Kairo had never planned to kill Luffy for no reason.
If you transmigrate, then the most important thing is to enjoy yourself.
He had read plenty of transmigration novels before. In a lot of them, once the protagonist arrived in the world of One Piece, it was always one of two things:
Slapping faces.
Or shocking everyone in sight.
Of course, that made sense.
A novel was supposed to be entertaining.
Readers wanted that kind of thrill.
But now that fiction had become reality—and he was the one who had crossed over—he naturally had no intention of walking that path.
At least not for now.
Before transmigrating, he had lived a life of comfort and ease, without worrying about food, money, or family warmth.
And now he even had a system that had evolved into a full-fledged bootlicker.
There was simply no reason for him to get dragged into this world's grudges and power struggles.
Sure, he could punch the Four Emperors, kick the Three Admirals, drag Imu down from the Empty Throne, and become the new ruler of the world.
And yes, the ending of that story would sound glorious.
But after becoming the new king of the world, he would still have to establish a new order, appoint subordinates loyal to him, and manage the entire world.
Put simply—
Even if he bulldozed his way through the entire world with no resistance, the final outcome would still leave him with only one title:
The freest man in the world.
And if he didn't want to become "the freest man," then he would have to live like the emperors of ancient times from his old world—listening to ministers nagging him every day, staring at mountains of paperwork, and constantly worrying about disasters and unrest across the land.
Or he could become a tyrant.
Waking to hold the power of life and death.
Sleeping with beauties in his arms.
But the first option was too exhausting.
And as for the second…
He could already do that now if he wanted.
So why bother taking a long detour only to circle back to the same destination?
Wouldn't it be better to enjoy retirement early, live as a carefree traveler, admire the landscapes of another world, watch flowers bloom and fade, and gaze at drifting clouds?
Of course—
If anyone got in his way during those travels, whether it was the so-called protagonists, lawless pirates, or the lofty Celestial Dragons—
Whoever it was—
He would destroy them without hesitation.
"Kairo, what are you thinking about?"
Sitting beside him, Luffy saw him fall silent and immediately grew impatient.
"What about Ace? He's already become a pirate by now, right? Hehe~"
Hearing that, Kairo came back to himself and answered calmly,
"He has. Not only did he become a pirate, he also found new companions and formed the Spade Pirates."
"And most importantly, just like you, he's also a Devil Fruit user now."
"…Huh?"
Luffy blinked.
This was the first time he had met Kairo.
They had only spoken for a few minutes.
And yet—
For some reason, Luffy felt as though this traveler—who was about the same age as Ace—could somehow see straight through all of his secrets.
It felt strangely amazing.
"Kairo… we only just met, right?"
After a brief silence, confusion gradually filled Luffy's face.
"How do you know I'm a Devil Fruit user? Are you one too?"
"I'm not."
Kairo shook his head.
"But the three companions on my ship are."
"Whoa!"
The moment he heard that Kairo's three companions were all Devil Fruit users, stars instantly lit up in Luffy's eyes.
"Can I meet them?!"
At that, Kairo's eyes lit up as well.
Luffy was an airhead.
And his ship had two rabbits and one Droopy dog.
If those idiots got thrown together, the amount of chaos—and fun—would probably be incredible.
That thought had only just crossed his mind when he saw three figures walking toward them at an unhurried pace.
Leading the group was, of course, Droopy.
Da Hong and green rabbit followed right behind him.
Because Garp had been beaten half to death by Da Hong the night before, the villagers who had gotten up early instinctively stepped aside when they saw Da Hong heading toward the tavern.
But soon they realized that the rabbit wasn't actually that scary.
Sure, his expression looked fierce, and the way he walked was downright domineering—
But a rabbit was still a rabbit.
No matter how fierce it acted, it naturally carried a certain cute-pet aura.
And since they had all heard Garp apologize to Kairo the night before, two of the villagers finally gathered the courage to greet him politely.
"Good morning, Mr. Da Hong!"
The villagers' sudden friendliness seemed to catch Da Hong off guard.
He immediately turned his head to look at them, blinked blankly twice—
Then grinned.
In his normal state, Da Hong actually looked rather dorky and adorable.
That smile relaxed the villagers almost instantly.
Seeing Da Hong smile at them, the green rabbit quickly followed suit and put on his own silly, cheerful grin.
Among the three, the green rabbit clearly had the best temperament.
He only had one guiding principle in life:
Stick tightly to Big Brother Da Hong.
If Big Brother charged ahead, he would follow behind and clean up the mess.
If Big Brother played around, then of course he had to play too.
Droopy, meanwhile, remained as aloof as ever.
He ignored the strange looks being cast their way.
Then, when Da Hong and green rabbit slowed down behind him, he spoke without even turning around, as if he had eyes on the back of his head.
"Move."
The whole thing made him look absurdly like Tang Sanzang heading west on his pilgrimage.
Before long, the dog and two rabbits arrived in front of Kairo.
Luffy's eyes widened so suddenly they nearly popped out.
"Kairo… don't tell me these are your companions?!"
Kairo himself hadn't expected Droopy and the rabbits to suddenly come down from the ship to find him.
Before he could react, Luffy had already sprung up and rushed in front of Droopy.
He looked the three of them up and down curiously, then burst out laughing.
"A Droopy dog? And two rabbits? Hahaha! Kairo, your companions are hilarious!"
Thud!
The instant Luffy finished speaking, a muffled blow rang out.
Then—
The boy who had been laughing just a second earlier stiffened on the spot.
In the next instant, his eyes widened in disbelief—
And he went flying like a cannonball, crashing into the sand dozens of meters away.
The sudden turn of events left Kairo completely stunned.
He glanced at the figure lying in the sand, then twitched at the corner of his mouth before turning to the culprit.
"…Why did you hit him?"
Da Hong dusted off his hands.
"Too noisy."
"Hungry."
"Annoying."
Just then, Makino's voice drifted out from the kitchen.
"Mr. Kairo, Luffy… the ramen is already on the table, you all—"
Before Makino could finish speaking, Da Hong's eyes lit up instantly.
Then his figure flashed—
And he shot straight toward the dining area.
A second later, even the usually steady and dignified Droopy followed right behind him.
Apparently, he was genuinely hungry too.
At the same time—
Makino had only just carried two bowls of ramen to the table when she suddenly felt the weight vanish from her hands before she even had time to set them down.
When she came back to herself, Da Hong, the green rabbit, and Droopy were already seated at the table.
Unfortunately, she had only prepared two bowls of ramen.
Since the green rabbit had been slightly slower than the other two, there was nothing in front of him.
He could only sit there, looking pitifully at Da Hong—who was already devouring his food—and at Droopy, who had elegantly tied on his napkin and begun eating with perfect composure.
The green rabbit blinked with watery eyes, looking utterly wronged.