One Piece Swordsman's Heart - Chapter 1

On the vast blue sea, a luxurious cruise ship glided smoothly. Under the wisdom of humanity, the sea was no longer unconquerable. Inside the opulent cruise ship’s hall, every gentleman was so refined, and the ladies were elegant and poised.

Contrasting starkly with this scene, a young man in his twenties sat in front of a laptop in the repair room directly below. The screen was playing an anime called One Piece.

The young man’s focused expression clearly showed how much he loved this anime. As the episode finished, he stretched and muttered to himself,

“Ah, it’s much more satisfying to binge-watch several episodes simultaneously. They’ve already reached Zou and are about to fight Kaido. Such a formidable Kaido. I wonder how Oda will wrap it up. Will they go Gear 5?”

While he was talking to himself, he suddenly noticed a loud commotion from the people above. Of course, as the ship’s chief engineer, Vir needed to go check it out.

It wouldn’t be good if some mechanical issue disturbed the guests, especially since the captain had always treated him well. Just as Vir turned and walked up the stairs, he heard a splashing sound, as if something had leaped out of the water, followed by a heavy splash, as if an oversized object had fallen back into the sea.

The guests’ voices grew even louder, with some women’s screams interspersed. Hearing the screams, Vir’s pace quickened.

“Something serious must have happened, I need to get up there quickly.”

He rushed to the deck, seeing all the guests and the first mate gathered there. Without concern for manners, he ran directly to the first mate and asked,

“Mr. John, what’s going on?”

First Mate John was a white man with a bald head and a white beard. Usually kind-faced, he now looked terrified and shocked. He turned and said,

“A koi, little Vir. I saw a giant golden koi. It’s bigger than our ship. My God, how can there be such a huge koi?”

Vir was also astonished to hear John’s words, his dark eyes filled with disbelief and confusion.

“Bigger than our cruise ship? But we have a 200,000-ton ship, how is that possible?” Just as Vir finished speaking, he heard another splashing sound behind him.

Turning around, Vir’s worldview was shattered by what he saw. A gigantic, golden koi with a bright red tail leaped high into the air. Even though the cruise ship was enormous, it seemed only comparable in size to the koi.

Thud!

The giant koi in the air seemed to hit an invisible wall and was bounced back, falling into the water with a splash.

Vir felt as if the entire world was shaking—not just the ship. He fell to the ground.

After a few seconds, Vir regained his senses and heard an ancient roar from the sea, “Not here, let me out. For I caused so much death and injury in my tribulation, how can I face my master?”

The once clear sky was now filled with rolling dark clouds, forming a huge vortex with booming thunder.

The foreigners on the ship might not understand, but as a Chinese person, Vir knew that the situation before him absolutely overturned his worldview. He murmured, “Is this a tribulation? Or is it the koi jumping over the dragon gate?”

Vir really didn’t want to know. He just wanted to leave immediately. He picked up the intercom and said, “Captain, this is Vir. Full speed ahead immediately. There’s an unidentified giant creature behind us. If it attacks, we might sink.”

The cockpit captain heard Vir shout and asked, “Vir, what’s going on?” Then he yelled, “Full speed ahead, get out of this area!”

The captain trusted this young man he had worked with for six years, and he heard the keywords “sink” and “giant creature.” The intercom crackled with Vir’s voice, “Captain, come to the deck and see for yourself. I can’t explain it clearly.”

After notifying the captain, Vir ran to the edge of the deck and looked into the sea. A huge shadow moved under the water. At this moment, all Vir could do was watch.

A moment later, he heard hurried footsteps behind him and saw the captain approaching. “Vir, what’s going on? Why the sudden order for full speed?”

“Look at the sea, Captain. There’s a creature bigger than our Queen of Aves. It looks like a giant freshwater koi.” The captain’s expression became one of surprise as he looked down, seeing the huge shadow.

Just as everyone was at a loss, there was a thud, and Vir felt the ship hit something, but there was nothing in front. His body flew up, landing heavily about ten meters away, and he lost consciousness.

After a long time, Vir woke up in pain, realizing his right hand was numb. He looked up and saw a sight he would never forget.

The sky was filled with silver light, forming a huge silver-blue vortex. A giant golden koi was swimming in the air, changing directions, eyes fixed on the sky.

The sky seemed to rage before Vir could understand what was happening, and a silver-blue lightning bolt struck down, hitting the koi’s head heavily. The koi’s body and head, already covered with wounds, started to emit black smoke.

Even from a distance, Vir could smell the scent of grilled fish. Now only hearing a buzzing sound, his ears could no longer pick up any other noises.

The huge vortex in the sky began to spin until it reached a certain point, and a lightning bolt several times thicker than before struck down. The golden koi couldn’t hold on any longer and was shattered. The lightning didn’t disappear but headed straight for the Queen of Aves.

Vir’s last conscious thought was a numbness in his body, feeling very light, and then darkness. After a while, he felt a great sense of friction, unable to see or hear anything, with countless insects seemingly gnawing at him, making him feel increasingly fragmented.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when he saw the light again. He was in a strange place, hazy with mist everywhere. Looking down at his body, it was no longer the same. He was now semi-transparent, with many parts of his body tattered, as if he had been dismembered.

Vir touched the missing parts. Although it didn’t hurt, he felt they were fatal, as if his soul had been broken.

While Vir was pondering what had happened, he heard a boy’s voice not far away.

“Get out, get out of here! This is mine! If you don’t leave, I’ll bite you!”

Vir looked up and saw an 8 or 9-year-old boy pretending to be fierce. He murmured,

“Ah, I must be dead, and my soul has traveled to a dangerous place, accidentally arriving in the boy’s consciousness or something similar. The boy must be the owner of this consciousness space.”

As Vir was lost in thought, he felt an unprecedented sharp pain in his hand, screaming, and instinctively punched the boy in the face with his other hand.

The boy was knocked back, and Vir saw that a piece of his hand was missing, the pain reaching his very soul. Looking at the boy, he was eating something, seemingly enjoying it.

Without thinking, Vir rushed over, pinning the boy to the ground and taking a bite. It felt like biting into cotton candy, soft, and as he swallowed, he felt his broken soul becoming more complete, his senses clearer.

“Thanks for the inspiration, kid. And goodbye.”

In the hazy space, a terrifying scene unfolded as a young man devoured a boy bit by bit. The young man’s body grew smaller and clearer, while the boy disappeared. In the end, an 8 or 9-year-old named Vir was the only one left in the hazy space.

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