Sea Circle Era 1493: The "Paradise" of the Grand Line's first half—Jaya Island!
At dawn, a gentle sea breeze carried the ocean's unique scent. The sun rose from the horizon, its rays piercing the dim dawn to illuminate the land. The island began to stir with life.
Waves crashed against the golden sand, and seagulls cried out, welcoming the new day.
By the shore stood a modest village. Behind it, rocky formations jutted from the island's edge, facing the sea. Among these, a larger boulder bore a natural cave about a man's height. Within this shelter lay a youth sound asleep.
The seagulls' calls served as an alarm, rousing the delicate thirteen-year-old boy.
"Daybreak already!" he murmured.
Seeing the brightening sky, he rubbed his still-drowsy eyes and yawned. He peeled off his animal-skin blanket, stretched lazily, then climbed up from the flat rock. Exiting the cramped cave that barely accommodated two people, he stepped into the morning light.
He had a delicate and handsome appearance, with jet-black hair and eyes, yet he wore tattered clothes that hadn't been washed in ages.
Sunlight, shallows, and ocean waves—this would have made for a beautiful scene. Had a talented poet witnessed it, they might have been inspired to compose a verse.
Yet the youth couldn't find joy in this picturesque view, for this wasn't his original world at all.
Have you ever seen fish dozens of meters long that could swallow a ship whole? Have you ever seen beasts in the forest taller than houses?
Behind him, in the misty sea, faint outlines of pirate ships could be glimpsed passing back and forth.
This place was nothing like Earth. This was the One Piece World, specifically Jaya Island in the first half of the Grand Line—a lawless land beyond Marine jurisdiction, a paradise for sea fugitives, pirates, and bounty hunters.
The thirteen-year-old boy with delicate features was originally called Ye Bowen, but now he's known as Kai D. Yasa. He wasn't from this world at all!
Before his transmigration, Yasa had been a lone wolf—a single man for over two decades, a "three-no" person without a house, car, or girlfriend. After graduating from a third-rate university, he'd become a welder on the principle that mastering a trade would keep him from starving.
He'd lived a decent enough life—enough to feed himself without worrying about others, and even had some spare cash to spend at bars dancing and drinking on weekends.
Then one day, his welding equipment malfunctioned due to poor contact, causing a fatal electric shock.
When he woke up in darkness, still clinging to a single man's resentment, he found himself not only transported to another world but also in a younger body of only eight years old. To make matters stranger, he was now the heir of a merchant family who traded across the seas.
The merchant family wasn't small in scale, with trade routes spanning from the Grand Line to the West Blue. They operated smoothly between the two major powers of pirates and the World Government.
The thrill of transmigration allowed Yasa to quickly adapt to his new identity. Knowing he'd landed in the world of his favorite anime, One Piece, and had become part of the "Natural Enemy of the Gods—the D. Clan," he was so excited he couldn't sleep for three days straight. He spent those nights dreaming of punching Marines and kicking the Four Emperors.
But less than two days later, the Grand Line's unpredictable weather and incompetent navigator dumped a bucket of cold water on his face.
The merchant ship was battered by torrential rain and towering waves, plunging into the sea's depths. All aboard perished, with no survivors.
Clutching a fragment of shattered deck, Yasa drifted until he reached Jaya Island.
As a newcomer, Yasa found no welcome from the islanders. He had to hide in a coastal cave, surviving by gathering seashells washed ashore, fishing, or setting small traps in the forest to catch animals.
This life went on for five years!
Yasa sighed, gazing at the endless sea in a daze before beginning his daily training.
In the One Piece World, you could lack power or money, but you must never lack strength. Only power allows you to live freely in this dangerous world. Those without it live in constant fear, never knowing if they'll see the sun rise tomorrow.
His training regimen was simple: push-ups for arm and core strength, frog jumps and squats for legs, and weighted carries to build endurance.
Yasa lowered himself, supporting his weight on four limbs while bearing a large stone. He began his exercises, rising and falling.
"One, two, three, four..."
With each movement, he regulated his breathing, striving to maintain rhythm and extend his endurance.
This strange world pushed human physical limits to infinity. Here, effort always yielded results, and food contained unimaginable energy reserves.
Here stood a swordmaster who could split islands with a single strike, a warrior whose fists could raise tsunamis and whose kicks could destroy ships.
"One hundred ninety-eight, one hundred ninety-nine, two hundred..."
Drops of sweat fell from Yasa's forehead onto the sand. The two hundred consecutive weighted push-ups left him slightly winded. After all, he was only thirteen years old, and he'd been carrying extra weight on his back.
If an ordinary person had trained like this, doing two hundred weighted push-ups in a row, they'd probably be flushed and gasping for breath. But Yasa's breathing was merely a bit heavier, and his limbs showed no sign of weakness—he remained perfectly steady.
Several more minutes passed. After completing five hundred push-ups, Yasa's hands finally gave out. He shook off the stones from his back and collapsed onto the beach to rest.
Shaking the sand from his tattered clothes, Yasa rose gracefully. His exhausted body had completely recovered in the short time since his workout. His breathing was steady, and there was no trace of his earlier exertions.
He treated his bug-like recovery ability as a perk of transmigration. Who else could return to full vitality after intense training with just a minute or two of rest?
After completing his push-ups, Yasa cradled his head in both hands and began frog jumps to work his leg muscles.
After an hour of training, he finally stopped, drenched in sweat. He sat on the ground, basking in the gentle sea breeze while planning his future.
PS: I've always had a strong bias against Enel. A fruit that powerful in his hands is pure waste, isn't it? A complete waste! (How could such potential go unused?) Defeated by Luffy, who doesn't even understand Haki? Even if they were mutually weak against each other, he shouldn't have lost! The intense heat from his powerful electricity couldn't even burn through rubber? (Though the protagonist's halo probably played a big part.) If that fruit fell into capable hands, it would at least grant Marine Admiral-level combat power, right? At least!
I've daydreamed countless times about replacing Enel, and today that dream became reality.