Freedom At Last…

...

"Huh?!" My eyes snapped open as my consciousness returned to me. Feeling like life had come back from the dead once again.

-Splattering-

In a hurry, I pushed myself up from where I was lying, and quickly began scanning my surroundings, frowning heavily once the familiar darkness entered my view and the rancid smell of being inside a stomach flowed into my nostrils once again.

And, as my soul began leaving my body once the realization struck me, I couldn't help but stare at the air blankly for a few minutes out of pure bafflement. Trying my best while I was at it to sort out my thoughts on what had transpired before I lost consciousness again.

… More specifically, on the memories I had of being swallowed by some kind of monster dozens if not hundreds of times bigger than the fucking shark that ate me previously.

And, as my mind gradually began recovering all my memories of what had occurred before my death, the need to acknowledge the fucked-upness of my situation eventually became unavoidable.

I had been eaten again.

And once more, I was trapped inside the stomach of some gigantic creature.

"... Are you serious?" In the end, I blurted out that question, disbelief filling every single word.

And how wouldn't I?

Three times in a row… Three fucking times in a row I ended up in a situation where any other person would have given up on life.

Awakening as the slave of someone who has almost the entire world at his service was the first.

Then, I was eaten by a fucking megalodon-like shark when I finally escaped from being a slave.

And then, just when I managed to leave that shark's insides after who knows how much time of munching and tearing through its insides, I got eaten by another monster not even a minute after getting out.

…

At this point, I was seriously considering whether the comment I said about bad luck following me everywhere I went in this new life might have been true.

Because I mean, having such bad luck two times had been weird already, but three times? There was something clearly wrong here.

Was I just being paranoid?

Or could it be that bad luck was truly fucking up my new life?

But… why would a concept such as bad luck even go after me? Because, as far as I know, I never had this kind of stuff happen in my previous world… Aside from the heart attack that killed me, that is.

But that might have just been the unpredictability of life, not truly bad luck.

"...!"

… Could it be that there was some kind of mysterious force in this world, out there trying to kill me?

'But why would it—?'

"...?!"

As I asked myself that question, a certain hypothesis began sprouting inside my mind.

'Is it my immortality?' I mused, caressing my chin as I squinted my eyes while processing what this discovery would mean.

After all, the only aspect that I thought had changed about me from my previous life, and that could be considered important enough to make a mysterious force with the power to alter fate try to kill me… was my newfound immortality.

Something that, considering the always present cycle between life and death, should not exist.

But it did, and inside me, of all things.

This meant that, if this force wanted to get rid of the anomaly in reality that immortality was, it would therefore have to get rid of me.

But, what kind of force would feel the need to do such a thing?

Was it fate?

Was it this world?

Was it… Uh, the ocean?

I thought deeply about it, wondering what kind of omnipresent force I had angered with my mere presence in this world.

However, eventually, I shrugged off that question.

After all, it didn't matter which of those was responsible for this horrible fortune of mine so far, if this mysterious force even existed in the first place.

The fact that I was probably gonna have a ton of bad luck from here on, maybe even to the point where having a meteorite fall on top of me wouldn't be crazy, didn't change.

But I didn't despair, because there was another detail I noticed after waking up.

-Grip-

My strength.

just like after waking up from being submerged in the shark's gastric juices, I once again felt like I had become stronger.

The jump in power wasn't as large as the one I felt the first time, but I could still feel how every fiber of my body had been reinforced and strengthened to resist more damage and pressure.

Whatever was that ate me this time, its gastric juices were more corrosive than those of the shark. Which allowed me to once again enter a cycle of death and revival that strengthened my body in the end.

The pain was infernal, but since I passed out in the middle of it, I guess it made for a fair trade-off.

After all, pain was only that, pain.

And so would my next deaths at the hands of the mysterious force be, simply pain.

After all, no matter how lethal they might be, how despairing, how agonizing… in the end, I would still revive, and become stronger.

And if a little (A lot) of pain was all I needed to pay in exchange for getting stronger, then what was there to ponder?

I would gladly accept such a deal.

"So you will try to get rid of me, huh?!" Feeling determination filling me to the brim, I screamed in anger to the skies, before I stood up, and began laughing like a madman.

"Then let's see who gives up first, you motherfucker!!"

Once those words left my mouth, I started running to the stomach's walls and immediately began punching them with all my might.

No, not only punching. I clawed at them, bit with my teeth, and kicked them.

I was gonna escape from this thing—No.

I was gonna fucking kill this damn bastard who thought it would be a good idea to eat me, and then leave.

And once I did, those pig-like bastards living the great life on Mary Geoise would be next.

I didn't care if the Marines, Pirates, or the entire World Government tried to stop me.

I was gonna become so strong, that even this world would give up on the thought of killing me!

…

°

°

°

|A month later, at the ocean-going restaurant Baratie|

…

"Shut up, you damn old man!"

"What did you call me?! Who do you think you are talking to?!"

'...What is wrong with these people?!'

Currently, amidst several tables and curious customers, a rather violent and interesting conflict could be seen going down between a blond old man in chef attire and with his beard trimmed into a long braid, a blond man with curled-up eyebrows wearing an elegant black suit, and a defeated marine lieutenant with pale pink-colored hair lying on the ground.

The old man, Zeff, the owner of the Baratie and once a famous pirate who retired after a certain incident that took his leg, was berating quite loudly his Sous chef, Sanji, after this one beat down the marine lieutenant Fullbody when he disrespected both the food served to him and the lady that had been accompanying him.

And while the old man Zeff didn't reprimand him about the fact that he had beaten down such a relatively important person, he still berated him for always causing some sort of trouble when dealing with difficult customers.

"With that attitude, you will send my restaurant to bankrupt!" He screamed, already irritated by the fact that the runt didn't even show him respect, despite being his damn boss.

"You… damn brat!" And, as anger took over him for a moment, Zeff sent a swift kick with his peg leg at Sanji's face. Causing the young cook to grunt in pain as his face turned due to the impact.

-Bang!-

Normally, such a blow would have been enough to trigger a conflict between two people. However, that wasn't the case here. 

Despite the harsh blow in his cheek, Sanji held his ground and didn't complain. Simply taking the hit and staying silent.

Witnessing the blond man's punishment, Fullbody, who had been trashed quite brutally by Sanji after provoking him, smiled faintly in contempt.

'Hah, serves you righ—'

-Bang!-

"Argh!"

However, his thoughts were interrupted when a familiar peg leg hit him in the face too, and knocked him a few meters away.

"You too, get the fuck out of here!" Zeff spat in disdain at the lieutenant after kicking him, completely uncaring about his current injured state after he had already been beaten up by Sanji.

'What is wrong with the cooks of this place? They are more like pirates!' As he recovered from the bashing, Fullbody cursed at the cooks of the restaurant, being shocked by the brazenness and brutality that those he thought were there to serve him food were treating him with.

Not only the damn waiter, the chef and owner of this was a brute too!

"Oi!"

As the marine lieutenant complained silently inside his mind, Patty, a muscled cook with a bandana on his head and his sleeves rolled up appeared on the scene and screamed at the blond youth.

"Sanji, customers are like our gods! You can't just beat them—" 

However, he was interrupted before he was even able to finish his sentence.

"You mean those customers who have the guts to eat the shit you cook?" Sanji hissed in an irritated tone, obviously trying to provoke the cook in front of him.

"You…!"

However, before any of them would start throwing hands, Zeff yelled at them as he pointed at the circular stairs situated at the center of the dining hall, which led to where the kitchen was situated.

"Patty, Sanji, if you are going to fight, then go to the damn kitchen!" 

Hearing that, both cooks turned to look at their boss for a moment, before they shot each other hostile glances. Obviously not finished with their peaceful argument just yet.

However, neither of them had the chance to continue with it, as something interrupted their quarrel and gathered the attention of everyone in the dining hall.

"Lieutenant!" A voice suddenly came from outside the restaurant.

Hearing someone call out to him, Fullbody turned around with a confused expression.

"What is it?" He asked, frowning faintly when he saw one of his men appear at the restaurant despite the fact he had told them to wait for him on the ship and with blood on his face of all things.

However, his subordinate's next words made his blood run cold.

"The right-hand man of Krieg… managed to escape!"

"What?!" Fullbody yelled, clearly shocked by the news, before the frown on his face deepened as he recalled the circumstances of the man mentioned.

"How could that be? He has been dying of starvation ever since we captured him three days ago! Besides, we didn't even feed him anything, so he shouldn't be able to move, not to mention escape! How did he do it?!"

As Fullbody questioned his subordinate, the customers watching the scene from afar began screaming in panic at the marine words.

"The Krieg Pirates?!"

"The so-called strongest pirates of the East Blue?!"

"This place is doomed!"

As panic spread, the marine who had been the one to bring the news hung his head low.

"I'm sorry sir, it's because of us that he—"

-Thud!-

"Argh!"

However, before he was even able to finish the retelling of what had happened, something hit him violently on the back of his head and knocked him out. Causing the injured marine soldier to collapse on the ground and make Fullbody's eyes widen in shock.

"...!"

Then, a figure who had been standing behind the marine was revealed.

A lanky tall tanned man with deep eyebags and an unkept thin beard, wearing gray clothes coupled with a green shirt was there, standing imposingly.

However, what caught the most attention about him wasn't his clothes or his facial features, but his skinny appearance, which evidenced a clear case of severe malnutrition. 

It was so bad, in fact, that it was a miracle he was even standing at the moment.

However, despite his weak appearance, no one in the restaurant moved. The man was carrying a gun in his hand, so no matter how vulnerable he was at the moment, he was still a threat in the eyes of most of them.

Not to mention that no one there knew what his intentions were. Which gave them no reason to attack him and risk it either.

"It seems like a new customer has appeared…"

"Let's hope this one won't be looking for trouble like the last one"

As he made his appearance at the restaurant, Patty and Zeff all looked at him with indifferent expressions, neither scared nor shocked by the fact that the man was carrying a gun and had taken down a marine a few seconds ago.

It appeared that, as long as he wasn't looking for trouble, they wouldn't care about who he was or what he planned.

"Huff… Huff"

With a confident pace despite his haggard breath, the man walked up to a nearby empty table, and while remaining indifferent to the gazes focused on him he sat on a chair and put his legs above the table in a domineering manner.

"Puff…"

Once he made himself comfortable, he let out a faint gush of air from his mouth in relief, evidently having trouble even managing to stay conscious, before he looked at the cooks in the room and squinted his eyes at them.

"This is a restaurant, right? Give me anything, just bring some food…" He suddenly commanded, making all of the cooks on the scene furrow their eyebrows at him.

However, one man was the exception.

"Welcome, you damn crook" Like a professional waiter despite being a cook, Patty approached the man and welcomed him brightly while he rubbed his hand together as he would do with any other customer.

Faintly confused by his friendly approach, the man raised an eyebrow for a moment. However, the pain in his stomach quickly reminded him why he was there.

"... I will repeat myself one more time… Bring me damn food," He said as he threw a threatening glance at the cook and moved faintly the hand that was holding the gun.

However, the cook didn't flinch in the slightest, and instead, he asked a question that made the entire restaurant fall silent.

"Sure, sure… But I have to ask you first, dear customer… Do you have money to pay for it?"

The instant he asked that, the unknown man's hand moved, and was about to point the gun at Patty's forehead.

However, just as he was about to do so, something happened.

-Rumble…-

-ROAAAAAAAAR!!!!!-

At that instant, a deafening roar filled the surroundings, making everyone fall into a deep silence, wondering if they had heard right.

""...""

And, as everyone glared at each other, implicitly asking What was that?, another thunderous roar reached everyone's ears and made cold sweat run down their backs.

 -ROAAAAAAAAR!!!!!-

A roar so powerful that everyone, instinctively, knew that the creature that produced it was on a whole different level from them. 

In a hurry, Parry, Zeff, Sanji, and most of the cooks who had been observing the scene ran outside.

A certain black-haired young man with a straw hat also followed behind them, accompanied by a small group of other people which encompassed two other men, and one girl.

And what they saw once they stepped outside, made their hearts run cold.

-ROAAAAAAAAR!!!!!-

A mile or so away from them, a titanic serpent could be seen roaring ferociously as it moved around chaotically, kicking the water with its tail, and diving underwater only to then rise to the surface again repeatedly. A behavior so weird that it confused everyone present to witness it.

However, neither of them had the leisure to ponder about it, as in a matter of seconds of observing the beast, all of them quickly noticed that despite its bizarre behavior it was quickly coming their way, be it on purpose, or not.

When they noticed that fact, all of them had but one thought in unison.

If that thing hit the restaurant, then everyone there would die inevitably.

"It will be the end of all of us…" Zeff muttered, his eyes squinting as he realized that death seemed to have finally come for him.

However, as his eyes darted to look at Sanji, and the cooks of his restaurant, a certain fervor appeared on his eyes.

-Tap!-

Without hesitation, he walked forward and rolled up his sleeves. Ready to put up a fight if it meant protecting his restaurant and the people under him.

And while time had taken a toll on him and he was nowhere near his prime self, that didn't mean he was gonna go down without a fight.

And he was not the only one.

Without saying anything, Sanji took a step forward and walked to the side of the old man. Taking up a puff from his cigarette as he ignored Zeff's gaze on him.

"What? Do you think you are strong enough to fight that thing, brat? You should just help the customers escape while us real men take care of that thing" Zeff scoffed, sending a warning glare at Sanji.

However, his message was ignored by the latter.

"You really don't know when to shut up" The blond man said, cracking his neck as he continued to stare at the approaching sea serpent.

"Owner, Sanji…!"

Seeing their bravery, all of the Baratie cooks including Patty stared wide-eyed at the pair, shocked that they could even move in this situation while facing such a fearsome creature.

However, as if the two men's bravery had instilled a sense of duty in them, all of the cooks also took a step forward and took out their weapons, which varied from giant cutlery-like weapons to strange shrimp-looking hand cannons.

""We will protect the restaurant!!"" Once they were at the front, together with Zeff and Sanji, the group shouted in unison, doing their best to calm their trembling legs as they stared at the colossal being with determined eyes.

"Hey old man" Then, a certain voice called Zeff from behind.

Annoyed by the fact that someone was bothering him in a situation like this, Zeff turned around with a frown on his face. 

"Who—oh, it's you, brat. What do you want?" However, when he saw the young man with a straw hat whom he had been coercing into working for him for an entire year to pay for destroying a part of his restaurant some hours ago, he couldn't help but feel bewildered.

Why hadn't he run away already?

He knew that the kid was naive, but this was too much.

This was the perfect chance to slip away from his debt, and yet he was still here?

Zeff didn't know if he was too honest, or a dumbass.

Fortunately, his doubt was answered pretty quickly when he heard what the young man had to say.

"If I help you take that thing down, will you consider the debt paid?" 

Hearing the question, Zeff went wide-eyed as if being unable to believe he was truly asking that at a moment like this.

But in the end, after seeing that the kid was truly offering such a thing without hesitation, Zeff nodded his head.

Since the fool was offering himself for a measly debt he, as a pirate, could have easily simply ignored, then he wasn't going to refuse the extra help. 

"Sure, but you will still have to work a week for me" Though, he added a little condition at the end.

"Wha—" When he heard that, the young man tried to complain. However, at that moment, the sound of a huge body moving through the water as it got closer and closer stopped him from speaking, knowing full well that it was time for the fight.

And, as he readied himself for the impending disaster, the group that had been following him since earlier also prepared themselves… Or at least, one did. The other man and the girl on the other hand simply quacked in fear as they observed the beast about to reach them.

-ROAAAAAR!!-

Then, just when the creature was just a hundred meters or so away from them—

-Splash!!!-

—the beast collapsed out of nowhere and fell powerlessly to the ocean surface, splashing on the process a whole lot of water that soaked everyone completely.

""...""

-Bump!-

""...!""

And, as silence reigned over the group after the unexpected development, making them too baffled to even say a word, suddenly a certain bumping sound coming from the creature re-activated their wariness, and made them prepare for combat once again. Thinking that it was waking up again after whatever had happened to it.

-Bump!-

However, they quickly noticed that the sound was not coming from the beast itself… but from inside it!

… More specifically, from its eyes.

-Bump!-

-Thud!-

-Plop!-

And just as they were wondering what was happening, one of the serpent's eyes was suddenly sent flying away from its eye socket. Shocking everyone present, and even making those with weaker stomachs puke on sight.

However, their bewilderment only grew bigger when, from the cavity created by the eye's absence, a humanoid figure emerged, and soon let out a deranged laugh that reverberated across the entire place.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, WHAT'S WRONG LITTLE SNAKE? WAS THE HEADACHE TOO MUCH FOR YOU? MY BAD!!!"

"Who is that?"

Seeing the sudden appearance of a stranger on the being whom they thought was gonna kill them, one of the cooks couldn't stop himself from asking.

However, all of the people present simply shrugged their shoulders, clearly having no idea.

"A man?" Eventually, however, someone managed to get a gist of the man's appearance. More specifically, one of the men from the group of the youth with the straw hat did.

Though, it wasn't as if the man's appearance helped much in figuring out his identity.

After all, he was completely naked and soaked in blood from head to toe.

That didn't say much, did it?

As the group stared speechlessly at whom, in a way, seemed to be their savior, this one continued yelling at the sky with a solemn tone.

"WHAT'S NEXT, ANOTHER CREATURE FROM THE DEPTHS?! THEN LET IT COME. I WILL JUST EAT IT FROM INSIDE OUT AGA—Oh, there were people here…" 

However, his speech was cut short when his eyes fell on the group of people observing him.

"..."

""...""

And, as both parties stared at each other silently, not knowing who should be the first one to say something, eventually the mysterious man was the first one to ask a question.

"Erm… Do any of you have clothes that I can use? Oh, and if you could let me use your shower, that would be great as well"

…

-To be Continued…-