Protagonist: Gern
[It's said that if you collect enough brains, you can summon a dragon. Everyone, let's crowdfund together.]
[The Logia-type Quake Fruit is the author's original setting. Please stop asking why it isn't Paramecia.]
My name is Gern.
I'm a transmigrator.
Once upon a time, I too imagined myself dominating the seas in the world of pirates.
Reality, however, struck me with a blunt club—
No system.
No golden finger.
Not even a half-decent cheat.
But that was fine. At least I had the advantage of being a "prophet."
With knowledge of the plot, surely I could latch onto a big shot and rise smoothly… right?
That naïve dream was completely shattered when I turned ten.
That day, my hands trembled as I clutched a crumpled newspaper.
Printed on it was a name that made my scalp go numb—
"Gold Roger."
Not Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King.
But Gold Roger.
In that instant, I realized this world had already veered off the path I remembered.
The era of Rocks was still at its absolute peak—
and my so-called foresight, built from binge-watching short clips online…
The very next day, just to have food to eat, I grabbed a recruitment slip for a West Blue Navy logistics job and joined the Navy without looking back.
If even Coby, the King of Deserters, could rise from a chore boy to a Headquarters colonel in two years—
was it really impossible for a transmigrator like me?
Reality proved that yes.
It was impossible.
Four years.
Four whole years.
No background. No connections.
I burned money and begged favors just to crawl my way into the position of Second-Class Logistics Soldier.
Our famed instructor Zephyr had just been promoted to Vice Admiral under the title "Black Arm,"
and had zero interest in nurturing a new generation.
The Naval Academy slots were precious—
and I was nothing more than a "triple-zero product" from a West Blue branch:
No Haki.
No Devil Fruit.
No talent.
Just a bit more strength than average.
As for earning promotions through military merit?
Don't joke around.
In an era where the Rocks Pirates ran rampant, that was suicide.
So if death was inevitable—
I might as well gamble big.
Devil Fruits.
That was my answer.
As long as I obtained any one of them, my fate would be rewritten.
And that chance lay in the God Valley Incident.
Six Devil Fruits.
Rewards of the Celestial Dragons.
The opportunity I had waited four years for.
For this day, I lived frugally, navigated between West Blue crime families, gambled my life—
even mortgaged my organs and borrowed every high-interest loan I could.
Thirty million Berries.
With bribes on top, I finally secured a Navy slot to escort the Celestial Dragons' so-called "educational trip."
Four years of endurance—
all for this moment.
This was no longer just gambling my life.
What I was betting on—
was the future of this world.
Year 1484 of the Sea Circle Calendar.
God Valley.
"Hah!!"
Gern tore himself out of unconsciousness and snapped his eyes open.
"Conqueror's Haki again…"
This was already the fiftieth time he'd been knocked out.
He struggled upright and found himself at the edge of a forest on the island's outskirts, the coastline not far away.
Memories flooded back—
The Celestial Dragons' hunting game.
The sudden storm.
The Rocks Pirates' assault.
The arrival of Roger and Garp…
Then—
The sky-rending clash of Conqueror's Haki, followed by consuming darkness.
"Damn it!"
Gern slammed his fist into the ground.
"What time is it now? How long was I out this time?! The battle—"
He staggered to his feet, legs trembling from the lingering pressure of Rocks and Roger's Haki.
Through the canopy, the sky glowed an eerie dark red.
Thunder-like roars echoed in the distance.
"Don't tell me it's already over…"
Fear coiled around his heart like a venomous snake.
By his memory, the decisive battle should've already erupted.
Roger and Garp versus the Rocks Pirates.
And the six Devil Fruits that could change his fate—
"Fish-Fish Fruit… Paw-Paw Fruit… they should still be somewhere…"
His voice caught.
He knew better than anyone.
A battle that lasted less than a single day had already reached its conclusion.
When that sky-tearing Conqueror's Haki vanished, the Rocks Era ended.
Now, there were no shouts of slaughter—
only scattered cheers from the Navy.
"It's all over…"
The thought pierced his heart.
The Fish-Fish Fruit went to a young Big Mom.
The Paw-Paw Fruit was eaten by Bartholomew Kuma.
The rest were surely long gone.
Four years of planning.
More than twenty million Berries borrowed against his life.
A complete joke.
"So in the end… I actually…"
His fist trembled uncontrollably.
"AHHH!"
He smashed his fist into a nearby oak tree—
The tree shook.
And then—
A white apple fell straight down and smacked him on the head.
"…Huh?"
He looked down.
A strange apple lay before him—
white, covered in crystal-like fracture patterns.
A Devil Fruit.
Gern grabbed it instantly, pupils contracting.
He looked up.
The tree was an ordinary apple tree, bearing normal red and green fruit.
Only the one in his hand radiated an eerie presence.
Without hesitation—
Crunch.
He bit down hard.
The taste was indescribably vile, triggering instant gag reflex, but he swallowed anyway.
"Ugh—AHHH!!"
Then—
His body shuddered.
Bones. Muscles. Blood.
Countless microscopic vibrations pierced every nerve.
The ground rippled like waves.
The air trembled unnaturally.
Then—
Silence.
Gern felt his body disappearing.
No—
not disappearing.
Transforming into something more fundamental.
He could create and control these vibration particles.
He looked down.
His arm turned semi-transparent, composed of countless trembling particles.
He clenched his fist.
BOOM!!
An invisible shockwave erupted.
The air shattered like glass.
Trees within ten meters were reduced to dust.
"This… this is… the Quake?! No—!"
He felt it clearly.
He wasn't using a medium.
He himself was the source of vibration.
With a thought, his body turned into a vibration wave, passed through a broken tree, and reformed on the other side.
"Elementalization… It's Logia!!"
Then he froze.
"Wait—wasn't the Quake Fruit Paramecia?!
Why did mine turn into a Logia?!"