Chapter 1 – Start.

Chapter 1 – Start.

[Chapter Length: 1820 Words.]

Unknown MC POV

Somewhere on sea, EastBlue.

...

...

Monkey D. Luffy woke up abruptly, his eyelids revealing a dark and confined environment. A strange sensation enveloped his body, pressed against the wooden walls of the barrel, while the rhythmic movements of the sea produced a gentle sway in the structure. Cautiously, he rubbed his eyes as if trying to dispel the fog of sleep and comprehend the reality around him, with blurry images in his head.

The barrel, though confined, had become a peculiar capsule that held the first moments of his memory comeback. The darkness that surrounded him was a veil of uncertainty, but as his senses adjusted, Luffy began to discern familiar details. The worn wood under his fingers, the muffled echoes of the ocean around, and the continuous motion of the waves—all indicated that he was in a place that, though initially unknown, carried an iconic atmosphere.

This awakening inside the barrel, once mysterious, became the introduction to the rebirth of a new Monkey D. Luffy in a revamped world. His now perceptive eyes explored the confined space, capturing details that identified it as a unique starting point and reflecting on his situation.

At every moment, Luffy's awareness gained clarity about his unique situation.

"Where the hell am I? I remember dying..." he murmured to himself, scratching his head in the darkness. It felt like a dream, but as time passed, he became more aware of his situation.

Luffy didn't have much time to think because soon a flood of memories began to surface inside his head, between a past life and a new life that he had lived in this world before this moment.

...

'I'll be more powerful, and I'll never be caught!'

'I will be more powerful.'

'I will be.'

'No, it will be me.'

'I!'

'I!'

'You kids are so funny, Dahahahahahaha!' An adult man wearing a straw hat laughed, watching the two children with an amused look.

...

'Luffy, you are too childish,' someone commented, expressing a mix of concern and understanding.

'She's right, Luffy,' another added, agreeing with the previous assessment.

'You girls don't understand. I'll be a great pirate and will rule all the seas!' Luffy asserted, excited and full of confidence.

'Tsk, I don't like that dream, Luffy. I want a world where people live happily,' Uta expressed discontent.

'It's a beautiful dream, Uta. I want to bring justice to the world!'

...

'Uta, I have a bad feeling about this journey...' Luffy commented, a wrinkle of concern marking his forehead.

'I'll be fine, silly. Remember our promise?' Uta replied, displaying a reassuring smile.

'That we would stay together? But that was weird; I still don't understand.'

'You'll find out in the future. Fufufufu.' Uta laughed mysteriously, leaving a suspenseful aura in the air.

...

'I hate you, Shanks!' Luffy shouted and ran out with tears in his eyes.

...

'Shanks... why...?' The boy cried on the man's chest.

'I couldn't let a boy die, could I?' Shanks replied, his voice conveying compassion.

'But... your arm!' The boy tried to avoid looking where Shanks had lost his arm to save him. Even though he was a good swimmer, he couldn't go back to the village with that sea monster, but Shanks still saved him.

...

'I swear, this is my dream. One day, I'll have a crew that will be the most powerful ever in this world. I will be the strongest pirate and man of all! No one will stop me, whether it's you or Lucy!' The boy shouted with his childish voice but seemed quite sincere.

'Dahahahahahaha. I liked hearing that, Luffy. Let's make a promise then.' Shanks said, taking off his hat and putting it on a confused Luffy.

'You see, this hat is very precious to me. I want you to wear it until the day you become a great pirate, and you have to protect your sister too; she is very special.' Shanks said with a casual tone, but no one could imagine the weight behind those words.

'This... your hat, Shanks?' Luffy and Lucy looked at the man in surprise.

"That's different..." Luffy reflected, acknowledging the changes in himself. "I'm no longer the same Monkey D. Luffy. I am... something more. Memories from my past life are coming back, and new powers are emerging in this body..."

As he absorbed the situation, the memory of a robotic voice echoed in his mind, reminding him of his mythical and unique post-death encounter with an identity. He gained a chance to be reborn in the fantastic world of One Piece as a character named Monkey D. Luffy.

"So, but I'm an original character, huh?" Luffy pondered, looking at his hands in that darkness. "That explains the changes." He remembered the stories he knew about the One Piece universe. The lines of destiny were redrawn with his presence in this world; according to that identity, there were changes, and this Luffy is not originally Nika but someone else, and now he had the chance to leave a unique mark in history.

"Let's think about my benefits now. To start, I received two powerful Devil Fruits, 4 summoning cards as an initial bonus, and a shop system as my safe haven for this world. Now that I have received these powers with my memories, my body is changing, especially the mythical Zoan I acquired!" Luffy seemed satisfied inside the barrel.

"As I am not the original Monkey D. Luffy, there is another character who was born to be the MC of this world. I know him very well with my life in this world so far, and he is not a pirate. Now, with my memories coming back, while I started my journey in the barrel by coincidence, I'm sure this world is about to get even more interesting!" Luffy murmured, feeling a renewed excitement with the expectations of his possibilities in this world.

The first changes in this non-original Luffy are his size; he is 2.1 meters tall with a strong body, despite never having the Hito Hito no Mi or any other Devil Fruit. He trained a lot with his brothers. He now has tattoos across his torso, as it was part of his original personality in his past life and was added to his body as memories returned. His hair is a modern style, with a side undercut, akin to David's style from Cyberpunk. With the addition of the mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, his muscles grew even larger at this moment, making his current clothes tight on him. His eyes turned red as a consequence of the fruit's power, and he had changed quite a bit. If the potential of the Monkey D. family was already great, the addition of his current fruit made him explode with possibilities; his body was now far beyond the understanding of ordinary humans.

[Image of Luffy here.]

"Well, it looks like I can finally start my adventure in this world!" Luffy commented, still in the dark but ready to leave that barrel and begin his journey.

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