Sashimi Incoming

…

"Ahem… Do any of you have clothes I can borrow? Oh, and a shower would be great, too."

...

..

.

"... What?!" One of the chefs from the group yelled, clearly unable to hear the man since he was too far away.

The man sighed, clearly annoyed. "Clothes! Shower! Do you have them or not?!"

"... What?!" Still, the group only stared back at him in confusion, too far to properly hear.

"Tsk."

Clicking his tongue, the man made his way down the massive corpse of the sea serpent, diving into the sea with a splash. Moments later, he emerged from the water, hoisting himself onto the Baratie's deck with a powerful leap.

-Splash!-

-Thud!-

"Good evening," he greeted, dripping wet and blood-streaked from head to toe, his body on full display.

""...!!""

The assembled cooks stared, their wide eyes flickering between his face and—well, other parts of him. A few averted their gazes, faces flushed. No one responded.

Sanji was the first to break the silence, stepping forward with an incredulous scowl. "Who the hell are you, and why did you come crawling out of that thing?" He gestured toward the colossal serpent's corpse.

The man glanced back at the creature and scratched his head, looking almost sheepish. "Oh, that? It tried to eat me a while back. So, naturally, I ate it instead. Worked my way through its body, muscle by muscle, bone by bone, until I reached the brain."

Silence descended over the group like a thick fog.

"…Hah?" Sanji finally managed, his dumbfounded tone echoing the thoughts of everyone present.

"That's ridiculous!" The long-nosed guy's voice rang out from the crowd. "If you were eaten, how'd you survive the stomach acid? Stop making things up!"

The man shrugged casually, his blood-slicked skin glinting in the light. "I'm hard to kill. Let's leave it at that."

"What a crazy bastard" Sanji muttered under his breath, earning several nods of agreement from the surrounding cooks.

"You ate it from inside out?!" A voice suddenly shouted, breaking the awkward silence.

The bloodied stranger turned, finding himself face-to-face with a grinning young man in a straw hat. Luffy's eyes sparkled with admiration.

He nodded his head with a calm expression. "Uh… yeah," the man replied with a wry smile. "Bit chewy, though. I wouldn't recommend it."

"How much meat was that?!" The young man prodded, his mouth salivating like a waterfall.

The man blinked, a grim look appearing on his face. "More than enough to get sick of it, that's for sure."

Luffy's enthusiasm only grew. "Join my crew!" he declared without hesitation.

"Oi, Luffy!" The long-nosed guy and the orange-haired girl shouted in unison, but Luffy ignored them, locking eyes with the stranger.

"..."

Eric raised an eyebrow at the offer. For a moment, his gaze lingered on Luffy's straw hat, something unspoken flickering across his expression. But just as quickly, he shook his head.

"Sorry, no thanks," he said firmly.

"Ehh?! Why not?!" Luffy pouted, but before he could argue, Eric held up a hand.

"Hold on. Before we get into that, can someone please get me some clothes? Or at least point me to a shower. It's getting kind of....uh, chilly here."

Eyes instinctively drifted downward. More than a few people quickly looked away, red-faced.

Sanji sighed and stepped forward. "I'll grab you some pants. But first, answer the damn question—who are you?"

The man tilted his head. "Oh, right. My bad." Letting out a small cough, he gave a faint bow. "My name is Eric."

"Eric what?" Sanji prodded, wanting to know his full name in case he was some famous pirate or troublesome individual.

"... My surname is not important, just call me Eric" The man—Eric, said as he averted his eyes, evidently dodging the question.

"...?"

Sanji frowned but let it slide, and soon, he turned to look at Zeff.

The old man was the owner of the restaurant, and therefore of the showers that the cooks used as well.

But upon seeing Zeff simply shrug his shoulders with an uncaring expression, Sanji snorted, before nodding toward the restaurant. "Fine. Follow me."

As Eric disappeared into the restaurant alongside Sanji, the remaining cooks stood in stunned silence, trying to process what had just happened.

-Clap!-

"What are you lot standing around for?!" Zeff barked, snapping them out of their daze. "We've got a restaurant to run!"

The cooks straightened immediately, saluting with military precision.

""Yes, owner!""

Soon, the group shuffled inside, returning to the warmth and safety of the restaurant, leaving the monstrous corpse of the sea serpent behind.

However, not everyone forgot about it.

A certain orange-haired girl lingered at the entrance, her gaze fixed on the massive, lifeless creature.

For a brief moment, she bit her lower lip, lost in thought as the waves lapped against the serpent's body. What exactly was going through her mind at that moment remained a mystery.

But eventually, she turned around and walked back into the restaurant, masking her expression with the same casual air she usually carried.

…

°

°

°

|An hour later…|

…

After a shower that lasted way longer than expected—mostly due to the dried blood clinging stubbornly to his skin and the fishy stench that required near sandpaper levels of scrubbing—Eric finally emerged from the bathroom. Clean, refreshed, and with his skin still slightly red from the abuse, he accepted a pair of tight black pants from Sanji.

Though they weren't exactly his style, they served their purpose: ensuring that his "Schlong" didn't sway freely with every step.

With the immediate crises of cleanliness and modesty resolved, Eric decided to approach Zeff.

Since he was the owner, he wanted to show him some proper gratitude. However, when Eric realized he was completely broke at the moment, he offered to work in the restaurant for a few days as repayment for the pants and the use of the facilities.

Now, one could argue that spending time working in a restaurant seemed like a waste for someone who planned to declare war on the World Government and take revenge on the Tenryuubito.

But for Eric, time had lost all significance long ago.

If he wanted, he could sit immobile on a rock in the middle of the ocean for decades without boredom.

After his time in the afterlife, impatience was an utterly foreign concept. Repaying kindness, however, remained a principle he valued—immortal or not.

Assholery and Immortality weren't going to go along in this new life of his.

…

… Well, at least not in the issues that mattered the most.

Fortunately, an agreement was quickly reached. Instead of working, Eric offered the sea serpent's massive carcass as payment.

For him, the meat was useless. For Zeff and Sanji, it was a rare and expensive delicacy. It was a win-win deal, though Eric couldn't care less about coming out on the losing end if it meant clearing the debt.

He did, however, request one thing as a bonus: a meal.

After months of subsisting on raw meat, tendons, bone marrow, blood, and the occasional splash of gastric juices that managed to sneak into his mouth, he desperately craved proper food.

At this point, he was desperately craving some real food.

Zeff had initially hesitated, his responsibilities as the owner keeping him pretty busy. But after hearing the details of what was Eric's diet for weeks, even he relented, agreeing to prepare something good if only to cleanse Eric's palate of the horrors he'd endured.

Once the arrangement was settled, Eric strolled into the dining hall, selecting a table that was suitably distant from other customers. He sat, resting his chin on his hand, and let his mind wander as he waited.

'... Talk about ominous.'

His first thought, naturally, was about the bizarre chain of events that had led him here.

After escaping the sea serpent, Eric had been surprised—no, shocked—to find himself at the Baratie. Of all places, it had to be the floating restaurant where Sanji worked before joining the Straw Hats.

To make matters even stranger, he had apparently arrived on the very same day the Straw Hats themselves showed up.

If that wasn't ominous, then what was it?

Normally, he could have thought of it as a coincidence, but in this new life, Eric didn't believe in coincidences anymore.

Waking up as a slave, getting swallowed by not one but two colossal sea creatures in sucession... None of it felt random.

If fate, luck, or some unknown cosmic force was orchestrating his life, then this "coincidental" encounter reeked of deliberate intervention.

As for the reason? He had no idea.

Who knew what kind of machinations the mysterious force had going on in its head?

If it had a head, in the first place.

As if that weren't enough, there was also the matter of Luffy's unexpected invitation to join the crew.

Eric had been caught completely off guard when it happened.

Sure, devouring a sea serpent from the inside out was impressive, but it wasn't exactly the kind of heroic feat that would usually prompt someone to say, "Join my crew!"

They weren't even acquaintances when Luffy invited him—what's more, he was naked and covered in blood... And probably smelled horrible.

And yet, Luffy had invited him without hesitation.

'He's probably just trying to fill out his crew at this stage… Makes sense that his standards aren't too high yet.' Eric theorized, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

Though, it wasn't as if the reason behind his invitation mattered much. Eric had refused, after all.

As enticing as the idea of sailing with the Straw Hats sounded—sharing adventures with the crew that had entertained him so much in his old life—Eric had bigger priorities.

Slavery and months inside a monster's belly had made one thing painfully clear: this world was harsh. Fictional or not, the pain, danger, and stakes here were all too real.

Eric's goals didn't align with carefree adventures. He craved power—enough power to never be at the mercy of anyone or anything again. Fate included.

His objective had crystallized during his grueling escape from the sea serpent. He didn't just want to survive or thrive.

"To reach the pinnacle of this world," he murmured under his breath.

Fame, strength, wealth, influence—he wanted it all. Not just to become Pirate King, but something far greater.

He wanted to stand at the absolute apex, beyond anyone else's reach.

Something akin to… World Domination.

"I sound like a third-rate villain," Eric sighed, shaking his head.

Although he said world domination... He simply wanted his identity in this life to reach its maximum potential in all aspects. He wanted to achieve everything possible.

In game terms, he wanted to platinum Life.

That ambition burned in him. He wouldn't allow anything—or anyone—to derail his path. That's why he'd refused Luffy's offer.

Traveling with the Straw Hats, while fun, would inevitably lead to conflicts of interest. And besides, Eric had another, more personal reason to avoid them.

His bad luck.

If his unproven yet persistent theory was correct, he was a walking disaster magnet. Staying near the Straw Hats would only invite tragedy to their crew.

They weren't immortal. He was.

To protect them—and himself—he had resolved to travel alone.

No crew. No companions.

It was the only way to reach his goals without dragging others into the chaos that seemed to follow him.

As the saying went, the climb to the top of the mountain is a lonely o—

"Yo!"

As Eric leaned back in his chair, mentally solidifying his determination to traverse the seas alone, he was interrupted by a sudden, cheerful voice.

"...?"

When Eric looked up, he saw the very person who had been occupying his thoughts not long ago. Luffy was now sitting across from him at the table, grinning as if they were old friends.

'This guy…' Eric felt his eyebrow twitch.

"Aren't you supposed to be serving the customers?" he asked flatly, eyeing the young pirate. After all, Luffy was supposed to be working as a waiter to pay off the damages he'd caused to the Baratie's upper deck during a skirmish with some marines.

So why was he here instead of doing his job?

"Nishishi... I broke too many dishes, and they told me to take a break," Luffy replied, completely unfazed.

Eric stared at him for a moment, then sneered in amusement. 'Of course, he did.'

But the amusement didn't last long. Luffy leaned forward, his grin widening as he asked the question Eric had been hoping to avoid.

"So, about what I asked you before… You're joining my crew, right?"

Eric didn't even blink.

"I told you already, nopity nope."

"Eeeh...? Why?!"

Eric rolled his eyes at the expected reaction.

"I've got my own goals," he replied. "And I don't think they'll mix well with yours."

"What are they?" Luffy asked eagerly, his eyes lighting up with curiosity.

Eric couldn't help but chuckle at the innocent enthusiasm before scratching the back of his head.

"Eh, nothing much. Just standing at the top of the world and… maybe committing a little genocide along the way."

For a moment, the two of them sat in silence, staring at each other. Eric had expected shock or maybe anger. Instead, Luffy tilted his head slightly and said something that caught him completely off guard.

"You don't look like a bad guy, though."

"Hahahaha!" Eric burst out laughing, genuinely amused. "Haha... Well, I only want to kill a certain group of people, not everyone."

"Heeeh…" Luffy didn't seem particularly impressed but also didn't look disturbed.

"So, do you still want me in your crew?" Eric asked, curious about how the cheerful pirate would react to such a confession.

To his surprise, Luffy's response was completely unexpected.

"That depends. Did they do something bad to you?"

Eric blinked, stunned into silence. 'Is he seriously considering it?'

After a few moments, however, Eric shook his head and waved Luffy off.

"Well, it's not your business. And as I already said, I won't join your crew."

"But—"

"And if I were you," Eric interrupted, his tone turning more serious, "I'd consider me a potential enemy in the future rather than a potential crewmate. After all… you want to become the Pirate King, right?"

"Eh? How did you know?!" Luffy stared at Eric wide-eyed.

"Eh? How did you know?!" Luffy's eyes widened in surprise.

Eric smiled knowingly, stroking his chin. "I know a lot of things, but that's beside the point. The Pirate King stands at the pinnacle of the seas. The position I aim for… is beyond that."

He pointed upward, gesturing toward the sky as he spoke.

"For someone like me, the Pirate King is just one step on the ladder. I want to surpass it. To stand above everyone and everything."

Luffy fell silent, his gaze growing uncharacteristically thoughtful as he absorbed Eric's words.

Eric, meanwhile, crossed his arms and smiled faintly.

"Between your goal and mine, there's bound to be a confrontation at some point, right?"

The silence between them stretched, their unspoken thoughts clear in their gazes. Eventually, it was Luffy who yielded.

"Alright," he said simply, standing up with his usual carefree attitude. Without pressing further, he turned and left, likely to find someone else to recruit for his crew.

Eric sighed as he watched him go.

"At least he's the type of guy who understands," he muttered.

Leaning back in his chair, Eric's thoughts drifted once more. He recalled Luffy's appearance at the end of the Wano Arc.

'Joy Boy, huh?'

His hand clenched into a fist as he assessed himself. He was strong—stronger than he could have imagined before his first death. But in this world, his current strength was probably far from remarkable.

At most, he estimated that he was currently in a middle level of strength, not being crazy strong, but standing far above the common folk.

Figures like Kaido, Big Mom, Shanks, Whitebeard, or even the enigmatic IM could crush him without breaking a sweat. Even if they couldn't fully kill him,—at least he didn't think they had a method to kill immortals— there were other ways to neutralize him—sea stone, imprisonment, sealing him in stone, or whatever.

He couldn't allow either of those to happen... and for that, he required strength.

Not only for that. If he was to stand at the top, he also needed to grow stronger.

But strength alone wasn't enough.

'The first thing I need…' he thought, slipping a hand into his pocket, only to frown. '...money.'

Strength could be cultivated with training, and he could train at any moment, so it wasn't his focus at the moment.

Training could come later. But money? Money could buy the tools he needed—supplies, weapons, a ship, everything essential for traversing the seas.

However, as mentioned earlier, he was broke at the moment.

So the question was, how to get it?

Eric considered piracy for a moment but quickly discarded the thought. He wasn't yet willing to abandon his morals entirely for convenience. At least… not yet.

That left only one viable option.

"Bounty hunting," he muttered, a smirk forming on his lips.

It was efficient, legal, and a good way to test his current capabilities. And while he could eventually hunt for treasure using his knowledge of the series, he needed money upfront to fund those expeditions.

The only question now was who to hunt first.

His thoughts turned to Don Krieg, the next major foe the Straw Hats would face. As one of the most notorious pirates in the East Blue, taking him down would undoubtedly net a hefty bounty.

"...But if I take him down, it's hard to say if Sanji will join them," Eric muttered, glancing at Sanji, who was busy serving customers. Narrowing his eyes, he sank deeper into thought.

While his ambition was to reach the top, he wasn't interested in sabotaging the Straw Hats—at least not yet.

So, if not Don Krieg, then who?

"What a problem…" he muttered, scratching the back of his head in frustration.

Maybe he could kill-steal Krieg from them? Taking down Don Krieg just before the Straw Hats got the chance wasn't impossible. But, honestly, the idea didn't sit well with him.

It felt cheap. As someone aiming to stand at the pinnacle of the world, resorting to petty tactics like that would tarnish his reputation—at least in his own eyes.

He had chosen what meaning his new life would have, so he could choose what path to take in order to achieve it.

'But damn, I could really use some money right now,' Eric groaned internally, patting his pocket and wincing at the stark emptiness.

He was still mulling over whether to sacrifice a bit of his pride when a light, melodious laugh caught his attention.

"Hahaha!"

His gaze shifted toward the sound, and he spotted three familiar figures: Zoro, Usopp, and—

Nami.

Eric's eyes widened slightly as the vibrant orange-haired thief came into view. Memories flooded back to him as he watched her laughing along with the others. Her presence brought another name to mind.

Arlong.

Eric leaned back slightly, deep in thought. Unlike Don Krieg, Arlong was another major player the Straw Hats would face after the Baratie arc.

'Arlong's defeat is a pivotal moment for Nami's story,' he mused. But then, his eyes drifted back to her cheerful face.

'But she's already bonded with the crew. It shouldn't cause too much of a ripple if I take care of him instead… right?'

Eric weighed the options.

Hunting Arlong had its advantages. For one, the bounty on his head was substantial. Above 10 million Belly, for sure. That was a nice chunk of cash, enough to fund the beginnings of his journey and set him on the path to building the strength he'd need.

Still, Eric wasn't the type to act impulsively. He needed to think this through, and as his gaze lingered on Nami, he felt a nagging sense of uncertainty about how much his interference might alter the story.

His musings were cut short when their eyes met.

Nami's laughter faded, her face shifting into a look of mild confusion as she noticed him staring.

Eric blinked, then allowed a faint, almost mischievous smile to spread across his face.

"Sashimi it will be…" he muttered under his breath, as if sealing a decision in his mind.

"—What? I already prepared you something! Don't go changing your order now!"

The gruff voice of Zeff snapped Eric out of his thoughts. Startled, he turned to find the old man standing beside him with a plate piled high with food.

"Sorry, I was just thinking out loud. Don't mind me," Eric said, waving a hand dismissively.

Zeff scoffed, clearly unimpressed, and set the plate down with a huff before walking off.

'What an attitude,' Eric thought, shaking his head with faint amusement.

With his food now in front of him, Eric set aside thoughts of Arlong and the future for the time being. He picked up his utensils and began eating, focusing instead on the simple pleasure of a good meal.

For now, he'd leave the problems of tomorrow to Tomorrow's Eric.

…

-To Be Continued...-