Rai D. Arashi sat on the jagged cliffside, his bare feet dangling over the drop where waves smashed violently against the rocks below. The salty wind stung his skin, his sweat mixing with the spray of seawater. He could feel his heart pounding like a drum, each beat coursing with faint sparks of electricity. It wasn't the Thunder Fruit's power this time—it was his own body, beginning to change.
Three years had passed since he arrived in this world, though he still remembered vividly the moment he had awoken here. Back then, he was weak. Just a lost soul in a child's body, trapped on an unforgiving island with beasts, hunger, and loneliness as his only companions. But now, at nine years old, his body already bore the marks of transformation. Calluses hardened his hands, scars lined his arms, and his black hair had grown wild, streaked faintly with silver from the excessive currents he forced into his flesh.
Yet even with all this progress, Rai knew he was nowhere near his goal.
Immortality.
The word echoed in his mind every night, driving him further. He wasn't here to conquer seas like Luffy or to become a god like Enel. No—his ambition was crueler, sharper. He wanted to bend the supernatural laws of this world until death itself had no claim on him.
And for that, pain was his greatest teacher.
Rai stood and walked toward the stone platform he had carved with his own hands over years of labor. Embedded in the center of it was the strange treasure he had found years ago: a lump of pure Seastone. It gleamed faintly under the sunlight, sharp edges still jagged and raw. When he first touched it as a boy, it nearly killed him—the way it crushed his body and drained his Devil Fruit powers was suffocating. But he had forced himself again and again, until the agony became familiar.
He approached it now without hesitation, stripping off his tattered shirt. His young body, already muscled from brutal training, trembled as he crouched and pressed both palms firmly against the Seastone block.
"Ngghhh—!"
The weight hit him instantly. His Thunder Fruit abilities sputtered, the endless crackle of energy inside him snuffed out as if someone had pulled the plug. Worse still, his muscles felt like they were being filled with molten lead. His knees buckled, teeth grinding together.
But Rai didn't let go.
Instead, he focused inward.
This was the method he had been developing: Physio-Energy Conversion. By channeling his own bioelectricity—natural electricity generated from nerve signals and muscle movement—he could sustain himself even under Seastone's suppression. It wasn't flashy like unleashing lightning bolts into the sky, but it was infinitely harder. He had to force his body to generate energy on its own, controlling every spark down to the cellular level.
Sweat poured down his face as he gritted his teeth, eyes shut tight. He visualized his dantian, the spiritual core he had studied from the martial texts of his old world. Of course, this world didn't speak of dantian, qi, or runes—but Rai was not bound by its limits. He was an outsider, and so he created his own path.
Inside his mind's eye, he carved mental runes of thunder, etchings of lightning symbols that spiraled around his core. Each rune represented control—control over his nerves, control over his blood flow, control over his very heartbeat. The sharper he imagined them, the stronger his body responded.
"Breathe… hold… release…"
He whispered mantras as his arms trembled violently. Pain scorched his chest like fire, but then—snap. A jolt shot through him. His body, once suffocated by the Seastone, began to resist. His heart pulsed harder, stronger, his veins glowing faintly with blue sparks. The runes in his mind flared, and suddenly he wasn't just enduring the weight—he was mastering it.
Minutes dragged into hours. By the time Rai finally released the Seastone, he collapsed onto the stone floor, gasping. His body felt broken, but his mind was clearer than ever.
This was how he would walk the path to immortality. Not by waiting for fate to hand him answers, but by forging a system from scratch. Runic meditation, bioelectric control, Seastone resistance—layer upon layer, he would shape himself into something beyond human.
As night fell, he staggered to the cliff again, staring at the horizon. The ocean stretched endlessly, silver under the moonlight. Somewhere out there, the names he knew from his past life—Roger, Whitebeard, Kaido, Big Mom—were making history. Somewhere out there, Rocks D. Xebec was gathering monsters for his legendary crew.
And he, Rai D. Arashi, would one day stand among them.
Not as a pirate craving treasure. Not as a king seeking power. But as a man chasing eternity itself.
He clenched his fist, sparks crackling faintly between his knuckles. His lips curved into a thin smile.
"This world is perfect," he whispered to the night. "The supernatural is real, so immortality must be possible. And I'll be the one to reach it first."
The waves roared below, as if the sea itself had heard his vow.
Rai turned back toward the jungle, where tomorrow's training—and tomorrow's pain—waited for him.