The Clash of Justice and Despair

"Kill, kill, kill..."

No orders were needed. As soon as the two ships drew close, the prepared navies and pirates surged towards each other like unleashed torrents.

On one side, the navy fought for the justice burning in their hearts, their morale sky-high. On the other, the pirates fought fiercely, driven by the desperation to survive.

The moment the two forces clashed, the first bodies dropped—navy soldiers and pirates fell like wheat before a scythe. But no one stopped to mourn their fallen comrades. Their eyes held a singular purpose: to kill each other.

The battlefield was soon engulfed in chaos. Swords clashed, guns roared, and the air filled with the screams of the dying. Blood drenched the sea, turning the surface a deep red.

Despite the carnage, no one retreated. Each fighter knew that stepping onto that battlefield meant surrendering their fate to chance, life or death hanging by a thread.

I remembered hearing a veteran once say, "On the battlefield, your life is no longer in your own hands." I hadn't understood those words until now, watching this battle of only a few hundred people unfold before me.

Right in front of me, I saw countless navy soldiers and pirates alike being killed, some struck down by stray bullets. One moment they were fighting, the next, their lives were snuffed out, just like that.

This battle was unlike anything I had ever imagined—a full-blown, cold weapon war. What stood out the most were the naval officers. Among the pirates, they were like reapers, cutting down anyone in their path. These officers were clearly elite, each of them mastering atleast one of the Navy's six techniques.

Watching them was like seeing a martial arts movie come to life, and for a brief moment, I found myself captivated by the spectacle. But it didn't take long before the sight of blood, severed limbs, and organs spilling out became too much. Arms and legs flew into the air, and bodies were cleaved in half. I had to close the door and take deep breaths to keep from vomiting.

As someone from the 21st century who had never seen death up close, I was amazed I hadn't passed out. The sight was overwhelming.

After calming myself, I took a moment to glance around the bedroom I had hidden in. The place was a wreck, almost completely in ruins. Gems and gold lay scattered across the floor like discarded toys.

Normally, I might have been excited by the treasure, but right now, with my survival still uncertain, I couldn't care less. I had bigger things to worry about.

As I scanned the room, something caught my eye. A black box, oddly fixed to a beam. If the beam hadn't fallen during the battle, I would've never noticed it.

Considering how much Aimu seemed to value treasure, I couldn't help but wonder what was so important that he went to such lengths to hide it. My curiosity piqued, I decided to check it out.

I spent a lot of effort pulling the black box free. It was heavier than I expected, and it was locked with a brass padlock. I found an axe nearby and set about breaking it open.

Meanwhile, outside, the battle was nearing its end.

Garp's soldiers were all elites from the Navy Headquarters, and the pirates were no match for them. At first, the pirates fought back with fierce determination, but once the navy started pressing their advantage, the pirates began falling quickly.

Under the relentless assault, more and more pirates were killed. The deck of the pirate ship was awash in blood. Some pirates, seeing no other option, surrendered in hopes of saving their lives. They might have escaped death today, but prison awaited them.

There were still a few holdouts, pirates fighting to the bitter end, but they were dwindling fast. The battle would soon be over.

As Aimu looked out over the battlefield, seeing his men either dead or surrendering, his face remained strangely calm. He knew his subordinates could surrender, but he also knew what would happen to them—death sentences or worse, a life in Impel Down, the navy's underwater prison. For someone like Aimu, immediate death was preferable.

With a bitter smile, Aimu muttered to himself, "I never expected this... With my bounty, I thought at most a Vice Admiral or maybe a Rear Admiral would come after me. I didn't expect the Naval Hero."

If it had been a vice admiral, Aimu thought he might've had a chance to escape. But Garp? There was no hope of running away now.

Garp, for his part, just stood there with his arms crossed, not even bothering to acknowledge Aimu. He seemed almost bored.

Some of the navy soldiers nearby noticed the situation and whispered to each other, "Looks like the Vice Admiral Garp is asleep again."

"You must be new," an older soldier replied casually. "You get used to it after seeing it so many times."

While the navy soldiers took it in stride, Aimu didn't see it that way.

In his eyes, Garp's indifference was an insult, a clear sign that the legendary hero didn't consider him worthy of even a conversation. Though Aimu knew he couldn't defeat Garp, being treated with such disdain ignited a fury inside him.

His temper flared, and in an instant, Aimu transformed into his full Zoan form—a humanoid black bear. He gathered all his remaining strength, leaped into the air, and launched his most powerful punch, aiming directly at Garp.

As he flew through the air, Aimu worried that Garp would dodge. His attack, while strong, was slow and filled with openings. It would be easy to avoid. But Garp didn't even budge.

Seeing this, Aimu poured even more force into his punch, determined to make Garp pay for underestimating him.

A thunderous sound echoed across the battlefield as Aimu's fist made contact. A shockwave rippled out from the impact, causing everyone below to look up at the fight.

The remaining pirates, seeing their captain hit the navy hero, felt a flicker of hope. If their captain could take down the strongest man on the navy's side, maybe they could still win. But the navy soldiers weren't fazed. Their expressions showed they knew better.

Despite the force of Aimu's attack, Garp only slid back a few meters. He didn't even flinch. No blood, no injuries.

Aimu, stunned, muttered in disbelief, "How can this be? How are you this strong...?"

It wasn't clear if Aimu's muttering woke Garp up or if he snapped out of it on his own, but either way, Garp suddenly rubbed his head and asked, puzzled, "Who are you, and why are you in front of me?"

One of the navy soldiers nearby sighed and reminded him, "That's Aimu, the pirate captain we've been chasing."

"Oh, right, you're the pirate Aimu" Garp said with sudden realization.

Then his face darkened as he added angrily, "So you're the one who ruined my break!"

Without even thinking, Garp threw a punch that sent Aimu flying through the air. By sheer coincidence, Aimu's body crashed directly into the door of the bedroom where I was hiding.

Just as Aimu attacked Garp, I stumbled upon a golden axe in the bedroom. It took me quite a while to pry open the lock on the box I found there. When I finally opened it, I did so cautiously. I knew how precious and important this was to Aim, and I had to be careful. Inside the box, there was only a single red apple covered in intricate patterns.

Immediately, I recognized it—this was a Devil Fruit, the legendary treasure of the sea that so many people fought over! No wonder Aimu had hidden it so well. With the right person, this fruit could turn someone into a powerhouse in no time. But I knew the risks. A person could only eat one Devil Fruit, and eating more than one meant certain death. If not for that, Aimu probably would've eaten it himself already, instead of hiding it.

The Devil Fruit was incredibly alluring, the kind of power that everyone craved. I couldn't believe my luck in finding it. If I hadn't happened to wander into this room, or if a few more cannon blasts hadn't shaken the box loose, this fruit would've stayed hidden.

But even though I was lucky, I didn't eat the Devil Fruit right away. There were too many things I wasn't sure about. What if the ability I got was something useless? And besides, I had big ambitions. As someone who had been reborn into this world, I had plans to make a name for myself. If I was going to eat a Devil Fruit, I wanted it to be a powerful Logia-type fruit.

With these doubts swirling around in my mind, I just held the Devil Fruit in my hand and stared at it. I couldn't help but think, "This small fruit has the power to destroy worlds. It's incredible."

But then, out of nowhere, Aimu came flying through the door and crashed into me. I wasn't prepared for it, and in the chaos, I accidentally ate the Devil Fruit. For a moment, I panicked, but then I thought, "Well, it's done. No point worrying now." I'm the kind of person who tries to stay positive, and I figured even if I hadn't eaten it, I would've found a way to become strong in this world. Who knows, maybe the ability I got was something amazing.

Excited to find out, I started testing my new powers. I tried and tried, but I couldn't turn into an animal or become one with nature. It looked like I had eaten a Paramecia-type fruit instead.

While all of this was happening, Garp, who was on the battleship, knocked Aimu away with a punch. Then he looked straight at me. There I was, in the bedroom, doing all these strange moves, trying to figure out my powers. Not only did Garp notice, but so did the navy soldiers next to him. They seemed just as confused as he was, probably wondering how a kid like me ended up on a pirate ship.

Garp asked, "What's going on with that kid?"

One of the sergeants quickly replied, "General, that child might've been taken by the pirates. They attacked a small town yesterday, and he could be a resident from there."

Garp thought about it for a second before saying, "It's alright. Let's go check on him. Surviving on a pirate ship? That's something."

After speaking, Garp leaped lightly onto the pirate ship, and the man in the suit who had been by his side followed without hesitation.

By the time Garp reached my position, the navy had already begun cleaning up the battlefield. The remaining pirates, who had initially thought they might survive, lost all hope when they saw their boss go down with a single punch. Their morale crumbled.

There was no way they could stand against the disciplined navy soldiers. It didn't take long before the remaining pirates were either killed or captured by the navy.

I tried for a long time to figure out my new powers, but nothing seemed to work. I sighed in frustration—there are just too many types of Paramecia abilities, and some are really hard to figure out in a short time.

Looking out at the scene, I finally relaxed. The navy had defeated all the pirates, and with that, I had survived my first real challenge in this new world. My life was safe... or so I thought.

In my relief, I completely forgot about Aimu. Though Garp had knocked him away, Aimu's strong defense kept him from dying. He was severely injured, but not dead.

As he regained consciousness, Aimu's eyes fell on the open box and then on me. He quickly realized that I had eaten his Devil Fruit.

That Devil Fruit had been something Aimu stole from a merchant ship. He had already lined up a buyer who was willing to pay 500 million Berries for it. But everything fell apart today when the navy showed up and wiped out his crew.

Ordinarily, a pirate would use a Devil Fruit to strengthen their own crew. But Aimu was a suspicious man—he feared that if one of his subordinates ate the fruit, they might betray him. Since he couldn't eat it himself, he had decided to sell it instead.

Now, the fruit he'd planned to sell was gone, eaten by a kid he'd nearly killed a few days earlier. His rage was palpable. How could someone like me, a mere child, be worthy of such a powerful fruit?

Barely able to stand, Aimu was still determined to take me down with him. If he was going to die, he was going to make sure I died too.

I sensed something was wrong, even though I was focused on the navy outside. Staying alert was crucial—I didn't want to be caught off guard and killed at the last moment.

Then I felt a sudden gust of wind behind me. Quickly turning around, I saw Aimu standing there, aiming a pair of heavy bear-like paws directly at my back.

I reacted as fast as I could, dodging to the side, but my small body was no match for Aim's desperate, full-force attack. His paw was coming down, and I couldn't escape in time.

In that moment, something inside me snapped. A powerful will to survive surged up from deep within. Just as Aimu's paw was about to hit me, it suddenly paused, as if it had struck an invisible barrier. In the blink of an eye, I moved out of his range, barely escaping.

I stood there, breathless, realizing what had just happened. I could feel it clearly—I had an invisible shield around me, something that blocked Aimu's attack. It only lasted for an instant, but it had been enough to save my life.

Garp, who had been ready to step in, paused and watched the scene unfold with a curious look on his face. He didn't intervene, just stood nearby, seemingly enjoying the show.

After escaping the attack, I turned to face Aimu, keeping a wary eye on him. I knew now that my new ability had saved me. The fact that I could create an invisible shield meant my power was probably related to space or air.

As someone who had read One Piece series in my past life, I had a good idea of what this might mean. I had probably eaten a powerful Devil Fruit, one with great potential.

Though I had an idea of what my power might be, I wasn't completely sure. I needed a real battle to truly understand it. And right now, Aimu—severely injured and at the end of his rope—was the perfect opponent for me. This was my chance.