"Hoo! Hoo!"
"Ten thousand thirty thousand two hundred and twenty-one! Ten thousand thirty thousand two hundred and twenty-one!"
By the sea, a muscular boy—seventeen or eighteen years old—was roaring as he lifted a dumbbell nearly ten times his own size. With each swing, powerful gusts of wind sliced through the air. And he had been at it nearly all day.
Sweat dripped from his chiseled muscles and splattered on the ground. Standing at a staggering 1.9 meters tall with a body built like a seasoned warrior, it was hard to believe this young man was only fourteen.
"Fourteen thousand!"
Bang!
His arm finally gave out. The massive dumbbell dropped to the earth with a heavy thud.
"Hahh… I'm spent!"
Collapsing to the ground, the boy gasped for air, his arms trembling from the exertion.
"Three thousand more swings than yesterday!"
He clenched his fists in triumph. This wasn't just any dumbbell—it weighed a full 100 tons. And he could swing it more than ten thousand times.
This was no ordinary feat. But then again, he wasn't in an ordinary world.
Rockefeller Charlotte had awakened in a world where power reigns supreme—the universe of One Piece. A place he knew all too well from the anime he'd watched as a child in his previous life. Somehow, unbelievably, he had transmigrated into this dangerous world.
But it wasn't the present timeline.
When Charlotte was just ten, he caught a glimpse of the notorious Rocks Pirates in a newspaper. The year was 1480, a full forty years before Monkey D. Luffy would begin his journey.
Charlotte was stunned.
Anyone who's seen One Piece knows that this world is anything but peaceful. One never knew when pirates would raid a town. And while there were fewer pirates now than in later eras, danger still loomed.
Worse, Charlotte found himself in the New World—the second half of the Grand Line—known for being a haven for the most powerful and ruthless pirates. That alone was enough to terrify anyone, let alone a ten-year-old who'd just found himself in a new body.
Panic was his first instinct.
But Charlotte wasn't just anyone. In his past life, he had been a mercenary—a rugged professional shaped by conflict and survival. Though this new reality was mind-boggling, his instincts eventually took over.
How did he become a mercenary in the first place? That story was stranger than fiction.
Back in his former life, he'd heard tales about college students making fast money by working as mercenaries in the Middle East during summer break. Maybe it was youthful recklessness, or maybe just curiosity, but after being introduced by a friend, he found himself in a mercenary company almost by accident.
And just like that, his mercenary career began.
As the saying goes, "If you walk by the river long enough, your shoes will get wet." Eventually, his luck ran out. In one intense firefight against a rival group, a grenade landed beside him. It exploded before he could react.
The next thing he knew, he woke up in a child's body.
The original Charlotte, a ten-year-old boy, had been knocked unconscious by the waves and slammed against rocks while fishing on the beach. That's when his soul arrived—the dove taking the magpie's nest.
The island he woke on was small, barely more than a town, with a population of just over a thousand. It was located in the first half of the New World, but thankfully close to the G-8 Navy Branch. While not one of the later well-known branches, its presence gave the young Charlotte a little comfort.
Once he regained his bearings, Charlotte began recalling every memory he had of the One Piece world. Surprisingly, despite not having watched the anime in years—especially during his mercenary days—he found the memories shockingly vivid.
This excited him.
With such knowledge, he believed he could chart his own path. Even a sliver of foreknowledge could be enough to reach the top in this world.
But Charlotte wasn't content with just hiding and surviving. That wasn't who he was.
He wanted to leave his name in history.
His current name: Rockefeller Charlotte.
Armed with resolve, he started a strict training regimen. Having watched One Piece, he knew the threats that lurked everywhere—especially once the Great Pirate Era began. The seas would become a chaotic mess of power and ambition.
Charlotte had no intention of becoming cannon fodder.
He began building his strength methodically.
The world of One Piece offers various paths to power:
Swordsmanship
Martial arts
Haki (the three-color system)
Devil Fruits
Gunmanship
As a mercenary, Charlotte naturally considered guns first. But the firearms in this world were mostly outdated flintlocks, and that idea quickly lost its appeal.
Devil Fruits?
Where would he even find one? The original body certainly hadn't left him any treasures. Charlotte crossed that option off the list.
Haki?
Armament Haki was too demanding for his young body.
Observation Haki might be trainable, but would take years.
Conqueror's Haki? A one-in-a-million gift. Who knew if he had it?
That left martial arts and swordsmanship—both of which he knew a bit about.
His first goal: train his body.
Charlotte modeled his training after Roronoa Zoro, whose routine was shown in detail in the anime. Explosive legwork, high-weight lifting, and arm power drills—Charlotte integrated it all, combining it with techniques he'd learned in his mercenary past.
As for swordsmanship, he figured he could start simple. Even if he didn't have formal guidance, practice would make perfect. Repetition was key.
He didn't believe in shortcuts.
So, with Zoro's example and his own grit, Charlotte set his sights on growth. He believed that being a transmigrator gave him the edge—and he would use it.
After resting for two days in his thatched cottage, Charlotte's injuries—sustained during his first day on the beach—healed at an astonishing rate.
Even he was shocked.
When he'd been rescued, several bones were broken. Yet after just a few meat-heavy meals, he was back on his feet like nothing had happened.
What was even more shocking was that no one else found it strange.
To them, it was perfectly normal.
Only later did Charlotte realize what kind of meat he had eaten.
It was from a Sea King—the same species of monstrous sea creatures known to tear off a Yonko's arm, like what happened to Shanks.
That's when Charlotte had a revelation:
Eating was also a path to power.
And thus began the story of Rockefeller Charlotte, a boy from another world—reborn in the deadliest sea, wielding grit, knowledge, and muscle to carve out his own legend.