1 The Cross-World Chat Group

It's been sixteen whole years since he had been reborn here into this world, and those years were interesting to say the least. He wouldn't say that it was eventful, but it was certainly different. After all, he was once a young man who lived a life of a modern teenager, until his death that is.

To put things simply, his life wasn't exactly the easiest nor was it a good one, and you could guess just why he died from that alone. To move on from a depressing subject, he had miraculously been reborn into this world, once again as a baby to a new family, now holding the name of Raymond.

Well, they weren't exactly his family in the blood sense, he quickly learnt that he was adopted into the family after they had found him abandoned near a river. From what they told him, they weren't the ones that gave him his name, his new name had been written on a small note that was left with him.

His name was Blackwood D Raymond.

It was a bit of an over the top name if you asked him, but whatevs.

Anyway, from his name alone, you could make a guess as to what world he had been reborn in. He couldn't really believe it himself, the world that he had been reborn into was none other than One Piece. A beautiful yet dangerous world, and that was an understatement. He had only known this world to be fiction, but now it was his reality.

He did take note of how his middle name was 'D', a concept back in his world known as The Will of D. No one truly understood what the concept really was, nor had it been explained yet in the series. So, the reason for why some people have 'D' as their middle name in this world is still unknown.

He lived in a small town known as Kenbo Town, which was a place located within the West Blue, one of the four Blues that make up the Blue Sea. It was a rather peaceful town, and during his years growing up here, nothing too crazy had ever happened, at least nothing worthy of note.

At the current time, Raymond was currently in the front area of his family's household as he was busy getting through his workout. He was lifting a rather unrealistic amount of weight, and you could literally see that the ground beneath him was rather cracked under the pressure.

If there was one thing about this world that really set it apart form his old world, it was that the humans of this world had far greater potential than his previous world. They could train far beyond what normal humans could possibly do, and the fact that he was currently training with a few tons of weight was evidence of that.

As he was training, he didn't have a shirt on and was only wearing a pair of black shorts, allowing his defined and lean body to be seen in full view, along with the sweat that ran down his body. He had fair skin, along with smooth black hair and a pair of sharp yet rounded sea blue eyes.

He definitely didn't have the body a normal sixteen year old should have.

"Raymond!"

Upon hearing his name being called out, Raymond rose an eyebrow and turn his head around to see someone running towards the house. He calmly dropped the massive weights onto the ground soon after, the impact causing the ground to shake a bit as Raymond cracked his neck.

"What is it, Ereka?" Raymond asked simply as he crossed his arms before turning his body to face the beautiful young girl that had run up to him. The girl was his age, along with having a lean and developing build. She also had long bright red hair tied into a right-side ponytail.

"Pirates! W-We're being attacked again!"

"Again?" Raymond scoffed as he heard the words. Pirate attacks weren't entirely uncommon here, but due to there being no Marines stationed here, the townspeople always turned to him to get rid of them since he was the only one strong enough to do so. "Alright, I'll deal with them. Where are they?"

"They're along the beach area..."

"Okay then."

"R-Raymond..." Erika seemed to voice in a slight stutter as the boy in question gave her a curious look. "Why don't you join the Marines? You certainly have the strength for it, and you've already built a good reputation with them. How come you don't join?"

"Join the the Marines? Hell nah." Raymond rolled his eyes as he took hold of a white t-shirt and putting it on. "I would much rather become a pirate than become a marine, you should know that by now. Just because I've collected a number of bounties for them doesn't mean I like them."

Raymond knew that the Marines weren't all good as they are made out to be, some of them as just downright horrible people. This town were neutral towards both pirates and marines alike, they didn't hate nor like either one of them. But, Raymond would definitely become a pirate before he becomes a damn marine, at least he'd have more freedom.

It was true that he'd been helping the marines by taking down some pirates with bounties, but those were only due to those pirates attacking this town. They weren't dangerous pirates though, they only had bounties usually around ten to twenty million. So, while the pirates he's taken down were small fry compared to others in this particular sea, they were still good money.

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"So, you're the guys attacking us, huh?"

Raymond had commented calmly as he walked onto the beach, his eyes narrowed as he looked at the pirate ship resting on the sands of the beach. The ship itself was nothing amazing, and that was the same for the crew from what he could tell. No doubt a group of either newbie pirates, or perhaps just really weak pirates.

Probably the latter, or both.

When Raymond made his appearance, the crew all looked down at him from the ship. They were obviously hostile as they all immediately took out their weapons and jumped down onto the beach, and the hostile ugly smiles on their faces didn't help either. Quickly counting, Raymond counted around twenty members or so.

"Definitely a bunch of upstarts..." Raymond commented as he noticed the rather brittle blades they had, along with the ship they sailed in wasn't exactly in the best of conditions. The comment obviously seemed to anger the group of pirates as they started shouting at him.

"What did you say?!"

"How dare you!"

"Do you know who you're talking to?!"

"Just shut up, you guys are the reason my training session was interrupted." Raymond clicked his tongue before reaching into his pocket. He then took out a black piece of cloth before wrapping it around his eyes, tightening it with a strong pull as he cracked his neck. "Let's go."

The pirates were confused by the action, who the hell would blindfold themselves during or before they fight? The pirates were going to mock him, but couldn't as Raymond immediately dashed towards them before delivering a powerful punch, aiming his fist towards the stomach of one of the crew members.

When his fist made contact, the member was soon sent flying back and crashing into the body of their own ship. The pirate was immediately rendered unconscious as blood was coming out from his mouth, and his eyes were completely white, and they wouldn't be surprised if the person was actually dead.

"Wh-What?!"

"What kind of strength is that?!"

"Ch-Charge him! All at once!" One of the members cried out in a panic as the others all hesitated before rushing towards Raymond. The male simply kept a calm expression and began dodging all of their swings and punches with ease, some of the members hitting each other in response.

"Stand still, damnit!"

"How is he dodging us?!"

Raymond gave a small smirk before jumping and performing spinning kick, hitting a number of them across the head, knocking them out or killing them outright. He then kicked another across the side, sending them flying and crashing into another small group of their crew.

He wasn't someone who wasted his time these past few years, he didn't just train up his body. He had knowledge he really shouldn't have, and like hell he was going to waste it. Over the years he had practised the use of Haki, and he was very much glad that he had the potential to utilise it.

Haki was a well-known concept to the One Piece community, and it was known that it was an ability dormant in every living being, it was just that the ability to use Haki isn't always awakened in every person. Not all people can awaken their Haki, so those who manage to or are lucky to have it already gifted to them tend to be quite powerful.

He had started training in it when he was twelve, which was the only time that he was able to go out without his parents finding out. After all, they always kept a close eye on him for his protection, and who knows how they would've reacted if they saw him endangering himself during training.

He practised greatly with awakening his Kenbunshoku Haki, and he had made some great progress with it. He could easily sense the presence of others even without using his eyes, along with getting a good idea of their strength and even emotions and possible intentions. It was a tough struggle, but the reward was definitely worth it.

As of right now, alongside trying to master his Kenbunshoku Haki, he had started trying to awaken his Busoshoku Haki. He could feel himself moving his Haki around to different parts of his body, but it was difficult process. He still had much to go before he could truly start using it without concern.

Busoshoku Haki had proved to be far harder for him to master compared to Kenbunshoku Haki, but he was definitely not going to give up on it. He had made some progress, and he was more than happy with that. Just how much progress could he make, that was what he wanted to know.

Haoshoku Haki, on the other hand, he was entirely clueless as to whether or not he had the ability. There was no way to try and unlock or learn such Haki, it was either he was born with it or not. He didn't know if he was, nor had he experienced the feeling of using it. It was only a matter or time before he knew if he had it or not.

Aside from learning Haki, the fact alone that he had access to Haki here was a major advantage to him. Haki was a concept that was near impossible to find or even hear about in any of the Blues, only in the Grand Line was Haki really seen being used. Finding a Haki user in the Blues was pretty much impossible.

"You're the one causing us trouble, huh?" Raymond turned his head up towards the voice, though he did notice prior to them calling out to him. He couldn't see the person's appearance, but it was obvious this was probably this group's captain. "Don't look like much."

"C-Captain!"

"We're saved...!"

"So you are their captain, huh? My apologies, I was just using all available resources to train." Raymond mocked as took off the blindfold he had on. His eyes then looking up at the view of the captain, and to say it bluntly, he wasn't impressed. The guy looked like any other insignificant pirate. "Kind of expected more of the captain."

"What'd you say, brat?" The supposed captain of this crew scowled as he heard those words. Just from Raymond's tone alone, he could tell the guy was mocking him. Though, a feral grin then appeared on the captain's face. "You don't seem to know who I am, do you? The name is Konga Read, Captain of the Treasure Pirates!"

"Bro, lame." Raymond deadpanned. That name for a pirate crew was one of the most unoriginal he had ever heard, of all things this guy could have chosen, he chose 'Treasure Pirates'. Everyone already knows pirates love treasure. "Now that I think about it, I think I've seen your face on a bounty poster once. If I'm not mistaken, you have a twenty million bounty on your head. Ocean Body Konga, right?"

"Exactly! Now you know why you shouldn't be messing with me!"

Raymond just deadpanned as he crossed his arms, this guy may have a decent bounty, but it still wasn't anything noteworthy in the West Blue. He had dealt with some pirates in the past with higher bounties than this guy, so he wasn't too concerned.

If memory serves, than this guy earned his name of Ocean Body Konga by the fact that he had devil fruit powers that allowed him to turn his body into water. There were a number of other devil fruit users out there who could do the same, except with a different kind of element.

"Nope, you're still as insignificant in my eyes as you were before I recognised you." Raymond yawned as bit as he pocketed his cloth. He then gave a challenging and mocking smile as he narrowed his eyes at Konga. "Of course, unless you want to prove me wrong. Come on down, show me why I shouldn't mess with you."

"You asked for it brat!" Konga snorted as he jumped down from the boat. The remaining members of his crew that were still conscious all cheering for him as Konga glared at Raymond, the both of them staring at each other with small glares, though Konga's was a harder glare. "Prepare yourself, you pathetic brat!"

Konga placed both arms down onto the sand, his arms turning into water as he did so. Raymond quickly jumped to the side as multiple water spikes erupted from where he stood. He then proceeded to calmly dodge as tendrils of water that formed from those spikes chased and tried to hit him.

'I wonder if this guy can swim. He is a water human, so maybe?' Raymond couldn't help but wonder. Devil Fruits did remove the ability for their wielders to swim in the ocean, so what about this guy? Perhaps he should test it out. 'Nah, not curious enough. I still want to claim the bounty on this guy's head, don't want him sinking to the bottom just to satiate my curiosity. Time to fi-huh?'

Raymond suddenly paused as a dinging sound suddenly sounded in his mind, and he widened his eyes when he saw something appear in front of him while he was still dodging the attacks. He stared at it for a second before shaking his head, he'll deal with it in a bit.

Deciding to wrap this up fast, Raymond kicked off the ground and ducked under the tendrils before rushing towards Konga. The captain was taken back by Raymond's speed and wasn't able to react much before the young male appeared in front of him, already with his fist reeled back and his knees slightly bent.

"Y-You fool, you can't even tou-gah!"

Raymond didn't even let the guy finish, he sent his punch forwards straight towards Konga's stomach. Despite the captain changing his entirely upper body to water, the punch connected cleanly and sent Konga flying into his ship after coughing up blood.

As Konga collided with his ship, the entire ship was smashed from his impact alone, speaking volumes of how powerful Raymond's punch was. When the cloud of sand dispersed, Konga could be seen on the ground with blood coming out from his eyes, mouth and nose. His crew all speechless and looking at Raymond in fear.

"Doesn't matter to me." Raymond commented simply as he lowered his fist to his side. While Haki wasn't capable of outright negating Devil Fruit powers, it was still able to bypass a Devil Fruit user's defences. It was very useful, especially against Logia-Type Devil Fruits. "You're just like any other pirate I've taken down."

Raymond shifted his gaze to the remaining crew, who all fell down onto the ground in fear. They obviously weren't going to put up a fight, especially after seeing just what had happened to their oh-so-powerful captain of theirs. They messed with the wrong guy, simple as that.

Now, to deal with another thing...

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Raymond was now seated in his room after dealing with the pirates and having Ereka call the Marines to come and collect his bounty. They'd be here in a few hours though, so he had time to concern himself regarding another 'issue' that was currently on his mind.

Right now, Raymond was staring with a blank look on his face at what appeared to be a holographic screen of sorts. The screen had remained present in front of him the entire time since that 'fight' he had with Konga back on the beach, and he was pretty curious what it was.

Though, when he read what the screen had to say, he honestly wasn't sure what to think.

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『You have been invited to the Cross-World Chat Group』

『Accept』『Accept』

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'Not really giving me a choice, are you?' Raymond scoffed in his mind when he saw that both options available to him was to either accept it or accept it, there was no damn decline button. 'Well, not like I wouldn't accept anyway. Sounds pretty interesting...'

Raymond was aware of situations like this from novels and such he had read in his previous life, they were usually systems and all that though. He honestly never heard of something like a Chat Group happening in any novel he's read, though perhaps it did exist in something else he hadn't read.

From the name alone, he could assume that the members might be from separate worlds, though the term worlds may refer to planets, continents, or maybe even actual different worlds. If this was his previous life, he'd immediately think he was going crazy seeing or thinking about any of this, but now, not so much.

Raymond then proceeded to click on the 'Accept' option, didn't really matter which one.

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『Welcome to the Cross-World Chat Group』

『Assigned Name: The Rising Emperor』

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『Features』

● Chat Box - [Allows the members of the chat group to communicate with one another through the form of texting]

● Picture - [Allows the members of the chat group to send pictures taken using the Cross-World Chat Group for other members of the group to see]

● Missions - [Automatic missions that are assigned to the members of the chat group, all with varying conditions attached as well as objectives to be completed. The members that participated will be rewarded for the completion of the mission. Time in the participating member's respective worlds will be frozen until they return]

● Invitation - [Members of the chat group are able to invite other people from other worlds to the chat group. However, all members currently on the mission must come to a full consensus to allow that person to the group, if one person disagrees, the person won't be invited. Only one person per world can join the chat group]

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'Rising Emperor?' Raymond blinked when he saw the name that was given to him. It was certainly not what he expected to see when he clicked 'Accept'. Though, the implications that the name had was quite shocking. Did that mean he was going to become an emperor in the future? Could whoever set this chat group up know his future?

There really wasn't much point to thinking about it, he wasn't going to get any answers. Moving on, he decided to read the features that were listed to him after his name was assigned, and he nodded his head upon silently reading all of them. The first and second were standard features of a chat group, nothing surprising there.

The last two were the interesting ones though, the ones about the mission and the possibility of inviting others. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of rewards specifically could he get from completing the missions, along with what kind of worlds he might end up going to.

Along with being able to invite a person from those worlds he and other chat group members will potentially visit, he wondered just what kind of people the chat group would end up being occupied by. He himself was already an interesting member, a random dude who was reincarnated into a fictional universe after a horrible and intentional death, how bizarre.

'Sounds like a 2021 anime title, ridiculous and unnecessarily long.'

Raymond then heard multiple other dings sound in his head as he looked back at the screen to see a line of multiple notification pop up to him.

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『Welcome to the Cross-World Chat Group - Adol The Red』

『Welcome to the Cross-World Chat Group - Reborn Villainess』

『Welcome to the Cross-World Chat Group - Knight of Lhant』

『Welcome to the Cross-World Chat Group - The Bloody Bear』

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