19th of October, Year 1490 of the Sea Calendar (Roughly twenty-nine years before Luffy departs on his journey.)
“Cooper, I’ve got the tune going!
Get dancing!
It’s the only trick we’ve got for pulling in buyers today!”
In the East Blue, inside the borders of the Goa Kingdom, there sat a lively trading square in a small settlement known as Rapeseed Flower Village.
Arthur, fourteen years old, stood behind his stall hawking the game he’d hunted himself.
It was his birthday.
It was also the day his rent was due.
If the meat in front of him didn’t sell, both he and Cooper would be spending the next night out under the open sky.
Beside the stall stood a massive bald eagle, easily reaching higher than a man’s waist when fully upright.
It threw open its dark-brown wings and ran through the absurd little routine Arthur had drilled into it.
Its powerful claws hopped side to side, keeping time with the beat.
Every hop came with a self-announcement—
“Cooper!”
The bird would bob its head with a strangely knowing look, snap its wings shut across its body theatrically, then fling them open again.
It was a genuinely silly sight.
Arthur had found Cooper years ago while hunting in the woods.
The eagle was still a fledgling then, just as helpless as four-year-old Arthur had been.
Neither of them had really grown into themselves yet, and Arthur had nursed the wounded chick back to health.
From that day forward, the reincarnated soul who had awakened in this world had Cooper by his side through every hardship.
As for the name—it came from the only sound the bird ever made: ‘Cooper!’ So that became his name, plain and simple.
“Ha!
Arthur, dragging that ridiculous bird out to pull in business again?”
A passerby chuckled at the sight of Cooper’s strange little dance.
The instant Cooper heard the jab, his hunting instincts flared.
Neck stretched forward, wings spread wide, he launched straight at the man.
“Cooper!
Cooper!”
The eagle hounded him clear across the square, drawing laughter from everyone watching.
Every few strides, the poor man took another sharp jab to the backside.
It was, frankly, the most entertainment the village had seen in a while.
Cooper held a grudge better than Arthur ever could
Luckily, after years living around people, the bird knew exactly how much force to hold back so nobody actually got hurt.
“That game’s looking good today, Arthur.
Seeing as Cooper just put on such a…
spectacular performance, throw in a big slice for me!”
“200 Berries a portion, sir.”
Arthur smiled, lifted his cleaver, sliced off a generous cut with practiced ease, bagged it, and passed it over.
His first sale of the day.
2,000 Berries in hand.
“Aren’t you even going to weigh that?”
The man asked, even though the portion was clearly already more than fair.
“No need, sir.”
Arthur answered without glancing up, wiping the blood from his blade.
“I’ve never once shorted a paying customer.”
“Ha, fair enough.
I’ll swing by again tomorrow.”
A short distance away, a pack of mountain bandits—the same ones who regularly extorted the marketplace for protection money—watched with grim expressions.
They despised how well Arthur’s stall was doing.
Normally, Cooper stayed close enough to Arthur that the bandits didn’t dare cause trouble.
But today—the eagle had wandered off.
Their moment had finally arrived.
Not long after, another customer came rushing up, his lips pale and dark circles under his eyes.
He looked completely worn down, one hand pressed to his aching back as he hobbled toward the stall.
“Arthur!
Arthur!
Quick, give me ten portions of deer kidney!
My wife’s running me into the ground!”
Arthur didn’t hesitate, cutting off a hefty portion of kidney.
Then, as a little extra, he tossed in two stag testicles.
“Village Chief, a man’s got to defend his pride!”
“Here—two bonus pieces, on me.”
“Go show her what a real man’s made of tonight!”
The chief’s eyes lit up the moment he saw the bag.
‘Arthur…
young as you are, you certainly understand grown-up matters.’
“Whatever you hear coming from my house tonight, don’t think twice about it!”
“Tonight, I’m finally going to win this round!”
He handed over 10,000 Berries, beaming.
Arthur’s total for the day climbed to 12,000 Berries.
He counted every note carefully, confirmed it was all there, and grinned.
“Good luck out there, Chief.
Hope it goes well—maybe a few kids out of it too.”
“And don’t forget to cut my rent!”
“Ha!
Appreciate the well wishes!”
The chief took off toward home at a dead sprint.
“The rent’s staying exactly where it is, though!”
And then he was gone.
Arthur could only shake his head.
The man loved money, yet somehow spent it just as fast.
Nothing to be done about it.
Being the law-abiding type, Arthur simply had to accept it.
Muttering to himself, he said,
“For a world with such primitive technology…
people in the East Blue actually live fairly well.
”
The moment the chief vanished from sight—
five hulking bandits closed in around Arthur’s stall.
They wore ugly grins.
“That’s a fat pile of meat you’ve got going.”
“Why not toss some our way, kid?”
“Yeah.”
“You haul in this much coin every single day.”
“Everyone else in this market pays their dues.
Everyone but you.”
“You’re plenty old enough now.”
“Time you started paying up too.”
Arthur didn’t so much as flinch.
“Not buying?
Then move along.”
“Stop messing with my business.”
The villagers had reported these bandits to the Marines more than once.
No one ever came.
Over time, the bandits’ boldness had only grown.
The villagers, unwilling to risk their necks, simply paid up to keep things quiet.
“Business, huh?”
One bandit sneered.
“Truth is, I just don’t like your face.”
“And today, your stall’s coming apart!”
He kicked the display flat.
The other four piled in right behind him.
Fresh-caught game and stacks of prime cuts went flying into the mud and filthy puddles, ruining most of it.
“My stock!”
Arthur lunged forward, trying desperately to stop them.
A boot sent him tumbling into a nearby fruit cart.
He hadn’t planned on fighting.
But this had crossed a line.
“You little punk!”
“We’ve been wanting to lay into you for ages!”
“If that cursed bird hadn’t always been guarding you, we’d have done this long ago!”
“Now that it’s nowhere around…
let’s see that attitude now!”
Arthur pushed himself back to his feet.
He turned and offered the fruit seller a quick, sincere apology before facing the bandits again.
The boyish look drained out of his eyes.
In its place came something else entirely.
Calm.
Settled.
“You actually think…”
Arthur curled his fist slowly.
Veins stood out along his forearm.
“…that it was the one protecting me?”
“Wasn’t it?”
Right then, another bandit came tearing in from the docks, soaked in sweat.
“Boss!”
“Trouble!”
“There’s a Marine warship pulling in!”
The whole marketplace erupted in cheers.
The villagers had reached their breaking point.
They grabbed whatever they could use as weapons—but before anyone could move—the five bandits surrounding Arthur went flying through the air, one after another.
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
Arthur had unloaded five punches, one right after the next.
The bandits sailed toward the water, each sporting a fist-shaped welt across the face.
“Wha—?!”
“Why are we airborne?!”
Blood sprayed from their noses as they vanished into the distance.
“Hmph.”
Arthur lowered his fists and began salvaging whatever meat could still be cleaned and saved.
No sense letting food go to waste.
This world wasn’t short on wildlife, but few common folk had the nerve to hunt the more dangerous beasts roaming the mountains.
Most people relied on trade, or on hunters willing to gamble with their lives.
Down at the Harbor
A man stepped off the docked Marine warship.
A white coat of Justice draped over a dark green uniform.
His thick hair stirred in the breeze as he glanced up toward the sky.
His name—
Monkey D.
Dragon.
Son of the man destined to become the Marines’ Hero, Monkey D.
Garp.
Just twenty-three years old.
Already a Colonel at Marine Headquarters, and already whispered about across the ranks as something monstrous.
“A village that’s got someone strong enough to send grown men flying that far out?”
Dragon’s eyes narrowed with curiosity.
Then something else caught his attention.
A bald eagle, well over a meter tall, chasing a man down at a dead sprint.
“Cooper!
Cooper!”
“Help!
Marines, please!”
“An eagle…
hunting a man?”
Dragon blinked, caught off guard.
Given the circumstances, the man being chased looked like he’d probably earned it.
Still, out of caution, Dragon lifted an arm and gave it a wave.
A sharp gust tore toward Cooper.
The eagle skidded to a halt mid-chase.
It tilted its head, studying the wind barreling toward it.
Then—
its gaze sharpened.
It spread its wings and beat them forward with everything it had, trying to push back against the gust.
It didn’t work.
Dragon’s wind sliced clean through Cooper’s own.
The eagle was thrown several meters and slammed hard into the dirt.
“Much obliged!”
The rescued man clutched his sore backside.
“Knew the Marines wouldn’t let me down!”
“All I said was ‘stupid bird,’ just the one time!”
“And it ran me halfway across the village for it!”
His trousers hung in tatters around the rear.
Strangely enough—
not a drop of blood anywhere.
Just a deep, angry red.
“You provoked it first?”
Dragon turned his gaze toward the fallen eagle.
“So that’s why it went after you.”
“It was one sentence!”
“It’s just a bird!”
“Attacking a person over that is wrong!”
Cooper lay sprawled on the ground, crying out in pain.
The sound carried something like a call—like it was reaching out for somebody.
“That’s enough.”
Dragon’s voice cracked sharply.
His hard stare silenced the man instantly.
“Sometimes…”
“…what an animal feels runs purer than anything a person feels.”
Before long—
Arthur came charging in from the market, dragging an unconscious bandit by one ankle.
He’d followed Cooper’s cries straight there.
He rushed to the eagle’s side and helped it back up.
“Cooper, what happened to you?”
A blade roughly a meter long hung at Arthur’s hip.
He carried himself with restless energy, full of life.
His hair sat a little messy, giving him a roughed-up sort of charm.
Years of hunting had left him in nothing fancier than a short-sleeved shirt, shorts, and a beaten pair of sandals.
“Cooper!”
The eagle let out an indignant cry, jabbing a talon straight at Dragon.
Raised by Arthur from infancy, Cooper carried itself almost like a person.
Arthur glanced up.
His eyes went wide.
“…Luffy’s old man?”
As someone who’d followed One Piece closely in his old life, he recognized the face at once.
What threw him off wasn’t the man himself—
it was the Marine coat on his shoulders.
“So…”
Arthur let his voice rise on purpose.
“He’s the one who did this to you?”
Cooper nodded furiously.
“There’s been a mix-up here.”
Dragon shoved the cowering villager out from behind him.
“I had no idea he’d insulted the bird first.”
“Didn’t realize it belonged to anyone either.”
Something in Dragon’s gut told him the truth.
Those five bandits flung clear out to sea—
there was only one person here capable of that.
The boy standing in front of him.
“L-let go of me…”
The bandit dangling from Arthur’s grip had already lost a few teeth in the beating.
Arthur paid him no mind.
After a beat of silence—
he stepped forward.
Pushed Cooper safely behind him.
Pulled his arm back like a drawn bow—
and hurled the bandit straight at Dragon.
BOOM!
The sheer force of the throw knocked the man out cold before he’d even reached his target.
Arthur didn’t care who he was dealing with.
Anyone who hurt Cooper was going to answer for it.
“How dare you raise a hand against Colonel Dragon!”
“Vice Admiral Garp’s own son!”
The Marines snapped their rifles up at once.
Dragon raised a hand.
“Stand down.”
A soft wall of wind rose up before him.
The unconscious bandit slammed into it and dropped harmlessly onto the dock.
Dragon’s expression shifted.
That kind of strength…
Then—
his eyes widened further.
Arthur had already closed the distance, appearing right in front of him.
A fist came rocketing forward.
BOOM!
It passed straight through Dragon’s body without resistance.
“…Logia.”
Arthur’s eyes narrowed.
“So he’s already got his Devil Fruit.”
Dragon’s body had shifted into pure wind.
No matter how Arthur struck—
there was nothing solid to hit.
Just to be sure, Arthur threw dozens more punches in rapid succession.
Dragon stood completely still through all of it.
Every blow carried real weight behind it.
Had even a single one landed—
it would have hurt badly.
Arthur abruptly stopped.
Turned on his heel.
“Come on, Cooper.”
“We’re done here.”
Without Haki, there was no landing a hit on a Logia user.
No point wasting more effort.
If only I had Haki…
Dragon watched him walk away, blinking in surprise.
Moments earlier the boy had been burning with anger.
Now he simply turned his back and left.
He knows exactly where to draw the line…
The villager who’d been chased earlier stared, eyes practically bulging.
“That kid…”
“I figured the bird alone was bad enough…”
“But the boy’s worse!”
One of the Marines asked quietly,
“Colonel…
should we take him in?”
“He struck you, after all.”
“You’re Vice Admiral Garp’s son—”
Dragon’s brow furrowed.
He despised hearing that line.
As if nothing he’d built stood on its own, only ever riding on his father’s name.
“Have you forgotten what being a Marine actually means?”
His voice rolled out across the docks like thunder.
“Are you really telling me we should turn on an ordinary civilian?”
The Marines dropped their heads at once.
“Understood, sir.”
Dragon turned back to the villager.
“Tell me something.”
“Whose boy is that?”
“No idea, honestly.”
“He doesn’t have any family.
An orphan.”
“Just showed up on this island out of nowhere when he was about four or five, and he’s been here ever since.”
Dragon went quiet.
A child with that kind of raw power…?
For the moment—
he set the thought aside.
Instead, he gave the order to have his men round up the bandits terrorizing the village.
Arthur and Cooper made their way home.
His stall lay in ruins.
No point trying to reopen for the day.
The two of them crossed a wide stretch of blooming rapeseed flowers until they reached a modest thatched-roof house out in the countryside.
Arthur dropped to his knees in the yard and shouted up at the sky.
“Damn it all!”
“Ten whole years stuck in the world of One Piece!”
“Couldn’t you cut me some slack just once?!”
“At least send me a gorgeous woman to share my bed—!”
“Why’d I get stuck with a bird instead?!”
“My grand adventure across the seas, and I end up a butcher peddling…
stamina meat?!”
Author’s Note: This is a sea-voyage adventure story still in its opening stretch.
No cultivation system, no romance or harem elements.