Chapter 1

"Huh!" Blade mumbled to himself, his eyed widened and his jaw dropped a couple of centimetres. For a good few minutes, he stood still, the back of his hands continuously being rubbed over his eyes. He was confused, shocked and tremendously scared. He'd woken up in the middle of a muddy narrow lane that could barely house a car alongside palm trees and weirdly designed-houses on either side. At first glance, it would seem like a normal village path, but for Blade, it was an alien street.

It was certainly not a scene Blade was expecting to wake up to especially after having gone to sleep inside his own home.

For another good few moments Blade stood still, trying to think of all the possibilities that lead up to this. The last thing he could recall was drinking uncontrollably with his friends at a high school party meet up. He was tremendously excited at attending that party. He'd been looking forward at the chance of re-meeting his high school crush; a blonde, petite teenage girl – now a beautiful working woman. However, what Blade didn't know was that she'd been married prematurely. A close friend of his had broken the news to him that day and to bury his anger, Blade drank a barrage of booze.

Looking around in befuddlement, he noticed a few civilians with bizarre attire but the most shocking thing to him was the vast blue sea.

"This can't be right" Blade mumbled at a weak attempt to keep his sanity.

For a moment he thought he was dreaming, but the cool breeze and the uniquely fresh scent of green in the air mixed with the ocean's salty aroma soon ended his theory. He was left in pure confusion. Nothing made sense.

"What the fuck is going on?" Blade uttered to himself, with each passing second, his sanity kept diving further.

Almost as if answering his question, a soon arriving migraine alongside a barrage of new memories infiltrated Blade's mind. Blade inherited the memories of the previous body owner and he realized he was no longer in his original world, but in the world of One piece!

His face became cold and his eyed widened at this realization. "No, this can't be real!"

The previous body owner was an orphan with the same name (Blade) who worked at a rest home, as a chore boy for minimal wages. But what caused Blade to clench his fist in worry was the next revelation, the boy lived in Cocoyasi village, the same village Nami lived in, and the same village Arlong resided in. And if his newly acquired memories are anything to go by, Arlong had already claimed this territory as his own.

This revelation came rushing in like a storm in a sea, forcing Blade to bite his lip in worry. At first, he was a little excited at being reincarnated in one piece, it was his favorite anime world but his excitement was overshadowed by his bad luck. He soon realized Arlong was charging the residents for simply staying in their own village and in case they failed, he'd kill them without a second thought. Arlong was a bloodthirsty man.

With a hint of agony on his face, Blade decided to explore the village before a voice called out to him. "Where do you think you're going?" Blade turned his body towards the direction of the voice. The voice reverberated from an old man, with a short stature, wrinkled brow, and a grey goatee. He wore a grey colored hat with a 'plus' symbol at its front. It wasn't hard to identify the man, he was the doctor the previous body's owner was working under. Cocoyasi's doctor, was what most people knew him as, although recently the doctor's fame has dwindled due to him not having many patients.

"Uhh, Nowhere," Blade replied after stumbling on his words.

"Good, now follow me, we have patients to attend to," Nako (that's his name) prompted.

Blade dragged himself towards the rest home, where he did his duties - cleaning and mopping the place. The rest home was 2000 square feet wide, a relatively small house. The floor and ceiling was made out of wooden planks and the walls of cement. It looked a bit modern despite the world of One piece having primitive technology.

What Blade didn't realize from his memories, he was given a place to stay at the doctor's house, to which was Blade was grateful for.

During his time cleaning, Blade contemplated to what he should do? Or become. Sure, he needed strength to survive in the world of One piece, that was a given. But he couldn't come to decide if whether he should be a pirate or a person who just roams the seas. Being a marine was out of the option, especially after knowing how corrupted there are. Being a pirate would give Blade the freedom of traversing the seas of One piece freely, but being a free roamer would give him the same capabilities with the added benefit of having no bounty on his head. After a couple of minutes of wracking his head, Blade choice the safest and free-est option he had, to be a free roamer. Although he was certain eventually he too will acquire a bounty, and at that point he'd be no better than a pirate.

A rough voice called out to him, taking him out of his inner monologue, "Blade I have something to tell you. Something dire," Nako said, "As you know today is the day that bastard Arlong is going to be charging the residents for staying here. And I'm pretty sure you've pointed out the lack of patients we have been getting recently. Agh, what I am trying to say is, we will not be able to pay Arlong for this month. At least not entirely. I know it's a lot to take in, but I'll try to convince Arlong to give us some extra time," Nako rested his labcoat onto a chair, getting ready to leave the house.

Although Nako's words sounded sincere, Blade could easily point out that he was bluffing. Mainly about the part where he would try to convince Arlong. He knew Arlong would give the two of them no extra time, he'd rather kill them to set an example to the villagers.

…

A couple of hours later,

Blade alongside Doctor Nako strolled towards Arlong's park, where they stood in an extended queue for their turn. In front of them stood a number of villagers, ranging frim children to old man.

The Park was a huge place, having accompanied all of the villagers easily. A large board with the words," Arlong Park" stood atop of the threshold of the place. Looking up, Blade caught a glimpse of the many floors Arlong Park consisted of, and from the looks of it, it was roughly about 10+ floors. This realization involuntarily reminded Blade about the time Luffy punched Arlong down those said floors. He smirked at being reminded of those good old times.

"Next," A loud, stern voice called out. Without even realizing, it was already Blade's and Doctor Nako's turn.

Following suit, the two walked in front of the counter. A fishman sat idly on a wooden chair, rocking back-and-front slightly as he talked. His complexion was blue in colour and the ends of his hands and feet both compromised of fins.

"Pay up!" The fishman streteched out his hand, an obvious gesture requesting money.

Involuntarily, doctor Nako pulled out his hand from his pocket that consisted of all the money he had gathered that month, although it wasn't enough to fill the quo, he hoped to bargain a deal with Arlong to pay the rest later. Gulping down his fear, Nako gave him the berries.

"Is this for the both of you? Where's the rest?" The fishman raised his voice, "Doctor don't take us for fools, this isn't enough."

"This is all we have. If you could kindly give us extra time, we will give you the remaining later?" Nako said unnervingly.

"Old man, we gave every civilian specific instructions to follow, one of them being to pay FULL," The fishman replied, emphasising the last bit.

Hearing the continuing argument, Arlong got up from his seat nearby and walked towards the ruckus. Blade didn't even notice his presence till now, as Arlong sat quietly behind the wall Blade was facing. Arlong was a tall man, easily over 8 feet. The only thing differentiating him from the other fishman was his pointy, sharp nose.

"Whats going on here?" Arlong spoke ubruptly.

"They don't have the money to pay up, and the oldman is requesting extra time."

With a simple glare from Arlong, Blade shook to the core. Arlong scratched the side of his head, obviously annoyed at what he was seeing.

Within a split second, Arlong rushed towards the old man, grabbing him by the throat. "For all those who don't have the money to pay, know this, if you don't pay up, I will kill you." Arlong spoke, trying to snap the old man neck to make an example.

He was soon put to a halt as Blade yelled towards him.

"Don't kill him!"

Although Bade didn't care much about the old man, he couldn't tolerate seeing a murder happing before his eyes, added with the fact his job was at risk.

Arlong turned his eyes to face the young man, who glared back fiercely.

"Huh" Arlong prompted," Who's this?" Arlong put down the old man, walking towards Blade.

A few seconds later, Blade felt a fierce gust of wind make its way towards him followed by a terrifying pain.

"Agh," Blade tried speaking, suddenly vomiting out blood. 'What the fuck is happening,' he thought. The pain he was feeling was immende, it felt as if he was severed of his tendons. His body screamed and ached at him. Suddenly, Blade fell to the grounds, face first.

"What were you saying about stopping me?" Arlong mocked. He was at the same spot. Mastering all his courage, Blade managed to lift his head to get a clear view of him. Arlong stretched out his right hand that held a limb. A limb of Blade.

Peering right, Blade noticed his entire hand was removed of his body. Blood gushed out fiercely from his shoulder, dripping to the floor. The pain was unbearable.

"Why did I go ahead and do something so stupid? I should have just let the old man die!" Blade thought. He immediately regretted his actions.

All the citizens were shocked to the core, some covered their faces, some gasped and some were screaming.

Suddenly, something appeared before Blade's eyes.

[

Alert!

You completed all the necessary requirements of the quest "Courage of the weak!"

]

Blade was a little stunned, but soon fell unconscious.

(

And Blade died.

The end.

JK :)

)