Chapter 1 – The Pirate World
Ever since Luffy's Rubber Fruit turned out to be the Sun God Nika, whenever Evan had time, he would argue with others on the Pirate Forum. Like most One Piece fans, he felt a bit "broken." After following the main character for so many years, this sudden overpowered twist felt too forced. Any fondness he had left for the manga's author was fading away.
Who could have guessed that, in hot-blooded shonen manga, the male protagonist would always have to rely on "bloodline theory" to defeat enemies? The big three—Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece—all ended up following the same path. These Japanese mangaka seemed to know nothing but bloodline power-ups, their vision was too narrow, and their ambitions too small.
Whitebeard, Ace, the Three Admirals… their characters were built up so well early on, but it couldn't make up for the mess that was the Wano arc. One rotten spot spoiled the whole pot. Was the manga really going to end in such a lousy way?
After watching the latest episodes of the One Piece anime, Evan couldn't help but feel frustrated for Kaido—he was treated so poorly. Enraged, he suddenly found himself transmigrating on the spot. When he woke up, he was already in the world of One Piece. The way this happened felt so casual.
"I've arrived way too early. Luffy should've just set out to sea, and he doesn't even have a bounty yet. Truly, the heavens are helping me."
With no bounty poster for the protagonist, he could only roughly estimate the time—Luffy hadn't even defeated Arlong yet. Luffy's first 30-million-berry bounty was issued after Colonel Nezumi had his men take a photo.
He glanced at the small print on the newspaper: "Sea Calendar 1520." The timing was perfect—the future hadn't happened yet, and after following One Piece for more than a decade, Evan remembered the general plot and characters.
But he didn't want to be a pirate, nor a marine, and certainly not a dog for the World Government. What he wanted was to live freely and unrestrained. To be more precise, he wanted to be a fun-seeker—to bring a bit of chaos and entertainment to this rotten pirate world.
> [Ding! The Big Talker System is now online.]
[This system especially likes hosts who enjoy stirring things up! In this world, every character can provide "gullibility points." The host can spin any kind of lie to gain a huge amount of these points, which can be exchanged for treasures—including recruiting heroes and generating Devil Fruits. Please make good use of them.]
Just like someone bringing you a pillow when you're sleepy! The original owner of Evan's body was just an ordinary person with no self-defense ability, living on a little island that never appeared in the manga. Pirates could show up at any time—these animals did nothing but loot, burn, and kill. In their eyes, human life was just a stepping stone.
"System, you really know people. But how am I supposed to spread lies—am I supposed to start a newspaper?"
The original owner was a fisherman, with all his belongings adding up to less than 100,000 berries. Without money, he could do nothing. Out on the sea, nobody even knew his name. Who would believe his lies?
Among the underworld's rulers was Morgans, the big bird. His newspaper was in a league of its own in the pirate world, and he'd offended everyone—World Government, Marines, Pirates. In the later parts of the manga, he became a Luffy fanatic.
Trying to compete with someone like that? Evan knew better. Starting a newspaper was out of the question. Even if he got rich later, running a newspaper would be a money sink and would never pay off.
> [Host, you don't have to worry. I'll use the Sky Screen to help you. The Sky Screen will let everyone in this world see what you want to show, including words and the images you imagine. As long as your lies aren't too outrageous, collecting gullibility points will be a breeze.]
"The Sky Screen, huh? That makes things easier. I've read a lot of Pirate fanfics, so I can definitely walk this path."
A virtual screen appeared before Evan—the system's store. All the items could only be bought with gullibility points, but the prices were absolutely ridiculous—no beginner bonus, not even a discount!
A regular Zoan Devil Fruit cost five million gullibility points, and it was a random blind box, so you never knew what animal you'd get. There were tons of animals, after all. If you got a regular little crayfish fruit, you'd be weak on land and drown in the sea—a trash fruit that even a dog wouldn't eat.
A Paramecia-type fruit cost twenty million points, and a Logia-type fruit cost a hundred million, all blind boxes with little chance of getting something good.
Basic Armament Haki cost five million points, basic Observation Haki cost ten million, and basic Conqueror's Haki cost a hundred million. As for advanced Haki skills, the prices were so high Evan simply ignored them.
He could also use gullibility points to buy famous swords, many of which didn't even exist in this world. In the future, he could trade them to famous swordsmen who loved their swords dearly—maybe that would get him a few promises.
"These hero recruitments—are you sure you didn't make a mistake with the points?"
A single draw from the hero pool cost a hundred million points. The system was outright robbing him, and it didn't even specify which hero he'd get. It could be a powerhouse like Son Goku from Dragon Ball or a weakling like King from One Punch Man—total opposites.
> [Rest assured, host. Any hero summoned from this pool will at least be Marine Admiral candidate level. They can continue to grow stronger through training after being summoned—system products are always high quality!]
Admiral candidate strength was basically Yonko commander level. Marco the Phoenix of the Whitebeard Pirates was about this level. Although his battle record in the anime was unimpressive, Evan was in the real world—he couldn't underestimate any powerhouse.
"System, I just transmigrated—don't I get a newbie gift pack? At least give me some basic self-defense."
Although the East Blue was called "the weakest sea," there were still pirates with bounties in the tens of millions, and those under ten million were everywhere. This world was just too harsh on ordinary people.
The land he was on was called Fuguang Island, home to just over a thousand people who lived mostly by fishing, trading their catch for goods from passing ships, and farming just enough to scrape by. Poverty couldn't get any worse.
There wasn't even a marine base nearby, and the island didn't even qualify to pay the "Heavenly Tribute." Nobody cared about this godforsaken place—except maybe pirates who dropped by occasionally. Things had been quiet recently, with only merchant ships passing by. Evan had just bought a bag of cheap salt for almost a thousand berries.
> [As a welfare bonus, the hero pool gives you one free draw. Would you like to use it now?]
"Wait a sec, let me go wash my face and hands—gotta cleanse the bad luck. This is my first time, after all!"
He did as he said, crouched by the shore, scooped up some seawater, and washed himself thoroughly, hoping the East Blue's water would bring him good fortune. After all, this was the birthplace of the main character—surely there was some luck here. He'd always loved these little rituals in gacha games in his past life.
"System, go ahead. Let me see which hero I get."
> [Drawing from hero pool…]
A blonde girl in silver armor suddenly appeared before him, kneeling on one knee: "My master, your hero answers your summons."
"Artoria Pendragon…"
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