One Piece: The Sword Hunter

West Blue, Mad Hatter Town, Lawless Street.

In a lawless stretch where pirates gathered, a carefully prepared hunt was already underway.

"Aaargh! You damned brat! You're asking for death!" Cale's blade had opened wound after wound across Cosmo's body, and the pirate roared, each word forced through clenched teeth.

"Hah?"

A short distance away, Cale stood with his sword in hand, watching the man across from him. The pirate's face was hard, his mouth cruel, and a strange tattoo ran from one side of his cheek down to his neck. Wounds covered him from head to toe, and now rage was all he had left.

Cosmo captained the Serpent Lizard Pirates and carried a bounty of twelve million Berries.

His prey.

"Out of tricks already, Cosmo?" Cale asked. "Are you ready to die?"

The faint smile tugging at his mouth only made his handsome face look colder. He turned his wrist, spun his blade through a clean flourish, and settled into a stance that could turn into an attack at any moment.

His short black hair stirred in the wind. His limbs were long and lean, packed with battle-trained muscle. Not showy bulk, but muscle shaped by combat.

He was already stronger than an ordinary man. Each completed hunt had pushed his strength and physique further beyond human limits. His build looked normal, but the power stored inside him was anything but.

"You damn bastard." Cosmo's eyes hardened, his fury curdling into bloodlust. "You think you've already won? No. You don't know a damn thing."

His voice dropped. He bent forward slightly, hunching his shoulders, and his eyes suddenly narrowed into vertical golden pupils.

"I'm a Devil Fruit user!"

At the same time, his body swelled. Layers of scales pushed out from his back. His hands twisted into claws, and the upper half of his head stretched into a narrow, reptilian shape.

In a few short moments, he had become a lizardman.

That was the power of a Zoan-type Devil Fruit: it allowed the user to transform into a corresponding creature. Zoan transformations were generally divided into three forms: human form, hybrid form, and beast form.

This was the hybrid form. In that state, he kept the general shape of a human while taking on a beast's traits, turning himself into a lizardman and greatly increasing his strength.

"Hiss... heh heh!" The lizardman twisted his neck. His wide eyes were bloodshot, and his breath came hot and ragged, thick with bloodlust.

He was furious. No one had ever dared to stand in his way like this. Today, some brat barely out of childhood had treated him like nothing.

He wanted blood. Only tearing the brat apart would satisfy him.

"Kehehehehe... let's see how brave you are now!" His long, forked tongue slid from the corner of his mouth, giving him the look of a predator about to pounce.

"Didn't see this coming, did you? I ate the Rage Lizard Fruit. I wasn't planning to use this power, but you really pissed me off. Now I'm going to rip you apart!"

Cale's mouth twitched.

'A Devil Fruit user? Then the intel was wrong.'

A pirate's bounty was not decided by strength alone. It also reflected the crimes committed and the threat posed. Originally, he had assumed that twelve-million-Berry bounty came from Cosmo's crimes, not his strength.

Now, though, it seemed the man was also a crafty bastard who knew how to hide his strength.

'Twelve million?'

If his bounty reflected his actual strength, it would probably be at least ten million higher.

'So... should he retreat, or continue?'

His grip tightened around the hilt of his sword, his brow furrowing. The decision came quickly.

'Damn it.'

He had no intention of giving up a chance he had spent days setting up. He did not want to take a risk he could not control, but some chances had to be taken.

Besides, taking down a Zoan user should greatly improve his stamina and endurance. Physical enhancement was one of their defining traits, and that was exactly the kind of reward he needed most right now.

'Yes.'

'The reward.'

That was his special advantage here.

Cale had come from another world. In his previous life, he had been a struggling webnovel writer and a One Piece fan. He had never imagined he would actually end up in a place this vast and brutal.

Back then, he had fantasized about getting some overpowered Devil Fruit, becoming strong overnight, roaming the sea, and exploring its secrets. But after actually waking up here, he quickly understood something.

On a sea where tomorrow was never guaranteed, anyone without enough strength was only one bad day away from losing their head.

Fortunately, he had his own special ability. Whenever he personally killed his prey, he could draw a portion of that person's abilities and experience.

It worked a little like gaining experience. The rewards could take many forms: martial arts, swordsmanship, physical strength, Devil Fruit mastery, even Haki.

As long as the kill was his, he could draw a portion of that person's power. And if he had accurate information beforehand, the more detailed that intelligence was, the richer the reward.

Before this, he had already teamed up with allies he met after arriving here to take down a retired pirate swordsman. The old man had lost one eye and had once fought his way back from the Grand Line.

From him, he had obtained basic swordsmanship and three killing techniques.

In One Piece, "swordsmanship" was used broadly, covering weapons his old world might have separated into swords, sabers, and other blades.

Andnow, he could already call himself a real swordsman.

x

x

x

If you're enjoying the story so far, consider supporting me on Patreon ❤️

You'll get weekly early access to chapters, along with some exclusive content:

https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheDevotedReader