"First," the man began, scratching the stubble on his chin. "Who were you in the real world? And I don't just mean your name, don't keep it so simplistic. I want to know everything, down to the very detail of your goddam eyeballs."
Regan gulped, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "My name is Regan Fitzberg. I was a student in the real world, and was meant to graduate until I was diagnosed with bone cancer."
"Bone cancer!? How old are you?"
"On Earth? I was 18. Got no clue how old I am in this body, but I do know that I'm at least somewhat young."
"Dedmond Dantes was a fifteen year old boy until you inhabited his body, kid."
"And you?" Regan scowled, "how old were you before you took that body?"
"I'm the one asking the questions, brat! Don't forget it. So, your cancer was how you died, eh?"
"It's why I'm here now."
"I see. Well, that brings us to my second question. What are your plans in the world? I see you training, you seem to have come to grasps with your stats already. But, you see, certain folks who spawn into this world with the knowledge that me and you share, use their newfound powers to disrupt the flow of the story."
"I thought so." Regan replied, nodding his head as his eyes shifted to the ground. "But haven't you done the same thing?"
"Huh?" The man blinked. "What the devil are you talking about?"
"What? You really have no idea!?" Regan sighed, his head now resting in his hands. "Man! The guy you shot was Cavendish! You even made him tell you his name!"
"I know who he is dammit! But what significance does he have in the story!? What, being some future commander like you said? Please!"
With every ignorant word that spewed out of the pirates mouth, Regan's jaw began drooping lower and lower like some strange contraption. "He's the future first commander of the strawhat fleet!"
"The strawhat fleet? You mean Luffy's crew!?"
"Oh my god. I can't believe you don't know this!" Regan exclaimed, his palm slamming against his lips to mark his abject shock. "Where did you get up to on one piece!?"
"I, uh…I got up to Saboady."
This fucking idiot hasn't even gotten to the time skip yet!
"So let me get this straight. You knew who Cavendish was, but you just didn't know he was the first commander of the strawhat fleet!? So you shoot him!?"
"What else was I to do!? He was breaking the pirates law, man!"
"So you shoot him!? A character that's going to take down one of doflamingo's men in a future arc!?"
"How the hell was I supposed to know!?"
"You weren't! That's why you shouldn't have shot him!"
"Aww, shut up! Ill shoot you right here and now if you don't answer the question you blabbering fool!"
"I'm blabbering because of you!"
"Shut up and answer!"
There was now a pistol being pointed directly at Regan's skull. One bullet would be enough to kill him there and then, completely ruining his second and only chance he had at life.
"There were two main things I had planned." Regan began. "First off, I wanted to get as strong as possible so I could be strong enough to leave this island and sail the seas. With my strength I'd be able to build up a huge crew and support Luffy in his war against the world government. An—"
"War against the world government!?" The man exclaimed, jumping off of the branch to land in front of Regan gracefully. "What are you talking about!?"
"What? Oh, that's right. You haven't caught up with one piece. It's a bit long to explain, but just know that Luffy has awakened his devil fruit ability which belonged to an ancient figure who went by Joyboy. This joyboy lost the war against another ancient figure called Imu who currently rules the world. Yes, that includes the world government."
"What…" the pirate mouthed, slipping his gun back into his coat pocket. "So then, why has nobody heard of this Imu or this joyboy?"
"Only the celestial dragons and the Gorosei, who themselves are celestial dragons, know about Imu's existence. There are some other people like Garp and Roger who came to learn about them too, and even more will learn about Imu's existence in the future. As for joyboy, his entire identity is veiled through the fog of time, with the help of Imu, the Gorosei's, and CP0's erasing of history too of course."
The pirate was dumbfounded, nodding with every word that spilled out of Regan's mouth, all while a cloud of confusion formed above his brows here and there. "Is Cp0 the same as CP9? I'm familiar with the latter due to the ennies lobby arc."
"They're a higher level organisation, more elite and more powerful. They've mastered the six powers, and are proficient in the advanced forms of haki. Not the type of people I can be brawling with at my level. They mostly deal with high-level threats like the yonkos if they step out of line."
"Step out of line? But they're pirates…"
"…You sure you watched One Piece? You forgetting about the seven warlords? As long as you aren't uncovering government secrets or waging war against the world government itself, they'll generally allow you to live peacefully so long as they can keep their eye on you."
"Well, shit." The man said, scratching his head. "You sure do know a lot, kid. So with all this knowledge, and with all the strength you'll eventually gain, you're planning on helping Luffy against the world government in this huge war?"
"Exactly."
The pirate sighed. "It's commendable. But that would disrupt the flow of the story, wouldn't it?"
Regan considered that for a moment, musing with his thumb under his chin again. "I suppose so. But does it matter? I'll be helping achieve the main ending anyway. Sure, things won't go according to Oda's story structure, but the initial goal will be achieved."
"Yes, I can see that." The man supported. "But I'm not saying that out of my own concern, I'm saying that out of concern for you."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Regan, out there on the seas are a group of transmigraters that hunt other transmigraters who seek to disrupt the flow of the story."
"What!?" Regan shrieked, his mouth gaping wide.
"Mhm. They believe that the story should continue in the way Oda envisioned it. Free from any influence. Those who don't have the same ideals, well, they're killed swiftly." His face darkened, a black memory appearing in his skull.
"Do you know those people?"
"I was with those people." He said, allowing his eyes to meet Regan's own.
"I-I see." Regan stammered, watching the grim memories work away at his face. Every expression became darker the more the man thought back to whatever memory was assailing him.
"So then, why are you here and not with them? Where even are they?"
"Those callous lot patrol near the grand line, taking out any pirate they suspect of being a transmigrater. Generally, though, some will welcome transmigraters with open arms by declaring themselves as such, and then they will pry them for their goals in the one piece world. As I said, if they don't align with their values then…" the man made a swift motion, his thumb gliding across his neck.
"As for why I'm here…I ran away. I couldn't live with myself. I couldn't keep going on killing innocent people with dreams to thrive in the one piece world. Simple dreams. I thought joining them would help me find…agh, never mind." A cold sweat ran along his brow, and the man turned away as if to hide his tears.
"Find what? Who? Somebody close to you?" Regan inquired.
"Yes," the pirate sighed, taking in a deep breath that made him shiver. "My son."
"Your son? He's in this world?"
"I don't know about that," he shrugged. "But be should be. The entire reason I watched one piece in the first place was for my son. And when he died…I just couldn't live with the grief. And now I'm here. Maybe he is, too. Or maybe those damn transmigraters killed him."
"If they did would you have gone after them?" Regan said, frowning as he felt the sweltering air of grief and dejection.
"I'm too weak to go after them," he replied, sounding utterly defeated.
Too weak? He just took out a future commander. Well, a weaker version of him.
"Then let's get stronger." Regan smiled, stretching out his hand.
"Get…stronger?"
"Yeah!" Regan beamed. "Before I set sail, I'll be training here for two years. Train with me, I guarantee with my methods we'll be even greater than those assholes at the grand line. We'll send them packing, and then we'll find your son."
"Heh, is this an invitation to join you in training or to join your future pirate crew."
Regan chuckled at that, a wide smile washing across his face. He worked his jaw to speak, his excitement coating a single word.
"Both."
The man couldn't help but laugh at that, his hand resting on his chest as if to control its volume. "You convincing bastard. I guess I'm in."
"Good. Now let's get on with things, because I have a couple questions for you, too."