Luke’s eyes lit up when he saw the information on the new world.
One Piece!
He had been looking forward to this world for a long time. As one of the three great mainstream manga series of the previous century in his memory, it had brought plenty of joy to his childhood.
And the Armament Haki he currently used came from One Piece. If he could enter the world of One Piece, his Haki abilities were bound to improve dramatically.
He just did not know whether he would be lucky enough to start somewhere suitable for learning Haki. In the minor nations outside the New World, Haki truly was not widespread.
On his way back, Luke spent his remaining Endspace Coins at the trade market to replenish some consumables. Then he returned to his room and entered the private room exclusive to Pioneers.
He had completed a Pioneer mission in the Kengan Ashura world before and received a Pioneer Medal, which could be spent in the store.
At the time, though, he had browsed the store and found its merchandise unsatisfactory, so he had not exchanged anything.
After checking the refreshed inventory this time and finding it still mediocre, Luke more or less understood the purchasing power of a Pioneer Medal.
A Bronze Pioneer Medal was probably a relatively low-tier medal. It could only be exchanged for Rare equipment with a perfect rating, or Purple recovery items with mediocre ratings. Luke therefore decided not to save it. He spent it directly on Purple-grade recovery items, lest it become useless later.
Once everything was ready, Luke lay down on No Dreams and meditated, resting until his mind had been adjusted to its peak condition.
When the countdown began, he got up, shrank No Dreams down, and put it into his storage space.
[Teleportation commencing...]
Accompanied by Endspace’s notification, Luke felt himself enter that hazy tunnel of white light once more. Everything was blurred, and only Endspace’s voice at his ears remained clear.
[Locating world...]
[Location successful. Target: Large Derivative World—One Piece.]
[Explorers deployed by Endspace: 179.]
[Explorers deployed by God Space: 158.]
[The Pioneer has automatically mastered this world’s common language. 100 Endspace Coins deducted.]
[World teleportation in progress... The Pioneer may review this world’s details in advance.]
When the notifications ended, a menu appeared before Luke’s eyes. Since the teleportation would take some time anyway, he began reading.
[Mission World: One Piece]
[Mission World Type: Large Derivative World]
[World Difficulty: Lv. 3–???]
[Notice: This world is a large, open-development Derivative World. Difficulty varies by region. Pioneer, proceed with caution.]
World Overview: A struggle for wealth, fame, and power, shrouded by the mysteries of historical truth.
Across the vast seas, Marines and pirates slaughter one another. It is a clash between “justice” and “evil,” between Devil Fruit users and Haki.
Devil Fruits: Fruits born from the desires in people’s hearts. Consuming one grants miraculous abilities, but because they defy nature’s laws, the sea—the mother of all life—rejects them. Devil Fruit users fear seawater and Sea Prism Stone.
The Three Types of Haki: A latent power possessed by all humans. It is an advanced technique that can only be awakened through powerful conviction.
World Government: The largest organization in the current world. It has ruled the world for eight hundred years.
Marines: The World Government’s military force. At times, they maintain order on the seas.
Pirates: Most are cruel scum who pillage, murder, and commit every evil imaginable. A small minority bear the name of pirate but are, in truth, adventurers.
[Notice: Killing Explorers from God Space in this world doubles the chance of a Fallen Treasure Chest dropping.]
Luke skimmed through the information, then heard a fresh notification from Endspace.
[Arranging an initial identity for the Pioneer...]
[Assessing strength weighting... title weighting... trait weighting... personality weighting...]
[...Comprehensive analysis complete. A suitable identity has been assigned to the Pioneer.]
[Deployment successful. Pioneer, please review your mission.]
As the sensation of weightlessness vanished, foul, putrid air flooded Luke’s nostrils. He opened his eyes and found himself in a dark, damp prison cell.
Luke froze for a moment. Then he tried to move his limbs, only to discover a heavy feeling of restraint.
His face immediately darkened. He realized that he seemed to be... in prison again!
And unlike his imprisonment in the Kengan Ashura world, his ankles were currently locked in Sea Prism Stone shackles, with a heavy iron ball hanging from the chain outside them.
Fortunately, he was not a Devil Fruit user. Even with his feet shackled, only his mobility was restricted. He would not lose his strength or be unable to cut people down.
He was currently being held in a single-person cell. The treatment did not seem too bad, at least. A private room, right? Luke consoled himself.
After confirming that there was no immediate danger, Luke remained vigilant as he examined his mission and initial identity.
[Current Location: New World, Wano Country, Udon Prison.]
[Current Time: Sea Circle Calendar, Year 1510.]
[Current Identity: Prisoner.]
Before he had even seen the mission, merely confirming his location and identity nearly made Luke cough up blood.
Fine. Very fine.
He had previously hoped to land in the New World, because many people there knew Haki, making it convenient for him to learn it.
In a sense, Endspace had fulfilled that wish—and gone above and beyond.
Not only had it dropped him in the New World, it had directly sent him to the prestigious cram school run by Teacher Kaido: Hundred Beasts Academy.
The problem was, he was not a member of the Beasts Pirates. He was a prisoner in Udon Prison: the kind of slave labor convict who would be worked to death here under the guards’ supervision.
After reading the detailed profile of this identity, he more or less understood why he had been locked up here.
His original identity was that of a traveler who had accidentally entered Wano Country. After witnessing the local people’s miserable plight, he had decided to become a “Demon Slayer.”
So he had gone to challenge Kaido. Unsurprisingly, he had been beaten half to death with a single club strike. Though calling it a strike was not quite accurate. Kaido had been drunk at the time and lazily swung his club from far away as if swatting a fly. The gale unleashed by that swing alone had blasted him into a wall, leaving him half-dead.
Kaido had always been tolerant toward those with the courage to challenge him. Or perhaps he simply disliked wasting labor. He had his subordinates send Luke to Udon Prison for “reform through labor.”
According to the Headliner from the Beasts Pirates who had brought him here, as long as Luke performed well during his labor reform, he could apply to join the Beasts Pirates afterward if he wanted, becoming one of the lowest-ranking Waiters.
So-called Waiters were members of the pirate crew who had not yet eaten an artificial Devil Fruit and were waiting to gain powers.
Luke had no idea whether this identity had always existed. He had been imprisoned in Udon for three days now, having just awakened after his injuries were healed. The Supreme Bandages wrapped around him had not even been removed yet.
Presumably because his appearance needed to fit his initial identity, the Pure Black Nightmare coat he had originally worn had been placed in his storage space. His Cloud Treaders, on the other hand, had been disguised by Endspace and currently looked like utterly ordinary shoes.
After a brief analysis, Luke more or less understood why he had received this particular initial identity.
Logically speaking, his overall strength was insufficient for undertaking a mission in a place as dangerous as the New World. But by sheer coincidence, before entering the world of One Piece, he had already mastered the New World’s standard Haki. Moreover, his Armament Haki was already at a respectable level, even by New World standards.
Additionally, the experiences in his assigned identity had most likely been influenced by his two titles. According to Endspace’s prior evaluation, the Brute title meant he was a reckless idiot who feared neither heaven nor earth, so naturally he had challenged Kaido.
And Kaido just happened to be an Oni. His Demon Slayer title had aligned perfectly with that, so he had gone to kill Kaido as a Demon Slayer. The result, unsurprisingly, was that he had become a prisoner.
Finally, after looking at the mission, he roughly understood why he was in this situation.
Well... he had no main mission. He only had a side mission called Fruit Hunter.
This was Luke’s first time encountering a Derivative World without a main mission. However, Endspace had provided an explanation: One Piece was a large, open-development Derivative World. Explorers could freely explore it and would not be assigned a direct main mission.
Of course, their stay was not unlimited. They only had three months, after which Endspace would forcibly pull the Explorers out.
Nor would Endspace let Explorers live comfortably in a mission world. It informed them that their overall mission-world evaluation would depend on how much Exploration they acquired.
Luke had analyzed Exploration before. Killing a key figure in a world, altering the course of the plot, or interacting with important people could all earn Exploration. How much depended on the circumstances.
But no matter what, Exploration was not something one could obtain by staying in one place, eating and waiting to die. If he remained imprisoned here, gaining much Exploration would be impossible.
And once Explorers began moving around, they would easily encounter danger in this world.
This world was extremely chaotic. Pirates were everywhere, and meeting them meant fighting. Even if one did not encounter pirates, running into Marines was not necessarily safe.
Luke had read the latter half of the manga in Endspace. He felt that the World Government had become more and more like the villains... and the Marines had become increasingly less deserving of the name.
In an enormous world like this, Explorers were not necessarily safe even in the East Blue, much less in the New World where Luke currently was.
Wano Country was a high-level map. Although he could not see its difficulty cap, it probably exceeded Level 40, perhaps even Level 50. He might not even be able to defeat the guards in Udon Prison.
Fortunately, as long as he did not attempt a prison break, his life should not be in danger for the time being. And though the prisoner identity was a complete pain in the ass, there were still benefits to be had here.
Udon Prison was the “preschool class” of the Hundred Beasts Academy tutoring empire. It offered a way to learn Ryuo, the advanced application of Haki.
And because this was a high-level map, most people here knew Haki. Not only could he learn Ryuo, he could also learn Observation Haki.
Luke had no intention of submitting to Kaido and becoming a Waiter. Jokes were jokes, but Kaido truly was a brutal tyrant. Luke did not want to work for him, much less eat some artificial Devil Fruit.
Once he had sorted out his thoughts, he decided to observe the prison for a while, find old man Hyogoro, and learn some Haki from him before considering how to escape.
He was not worried about the Sea Prism Stone shackles. Perhaps because his luck had improved and some of Yukikaze’s fortune had rubbed off on him, he happened to have a master key capable of opening the Sea Prism Stone locks.
Once the moment was right, he could make a run for it at any time.
Just as he was thinking, Luke suddenly heard footsteps. Soon, a prison guard appeared outside his door, accompanied by another prisoner wearing Sea Prism Stone cuffs.
But unlike the filthy labor convict Luke had imagined, this prisoner was a tall young girl with long white hair fading into another shade. She wore a sleeveless, fitted white kimono, and an enormous shimenawa rope was tied around her waist.
Supreme Bandages were wrapped around her forehead. Her youthful face was full of unhappiness, and as she walked, the side of her breasts faintly showed and trembled beneath the openings of her sleeves.
The guard leading her opened the door, his expression restrained. "Young Master, please go in."
Judging by the guard’s attitude, this did not look like an escort delivering a prisoner to a cell at all. It looked more like he was waiting on a young lady.
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