Chapter 3 - Hunting Rabbits

After recalling a bit about the novel he had read while he was still studying, he compiled some initial information.

As he remembered, there were four main types of rabbits, in addition to the other monsters here. The gray ones (One Red Orb) were the weakest, followed by the whites (Two Red Orbs) and then the blacks (Three Red Orbs), the last type being a large rabbit (Several Orbs). According to his fight now, he speculated that fighting two white rabbits was his maximum before starting to get beaten and eventually killed.

Coming from a difficult childhood on Earth, Noah always had to find his way to survive, and one of those ways was working in a martial arts academy at twelve years old. As the master who taught there was kind, he also trained him so he could protect himself.

And that's how he became a skilled fighter with capoeira, taekwondo and MMA. He couldn't guarantee that his punches would kill now, but his kicks would.

Ready to start hunting, since some wolf, or any other species besides rabbits, could show up at any time to kill him, Noah paid attention to his surroundings. Despite not having trees, there were several bushes (tall grass, to be exact) that rabbits used to hide or eat, so he would keep an eye on them.

And as he predicted, another white rabbit appeared a few meters away from him. But this one was accompanied by a fellow white rabbit as well, the two pairs of red eyes staring at Noah and assessing whether the flesh creature would be tastier than the grass.

"You two there!" Noah pointed his finger at them and continued walking, "Would you mind committing suicide please? Your parents never liked you!"

"…" 

The two rabbits attacked him as if they had been injected with adrenaline. It was possible to see the fury written on their cute faces. And as they approached Noah, they opened their mouths with the intention of tearing every piece of his flesh with hatred.

"Let's go!"

With a smile, Noah began to fight the rabbits as if there was no tomorrow. 

Exchanging blows against blows, he hit a kick in each one and quickly ended the life of the other by kicking his neck several times. Unfortunately, the rabbits didn't have weak points, like the testicles of a man, and only fatal points. Still, Noah finished the two rabbits in about 10 minutes, collecting four more red orbs and a lot of scratches. And as soon as he finished the two rabbits, two more appeared. They were slightly larger, but did not fit into a higher category.

As the hours went by, Noah tried to stay in the same circle to avoid encountering wind wolves now. Even so, injuries after injuries started to appear on his body, gray rabbits also appearing from time to time to easily die under his fist. His count of red orbs had already reached almost a hundred, but he was completely wrecked.

"Die now!" Completely drenched in blood, Noah still remained standing as he punched the white rabbit beneath him. His injuries were all over the place, but he continued his ferocity when attacking, even though it hurt like hell.

The rabbit finally couldn't take it anymore when it turned into a cloud of black ashes and left two red orbs in its place. Noah picked them up and stood up, knowing he would die at any moment. The loss of blood and the intense pain that ran through his body would kill him before anything else got here.

It was at that moment, as he was staring into the void while trying to endure the pain, that a green figure came into his sight. A wolf with green fur and eyes was there, standing a few meters from him while showing a winning smile. It was as if he had waited while watching Noah fight for his life.

"Look who showed up, just to ruin the party- AAAAHHHH!!" Noah was about to smile at the wolf when he felt extreme pain in his arm and he knelt on the ground. 

Looking to the side, his left arm was nowhere to be seen and the pain and blood made his consciousness become cloudy.

With a rather unusual sadism, the green wolf kept circling its prey while watching it suffer from the wounds it inflicted with the wind blades it sent. But no matter how many he had sent, it was as if this bipedal meat monster refused to die. So he stood face to face with him and was ready to send a last wind blade and end his life.

"You..." Noah was in decrepit condition at that moment, clinging to the thin lifeline he had. Even so, his eyes were extremely focused and seemed to contain a vibrant murderous intent. Looking into the wolf's green eyes, he spoke his last words with a bloody smile, "I'm going to come after you, little wolf-"

And then everything went dark.

°°°

"UUGH!"

With his body wet from cold sweat, Noah got up and began to breathe deeply. The sensation of death was not a problem, but the pain was certainly excruciating. And as the pain spread through his body, involuntary tears came from his eyes, which he quickly wiped away and stood up.

When he looked to the side, he saw that Nami was still sleeping, her back turned to him. Without worrying any further, he began to wander around the island, both to calm himself and to look for something to eat.

Meanwhile, lying on the ground and not moving a muscle, Nami was well alert and aware of what had just happened. She woke up shortly before and saw how Noah was behaving in his sleep, as if he was having the worst nightmare in the world. And not wanting him to notice, she simply pretended to sleep.

'Who are you, Noah?…'

°°°

At a point where she could no longer see him, Noah quickly located the mental space where the orbs are and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the hundred red orbs there. This confirmed that it was not just a dream. 

And also, waking up again here helped him to know that he had indeed come to the world of One Piece.

"Well, how am I going to ingest you?" Holding a small red orb in his hand, he remembered that he had no kind of breathing technique or energy circulation to help in absorption, "Well, let's eat one and see what happens..."

As soon as he ate and swallowed the red orb, Noah felt as if he had washed away the insomnia and physical discomfort of the morning. His hunger was gone and he could only feel that warm and powerful energy within him. After one to two minutes, his skin started to itch and turn red, the dead skin falling off and the one underneath becoming firmer and clearer.

After about ten minutes, he felt the energy seriously refining his skin and he felt a greater and very warm power within him. It was an instinct, as if he knew he had become more powerful. And after thirty minutes, the skin refinement finally ended, and he felt he had been greatly strengthened.

"Thirty minutes for a red orb, and I didn't even have to meditate or anything like that..." Noah was now sure that his body was somehow special, as the refinement was quick and automatic.

The speed can be explained because his body is stronger than that of a common human, so it absorbed more avidly. But about the issue of this having happened automatically, it certainly should be something related to his physique. He just didn't know if this would apply to everyone or only to him. As it was a different world, it could obey different rules.

'I remember that Zoro is also a practitioner of meditation and therefore has a great spiritual energy. Something like this can help, even minimally.'

With plans in mind, Noah got up from where he was, thanking God that no black goo cleanup had occurred now, picked some small fruits, and returned to the camp.

"Oh, you were already awake." Noah saw that Nami was already up and untying the boat's rope. He went to her and offered some fruits, which she accepted.

"Yes, I think I woke up a little after you." Lying without any change of expression, Nami looked at Noah and saw how his skin was abnormal compared to yesterday. And as someone who knows how to hide feelings, she decided to stay quiet.

"Well, let's continue then. Have we at least reached halfway?" Noah knew where they were going, but he had no idea of the sense of distance of things. Unfortunately, the anime was terrible at showing this.

"Just a few more hours of sailing and we can get there. Maybe even before noon." Nami commented lightly and looked at Noah out of the corner of her eye. As always, he was already in a good mood.

Putting more conversations off until they were on the boat, Noah took the oars and began to move the boat with Nami's instructions. He felt the task was much easier than yesterday, and he didn't stop for a second. Nami was even startled by his sudden vitality, but she kept quiet. As a good observer, she tried to see what was different about him and could only focus her attention on his skin.

'Why does his skin look as good as mine? Is he some kind of royalty or something?' Keeping her thoughts to herself, she just put that aside for now and began to hoist the sails.

With a new vigor and at least one more layer of trust between them, the boat trip through the East Blue was quite fast and after a few hours, when the sun was already at its peak, they spotted a huge island not far away.

"Finally..." Noah looked at the distant island and was happy to be arriving at the destination.

"Yeah, finally..." While Nami had a strange expression, a mix of joy and fear, with a hint of anxiety.

With a few more minutes of rowing, they docked the boat on the shore and Nami grabbed the treasure bag, pushing the boat back to sea. Noah was next to her, appreciating solid ground after a good while.

"What are you going to do now?" Nami was already leaving when she remembered that she had company. Turning to him, she felt a strange thing in her chest, as if she wanted to quickly expel him from this dangerous island, 'Even though I don't know you well, you don't deserve to die here...'

"Well, maybe I'll find some place that sells boats and then leave. But since it's been a while since I've set foot on solid ground, I think I'm going to explore a bit..." Noah was looking at the island with a smile, appreciating the great beauty and danger of the place.

'So I suggest you leave fast...' Even though that's what she wanted, she didn't understand why she felt a sudden pang in her chest with what he said, "Anyway, welcome to the Conomi Islands. And a tip: Don't explore too far, it can be dangerous."

"I appreciate the advice." Noah felt like laughing a little, but restrained himself. Feeling Nami's minimal worry was already a sign that she trusted him enough for that. He then waved goodbye to her, "It was a pleasure sailing with you today, Miss Nami. We will see each other at some point. Bye and see you soon!"

"Bye-" Nami waved back and was about to speak more, but stopped herself when she remembered what could happen to him if he went to the wrong side of the island. She just watched him walk away in the right direction and disappear into the forest before sighing and going her own way, 'Nothing bad is going to happen, Nami. Chin up and move on.'

°°°

In the meantime, going his own way, Noah snorted a little and laughed at the situation.

"Conomi Islands, huh? Let's see if it's really dangerous around here."