Ch 1: I'm Gonna be King of the Bounty Hunters!

"Haa... haa..." I once again swing my sword with as much force as I can muster, sending out an arc of light that travels far enough to split the boulder in front of me.

I pant trying to get my breath back when a message catches my attention.

[Swordsmanship: Intermediate --> Advanced]

I can't believe it.

After 5 long years of effort I finally managed to evolve my swordsmanship again.

I feel like I'm about to tear up. I double check just to be sure this isn't a hallucination.

"[Status]." I call out.

—

[Colt Anderson]

[Title: None]

—

[Strength: 10]

[Speed: 10]

[Defense: 10]

[Stamina: 10]

[Charisma: 10]

[Luck: 10]

—

[Swordsmanship: Advanced]

[Marksmanship: Beginner]

[Hand to Hand Combat: Beginner]

—

[Armament Haki: N/A]

[Observation Haki: N/A]

[Conqueror's Haki: N/A]

—

[Unspent Points: 0]

[Money: 0฿]

—

As relieved as I am with my swordsmanship, I still inwardly curse upon seeing the rest of my stats.

'Why couldn't I have been reborn in a slice of life?' I lament to myself.

That's right reborn, I might be Colt Anderson, son of Samantha Anderson and resident of cocoyashi village, a fictional village in the world of One Piece.

This wasn't always the case however, I used to be Chad Chadwick Chadington the 17th.

Suffering an unfortunate accident via semi-truck, I died and was reborn into my favorite anime.

At first I was ecstatic, I didn't have much going for me back home, I had money but no friends or family to enjoy it with, everyday was dreadful and it felt like I was only going through the motions of living.

So of course I was happy to be reborn in the world where nakama = strength, I was even happier to learn I had a cheat, a system, the greatest of all cheats.

Perfect right?

Wrong!

The system I got isn't inherently flawed, but due to my circumstances, It's pretty useless.

The way my system works is that for every criminal I defeat, I gain points which I can use to augment my physical abilities.

I gain one point for every 1,000,000 Beli the person I defeat/capture is wanted for.

It doesn't sound like a lot, but even in the weakest blue, there are tons of pirates with 2, 3, or even 5 million berries, that are weak as hell and are only given a Bounty because of their crimes not actual combat ability.

In theory this should allow me to farm weaker pirates and slowly work my way up to the stronger beasts, one problem though.

I was reborn in Cocoyashi Village, the same village that Arlong takes over and enslaves before the series even starts.

I awakened my system at the age of 10, I got my memories of my previous life then as well, so naturally, I wanted to get the fuck off the island, knowing what was coming.

Unfortunately Arlong arrived that very same day, everything played out the same way it did in canon and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

Arlong and his goons keep a close eye on the island, making sure no one left, not because he's afraid they'll go to the marines or anything, but because he wants to keep leeching on the "taxes" he makes everyone pay.

In truth I could have probably escaped regardless, it's not like they can keep watch 24/7 and even if they could, I'm a sneaky guy.

The real reason I haven't left it's because I've grown attached to the people of the village, especially to my mother who is the greatest mom in the world.

I can't just leave, Arlong would find out eventually and the village, my mother especially, would pay the price.

Since I'm trapped on this Island I have no way of defeating any criminals with bounties, this means I have no way to grow my strength.

I tried training the natural way, only for a system alert, one of the few I've gotten in these last 10 years with this system, essentially telling me that I can only increase my stats with points.

What kind of shit is that!?

I get it to an extent, I'm basically an RPG character with a stat sheet and all, and what RPG game let's you strengthen your characters stats by exercising.

You increase your stats by leveling up, special items, or consumables.

There's no RPG that lets you up your Agility by letting you run across town like Might Guy, so I did get it.

That doesn't mean I couldn't be bitter about having so much potential, and not being able to utilize any of it.

My last remaining hope was my grandfather's sword, or I should refer to it as my sword at this point.

It's a nodachi, with a blade as long as 5 feet (not including the hilt), it belonged to my Grandfather who was a marine Vice Admiral before he died when I was a toddler.

The swords name is Akai no Tsuki, which translates to Red Moon or something in English, edgy name aside it's a Meito, a Great Grade sword, the second best rank, there are only 20 other swords ranked this high.

One thing I noticed about my system status is that the Swordsmanship, Marksmanship and Hand to Hand Combat skills didn't seem to function on points the same way my stats, and I presume, haki do.

It was a great relief when after only 2 short years I managed to level up my Swordsmanship to intermediate mastery.

At that point I felt invincible. I might only have a 10 in Strength Stat so I only have the strength of an average adult man, but the way Sword Mastery works in One Piece is crazy it allows you to move and fight at levels far above your body, of course, Ideally you'd have both for even more strength but beggars can't be choosers, this was my only hope.

I thought about fighting Arlong right then and there, but considering the ease at which he flipped houses and stopped bullets, being able to cut metal wouldn't be enough.

I promised myself whenever I could cut steel with an ordinary sword I would be ready. I figured I would get to that point quickly enough, maybe another 2 years to level up my swordsmanship. I was so wrong.

"The day is coming." I state ominously as I make my way back home.

It was getting late anyways.

I make sure to discard the pathetic weak sword I had been practicing with before I fully leave the woods, usually I hide it somewhere so I can practice with it the next day, but I didn't need it anymore so I destroy it and bury it by some tree.

After a few short minutes I manage to get home.

"Hey Ma! I'm home!" I announce.

I hear my mother's pleasant voice respond, "Welcome home sweetie, dinner won't be ready for a while."

"Okay." I say passively as I make my way to my bedroom, I very carefully pull the flooring slab by slab, making sure to be as delicate as possible.

There's no point in doing this anymore since very soon I'll either kill the arlong pirates or die trying, but it's a habit I've built up.

Wouldn't want one of Arlong's stooges to get all bent out of shape were they to find the 'contraband' I have hidden in my floor.

I take a deep breath and pull out a very large box, I open it up and there it is, the key to my entire plan, my greatest treasure.

Akai no Tsuki, my grandfather's sword.

"Hello old friend." Maybe it's my advancement in swordsmanship, maybe it's been the extended period of time I've gone without holding it, or maybe I'm just delusional, but as I hold the nodachi in my hands, I swear it replies in delight.

"How would you like to slice up some sub-human scum?" So I'm a bit racist, sue me.

I definitely don't imagine my swords reaction this time, as I can physically feel it vibrate with excitement.

"Excellent." I just let out a grin.

"Hey mom, I'm going to Nojiko's for a bit." I actually was too, I had some stuff I wanted to ask her, as much as I wanna charge into arlong Park guns blazing getting a bit of Intel on their positions and what not is just common sense.

I know her and Nami talk about everything, it wouldn't surprise me if she shared info she deemed unimportant unknowingly.

"Okay, while you're there make sure to invite Noji-chan over for dinner." My mother, ever the social butterfly, requests.

"Alright, but I doubt she'll say yes, she almost never does." With that I walk out of my room, and out of the house too.

'Man it's already dark out? Good.' I think ominously.

I arrive at her house and enter the same way I always do, by kicking the door open like an imbecile to assert my dominance.

Contrary to the normal angry shouts I was expecting, I hear a shrill scream instead.

I look around in conclusion to see Nami in nothing but a bath towel looking startled.

"Oh, hey Nami, I didn't know you were back. Nice boobs." I say and give her my best thumbs up.

Her expression goes from startled and perhaps a bit scared to exasperated and furious within an instant, it's honestly impressive.

"Ugh! Why can't you knock like a normal person!" She emphasizes her point by reaching for anything she can grab and throwing it at me, one-handed of course, her other is preoccupied making sure her towel doesn't fall.

I take a moment to just admire her pliable body jiggle with her sudden movements before answering.

"Maybe you should lock your door? Ever think about that?" I ask accusingly.

"IT WAS LOCKED!" She screams out, losing her patience.

I turn around and sure enough, the lock itself was completely busted, presumably when I kicked the door open.

"Get better locks, maybe?" I shrug but then make sure to backtrack when I see her getting more upset.

"You know what? Never mind, it doesn't matter. This was my bad, I'll knock next time." I spit out as fast as I can.

"Get out, I'm gonna change." She says after calming down.

"What? No, I need to talk to Nojiko. Why are you even changing in the living room?" I end up asking.

"It's my house I can do whatever the hell I want!" Her temper flaring again, she should really take anger management classes.

"Also Nojiko isn't even here, why don't you wait for her outsi-" Nami is interrupted by the door being pushed open once more.

Lo and behold it was Nojiko, She looks at us with a raised eyebrow before asking, "What happened to the door?"

"It was Nami." I lie without missing a beat.

I start explaining, " Alright so what had happened was, I arrived, and opened the door normally, like a regular person-

"Weird that you had to specify." Nojiko interrupts.

-unfortunately I ended up seeing Nami in a revealing state of dress." I ignore Nojiko and continue as if I didn't hear her.

"Nami, in her rage, sought fit to throw various items at me, some of which missed and hit the door, therefore damaging it." I finish.

Nami didn't even attempt to defend herself from my heinous accusations, perhaps realizing the futility of arguing with a genius such as myself.

I ignore the way both were looking at me like I was the stupidest person in the world.

My poker face is absolute, Lady Gaga would be proud.

Nojiko just lets out a sigh, "Nami, why are you changing in the living room, go get dressed in your room."

Nami, apparently fed up at this point, just lets out an annoyed grunt and storms off.

"In my own house too…" I hear her mumble under her breath as she struts away.

Nojiko sets some of the stuff she's carrying on her kitchen counter before asking, "So what brings you here?"

She motions for me to take a seat at her dining room table alongside her, and I obliged.

"I needed to ask you some questions."

'Alright Colt, be subtle, subtle is your middle name after all.' I pull out a shitty-looking map of Arlong Park and set it on the table, then I hand her a pen.

"Just out of curiosity, you think you can write down the position of Arlong and his officers on this map, along with any and all weaknesses you may know?" Nailed it! If that wasn't subtle, I don't know what is.

I turn to see Nojiko giving me an unimpressed, unamused look.

Dammit, how did she see through my S Rank acting abilities!

Jokes aside, I knew she wouldn't be very receptive, I felt it better to just get it out in the open.

"Colt, why would I know any of that stuff, even if I did, which I don't," she emphasizes, "I wouldn't tell you regardless."

"Look Nojiko, you know why I want this information, let's not beat around the bush." I say as seriously as possible.

"Colt this is idiotic!" She whispers harshly, presumably so Nami doesn't overhear.

"Don't tell me you still seriously plan to fight them, they're fishmen Colt, they're not like you and me."

"Humans just aren't strong enough to stand up to fishmen." She tells me desperately, wanting me to agree with her.

She was out of luck unfortunately, "Come on Nojiko, you know I've been planning this for years."

"What do you think I do all day when I disappear for hours on end into the forest."

"I've been training non-stop, I'm finally to a point where I'm strong enough to take them." I explain despite knowing there's no way she'll believe me.

She actually lets out a laugh, "That's ridiculous, I know you've been training Colt, everyone in the village does."

"But what's a sword going to do, when even bullets can't harm them." She asks.

I get it, despite living in the world of One Piece, the most supernatural thing Nojiko has ever seen IS the fishmen.

Even the most impressive feats she has witnessed humans commit are within reasonable human limitation, even if I were to tell her stories about swordsmen who can slice up mountains or men that can destroy islands with a single punch, she wouldn't believe me.

So it makes sense she wouldn't believe I can take on creatures capable of shrugging bullets and flipping buildings.

It's still frustrating.

"Just trust me Nojiko."

She seems frustrated at my persistence.

"Do you have any idea how hard Nami has worked?" She asks, rhetorically of course, everyone in the village understands how much Nami has sacrificed for the good of everyone.

"She is this close to gathering a hundred million," she makes a showing of holding her index finger and thumb millimeters apart to emphasize her point, "she's this close, and you wanna ruin that."

"Nojiko, be honest with me, do you truly believe Arlong will keep his word." I ask.

My question seems to make her lose steam, and she has nothing to combat my argument.

It's not an original thought by any means, it's something every villager of cocoyasi has asked themselves at one point or another.

With the benefit of future knowledge, I know for a fact that Arlong doesn't keep his word, and that he never had any intention of keeping it.

"Just leave Colt, I have nothing more to say to you." She stands up and turns away.

I honestly expected this, it was worth a shot anyways.

I silently make my way out, before I manage to leave I hear Nojiko call out to me.

"Don't let everything Nami has worked for crumble because of your pride." She says.

I leave with no retort.

In truth she's kinda right, I've long since accepted I do this for my own selfish pride.

I can find a million different justifications for why I do what I do.

For one, I already changed the timeline, if all goes wrong Nami might not even meet Luffy. There's no guarantee that she'll be at the exact same places at the exact same time like she was in canon.

Maybe she decides to rub Buggy early, or even too late and just misses Luffy.

Maybe she never visits Captain Morgan's Island so she never even thinks about finding Buggy, there's just too many variables.

So you would think my motivations are totally unselfish, but that's not true. I'm taking matters into my own hands for one simple reason, my pride, those shitty as sushi people trampled all over my pride.

I still remember the day they came, the way they waltzed in and looked at me like I was an insect. I have worked my entire life to rise above my shitty circumstances, I finally found success and then all of a sudden I have to start all over again.

It's infuriating, it's infuriating how these monsters think they can cage me like an animal at a zoo, and make me dance for their amusement.

I will kill them because I couldn't live with myself if anyone else did, this is a personal vendetta.

I start getting heated thinking about those filthy animals so I force myself to calm down, I'm almost home, the last thing I want to do is worry, or worse, scare my own mother.

The rest of the night, all things considered, is a fairly peaceful affair, I have dinner with my mom, I do some reading before eventually going to bed.

As much as I want to go all guns blazing on Arlong Park, I'm not in the best shape right now, I'm fairly tired from training all day, instead of fighting an already disadvantaged fight with yet another handicap, I decide to rest instead.

There's nothing a good night's rest won't fix. I lay down on my bed with my sword, sheathed of course, by my side.

Yes, I'm sleeping with my sword don't judge, it's no different than people who sleep with stuffed animals.

'Tomorrow that shitty park falls, and it will be by my hand.' With that being my final thought, my consciousness finally slips into the blissful feeling that is sleep.

-0-

"Wake up."

"Wake up." I swear I hear a voice softly calling me.

"WAKE UP!" The voice takes on a much louder tone.

"Ahh!" I finally shoot up, startled, and very much awake.

I look up to see Nami's face inches away from my own, her body on all fours looming over me.

Well, about as looming as 5'7 girl can over a 6'3 guy.

Staring into Nami's serious and determined face, I only have one thought.

"Oh God, I thought I stopped having these dreams." At my words Nami's face goes from serious to embarrassed even in the dark I can see her blushing.

"You're not asleep, dumbass!" Perhaps to prove her point she headbutt me.

"Ow! Fucking bitch! What's wrong with you, why are you in my bed?" I curse and ask simultaneously.

"Be honest, do you plan on attacking Arlong." She asks as she goes back to being serious.

"What? No!" I try to play it off, "That's ridiculous Nami, how'd you get in anyways?"

She completely ignores my question and asks one of her own, "So you mean to tell me you didn't tell Nojiko about your plan to attack Arlong and his crew?" She raises an eyebrow at me as if that would influence my answer.

"Did she tell you?" I ask, more than a little upset.

"Fine then if she can't keep a secret neither can I. Did you know years back when you were gone on a trip she ended up falling into a ditch burying herself into a hole 4 feet deep."

"She was too embarrassed, to call for help, so she ended up peeing herself and needing to be dug out anyways, she made me promise not to tell you, but oh well."

"Also there was this one time where she- Ah! Son of a bitch, why do you keep headbutting me!?" I'm interrupted mid talk by yet another skull bash.

"Because it's the only way to shut you up." She explains, and the hard-headed bitch has the nerve to rub her forehead as if she's the one in pain.

"Nojiko didn't tell me anything, I overheard you talking with her earlier today." She explains.

"So you were eavesdropping earlier, rude." I deadpan.

"W-What, I wasn't eavesdropping, you guys were super loud, how was I not supposed to hear you." She immediately gets defensive.

"Sounds like excuses." I retort.

Nami just glares at me before her body goes slack, she lets herself drop and my entire body freezes as she just lays on top of me.

"What are you doing!?" I ask her incredulously, trying not to focus on how her soft body was pressed against me, and how close our faces are.

"My arms got tired, you got a problem with that." Despite her words Nami has probably the biggest blush I've ever seen.

She makes no move to get off so I just ignore it.

"Stop changing the subject, like you always do. Colt whatever you plan on doing, don't."

"I have over 85 million saved up, I'd say another year or so and we're home free." She tells me even as her voice gets shaky.

I sit up slightly so the back of my neck and skull are resting up against the bed's headboard. Nami still makes no move to get off so I just let her lay over me with her head buried in my chest.

"Nami, you said you overheard my conversation with Nojiko, so I'll ask you what I asked her."

"Do you truly believe Arlong will keep his word?" I ask.

Nami is quiet for a moment, before she grips my shirt, "Yes, he never lies when it comes to deals that involve money."

I snort, "Yeah? Says who? Arlong I'm guessing, what a surprise he wants you to believe he's honest, shocker."

"I can guarantee he's lying, purely off another certain deal he made. He says so long as we pay 100,000 berries per person he wouldn't harm anyone and he would allow us to keep our lives."

"The harm part is easy enough to dispute, his goons rough up the villagers any chance they have for nothing more than shits and giggles."

"Also, while thankfully no one on this Island has died, not since 'the incident', that's not true for the other islands. It seems like every few months we hear of a new death caused by Arlong and his crew 'playing rough'."

"The point is he's a liar, and a monster, he has never kept his word, why would he start now? Especially when letting you go would prove so disadvantageous for him." I finish my tangent.

Nami goes completely silent, that combined with how still she is makes me think she fell asleep.

It's obvious she isn't though, I feel her body shaking, I can also vaguely feel two rapidly forming wet spots on my shirt.

"Then what am I supposed to do…" She manages to get out through sobs.

I wrap my hands around her waist and pull her in even closer, any perverted thoughts, long having fled my mind.

"Look Nami, I get it, you're scared, but this has been my plan since I found out what Arlong was making you do." Which is technically the truth.

I ended up being let in on Nami's secret around 6 years ago when I 'accidentally' overheard her and Nojiko discuss one of the pirates Nami stole off.

Of course in reality the whole village knows the truth of Nami's situation, but in her eyes it's just me and Nojiko.

"I don't want anyone else to die… especially not you and Nojiko, please Colt." She cries practically begging me.

I hate seeing her like this, "Fine, how about this, tomorrow morning, I'll take you to my usual training spot and I'll show you some of my abilities."

"If you really think I would stand no chance, then I won't fight them, it'll be purely your decision." I reason with her.

I'm sure I can convince her, don't get me wrong, I'm sure her subconscious fear and I imagine PTSD, would try and deny a human ever defeating a Fishman, but if my proof is undeniable then Nami can do nothing but accept it.

I'll show her my swordsmanship capable of sweeping dozens of trees at time, if that isn't enough I'll slice up boulders that even machine guns would have trouble penetrating.

There's no way she's naive enough to believe the Fishmen's skin is strong enough to resist my sword then, besides maybe Arlong and Kuroobi.

If it's necessary I'll show her my trump card, the two moves I've practiced and perfected, repeating and training the movements hundreds of thousands even millions of times.

My [Baile Estinto] and my [Shark Claws], my two special moves, the move specifically built to kill Arlong and the other to kill his officers.

"R-Really?" Nami asks in disbelief.

"If I say you can't beat him you'll stop?" She reiterates.

"Yes, I promise. You of all people should know how serious I am about promises, I have never broken one in my life, and I don't plan on starting now." Which is true in this life and the last, I won't pretend like I don't lie, in fact I lie often, but promises are sacred, I would never break one, unlike Arlong.

"Now if you don't mind I'd like to go back to sleep." This day really has been exhausting, I can't even get a good night's rest.

.

"Oh…, I'll let you rest then." Nami makes to get up still sounding discombobulated.

I quickly pull her back down next to me and start using her as a makeshift stuffed animal.

"Nope, you voluntarily stepped in my bed you should have known this would happen. Now you have to be my teddy bear for the night."

"What, Colt let me go." She tries to wiggle away.

"Nope." I state simply.

Despite saying this I keep my hold on her light so if she really wanted to leave she could, but despite her 'resistance' she doesn't truly try to leave.

"Ugh, fine." She finally settles and nuzzles her head in the crook of my neck.

I honestly don't know how I would define my relationship with Nami, or with Nojiko for that matter.

It would be a weird complicated three-way even without the whole "we're slaves to pirates" thing. Add that in and is it any wonder none of us have ever tried anything that could lead to a romantic relationship.

Even if we did, we wouldn't have the time for it, I train literally all day, Nami is gone half the time, thieving. Nojiko…, well she does Nojiko things.

I always figure we'd have to define our relationship eventually, probably when Arlong Park falls, which is soon. So that begs the question what are we, just friends, something more, do they see me as a brother or a potential partner.

I feel like sometimes we hold ourselves back due to our circumstances, though maybe that's just how I feel, I'm no mind reader, I can't tell what Nami and Nojiko are thinking.

Regardless, I do know one thing, Operation Teddy-Nami is a go. The secret plan that Nojiko and I devised years ago, to slowly turn Nami into our personal teddy bear is clearly working!

Hmm, speaking of teddy bears…

My eyes shoot open, "Where's my sword!"

"By the nightstand, I moved it. What kind of idiot sleeps with a sword anyways?" Asks Nami.

Finding out my sword is okay I calm down, "Less Judgy more sleepy." I say closing my eyes once more in an attempt to sleep.

I swear I hear Nami say something in reply, but I'm too far gone at that point. I guess I was way more tired than I thought.

Just like that I fell asleep, confident that tomorrow I could convince Nami of my prowess, unbeknownst to me however was that Nami would not be here when I next awakened.