(Attention all Brain-Brain Fruit users, please line up and deposit your brains here. We promise to keep them safe and secure.)
A sharp, piercing pain stabbed into the back of his head, violently dragging Lino's consciousness out of endless darkness.
The first sense to return was smell.
A suffocating stench—a nauseating mixture of cheap rum and rancid sweat—slammed into his nostrils like a heavy punch, churning his stomach.
Then came sound.
In the distance, there were coarse shouts and the clinking of glasses. Nearby, water trickled down moss-covered walls, dripping into filthy puddles with a slow, hollow drip… drip…
Lino's eyes snapped open.
Above him was no longer the familiar ceiling he knew—but a dim, fragmented sky, torn apart by the jagged outlines of crumbling buildings.
He was lying in a dark alley filled with garbage, with foul water flowing freely across the ground.
"…What the hell is going on?"
Struggling, Lino pushed himself upright. His memory was still frozen at the moment before—
He had been drinking cola, sitting at his computer, watching an analysis video about the God Valley arc from One Piece.
He looked down at himself.
His anime-print T-shirt and casual pants looked utterly out of place in this filthy environment.
A cold, absurd, and deeply unsettling feeling surged through his chest like a rising tide.
Suddenly
The light at the alley entrance was blocked.
Three tall figures stepped forward.
"Heh. Well, well. Look what we've got here—a lost little lamb."
A fat pirate with an enormous beer belly wheezed as he spoke. In his hand was a gleaming curved blade, its oily surface reflecting the dim light in a sickening sheen.
Another pirate, tall and thin, licked his lips, revealing a mouthful of yellowed teeth. His greedy eyes scanned Lino's clean clothes.
"Look at the fabric he's wearing. Definitely not one of those diseased island paupers. Sell him, and we could get a few barrels of good booze."
The third pirate said nothing.
He simply rolled his wrists, his knuckles cracking audibly, his gaze cold and detached—like a butcher inspecting livestock before slaughter.
Lino's blood ran cold.
Their appearance. Their lawless aura. And the way they spoke…
They were pirates. Without a doubt.
He had transmigrated.
No system. No guide. Just thrown directly into what was arguably—aside from Warhammer 40K—one of the worst, most chaotic, most dangerous worlds imaginable.
"W-Wait! I don't have any money!" Lino said, his voice dry with fear as he scrambled backward.
The fat pirate burst into low, rumbling laughter, as if he had just heard the greatest joke in the world.
Good news—the language was understandable.
Bad news—blades didn't care what language you spoke.
"We don't need you to have money, kid. We'll just… take what we want."
Before the last word fell—
The thin pirate lunged forward.
His dagger cut through the air in a vicious arc, aiming straight for Lino's throat.
Survival instinct overwhelmed everything else.
Lino threw himself backward, slamming into a pile of garbage. The dagger sliced past his nose by mere centimeters.
"Run!"
Only that single word remained in his mind.
He scrambled to his feet and sprinted deeper into the alley.
He was just an ordinary modern office worker. His stamina had long since been eroded by takeout food and sedentary living.
But now, with adrenaline surging through his veins, he burst forward with unprecedented speed.
"Trying to run?! Grab him!"
Shouts and chaotic footsteps pounded behind him like drums of execution.
Lino ran blindly through the maze-like alleys. His lungs burned, his throat filled with the metallic taste of blood.
Then
A wall.
A dead end.
His heart sank.
He turned around in despair.
The three pirates had already blocked the exit, approaching slowly, grinning cruelly as they savored his fear like cats toying with prey.
"What's wrong? Not running anymore?" the thin pirate sneered, cleaning his nails with his dagger.
Lino gasped for breath, his eyes darting desperately around.
Then
He saw it.
A pile of smashed crates in the corner.
Driven by instinct, he scrambled toward them and curled into their shadow like a lamb awaiting slaughter.
And then
From the corner of his eye—
He saw it.
Inside one of the broken crates, among rotting, blackened fruit, lay a single fruit.
Its entire surface was an eerie purple, covered in strange spiral patterns.
A Devil Fruit.
Lino's pupils shrank violently.
He recognized it.
He had never memorized specific Devil Fruit appearances, so he had no idea what ability this one granted.
But even the most useless Devil Fruit would still enhance physical ability.
He didn't hesitate.
In one swift motion, he grabbed the fruit and shoved it into his mouth, ignoring the filth covering it, chewing and swallowing with all his strength.
The taste—
Was indescribable.
Like rotten mud mixed with moldy socks, exploding inside his mouth.
He nearly vomited.
Forcing himself, he swallowed it.
No surge of power came.
Instead, dizziness and nausea overwhelmed him.
But amid the chaos
A strange stream of information carved itself into his soul like a brand.
[Paramecia-type · Assimilation Fruit]
Assimilation?
Assimilate what?
How do you use it?!
Countless thoughts exploded in his mind—but he didn't even have 0.1 seconds to think.
Because
The fat pirate's blade was already descending toward his head.
At that critical moment
As the pirate approached
Lino suddenly felt it.
Within his exhausted, aching legs, a faint trace of strength appeared out of nowhere.
It was as if a warm current flowed from the pirate's body into his own, nourishing his depleted muscles.
That tiny bit of strength—
Was enough.
His body reacted instinctively, rolling to the side with everything he had.
The curved blade slammed into the ground where he had just been.
Stone shattered.
"Hm?" The fat pirate frowned in surprise.
Lino didn't stop rolling.
He crashed into a wooden rack stacked with empty bottles.
CRASH
The rotten rack collapsed instantly.
Glass bottles and wooden planks rained down on the pirates.
The fat pirate, slow and bulky, was caught off guard, stumbling backward in frustration.
The silent brute raised his arms to block instinctively.
Only the thin pirate reacted quickly.
He dodged most of the debris, his eyes flashing with killing intent.
"Die!"
He lunged forward, thrusting his dagger straight at Lino's heart.
Lino had just gotten up.
He couldn't fully dodge.
The blade slashed deep into his arm.
Pain exploded.
But it also ignited something fierce inside him.
Ignoring the pain, Lino grabbed the pirate's wrist tightly with his uninjured hand.
Then
He slammed forward, crashing into the pirate's chest.
At that instant
A powerful, unmistakable current surged from the pirate into his body.
Stronger than before.
His muscles absorbed it greedily.
His grip tightened instantly.
The pirate's face changed in shock.
His wrist felt trapped in iron.
He couldn't pull free.
Now!
Lino still held the shard of glass he had picked up earlier.
With all his strength
He drove it upward into the pirate's abdomen
And tore upward violently.
"Guh…"
The pirate froze.
He looked down in disbelief.
Blood and organs spilled out.
Lino kicked him away.
BOOM
A massive torrent of power exploded from the corpse.
It surged through Lino's limbs like a raging river.
The bleeding from his arm slowed.
Strength returned to his legs.
The pirate's hardened strength
Was now his.
"Bastard!"
The fat pirate charged again, eyes bloodshot with rage.
But now
He was slow.
Lino sidestepped easily.
He picked up the fallen dagger
And, as he passed by
Slashed the pirate's throat cleanly.
The fat pirate staggered.
Then collapsed.
His strength flowed into Lino as well.
Only one pirate remained.
The brute.
His face was pale with terror.
Minutes ago, this man had been prey.
Now—
He stood there, drenched in blood.
"D-Don't come closer!"
Lino said nothing.
With his newly gained power, he was far beyond ordinary humans.
He stepped forward.
In an instant—
His hand gripped the pirate's throat, lifting him off the ground.
The pirate struggled in despair.
Lino brought down the dagger.
Silence fell.