As his eyes opened, the first thing he noticed was how confined his space was— a wooden containment with its walls pressing against his body. A ray of sunshine fell in through a single tiny hole. Luffy immediately knew where he was— the barrel where he started his journey.
"Urghhh… am I dead?"
Of course this was not the original Luffy from the anime, but another person transmigrated to the One Piece universe. As this new Luffy sat in the barrel, a flood of memories, accompanied by a splitting headache, rushed into his head; they were the memories of the previous owner of this body.
*FLASHBACK*
"Hey, there's a group of pirates at the shore."
- - - -
"Hey, is that the Haki I've heard about? Can you teach me?"
"So you want to learn so bad? Fine, brat, I'll teach you what I know. Hahahahaha!"
- - - -
"Luffy, it's alright, let's go to the village."
"B-but Shanks… your arm!!!"
"It's alright; it's just an arm."
- - - -
"HEY LISTEN!! I'M GONNA BE THE KING OF THE PIRATES AND HAVE A CREW EVEN BETTER THAN YOURS! BET ON IT!!!"
"Heh… then take this hat. When you fulfill your goal, return this to me."
"Wha-a?"
- - - -
"Hey kid."
"Yeah?"
"This is your new brother, Ace."
"Really?"
"Tch."
- - - -
"Goodbye Luffy!"
"Stay safe Luffy!"
"Don't disgrace the village Luffy!"
"See you all soon!"
- - - -
All the memories of the previous Luffy formed in his mind. As said, this was the One Piece world, but different. In this world, Devil Fruits were non existent, and the power that reigned supreme across the Blues and the Grand Line was Haki. Contrary to the original story, every pirate and marine would know of Haki and would train it from a very young age.
Since Luffy was a kid, he had trained his Haki due to Shanks teaching him. He further developed it along with his brothers. Earlier when he started his journey, he had defeated the Sea King which took Shanks' arm with a single Haki coated punch.
With about ten years of training, Luffy was a human prodigy in East Blue standards, even capable of releasing some Conqueror's Haki, though uncontrollable and in small amounts.
In the barrel, Luffy focused and tried to coat his hand in [Armament Haki]. The familiar sound of Haki coating from the anime rang out in the barrel, and a distinct black hue covered his forearm. Luffy grinned.
"Heh. I'd always wondered how powerful Luffy would be if he had Haki at the beginning of the show. Now I'll finally know," Luffy said with a smile.
He then thought of the Straw Hat Pirates in the original. A lot of the members had devil fruits. "Luffy, Robin, Chopper, Brook…". A lot of pirates in the Grand Line depended heavily on their fruits and were very weak without them. He thought of whether the Shichibukai and Yonkou systems were the same.
He also believed the Three Admirals would stay the same, because even he knew they didn't need Devil Fruits to be top powerhouses. He was certain that if the Marineford War happened, Akainu may still be able to injure Whitebeard like he did in the original story. The Yonkou may also stay more or less the same. His crew, however, may be a bit different from first.
"Hmm. Anyway, I ought to reach Alvida's ship soon. It should be about an hour away." With this on his mind he took a nap.
Elsewhere…
"Loot it all, I want every chest filled from the looted goods!" An immensely large woman said. With her wide eyes, she glared at the crew before her. "I want it all!!" she yelled. She had a heavy mace in her hand, and she was immensely fat.
She was Alvida.
With her ruthless personality, she was feared all over the East Blue, always moving around and looting ships. She did not show mercy even to her own crew.
The crew went to looting the lifeless bodies of the attacked victims. As Alvida looked at them, she called out to a certain boy.
"KOBYY! Get over here!" With this, a small timid boy with pink hair came forward. "C-Captain Alv-v-vida…," the boy named Koby said.
"Tell me, who is the most beautiful woman in the East Blue?" she asked, with a menacing sneer. Koby, who was extremely terrified of his captain, said, "Y-you are, Captain."
Alvida smiled menacingly and said, "Good, good… now get back to robbing bodies!" she exclaimed, her mace smashing a piece of wood on the ship.
Little did she know, this day would take a major turn.
****
Author's note: If you like this book, add to your collection and send some powerstones my way.