3 Deserted Village

An ethereal fruit emerged from thin air, landing on my palm. It had a space-like coloration and a strange aura that was similar to the void. "Whoa. This is how it looks?" I glanced at it curiously. I was somewhat scared to eat it since I knew how disgusting it would taste. Especially since I still didn't have any idea what was going on. But it wasn't like I had any other choices. If this was really the world of One Piece, I probably wouldn't survive far without a devil fruit or haki. That, or I'd be living a boring, average life in one of the four blues.

I quickly tossed the devil fruit into my mouth. I could feel my throat swallow the whole thing whole. It tasted like vomit that had been left out for a long time, burning the insides of my throat as it slid down my esophagus. It was disgusting beyond words, and I had to force myself not to spit it back up again. After a few moments of pain, I slowly felt my consciousness fade away. "Urgh..." I collapsed onto the ground.

Everything became pitch black once again. My body felt like it was slowly getting absorbed into the void. The feeling was very similar to being in a deep sleep. It felt like an eternity passed, but after some time, I could feel myself moving. Then, my vision came back to life.

I looked at my hands. They were still the same as before, but I knew something was different. I got up to test my body. Everything felt quite light, and it didn't hurt when I moved. In fact, it was almost as if gravity was lesser for me. "I guess I can float...?"

There was a large tree nearby, and I attempted to float towards it. I discovered that I was able to control my direction to a certain extent. I reached the tree with ease, and it was almost like it was the most natural thing in the world for me.

I wanted to try and attack something. Just to test out my new powers further. I decided to place my palms against the tree, releasing the same energy that allowed me to float. I noticed that the energy had a weird space-like pattern around it and the tree. It felt similar to what you would see with a magnet, only reversed. As I gathered more of the energy into my palm, I released it all in a single burst.

A loud cracking sound reverberated throughout the forest. The tree began to crumble apart, and its trunk broke open. Splinters flew everywhere, flying through my logia body without hurting me. Soon, the whole tree had collapsed.

"Holy crap..."

This was my power. Space logia. An extremely powerful fruit that can destroy things with space itself. If I were to become a pirate, I could easily earn a bounty of over a hundred million with my current strength. Maybe even more.

I played around with my abilities for a bit, trying different techniques. It was a lot more fun than I had expected. Although I was still not sure why or how I ended up here, I wasn't complaining. If anything, this was probably the best thing that ever happened to me.

Surrounded by a pile of debris, I sat down and thought for a moment. What would I do now? Sail out to the Grand Line, perhaps? But I'd like some crewmates first. Ahh, and a harem sounded nice, too, but I shouldn't get ahead of myself yet. So I needed a crew, a ship, and some food. All of that except crewmates cost money, but I wasn't planning on working a tedious job, grinding my days away.

Then, an idea hit me like a lightbulb. "Bounty hunting!"

It paid well, and I would get the opportunity to train my fighting skills. Besides, I could find some good companions while I'm at it.

With a goal set in mind, I floated back down to the ground. "Now then, let's start heading somewhere..."

I started walking towards the nearest town. I had no clue where it was, but it was worth a shot. I was still in the middle of a forest, so there was no way of telling how far it was. I just simply followed the path that was the least muddy, which eventually led me to a small village.

There weren't many buildings around. The main thing I noticed was a giant sign that read, "Welcome to the village of Ainu."

The place was quite run down, and there were only a few people walking around. Most of them looked dirty and poor. There wasn't a single building that seemed well-kept.

"Hey, a visitor?"

A man who was sitting by a table noticed me and walked up. He had a rough face, and he wore a dirty outfit that seemed like it was once used to be formal. "What brings you here?"

"Nothing. Just passing by," I said. "What's going on here? Why's this place so deserted?"

"We were looted by a pirate crew not so long ago. Most of us have even lost the will to continue. It's no use in staying here. We got nothing to offer."

"Ah, sorry. That must have been hard."

"Well, not much can be done now."

"If you don't mind me asking, which pirates were they? And why did they come here?"

"They were from the blue-eyed pirates. They're a pretty new crew, I had heard, but their captain has already gotten a bounty of 37 million. People say they'll become a super rookie soon," he answered. "And they came here for our ships but destroyed our village in the process. They left once they took what they wanted, and we've been trying to recover ever since."

A smile crept on my face. I've hit the jackpot. "You said 37 million, right? Could I get a copy of their bounty posters?"

"I don't see why not. Hold on."

He disappeared for a minute and returned with a stack of papers.

"Here you go," he said, handing them over.

"Thank you."

I took a quick look through the wanted posters, and my eyes were set on one specific person. The captain.

"37 million berry..." I muttered. Looking at the numbers, I could finally relate to what Nami felt in the show. "Any ideas on where they are?"

"Sorry, I can't help you there."

"Hmm... Well, I'll have to figure it out somehow."

Suddenly, a bright voice sounded from behind. "Hey! Take me with you."

"Don't Lillian!" the man warned.

I turned around to see a young woman standing a few feet away from me. She was probably in her late teens or young adulthood, and she had a fairly athletic body. She wore a simple white skirt and a black shirt, as she probably didn't have more expensive clothes. Her blue hair was braided, and her eyes sparkled with a hint of revenge.

"I know where they are. Take me with you!"