"Swish!" Mieko sat on a high ridge and whipped the hook in his hand hard toward the sea rolling with white spray. Then he waited quietly, his gaze drifting as his thoughts floated off to a faraway future.
Even though in his previous life he'd been a soldier, he'd never found the right partner to walk into the hall of marriage with. In his spare time, he'd go online to kill time—sometimes reading web novels, sometimes watching Chinese and Japanese anime—to unwind.
Recently, after making the rounds through the island's residential areas and asking around, Mieko had more or less figured out what situation he was in.
If his guess was right, this was the world of One Piece.
And the island he was on right now was a Sky Island named Birka—very likely the very Birka that would be destroyed in the future by that man who proclaimed himself a god: Enel.
As for exactly what year and month it was, he had no way of knowing. After all, the people living on Sky Islands knew far too little about the vast blue ocean ten thousand meters below.
The reason he was convinced this was the One Piece world was mainly because of the island's unique Island Cloud scenery, and this white "sea" called the "White-White Sea."
On top of that, there were all those bizarre shells on the island—like Lamp Shells that could emit light, and Tone Shells that could record and play sound, used for communication or entertainment. Those were things that only existed in the world of One Piece.
Even if he didn't know when Birka would face destruction, it was obvious that staying here long-term wasn't a smart move. Reborn into a new life, Mieko didn't want to waste time again, living in mediocrity.
"In my last life I never became a true powerhouse. Now that I've been given a chance to start over—and this world is packed with terrifying power that can destroy islands, with strong people everywhere—the future is bound to be dazzling…"
Mieko stared at the gently undulating surface of the sea, the corners of his mouth lifting into a faint smile. In his deep eyes flickered both a hunger for power and a quiet confidence.
"In this life, I'm destined to be extraordinary. I refuse to live an ordinary, boring life!"
Mieko wasn't the type to be blindly arrogant. He never thought that just because he'd crossed worlds he could run wild and do whatever he wanted. But he firmly believed that as long as he trained hard and kept breaking past his limits—no matter how twisted the road ahead might be—
"Splash—!"
A sudden force yanked hard on Mieko's wrist. He snapped the rod up, and a fish about the size of an adult's palm was dangling from the hook tip, flopping and thrashing like crazy.
"Heh, not bad. Breakfast is sorted!" He grinned.
…
After hauling up five or six fish in a row, Mieko picked one as his breakfast. He threaded the rest onto a rope, carried them in his hand, and headed toward the residential district.
After all, living alone meant dealing with the little everyday hassles—firewood, rice, oil, salt—stuff that actually made life feel more real, more grounded, more alive.
Once he sold these fish, plus the money he'd saved up over the past two days, it would be enough to buy a few ordinary Lamp Shells, one small Flame Shell, and some other daily necessities.
"Hey, kid! Selling fish again? Give me one!" As soon as he reached the street in the residential area, the sharp-eyed owner of a nearby general store spotted Mieko carrying the fish and called out with a laugh.
"Morning, boss!" Mieko replied with a smile, greeting him politely.
This owner had been buying fish from him these past few days. He wasn't deliberately looking after Mieko or anything, but he really had helped him out a lot.
"Save me one too—I'm planning to make steamed silver carp at noon!"
There weren't many fish to begin with, and Mieko's prices were fair. Before long, all the fish were snapped up.
"Boss, I want one Lamp Shell, and one small Flame Shell."
Mieko walked into the general store and said it straight to the owner.
"Alright! One Lamp Shell plus one small Flame Shell—original price is 2.2 million Extol. But you're on your own and it's not easy, so I'll charge you 2 million," the owner said briskly as he took out the goods and handed them over, kindly giving him a discount.
"Then thank you so much!" Mieko nodded with a smile, not refusing the man's goodwill. He pulled out 2 million Extol and handed it over.
To be honest, when he first heard that buying things cost tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands—millions of Extol at the drop of a hat—he'd been genuinely shocked. Now he was already used to it.
Just think about it: ten thousand Extol—if converted to Blue Sea (the world below ten thousand meters) currency, Beli—was worth only one buck. Who could've expected that at the start? The exchange rate between Sky Island Extol and Blue Sea Beli was a jaw-dropping 10,000:1. Absolutely insane.
"Hey, you little punk—stop right there!"
Mieko had just come out of the general store, Lamp Shell and Flame Shell in hand, and was about to go buy other things when a loud, overbearing shout suddenly reached his ears—sounds like it was aimed at him.
"What do you want?" Mieko paused and turned around.
A burly, shirtless man was walking toward him. The man's earlobes were abnormally long—shockingly so—and he wore a headscarf-like cap. Mieko couldn't help frowning.
"I heard you've been selling fish around here these past few days, yeah?"
The shirtless man flicked his long earlobes and sneered. Arms crossed over his chest, he looked down at Mieko—who was much shorter than him—posing like he owned the place as he questioned him arrogantly.
"Is there a problem?" Mieko looked at the young man in front of him. He had a few guesses, but he wasn't completely sure, so he nodded and replied coolly.
"Hmph. Don't you know this is your Lord Enel's turf? Hurry up and pay protection money to me!"
So it really was Enel, that guy?
Mieko froze for a moment. The Enel in front of him looked only around eighteen, and it seemed like he hadn't eaten a Devil Fruit yet. Otherwise, why would he need to survive by collecting protection fees?
After all, even if someone had just eaten a Logia-type Devil Fruit, as long as their personal strength was good enough, they should be able to show off impressive abilities very quickly. And this Enel—his steps were unsteady, and he looked no different from an ordinary street thug. Sure, his tone was arrogant and he acted like everyone was beneath him, but he probably really hadn't eaten a Devil Fruit yet.
(End of Chapter)
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