunately, Ripper's character was timid. He held a grudge against Morgan in his heart but did not dare to resist.
In fact.
Everyone in the entire base had long-held grievances against Morgan's high-pressure rule. If Lieutenant Commander Ripper dared to stand up, the Marines here would have likely followed him in rebellion long ago.
...
Knock—Knock—Knock!
Walking through the brightly lit corridor, Ellen arrived at the door of Ripper's office, knocked, and waited for a few seconds...
No response.
He crouched down and flicked the written letter through the crack under the door, then stood up and left directly.
Ellen's gaze was calm as he walked down the long corridor, taking a stack of banknotes out of his pocket to check.
A total of 2 million Berries. This was the savings he had accumulated over the past two and a half years, equivalent to about 100,000 in the currency he was familiar with.
Now he took it out as the initial fund for going to sea. After buying a small rowing boat, there should still be some money left to last for a while.
As for the future...
Ellen pulled back the Berries, looked down at his palm, and clenched his fist.
Since he has a cheat, no matter how bad things get, he shouldn't be unable to survive at sea.
Ellen couldn't help but think.
For something like transmigration, it only makes sense to bring a "Golden Finger." What he obtained was a "Baki" cheat.
The so-called "Baki" is that series which, under the name of fighting, is actually a hot-blooded anime of low-level fantasy and pseudo-science.
Ellen's body was not only modified by the Hanma Blood, but his mind also contained a large amount of martial arts skills belonging to the Baki world, naturally including techniques like Xiao-li and Mach Punch.
The Hanma Blood caused his physical fitness to skyrocket in all aspects. Although there was still a gap between him and the powerhouses of this world, the Hanma Blood also brought him terrifying combat instincts and learning abilities.
In the long run, this unparalleled growth talent was far more important than a one-time boost.
Moreover, he still had plenty of room to grow, and there were many ways to increase strength in this world.
Consuming large amounts of energy-rich Sea King meat, combined with high-intensity training and combat to further strengthen the body.
There is also Haki, a power mastered by almost all powerhouses in this world, and it is also one of the powers he will inevitably learn in the future.
In addition, there is an even simpler and more crude way—Devil Fruits!
If he could get a powerful Devil Fruit, Ellen would eat it without hesitation.
As for that bit of side effect...
"What kind of normal person would lose their combat effectiveness just by being splashed with a bucket of water?"
Ellen waved his hand and laughed.
Impossible, impossible. How could there be such an idiot in the world?
In short, the cheat only gave him a foundation. How far he can grow in the future still depends on whether he can utilize it well.
Brushing away the messy thoughts in his mind, Ellen reached the end of the corridor and prepared to go down the stairs.
Suddenly, a "rumbling" sound came faintly from above, followed by a slight vibration.
"Hmm?"
Ellen looked up in confusion, only to see several fine cracks appearing in the ceiling, with dust constantly shaking off.
The next instant.
BOOM!!
In his startled gaze, a huge stone head statue smashed through the ceiling!
"What the... f*ck...!!"
Boom!!
Before he could finish his sentence, the head statue fell with countless broken walls and rubble, burying Ellen on the spot.
Forming a huge mound.
...
Thud—
A man wearing a red vest and a straw hat jumped down, his sandals stepping on the mound, while he held several long swords in his arms.
After standing firm, the man straightened the straw hat on his head and looked around, finally seeing the bound figure on the execution ground.
Luffy grinned and jumped out with an excited face,
"Hey—! Zoro, I found your swords! Hahaha!"
Bang!
On the mound, an arm broke through the rock pile and stretched out.
At this time, a large group of Marine soldiers rushed over from behind.
"Don't let the intruder escape!"
"Chase him!"
"He's going to save Roronoa! Follow him!"
Rumble!
White figures flickered as a large number of Marines trampled over, trampling the mound firm and leaving behind countless dense and messy footprints.
A section of an arm stood on the rock pile, twitching miserably.
A breeze blew by, swirling a few withered yellow leaves, adding a bit of desolation to the scene.
...
Bang!
"Puh-wah—! Bah! Bah!"
The rock pile was violently blown open, revealing Ellen's dust-covered upper body. He indignantly spat out a few mouthfuls of saliva mixed with sand and grit.
After pulling his body out of the rocks, Ellen gnashed his teeth and glared at the execution ground,
"These bastards!"
He wasn't really injured. With his current physical strength, he could take a cannonball head-on, let alone be crushed to death by a few stones.
But it really hurt!
"These idiot Marines! And...!"
"Eh, Straw Hat?"
Seeing that figure, Ellen was suddenly stunned. He blinked and leaned forward, finally confirming the other party's identity.
Luffy? Morgan's base? Is he here to save Zoro?
Ellen rubbed his chin, recalling some plot points in his mind,
"So it's roughly around the time Luffy went to sea?"
As he was thinking, a low and cold voice suddenly came from behind him.
"What are you doing here?"
A tall and burly shadow loomed from behind. Ellen turned his head toward the sound.
The next second, he saw the grim-faced Morgan, looking down at him with an oppressive gaze.
"Oh, it's Captain Morgan. Good afternoon." Ellen smiled and raised a hand to say hello.
"Hmm...?!"
Morgan's eyes widened. Besides shock, his expression was mostly filled with anger. He leaned forward and roared again:
"I'm asking you! Why haven't you gone up to fight? Why haven't you gone up to kill those two for me!"
"Eh?"
Ellen was stunned for a moment and turned to look at the two people who were currently wreaking havoc on the execution ground.
"Me?"
Ellen turned back to look at Morgan, pointing at himself with a confused face, and asked:
"Me go kill Straw Hat Boy and Roronoa?"
"No, no, no. Did Captain Morgan misunderstand something? How could I possibly beat them?"
Ellen waved his hand and laughed sheepishly.
Stop joking, those two are max-level starter accounts.
He could try fighting one of them, but one against two...
Currently, looking at the entire East Blue, except for Smoker who has the advantage of a Logia type, he probably couldn't find a second person who could do it.
But Morgan was clearly not satisfied with his answer. He was very angry at Ellen's performance, and his face gradually distorted,
"Do you mean you want to disobey orders?!"
"My subordinates! I don't need useless guys. Them... or me... which one do you choose!"
While reprimanding, Morgan placed his left hand on the axe device on his right arm. The blade glinted with a cold light, and a threatening gleam flashed in his eyes.
"This... if you put it that way..."
Ellen waved his hand sheepishly, looking back at the battle in the distance. Then, the corner of his mouth slightly curled up in the shadow.
Turning back to face Morgan, Ellen's tone was playful:
"No matter how you look at it, it's easier to take you out, respected Lord Morgan..."
"What did you say?!"
Morgan's eyes showed shock. A chill rose from his spine, and his body trembled as he couldn't help but take a step back.
For some reason, he suddenly felt that the Ellen in front of him was like a tiger that could pounce at any time, making his heart race inexplicably.
"You...! You bastard!"
By the time he reacted, Morgan's face turned red with humiliated rage. The veins on his forehead bulged, and he roared as he raised that huge hand-axe.
However, a black shadow was faster!
Just as Morgan raised the hand-axe, Ellen abruptly retracted his smile, and his eyes flashed with a brutal, blood-red light.
Using momentum to twist his body, his right leg whipped out like a lash with the sound of whistling wind, slamming heavily against Morgan's face!
Smack!!
"Puh-wah—!"
Morgan opened his mouth and sprayed blood with a look of pain. His eyes rolled back, and his pupils shook violently.
Swoosh!—Boom!!
Carried by the terrifying force, Morgan flew backward, smashing through a wall like a cannonball and crashing into the base.
"Not bad, feels completely different from before."
Ellen slowly lowered his leg, looked at his toes, and tapped them on the ground, evaluating with satisfaction.
Training at Marine Headquarters is very strict. Even ordinary soldiers have to complete 2,000 two-finger push-ups every day, climb ropes a hundred times, run two hundred laps, plus combat training.
A basic martial arts move like a high roundhouse kick had long been more than familiar to Ellen. But using it this time gave him a completely different feeling.
It wasn't just the physical improvement brought by the Hanma Blood.
Whether it was the fluidity of the movement, the power technique, the striking position, or the timing of the kick, everything felt natural. It was as if he were one of those General-level instructors in the training camp who had honed their martial arts to perfection.
One could even say he surpassed them.
If physical constitution and Haki were set aside, and considering only combat skills, he felt he could truly compete with top-tier martial arts experts.
...Unfortunately, they cannot be set aside.
Ellen looked up into the base.
As the dust cleared, stones rolled down from the hole in the wall. A figure hunched over, leaning against the wall and struggling to stand up.
"The vitality of the people in this world is truly terrifyingly vigorous."
Ellen couldn't help but remark. He thought that a kick like that would have killed this kind of guy.
"Cough—Cough-cough!"
Morgan lowered his head and coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood. His face was in extreme pain, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
"You bastard... how dare you... how dare you!"
Looking at Ellen again, Morgan's bloodshot eyes were full of anger and hatred. He leveled his battle-axe, clearing away some dust, and a low growl came from his throat:
"How dare you strike me! You bastard, today I will chop you into mincemeat!!"
Morgan's eyes were furious as he charged forward with fierce, heavy strides.
On the rock pile, Ellen stood in a casual posture, his gaze contemptuous, unmoved by Morgan's charge.
It wasn't until the opponent closed in and raised the battle-axe to strike down that Ellen took action. He slightly stepped aside, easily dodging the falling blade.
Boom!
The axe blade missed and slammed into the ground, easily cutting into a broken wall and embedding itself into the earth.
Ellen lifted his foot and stepped lightly on the back of the axe, leaning his body forward to get close to Morgan.
With Morgan's strength, even lifting several Ellens would be more than enough.
However, at this moment, a strange scene appeared.
Morgan's face turned blue. No matter how hard he pulled, even with the veins bulging on his arms, he couldn't pull the axe blade out at all.
"What's the matter, Lord Morgan? Reluctant to strike such an excellent subordinate like me, are you?"
Ellen spoke with a playful laugh.
Shibukawa Goki's Aiki: using minimal movements to enter the opponent's power fulcrum and center of gravity, disrupting their body balance, and using the opponent's own strength to counter them.
Looking at Morgan's face, which was turning red from holding his breath, Ellen smiled softly. He grabbed the other's collar with his palm and turned his back to press against him.
Over the shoulder throw!
Morgan's mind went blank. He only felt a sudden sense of weightlessness. When he came to his senses, he was shocked to find that the sky had turned upside down.
Ellen tossed him aside with a casual movement, yet it sent Morgan's burly body flying through the air, crashing heavily into the execution ground!
Bang!—Bang! Bang!
Morgan's body hit the ground and bounced, finally lying on the ground with his limbs facing the sky.
"This guy... how could he be so strong..."
Cold sweat broke out from his forehead, and the expression on Morgan's face slowly turned into nothing but terror.