“Besides, I’ve already decided you’re my crewmate!”
Luffy pointed directly at Karl.
“Whether you board my ship or not doesn’t matter!”
“I’ve already made up my mind!”
Then his expression became unusually serious.
“There are only two things in this world that can never be abandoned!”
“Dreams…”
“And your crewmates!!!”
“So tell me!”
“What is your dream?”
“When I become Pirate King…”
“When I stand at the very top of the world…”
“I’ll make it happen for you!”
“Karl…”
Karl’s hands stopped moving.
He stared silently across the campfire at the boy before him.
For a brief instant, it seemed as though Luffy himself was shining.
And at that moment, Karl finally understood something.
Luffy wasn’t the protagonist because someone had chosen him to be.
Rather, because a person like him existed, the position of protagonist naturally belonged to him.
“My dream…”
Countless memories surfaced from the depths of Karl’s mind.
Scenes from his past.
Regrets.
Disappointments.
Unfulfilled hopes.
In the end, all of them condensed into a single thought.
A single wish.
“Then…”
Karl slowly raised his head.
“Please put an end to this cursed era.”
“Hahahaha!”
Luffy immediately burst into laughter.
One hand covered his face while the other clutched his stomach.
“End the Great Pirate Era?”
His eyes shone brighter and brighter.
“What an incredible dream!”
“Just hearing it makes my blood boil!”
“Karl!”
“You really aren’t an ordinary person!”
“You’re someone I’ve acknowledged!”
“I accept!”
Luffy slapped his chest confidently.
“When I become Pirate King, I’ll personally declare the end of this rotten age!”
“Just like Pirate King Gol D.
Roger once changed the world!”
“Karl!”
“Leave that dream to me!”
“I’ll carry it forward!”
“That’s a promise between men!”
Determination blazed within Luffy’s eyes.
With his left hand, he removed the Straw Hat from his head.
Then he extended his right hand toward Karl once more.
“In the name of the future Pirate King—Monkey D.
Luffy!”
“I swear upon the honor of this Straw Hat!”
“Stop saying ridiculous things!”
Karl lowered his head and shouted.
“Have you thought about what you’re saying?”
“To become Pirate King, all you need is to surpass the other pirates!”
“But ending this era?”
“You’d be standing against the entire world!”
“Isn’t that perfect?”
Luffy flashed a grin.
“If I can’t defeat the whole world…”
“Then how can I call myself the strongest?”
“You don’t understand!”
Karl snapped back.
“I don’t need to.” Get faster updates on g.com.
Luffy’s answer came immediately.
“I just need to keep moving forward.”
“Until the day I die.”
“Not scared?”
“Nope.”
“What if there’s no way back?”
“Then there isn’t.”
Karl let out a soft sigh.
“You really are alike…”
As he looked at the spirited boy before him, another figure seemed to overlap with Luffy’s silhouette.
Someone long gone.
Someone who had died years ago.
His former self.
The heart Karl thought had already gone cold suddenly stirred again.
Perhaps it was merely a final spark before extinguishing.
Perhaps dying embers had been reignited.
Or perhaps they had never gone out at all.
Perhaps they had simply been waiting.
Waiting for the right moment.
Only then did Karl realize tears were already running down his cheeks.
As for what happened afterward, the memories were vague.
He only remembered that they kept talking.
Talking beneath the stars.
Talking until the sky was filled with countless points of light.
Talking until every scrap of meat from all four boars had disappeared.
Talking until neither of them bothered returning to the cabin.
Eventually, they simply lay beside the dying campfire and fell asleep.
Neither could later recall what they had discussed last.
Nor who had spoken the final words.
What they remembered instead was something else.
A clash of ideals.
A meeting between dreams and reality.
The crackling flames serving as accompaniment to their conversation.
There had been no alcohol that night.
Yet whenever either of them thought back to it years later, they always remembered a faint feeling of intoxication.
The campfire gradually burned itself out.
Without fresh wood to feed it, the exhausted flames slowly vanished.
Morning arrived.
The first rays of sunlight spread across the island.
A drop of dew fell from above and landed on Karl’s forehead.
The boy who had been granted a second life slowly opened his eyes.
Instinctively, he tried rubbing them.
Only to discover that his right arm had completely lost sensation.
Turning his head, he immediately found the culprit.
Luffy had spent the entire night using his arm as a pillow while hugging it tightly.
“Luffy…”
A faint smile appeared on Karl’s face.
“Thank you.”
Carefully pulling his arm free, he endured the painful pins-and-needles sensation and made his way back to the forest cabin.
Inside, he sat upon the rough straw mat.
His thoughts drifted.
When he looked back on it, last night’s sleep had been the most peaceful one he had experienced since arriving in this world.
After a while, his gaze landed on a handmade shelf nearby.
Several wooden statues rested there.
Every one of them had been carved by Karl himself.
They were figures from the faiths and legends of his previous world.
Gods.
Buddhas.
Immortals.
He had always been fascinated by traditional culture and had spent a great deal of time studying it.
Back on Earth, he had even collected related items.
Wood carving, however, had been entirely new to him.
The craftsmanship was crude.
Still, anyone looking closely could identify who the figures represented.
There was an old saying:
Sincerity can move even heaven itself.
Karl had started carving them shortly after realizing he truly had transmigrated. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Unlike the protagonists of novels, he hadn’t received some unbeatable golden finger.
Instead, fate had dealt him the worst possible hand.
A deserted island.
No support.
No power.
No future.
People needed something to cling to when they were drowning in despair.
Even an atheist was no exception.
At the very least, carving these figures helped him pass the time.
And more importantly…
It gave him hope.
For months, he had prayed for a chance to return home.
That wish never came true.
Instead, Luffy arrived.
The child destined to alter the future of this world.
“Was this your answer?”
Karl murmured softly.
“Was this your guidance?”
Naturally, the wooden statues gave no reply.
They merely sat there, silently watching him.
“If gods truly exist, then why leave me here alone?”
“If gods truly exist, then why is suffering everywhere?”
“If gods truly exist…”
Karl paused.
His lips felt dry.
Slowly, he licked them.
Then he spoke once more.
“Help me.”
“Just this once.”
He knelt respectfully before the statues.
Before the gods and buddhas carved by his own hands.
Then he lowered his head in a deep bow.
For a long time, he remained motionless.
When Karl finally rose again, all hesitation had disappeared from his eyes.
What remained was resolve.
Without another word, he walked toward a corner of the cabin.
There lay a crude stone implement resembling a hoe.
Grabbing it, he pulled aside the straw mat covering the floor.
Then he swung.
Bang!
The stone tool smashed into the earthen bed underneath.
Dust erupted everywhere.
Karl ignored it.
His eyes had turned bloodshot as he struck again.
And again.
And again.
Finally—
Crack!
A sharp sound echoed through the cabin.
Karl immediately tossed aside the stone tool and reached into the damaged section of the earthen bed.
Moments later, he pulled out a wooden box.
His breathing quickened.
Slowly, he opened it.
Inside rested a strange fruit.
It was roughly the size of a clenched fist.
Purple in color.
Its surface was covered with bizarre spiral patterns.
At first glance, it resembled an apple.
Yet anyone familiar with the seas would instantly recognize it.
The treasure countless people desired.
The object many would gladly risk their lives to obtain.
A Devil Fruit.
“Huh?”
A familiar voice suddenly sounded from behind him.
“Karl?”
“What are you doing?”
Luffy rubbed his sleepy eyes as he stared at the fruit.
Then his eyes lit up.
“Is that something delicious?”