Everyone in the tavern turned toward the entrance.
Standing there were five young men in their early twenties, dusty and travel-worn from the journey.
At first glance, they looked no different from the countless young sailors who passed through the docks every day.
Their arrival interrupted the tavern’s noise for barely a second before the room swallowed them in another wave of laughter and conversation.
No one paid much attention to a handful of young men.
“Welcome, gentlemen!
What can I get you?”
The tavern owner greeted them warmly from behind the counter, instantly putting on the enthusiastic smile of a businessman who had spotted new customers.
“Our house specialty is grilled meat, the best you’ll find in any tavern around here!
Pair it with a mug of our finest rum, fresh off the latest shipment, and I promise you’ll forget every miserable day you spent at sea!”
“Sounds good.”
The young man leading the group nodded.
“I’ll have one.”
“Same here!”
“Me too!”
His four companions quickly ordered the same thing.
“Coming right up!
Five orders of grilled meat and five mugs of rum!”
The bartender placed an enormous mug of rum in front of each of them, then returned to expressionlessly polishing what seemed to be an endless supply of glasses.
The young man in front lifted his mug and took a long, satisfying drink.
“Ahhh!
Now that hits the spot!”
He wiped his mouth and glanced around the lively tavern.
“Boss, we could hear you people laughing from halfway down the street.
Something interesting happen?
Come on, tell us.
We could use a good laugh too.”
He had barely finished speaking when a red-faced drunk staggered over, reeking of alcohol.
“Hic!
Kid… you asked the right person!”
He let out another thunderous belch.
“The Marines just released a new batch of wanted posters!
Hic!
Look over there!”
With a trembling finger, he pointed toward the notice board covered in bounties.
Sammy and his officers followed his finger.
Then one of the sharp-eyed officers beside him suddenly froze.
“Boss!”
His eyes widened.
He lowered his voice, but the shock in it was impossible to hide.
“Y-You’ve got a bounty!”
SHING!
CLICK!
All around the tavern, seven or eight bounty hunters who had looked half-drunk only moments ago instantly became alert.
Hands dropped to sword hilts.
Others slipped beneath coats toward concealed pistols.
The atmosphere tightened in an instant.
Which wanted man is he?
Suspicious eyes darted between Sammy’s face and the posters on the board.
The scar-faced one?
No.
The one-eyed pirate?
Not him.
That vicious-looking bastard?
Doesn’t look like him either.
That left only one poster.
The one showing a man with a bizarre pink mass on his head that looked suspiciously like a jellyfish.
Sammy’s own eyes locked onto it.
More specifically, they locked onto the ridiculous jellyfish-headed photograph…and the enormous number printed beside it.
7,000,000 Berries.
Blood rushed straight to Sammy’s head.
What the hell?!
Why am I wanted already?!
And why did they have to use a picture of me while I was transformed?!
A crushing wave of secondhand embarrassment nearly shattered his expression on the spot.
Being wanted itself didn’t bother him.
In fact, a part of him had been waiting for this day.
This was the world of One Piece!
For a pirate, a bounty was practically a badge of honor.
The higher the number, the more impressive your reputation.
If you sailed the seas without even having a bounty, you could barely call yourself a proper pirate.
And seven million Berries wasn’t a bad starting bounty for the West Blue.
But…
That picture!
That nickname!
JELLYFISH HEAD?!
Sammy could already imagine his future enemies pointing at him across the battlefield and laughing their asses off.
“So you’re Ribera Sammy, the famous Jellyfish Head?!
Hahaha!
The idiot who ate the Jellyfish Fruit!”
No.
Absolutely not.
NO!
I refuse to let my pirate career begin as a damn joke!
I’d rather have people think I’m some kind of monster than spend the rest of my life as a laughingstock!
His overwhelming embarrassment collided with the dramatic soul of a teenager desperate to protect his dignity.
And in that split second, an absolutely brilliant, and completely ridiculous idea appeared in his mind.
BANG!
Sammy slammed his mug onto the table and shot to his feet.
The legs of his chair scraped harshly against the floor.
His expression darkened.
A dangerous aura seemed to roll off him.
“B-Boss…?”
The officers beside him stiffened.
They had never seen their captain look this terrifying.
Sammy ignored them.
He drew a deep breath, turned toward the entire tavern, and unleashed what he personally believed was an incredibly bold and heroic laugh.
“HAHAHAHA!”
Every eye in the room turned toward him.
“That’s right!”
Sammy spread his arms.
“I am Ribera Sammy!
The man with a bounty of SEVEN MILLION BERRIES!”
He deliberately paused.
His eyes swept across the tavern, taking in the greed, caution, and at least in his imagination, the mockery that was about to appear on everyone’s faces.
Then, with an expression that somehow mixed helplessness with pride, he made his declaration.
“And my true identity…”
Another dramatic pause.
“…is a JELLYFISH who ate the Zoan-type HUMAN-HUMAN FRUIT!”
Silence.
“If you want this seven-million-Berry head of mine, come and take it!”
Sammy’s grin sharpened.
“Let me see whether any of you actually have what it takes!”
“W-WHAAAAAT?!”
The entire tavern went dead silent.
It was as though someone had suddenly muted the entire room.
Human-Human Fruit?
The answer struck everyone like a bolt of lightning.
The bounty hunters who had been preparing to make a move…
The drinkers eagerly waiting for a fight…
Even the officers who had accompanied Sammy into town…
Every single one of them stared at him with their mouths hanging open.
“H-Human-Human Fruit…?”
A nearby bounty hunter muttered blankly.
Without realizing it, he lowered the pistol in his hand.
His face practically screamed, Did I hear that correctly?
“B-Boss…”
Eugene, one of Sammy’s officers, looked as though his entire understanding of reality had just collapsed.
“Y-You’re…a jellyfish?!”
For the first time in his life, he looked at his own captain as though he were meeting him for the very first time.
Sammy forced himself to maintain a perfectly serious expression.
Summoning every bit of acting talent he possessed, he answered with a mixture of pride and weary resignation.
“Hahaha… That’s right.”
He raised his chin slightly.
“That’s exactly why I can think like a human, speak like a human, and walk upright on two legs.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Sammy secretly studied everyone’s stunned expressions.
Cold sweat nearly broke out across his back.
Did…did it work?
They bought it?!
YES!
But after a few seconds of stunned silence, the tavern erupted like a volcano.
“PFFT…
HAHAHAHAHA!
HUMAN-HUMAN FRUIT?!
A JELLYFISH TURNED INTO A HUMAN?!”
“HAHAHAHA!
WHAT KIND OF USELESS ABILITY IS THAT?!”
“HEY, JELLYFISH HEAD!”
The bounty hunter with the four-million-Berry bounty suddenly shot to his feet.
“I thought you were supposed to be some big deal!
Turns out you’re just a freak who ate a garbage Devil Fruit!”
He jabbed a finger toward Sammy.
“Seven million Berries?!
Your head isn’t worth seven million!
I’d say seven hundred thousand at most!”
His companions immediately joined in, filling the tavern with mocking laughter.
As far as they understood it, the Human-Human Fruit—especially if its only purpose was turning an animal into something humanlike—sounded utterly worthless.
Sammy stood motionless.
The expression he had been desperately forcing onto his face slowly disappeared.
He turned toward the scar-faced bounty hunter.
The last trace of embarrassment in his eyes was gone.
“Boss…”
Eugene immediately sensed that something had changed.
But before he could say anything else, Sammy lifted one hand and silenced him.
That unnatural calm made some of the more experienced men in the tavern uneasy.
The laughter gradually faded.
Sammy stared directly at the scar-faced man.
“You said…”
His voice was quiet.
“…my ability is garbage?”
The scar-faced bounty hunter felt a chill crawl up his spine under Sammy’s stare.
But with alcohol in his blood and several companions standing beside him, he forced himself not to back down.
“Damn right!”
He puffed out his chest.
“The Human-Human Fruit?
Even a dog wouldn’t eat that garbage!”
He sneered.
“If you know what’s good for you, surrender now.
I might give you a quick death before I take your head and trade it in for drinking money!”
“Oh.”
Sammy nodded as though he had accepted the criticism.
Then he asked a completely unrelated question.
“Do you have a bounty?”
The scar-faced man blinked.
Then he proudly thrust out his chest.
“I’m Scar Tide Shark!
Four million Berries!”
He grinned.
“What?
Scared now?”
“Not scared.”
Sammy shook his head.
The faintest smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
“I was just thinking…”
His gaze sharpened.
“You’re only worth four million Berries, yet you’re standing there mocking me, a man worth seven million, and calling my Devil Fruit garbage.”
He took one step forward.
Only one step, yet an invisible pressure seemed to spread throughout the tavern.
“So here’s my question.”
Sammy’s voice turned ice-cold.
“If you’re weaker than someone with a garbage Devil Fruit…”
His smile disappeared.
“…then what does that make you?”
“YOU BASTARD!”
Shark exploded.
The humiliation of being casually reminded that his bounty was lower than Sammy’s sent blood rushing to his head.
He ripped the sharp dagger from his waist and charged.
“DIE!”
His companions immediately drew their weapons and rushed forward with him.
Shouts erupted throughout the tavern.
Customers scrambled backward, knocking chairs aside as they hurried to clear the area.
Sammy didn’t move.
Shark rushed straight at him.
The twin daggers flashed coldly as they closed in on Sammy’s chest.
Only when the blades were inches away did Sammy finally move.
Half a step.
His body slid diagonally backward.
The daggers sliced past his clothes without touching flesh.
Shark’s attack missed.
His momentum carried him forward, throwing his balance off for just a fraction of a second.
That was enough.
Sammy moved.
FAST.
His left hand snapped out like an iron clamp and seized Shark’s knife-wielding wrist.
Then he twisted downward.
CRACK!
The sickening sound of breaking bone rang clearly through the tavern.
“AAAAARGH—!”
Shark’s scream had barely escaped his throat when Sammy’s right fist exploded forward like a cannonball.
BOOM!
The punch buried itself in Shark’s stomach.
“GAAAGH!”
Shark’s eyes bulged.
Saliva and stomach fluid sprayed from his mouth as his huge body folded forward like a cooked shrimp.
But Sammy wasn’t finished.
Still gripping Shark’s wrist, Sammy yanked upward while hooking one foot around the man’s ankle.
Pull.
Turn.
THROW!
Shark’s massive body completely lost its balance.
Sammy swung him around like a sack of grain and hurled him directly into the companions charging from behind.
BANG!
CRASH!
The human projectile struck perfectly.
Screams mixed with the violent splintering of tables and chairs as four or five men tumbled across the floor in a tangled heap.
None of them managed to get back up.
From the moment Shark attacked to the moment his entire group was lying on the floor groaning in pain…
Less than ten seconds had passed.
The tavern fell silent.
Dead silent.
Only the pained groans of Shark and his companions remained, accompanied by the soft crackling of firewood in the hearth.
The bounty hunters who had been thinking about taking advantage of the situation now felt cold sweat gathering in their palms.
Too fast.
Too clean.
Too overwhelming.
Sammy hadn’t used a single Devil Fruit ability.
No strange transformation.
No supernatural power.
Nothing.
He had crushed an entire group using nothing but basic hand-to-hand combat, timing, and battle instinct.
Seven million Berries?
After what they had just witnessed, that bounty suddenly seemed perfectly reasonable.
Sammy slowly relaxed his stance.
He casually brushed imaginary dust from his hands, then walked over to Shark, who was curled up on the floor in agony.
Sammy crouched beside him.
“Looks like even the ‘garbage fruit’ you were laughing at…”
His eyes turned cold.
“…is more than enough to kill you.”
He stood.
Without sparing Shark another glance, Sammy slowly swept his gaze across every frightened face in the tavern.
“So…”
His voice carried clearly through the silence.
“Does anyone else have a problem with my jellyfish head?”
Nobody answered.
“Or my ‘garbage’ Devil Fruit?”
Still nothing.
People were practically afraid to breathe too loudly.
Sammy nodded in satisfaction, as though he had merely swatted away a few annoying flies.
Jellyfish Head?
Human-Human Fruit?
Heh.
Believe whatever you want.
As long as my fists are strong enough, even ridiculous stories can become legends.
And the truth?
Who cares?
This sea is already overflowing with stories where nobody knows what’s real and what’s bullshit.
After all, a man’s reputation on the high seas is built half by fighting…
…and half by bragging.
You can join my P.
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