Chapter 3: What to do?

Now that I'm part of the Whitebeard crew, I need to think about what I'll do with my future.

Also, now that I got sometime to think, didn't I ate something weird, that fruit… based on my experience then maybe…

"Excuse me…pop"

"What is it child?"

"Is there a doctor on the ship…. I ate a weird fruit recently to survive and I'm afraid it's poisonous"

"Hrmmm….A weird fruit you say?

Marco, check on the kid, see if he's in any danger"

Marco came quickly and guide me to a cabin, it's a small office like room with medical tools neatly placed inside.

"Do you feel anything weird inside Tom-yoi?"

"No, none that I am aware of"

"I've already done a quick check-up on you while you were unconscious, and besides being terribly starved and dehydrated, your body is perfectly fine-yoi…

So do you remember what the fruit looked like?"

Huh…. no wonder I felt better when I woke up, so he healed me beforehand

"Uhm, I was starving at the time so my eyesight might not be the best at the time, but I remembered it has weird twisting patterns and changing colors"

Marco is surprised

"Twisting patterns? Sounds like you ate a Devil Fruit there-yoi"

Feigning ignorance as a child should be, I asked

"What's a Devil Fruit?"

"Simply, it's a mystical fruit that grant power to whoever eat it at the cost of the ability to swim"

Their power is different for each fruit and there's no way for you to know which power you got unless you know what that fruit is or have a guide book for them or you've experienced and manifested their power-yoi"

Still acting like a kid, I continue to asked

"Wow! They sound amazing, does this mean I can have many powers if I eat many Devil Fruits?"

He smiled and said

"I'm afraid it's not the case, one person can only have one Devil Fruit power, if you consume more than one…"

He turned serious

"You'll die-yoi."

Despite knowing this, seeing him being so serious about it, I also made a serious face and nodded, signifying my understanding.

"Now then, we still don't know if it's an actual Devil Fruit or not, since I've never seen any that change colors like you said

Can you do anything special yet-yoi?"

"No…"

I mean if you count consuming an unnatural amount of food is a power then yeah, but in One Piece, many can do the same, not to mention Luffy who has an ungodly amount of space inside his stomach.

"…I guess there's only one way to find out now-yoi"

"?"

"So what we're going to do is that we're going to put you inside a body of water, and since Devil Fruit user can't swim and they are severely weaken when submerged, we should know if you have power of not-yoi"

"Don't worry, it's going to be quick-yoi"

He then lead me to the bathroom, which was incredibly spacious, I guess having a crew this big then the bathing space being like this make sense.

Marco then gestured me to the bathtub nearby, and said:

"Ok, now get in the tub-yoi"

I did, it was fine when I first got in, the water level just bellow my knees, but as the water rose, I can feel myself getting weaker.

By the time it was over my waist, I couldn't even stand, I fell down and my entire body was submerged except my head, I felt a sudden weakness wash over me, it's hard to breath and my breathing became rough, my eyes became blurry and my head is dizzy, my limbs felt like they are made of lead.

Seeing my condition, Marco picked me up from the bath tub and wrapped a towel around me.

I felt better the moment I was out of the bathtub but I was still exhausted from the experience.

"Looks like you ate a Devil Fruit all right-yoi"

There was a mirror nearby and only now did I get a good look at my appearance

Somehow I didn't think of how I look ever since I've gotten here

I just thought I look the same

But in the mirror is a skinny looking face with an white-grey hair and a hair style that looks like someone shaved my entire head and then let it grow back for a few months

My eyes are the same as before, black irises staring back at me

I look like shit, with sunken eyes, my face that look almost like a skeleton with skin on top

I barely look like a living person and that is due to the treatment I got

I must've look like a corpse before…

After that, I dried myself off and received another set of clothes, this time is a black pants with stitches at the end of the legs and a simple white shirt also with some stitches.

They must've newly sown this for me, seeing how some stitch lines were still spiking out and hadn't been cut.

"How nice"

I thought

"Well Tom, you should get some rest, your body hasn't completely heal yet, you need to eat and rest properly

We'll call you when it's dinner-yoi"

And just like that, I was lying on the same bed I woke up from earlier

I began to think to myself

"What do I even do with myself now?

There's no reason to just live a normal life now that I'm here right?

Even though I said I want an easygoing life, it doesn't mean I want it to be completely boring

I am in One Piece right?

Might as well try to become strong

Cause in this world where people can summon meteors, slices through mountains, summon volcanos,…

Your life is not necessary your own

So in order to have my carefree and easygoing life, I need strength, at least strong enough so that going against me would be too much a hassle to do.

Who knows, I might be the king of pirates before Luffy

Hahaahahaha …. No way

I don't want to be king of pirates

I don't want to be king of anything, too much responsibility

….

Now, what do I know about One Piece….

I only watch up till the Wano arc, and I didn't even get the chance to see Luffy awaking his power...

I'm so fucking curious!

What the fuck was so special about the rubber fruit?

Why did Shank stole it?

….

My memories aren't very clear about all the events and intricacies that happened during my time watching One Piece.

But I knew enough for a solid grasp, I was a fan after all

Hmmm, Ace isn't here, so this is definitely before Luffy's journey

Now what I don't know is when will Thatch found the fruit and how he found it

But I know that it was after Ace joined and became 2nd Commander

Anyway, what can I do about the situation

If I remember correctly, then Teach left the crew a few months before Luffy's journey, but I don't know the exact date… Ace isn't here and I don't remember the age of people in the show, so I can only estimate.

If I inform others of what Teach was going to do, will they even believe me?

He was with them for years, and I am some new kid who has no credibility

I could pretend I have a future sight Devil Fruit, but it would be troublesome since if the story changes due to my presence in anyway, then the plot I know can't be use anymore and it'll be difficult if they ask me to foresee an event that wasn't shown on the show.

And having the ability to see that far into the future is like putting a target on your back

At this age? With no strength whatsoever? That's not a good idea

I could gain strength from now till then to see if I could stop him but still, it's unneeded risk if I'm not too attach to Thatch…I hope….

Not to mention the consequences of changing an event like that…

So I might let the plot take its course

Now for how to gain strength…

A sad thing is I've already eaten a Devil Fruit, which I don't even know existed or what power it has

I always wanted to have a Devil Fruit power, either Gura Gura no Mi, or Goro Goro, or Mera Mera, or Uo Uo no Mi model Seiryu, etc…

But now that I'm actually in One Piece, all of that is suddenly out the window…

Although it was for survival and I would still do it again if I had to, it was still a shame…

No use crying over spilled milk

Even though I don't know what my power is, I still have other ways to become stronger

First thing first, my physical strength

I need to improve this body

It's all skin and bones now, so I need to eat and exercise a lot to gain muscles

And if my body is the same as the one human have in this world then it can take a lot more beating and punishment

Real world logic about training wouldn't apply here

After improving my body condition

I need to learn how to use Haki

At least the basic levels of Armament and Observation

I have no idea whether I have Conqueror's Haki or not

It would be nearly impossible to become one of the strongest in this world without it

But to just become strong? It can be managed, difficult but manageable

I just need to be reasonably strong to enjoy my life after all

No need to get involved too much, just let the plot take its course…right?

After Haki, I need a fighting style, since martial arts can greatly enhance a person ability

Currently, I could go for fishman-karate since human can also learn it, although I can't use its full power due to me being a Devil Fruit user but it still have its benefits, and I can still shoot water bullets as long as less than half of my body is under water.

I'll ask Namur about it later, and I also need a webbed gloves to imitate the hands of fishman

I also want to learn Rokushiki, Seimei Kikan and Hasshoken

But how to even get access to these, I don't have an idea yet…

And even then, training these martial art takes time and commitment and will power, things my previous life version simply didn't have the resolve to do, what to say I'm any different now?

Ahh…not to mention the summit war, which will result in the death of Whitebeard and Ace, I could try to convince Ace to not go after Teach when the time come but in case he wouldn't listen, I need a plan to extend Whitebeard's life span, I still need him as a shield and I don't know when would the main storyline take place.

I'm still a kid so getting to a level where I can make an impact at the war at Marine Ford is still a long way to go…

I could also just say fuck it and leave the crew before that

The Whitebeard crew would disband, Whitebeard would die, I don't think they would care for me then even if I leave at that point.

That isn't what I want to do…

But if there's no other options….always look out for number one.

Sigh….One step at a time I guess…"

And just like that, since I was tired anyway, I fell asleep.