Waking up to the sun shining through the broken windows onto my face, I looked around and, remembering that I wasn't at home, felt a bit of loneliness. But there was nothing to be done about it. A person adapts quickly to new situations, and this one would be no exception. First things first, I needed food — I was incredibly hungry.
After searching the house, I found some hard black bread. It was edible, but I'd better find something better, because with this kind of food, I wouldn't last long. After struggling to chew the bread and nearly breaking my teeth, I decided to go look for better options. One possibility was going fishing.
In my past life, I loved fishing, and in the world of One Piece, there's ocean everywhere, making it a sort of island world. There was almost nothing useful in the house for fishing, so I gathered my things and headed to the dock where the ships were moored to find fishing gear.
When I got to the dock, I saw many trading ships and one luxurious ship. Looking at it, I realized it was probably a cruise liner — it was several times larger than the trading ships and richly decorated. At first glance, it was clear that nobles likely sailed on such a ship.
Without thinking much longer, I began searching for anything I could use for fishing.
After searching for a while and finding nothing at the dock, I went down to the shore to look there.
Time passed, and more than two hours of searching had passed when I found nothing except a small piece of fishing line. "I was hoping for too much," I thought to myself.
But I decided to continue searching, and when I'd gotten quite far from the dock, I saw a small broken boat that had washed up on the shore.
As soon as I saw it, I felt a little relief, and I ran to it. After two minutes, I dragged it onto the shore.
The boat was in poor condition. Its hull was cracked, the sail torn, and the oars were missing. But then I had an idea — I could use the boat as a floating platform for fishing.
However, after thinking about it, I discarded the idea — it was too dangerous. Most likely, the boat had been destroyed by a Sea King, and if I tried to sail on these wrecks, I probably wouldn't come back. Such things had happened before. Even though the island was considered safe, sometimes Sea Kings passed through these waters, attacking solitary boats.
After two hours of searching, I had scoured most of the beach and the brush, and I was starving. So I decided not to go too far and started fishing.
I searched through the boat and found some fishing line with a hook, a torn net, and a few untouched bait. Although the gear wasn't in the best condition, it was better than nothing.
Quickly breaking a stick from a tree, I attached the line with the hook. The gear was sturdy enough to catch small fish.
I quickly found a beetle in the brush, hooked it onto the hook, and moved to the spot where the rocks began. I cast my line into the water.
Time passed slowly, but with fishing, patience is key. But when you're hungry, thoughts of food tend to come to you every now and then.
Just a few minutes later, my patience was rewarded. The fishing rod suddenly bent toward the water. I quickly yanked on it, and there was no struggle with the fish — pulling up a small fish, I had the thought of eating it immediately, but after some self-restraint, I carefully removed it from the hook and placed it in the boat. Then, I attached new bait and cast the line again, hoping for better luck with the next catch.
From the position of the sun, I realized it was already noon, and over time I noticed that the fish became more active. One by one, the fish tried to pull the line into the water, and I, without much difficulty, pulled them onto the shore of the boat.
After ten minutes, my patience wore thin, and I decided not to wait any longer. Grabbing the net, I scooped the fish up and ran toward the dock.
I could have eaten the fish right there, but I decided to ask the local fishermen if it was edible. After all, not everything is safe to eat. So, taking the fish, I headed to the dock.
It took me 20 minutes to get there (much faster than last time), and I ran to the only fisherman I had seen.
Approaching him, I realized he was an elderly man and said:
"Hello, could you help me, please?"
"What do you need? I'm not giving you any fish!" he answered a bit sharply.
"I'm not here for fish. I just wanted to ask you if this fish is edible?" I said, showing him my catch.
"Ah, that's what you want! Well, I'll help you as much as I can," the old man said, changing his tone sharply and relaxing. "Sorry for snapping at you, there are a lot of beggars around here, they're getting on my nerves."
"It's okay. Is this fish edible?" I asked.
"Well, it's all edible," the old man said after observing the fish for a moment.
"Ah, thanks! Then I'll run home," I said and started running toward the house.
The old man scratched his head and turned back to continue fishing.
Approaching the house, I opened the door and entered the makeshift kitchen. Throwing the fishing gear into the corner, I started preparing food. Luckily, I had a few kitchen tools: an old knife and a pan, black as pitch, but it was enough to get started. I took the fish, cut it open, removed the scales, and cleaned it of its innards. Then, cutting it into small pieces that would fry faster, I suddenly realized that I had no place to fry it.
"How could I not think about this earlier?" I muttered. It seemed like I needed to figure out something about the stove.
Deciding not to waste time, I went outside to look for the necessary materials. Fortunately, I lived on an abandoned street in a city with many old houses. This meant that there were likely bricks or stones around that I could use to build a stove.
I started running around the street, collecting everything that could be used. Stones, bricks — everything was fair game. After a while, covered in dirt, I gathered enough materials to build a basic stove. It turned out quite primitive, but functional. The stones formed a small circular fire pit, where I could place the pan. Though far from ideal, the stove should do the job.
Having prepared everything for frying, I returned to the house, grabbed the pan again, placed it on the stove, and waited for the fire to pick up a bit. Although the fire wasn't strong, it generated enough heat to soften the stones and provide warmth.
Now that my makeshift campfire was ready, I turned back to the fish. The smell of fresh food was already starting to fill the room, and I eagerly awaited the moment I could finally eat.
The fish was starting to burn on the pan, but I didn't mind — I just needed something to eat. As I chewed the fish, I realized the old saying: hunger is the best seasoning. Even without spices or proper cooking, the food seemed perfect in that moment. After eating almost all the fish I had, I realized I was either extremely greedy or it was because Bellamy had been starving for the past couple of days. I needed to find another source of food.
If I thought about provisions, I could explore the forest near the city. While I was frying the fish, I recovered pretty quickly, so I could head out immediately. In the past, Bellamy had been to the forest only a couple of times without venturing into the brush, so it would be a new experience.
The forest was on the other side of the island, right next to the abandoned area where I lived, so after fifteen minutes of walking along a winding trail, I entered the forest, where trees formed a dense green canopy above me. The temperature here was a couple of degrees lower than outside the forest, but it wasn't too troublesome.
The rustling of footsteps beneath me blended with the birds singing and the sounds of animals hiding among the leaves. As I wandered through the forest, observing it, I couldn't help but notice the variety of plants and berries I encountered along the way. Earlier, in my previous life, I had seen these plants in pictures or heard about them, but now, in this new world, everything felt different. Many of these plants were edible, and although I didn't know them all, I remembered a few from Bellamy's old memories.
A couple of types of herbs I saw were definitely edible — familiar plants like alfalfa and clover. I knew that their leaves and flowers were safe to eat, and the roots of some species were excellent sources of energy. A few bushes of berries I encountered reminded me of blueberries, although they weren't exactly what I had expected. I decided to try a few berries, and fortunately, they were edible, slightly sour but quite tasty. It might not have been the best for survival, but it helped ease my hunger while I searched for something more substantial.
In the future, if I actually start training, I'll need a lot of calories. Just fishing wouldn't be enough to sustain me for intense training. I needed to think of something more reliable to ensure long-term food.
I needed to start hunting or setting traps. However, in this world, things were a bit more complicated. Here in the forest, the animals might not be as simple as the ones in the hunting grounds I had seen before. Still, I knew that I could set traps for animals — it would give me a chance to catch some meat, which I clearly lacked.
The only trap that came to mind was a pit trap, which I could dig near a watering hole where animals often visited. It seemed logical since the watering hole was a natural spot for animals, and if I set the trap correctly, they would come there unsuspectingly and fall into it.
The idea behind it was simple: I needed to dig a deep enough pit near a place where animals frequently came to drink. The pit had to be hidden — I could cover it with vegetation on top so the animals wouldn't notice the trap. But it was important that the pit be deep enough so that the animal couldn't escape and wide enough to catch even larger animals.
The first step was to find a suitable spot. About twenty minutes had passed, and although I hadn't found a stream, I noticed a few fresh tracks leading deeper into the forest. This was something. The tracks were clearly left by animals — some large, others smaller, but all heading in the same direction. I decided to follow them, walking along the trail the animals had left behind. It was likely a path they regularly took, heading toward a water source or another food source.
I moved cautiously, trying not to scare away any potential prey and not leaving any tracks behind. The tracks led me further into the forest. I began digging the pit, using all available tools — stones, sticks, even my hands — everything worked. Thankfully, the soil near the water was soft.
When the pit was ready, I carefully checked its size. It didn't take long — the pit was about a meter deep and half a meter wide. Afterward, I began covering the pit with branches, leaves, and grass to create the illusion of solid ground. Only a few fresh tracks remained on the surface to attract the animals to this spot.
Setting traps could be an effective way of acquiring food in the long term. Now, all that was left was to see if any animals would fall into my trap. I was ready, but before I returned to check the result, I needed to leave the forest and head back home.
On my way out of the forest, I continued picking the berries I encountered along the way. When I finally emerged from the forest, the day was drawing to a close. I headed home, scanning the surroundings for other food sources and thinking that I should consider setting more traps and finding other ways to secure food.