Chapter 5 (Edited)

Left with no other choice, I will have to wait for a boat to arrive or build my own rudimentary one. I'm tired of living on this island without having anyone to accompany me. It feels too lonely here.

Like always, I spent my morning warming up and eating my breakfast. I was looking at the horizon as usual when I noticed something different today.

Due to my amazing sight, I spotted something different on the horizon. My body has enhanced senses, which I'm glad about, except the smell. I wish my nose was not so sensitive that I wouldn't have to smell animal shits and pee every day.

I quickly ran to the beach, and when I was near the beach, I got a clear view of the ship. I hid behind a tree, finding that it was heading toward this island. That's a relief; I don't want to swim my way out there.

After a while, the ship gradually sailed near the island. I managed to get the full image of the vessel. I wince a bit, seeing the familiar skull pattern in the sail. I was hoping to meet a few friendlier marines or merchant ships.

'Well, it's better than nothing. And, it wouldn't hurt my conscience stealing their ship.' I thought to myself, planning to steal the ship. I'm stronger than them, but I don't want unnecessary bloodshed if possible. I won't hesitate to kill someone if it threatens my life, but I don't want to be a ruthless killer either. I like thoughtful actions rather than reckless ones as much as possible.

After a while, the pirate ship landed on the beach with its anchor out. Six people came out of the ship, looking at the island carefully. I cautiously hid myself to prevent them from spotting me. They looked like the typical image of pirates with dirty clothes and the captain wearing a captain hat.

"Captain, is this the place you're talking about?" I heard them talking due to my enhanced hearing. I didn't know how to unlock my haki, but I manage to further hone my senses due to the training.

"That's right boys! This is the place where my treasure is hidden. I was on a runway from the marines due to this treasure. Now I'm here to get it back after 3 years." The captain answered his crewmates, getting an exclamation out of them. It also piqued my interest.

"But what was the treasure, captain? I'm sure marines wouldn't chase you if you didn't steal something special." Another crewmate asked the question, which I was also curious about. I know not all marines in this world are righteous. Especially something dark and shady is going on behind the scenes in the world government.

And standing on the opposite side of the protagonist is always the antagonist, which would mean the world government and its subsidiary, the Marines. I'm wise enough not to get deeply involved with them as I'm sure Luffy will end the world government someday like a typical shonen anime protagonist. I can benefit from their presence but not involve myself.

"Hohoho, that's what's bugging me all this time. Until recently I heard someone talking about devil fruits. You see among the stolen goods, there was a weird fruit with swirly pattern on it which I casually discarded. But, who knew this fruit was the rumored devil fruit that gives it eater a random ability." The captain boasted joyfully, earning a few wows from his crewmate.

"Captain, that means you're here to eat it? I'm sure you will be even more powerful after eating the devil fruit. I think the east blue will have a new overlord in the future." The third crewmate praised the captain wittily, which earned him a joyful laugh and pat from the captain.

"You three come with me to get the treasure. And the remaining two stay here to guard the ship. I don't want to return back without seeing the ship around, understand?" The captain ordered his crew and started heading towards the forest. The remaining two crewmates dutifully guarded the ship.

'Devil fruits huh! This gives me more reason to eliminate them. I was planning on stealing their ship but who knew these guys hid such a treasure.' I carefully followed the captain and his group without alerting them of my presence. I'm also interested in what devil fruit these scums managed to steal. I hope it's worth the trouble.

After walking for a while, the captain stopped the three near a big tree with some markings. The captain looked at the tree carefully and then nodded in relief.

"This is the place boys! Now, start digging around. I'm sure I buried the treasures somewhere around here." The captain joyfully ordered the crew. Three of his men immediately started digging around the place.

'I'll wait and see if they get the treasure out. I don't want to kill them immediately and then regret not finding anything later.' I brought out my sword and started waiting. I hid behind a tree 10 meters away from their place. The distance is enough for me to make a surprise attack on the pirates.

After some digging, one of the crew found the treasure to which he joyfully reported.

"Captain, I found it. It's right here."

"Good job! I'll reward you properly afterwards. Now, let me open the chest myself. Hohoho!" The captain joyfully pushed the crew aside and pulled the treasure chest out.

"Hohoho! This is it. I got into so much trouble because of this. But now I'm going to be a superpower human after eating the devil fruit. Hohoho!" The captain boasted joyfully without knowing about his incoming end.

After seeing the scene, I braced myself for a swift and immediate attack. I dashed toward the captain swiftly and decapitated him with the swing of my sword. The incoming blood fell on my face and clothes. Feeling the warm and moist feeling on my face, I feel nauseous. But, I'm not over yet, as my action resulted in the other three crewmates noticing my presence.

"CAPTAIN!" All of them shouted after their daze. I got out of my stupor due to their shouting. So, I wasted no time heading toward them and killing one with a swift stab in the chest and another one with a swipe on the neck. Two of them had no time to react as I reaped their lives. They looked at me fearfully before falling into eternal silence.

"You S-Shit!" Before the remaining crew could escape, I reached near him and punched him down. He tried to struggle on the ground, but I grabbed the hilt of my sword with two hands and inserted it into his skull forcefully. He died instantly as a result.

"Hah! Hah!" I breathed out quickly, trying to get rid of the nauseous feeling, but it didn't have any effect. Seeing the four bleeding corpses, I'm reminded of my selfish murder against four humans. I know they're sinful, but that doesn't make it any better.

After killing them, I felt different from before. Before, I could say I was a modern human, but I don't have the confidence to say such things now. I'm no longer a human living in the modern world. This is the real One Piece world where being strong allows you to dictate the weaker ones. Now, I'm the strong one in the confrontation, so I can easily dictate their destiny. If I had been the weaker one, the pirates would do the same as well.

In my previous life, I lived in a peaceful society under the law. Murder is a heinous crime in modern society, even if the said person you kill is a criminal or not. Human life is way too valuable in my recognition.

I thought I had what it took to kill a person, but I guess I'm still not fine with murder. I waited for a while to adjust my breathing and calm down.

'Killing is the last resort. I won't try to kill someone as much as possible unless they pose too much of a threat to me. This is One Piece world where being stronger is the law. I don't ever want to be on the weaker side. I don't want anyone to dictate my life.' I set a reminder for myself to get stronger quickly and got in front of the treasure chest. I don't have any good feelings for this chest as it reminded me of my first murder.

After opening it, I saw it was full of glittering gold coins and cash. And on top of them was a fruit covered in swirly patterns. I took the fruit out and used my observation skill.

'Observe' I mentally command the system, and the information about the fruit shows on the screen.

Mind-Mind Devil Fruit: A paramecium type devil fruit that allows its eater to fully control their mind/brain. Its primary skills are:

Telepathy: Capable of reading and sending information in the form of brain waves.

Hypnotize: Capable of hypnotizing others with weaker mental capacity. You can either hypnotize a person temporarily or permanently brainwash them, depending on their mental capabilities.

Telekinesis/Psychic: Capable of using mental energy to affect the reality around the host.

I was amazed after reading the introduction. This fruit is excellent. Even though it's not a logia devil fruit, it's still amazing. I'm greedy just looking at the introduction. With telepathy, I can easily read someone's surface thoughts, which can help me prevent many problems. I can also communicate with my team within the range of my telepathy, making it a valuable team skill in a group battle.

Hypnotizing is another incredible skill. If I had this skill, I wouldn't have to kill these four guys. I could just hypnotize them and delete their memories, or I could just brainwash them for my usage. I know it sounds evil, but I would instead brainwash someone than murder.

(A/N: Re-edited on 10/30/2021)