The blazing sun poured over the endless ocean. Amid the sparkling waves, a shabby little boat was battered mercilessly by a raging storm.
At last, with a deafening crash, the boat was swallowed by a massive wave, leaving only scattered planks and foam drifting across the blue and grey sea.
In a remote corner of the vast ocean, a ragged teenage boy clung to a wooden barrel, his eyes filled with fear and determination as he floated with the current.
Gentle sunlight filtered through dense treetops, casting dappled shadows on the ground. The boy slowly awoke from unconsciousness, adding a trace of life to this desolate island.
"Ugh... where am I?" Lind groaned, feeling the weakness and pain in his body, realizing he had narrowly escaped death.
"I must be the shame of all fishermen. Not only did I catch nothing, but I also managed to fall into the water!"
"Next time I go fishing, I'm bringing someone along. Lucky to be alive, otherwise I'd be fish food."
He sighed in relief, grateful to have survived.
In his previous life, Lind was a third-year university student majoring in agriculture. He was working at a school-partnered experimental farm.
One weekend, he went fishing alone by a river near the base. After several failed attempts, he kept changing locations.
Finally, during one such move, he slipped and fell into the river.
"From the looks of this familiar blue sky, I must've washed ashore. Thank the heavens for this miracle."
Having just brushed with death, Lind didn't yet realize his true situation. He assumed he'd simply gotten lucky.
After all, he had no experience with falling into the water and figured, like in TV shows, people often just got washed ashore.
"I don't know how long I was out... Hope Professor Wang is okay. I need to get moving."
Then it hit him—something was off. Had he been reborn? Or had he transmigrated?
Looking at his smaller hands and arms, Lind knew—Professor Wang probably wasn't doing great right now.
As the person in charge of the base, Professor Wang was likely in chaos over Lind's disappearance.
Fortunately, Lind had already registered with the "Qidian Orphanage" back in his old life—he had no real ties.
His disappearance would only cause a little trouble for the school and the professor.
Still, he felt guilty. The professor had treated him kindly, and his accident was bound to create a big mess.
"What a shame about my graduation thesis... Wonder which unlucky junior will inherit it."
"Maybe the school will use it as a cautionary tale for future students."
He tried to move his stiff body and soon stopped worrying about Professor Wang, considering instead how his disappearance might be educational.
Agriculture students often spent time at various rural stations, rivers, and lakes included.
A mishap like his served as a real-life warning.
"Sigh, I should focus on how to survive first," he muttered.
"The salty sea breeze... soft sand... This body likely suffered a shipwreck." He touched the sand beneath him, trying to guess what had happened.
"Hopefully I didn't wash up on a deserted island."
"I've read Robinson Crusoe and I know how to farm... but wilderness survival is still a nightmare!"
Just imagining the worst-case scenario gave Lind a headache.
"One step at a time then. Let's see what's around."
Rubbing his head, he prepared to explore the island.
Suddenly, a sharp pain stabbed through his brain, forcing a scream out of him.
"AAAHH—"
A flood of chaotic memories surged into his mind, crashing and merging.
His body convulsed from the pain, which lasted more than ten minutes before finally easing.
"This world... feels familiar. No—extremely familiar!" he gasped, trying to make sense of the fragments in his mind.
"There may be no original characters, but there's a World Government, Marines, Pirates, and the New World... It's that world. Just... much earlier."
"Year 1477, huh? Earlier than canon, but that gives more time to grow... if I can grow strong."
Lying on the ground, Lind sorted through his memories while muttering to himself.
"Hilt Lind... another member of the Qidian Orphanage."
"With no family or connections, no one's coming to save me. I'm on my own."
"This world has no continents. Hopefully, I ended up on an inhabited island."
"Then I could at least find a job and bide my time while I plan my future."
After resting a bit more, Lind forced himself to stand despite the pain, determined to explore.
Time passed quickly. The sun had grown harsh compared to the gentle light when he first woke up.
Lind returned to the beach from the woods, carrying some fruit.
"What a frustrating kind of luck..."
He stared at the purple fruit in his hand, covered in spiral vine patterns.
After two hours of basic exploration, he concluded the island was very small—maybe a kilometer in diameter.
It looked like he was about to live like a wild man for a while.
Honestly, Lind had hoped it was a large, inhabited island so he could quietly lie low and plan.
That didn't happen—but he wasn't unlucky either.
Despite its size, the island had abundant fruit trees: coconuts, bananas, durians—more than enough to surprise him.
He'd even spotted small animals like squirrels and rabbits. Food wouldn't be an issue.
For water, there were multiple small ponds. Not super clean, but humans in this world weren't as fragile as those in his previous life.
He could even boil the water if needed.
In short, surviving here wouldn't be hard.
Especially with this fruit in hand—it gave him a surge of hope.
"I've been awake this long and haven't found a golden finger... This Devil Fruit might be my only shot at changing my fate."
"The body's natural talent seems average. Without a Devil Fruit, I'd probably be stuck at the bottom of the ladder forever."
Holding the fruit, Lind muttered to himself.
"Leave it to fate! Only by grasping the present can I hope for a future. The famous fruits from the original story are way too far from my reach."
"Getting a second chance at life, I'm not willing to struggle at the bottom!"
With resolve in his eyes, he bit into the fruit without hesitation.
"Holy sh*t—this Devil Fruit's taste is as awful as they say!" His earlier determination vanished as the vile taste hit him.
The flavor was unbearable—but remembering online "legends," Lind pushed through and forced down the entire fruit.
Better safe than sorry—maybe you had to eat the whole thing to unlock its full power.
Eyes closed and face twisted, he finally finished the fruit and immediately grabbed a coconut to rinse out the taste.
"Good thing I had the foresight to prep this coconut. Otherwise, I'd have puked up everything I just ate."
He kept grumbling as he chugged the juice.
Only after draining the whole coconut did he feel somewhat alive again.
Sitting on the ground, chewing coconut meat, he began to sense the fruit's power.
"Whoa... this fruit's actually kind of insane!" Lind exclaimed.
"Was this fruit ever in the original? A mutation ability? If developed well, it might rival even some top-tier ones!"
The mutated fruit's potential got him excited—but he quickly found the downsides.
Uncontrolled mutation. Weak effects. Hard to develop.
Those three summed up the flaws.
First, it couldn't mutate himself—too risky. A good mutation was fine, but what if he turned into a zombie or... something worse?
Maybe future Kaido or Shiki would love this fruit, feeding it to loyal minions and gambling on probability.
With enough subjects, they could form a powerful mutated army rivaling the Beasts Pirates or Shiki's monster legions.
But Lind couldn't use it that way—he needed strength for himself.
Next was the weak effect. Even a successful animal mutation only granted things like a leopard's speed or tiger's strength—nothing beyond what advanced tech could already outclass.
Mutating a wolf's claw? Big deal—might be worse than just grabbing a kitchen knife.
Finally, development was almost impossible. Most mutations stayed basic. Unless Vegapunk personally modified it, you'd never get something like Wolverine's claws.
"Until I can control the mutation direction, I absolutely won't use it on myself!" he growled.
With those flaws in mind, Lind gave up dreams of turning into the Hulk or Magneto.
If he wanted strength, it'd have to be through martial arts or swordsmanship, using the fruit only to assist in the short term.
"No way am I relying on random mutations—I need a smarter approach."
"In my situation, the best option is my old trade—farming. Let's hope the island's plants mutate into something useful."
"This body's talent is limited. Without outside help, training alone might only get me to a pirate bounty of a few million tops."
Thinking it through, Lind re-centered himself. His knowledge from the past gave him ideas for developing the Devil Fruit.
From years of reading novels, he knew: farming was the way.
Grow strange or powerful plants through mutation, improve them generation by generation—maybe one day a single grain of rice could grant immortality, or a peach could send him soaring into the heavens.
"The road is tough, but the future is bright! I'll lie low until I'm invincible!"
Swallowing the last bite of coconut, Lind stood tall and shouted.
He gazed out at the vast sea, eyes gleaming with ambition.
"Now then—stock up supplies, build defenses, develop carefully... and one day, make my mark on this world!"