Chapter 4: Learning One's Place

Though it was an incredibly brutal sight, Thomas couldn't help admiring how casual Drake was as she showed him how to skin and butcher her prey with a relaxed smile on her face. It, unsurprisingly, wasn't her first time killing and dismantling a tiger. However, as she tore the monstrous creature apart, she remarked how the organs were placed differently and how the flesh and tendons were much stronger than the animals she had killed in the past.

While observing Drake's lesson, Thomas continued channeling his Mana into the Cook Card. Drake conceded she wasn't the most skilled chef, so, for both their sakes, Thomas did his best to summon their Cook as quickly as possible. He wasn't able to do so before the sun went down, but Drake knew how to salt-cure using salt harvested from pools of seawater, so they ate what remained of the fruit in the satchel before transporting the sun-dried meat, pelt, and sinew of the tiger back to the ship.

As she had neglected to do so earlier, Drake gave Thomas a tour of the Golden Hind's interior, explaining the purpose of each room and facility. There were quarters for ten ranking crewmates, including the Captain's quarters at the back of the ship, a surprisingly modern shower, a cargo hold that seemed much bigger on the inside than it had any right to be, a small greenhouse that could be used to cultivate plants, and, of course, a brig(prison). There was also a small rec area with a lounge and bar, but it was currently unstocked, much to Drake's chagrin.

What Thomas found curious was that the Hind didn't actually allocate space for its canons, not even the four artillery batteries at the front of the bow. The projectiles it fired were a form of Projection Magic, mana constructs that materialized at the mouth of the cannon ports. To power them, and the rest of the Hind's facilities, there was a rather futuristic engine room at the heart of the ship, a place Thomas would apparently be spending a lot of time in the future.

Patting the luminous golden engine, the front of which resembled the firebox of a steam train, Drake explained, "This bad boy here is called an Equivalence Engine. You feed items that have value into it, and it converts them into energy that can power the Hind's cannons and even permit it to fly. It accepts everything from organic matter to manufactured items such as bank notes, but the most 'efficient' source of fuel we have available, at least for the time being, is you."

Following her explanation, Drake added, "Once we finish assembling our crew, you will spend around 4-8 hours a day feeding your Mana into this engine. If the threats in this world are as powerful as you suggest, we'll need to accumulate as much Mana as possible. The strength of my Noble Phantasm, the Golden Wild Hunt, is entirely dependent on the amount of energy stored within the Hind. With enough, we can level entire islands or circumnavigate the globe without touching the ground."

Though he had already known the Hind could fly, as it often did so in the media it was depicted, Thomas couldn't help smiling. The ability to fly was a near-absolute advantage in the world of One Piece. Not only would it let them fly over the Calm Belt without risk of encountering Sea Kings, but if they had enough power, they could soar up to Skypiea, pass over the Red Line, and even conceal their ship inland, hidden from passing pirate ships and Navy vessels.

Imagining Drake bombarding Marineford from thousands of meters in the air, outside the range of ordinary Marines and pirates, Thomas replied, "I'll do it. Exhausting my Mana should help increase the quantity I possess, so I'll do my best to fill the engine as much as possible."

Clapping Thomas's shoulder, Drake mused, "Good answer. It seems you might actually have a backbone under all that excess flab. Now, return to your quarters and get some rest. You can continue trying to summon our Cook in the morning."

Without waiting for Thomas to respond, Drake made her way for the exit of the engine room, departing without sparing him a second glance. As for Thomas, he just stood there for a little while, frowning as he looked down at his slight paunch. He was a little over 6'2'', around 188cm, so his weight of 238lbs, 108kgs, wasn't 'that' bad. However, if he was to have 'any' hope of wooing some of One Piece's more famous beauties, he 'had' to improve his figure. His face wasn't bad looking, at least in his opinion, so he should clean up nicely if he put a bit of effort into it.

Determined to do exactly that, Thomas returned to his simple quarters and cycled between doing push-ups, planks, squats, and crunches. He was a little annoyed when he couldn't even do twenty complete push-ups without 'cheating,' but every path to power had to start somewhere...

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"Ugh..."

Though Drake had assigned him the room closest to the center of the ship, Thomas couldn't sleep due to the constant rocking of the boat and the sunburn he had accumulated sitting under the Sun for half the day. The Hind was fortunate enough to have a regulated climate, meaning it was a lot cooler inside than it was outside, but that actually made things worse for Thomas as he felt like he was freezing despite it being around 72°F, 22°C.

Giving up on sleeping, at least for the time being, Thomas sat up in his bed before reaching for the logbook given to him by Zelretch. When he opened it, he was a little surprised to find that it had recorded many of his actions throughout the day, even keeping track of the amount of time and the number of exercises he had done.

Reading the entry about his aspirations of building a harem, Thomas's left eye twitched a bit. He had just transmigrated to a world that he previously thought to exist only in anime and manga. He had also been reading One Piece for more than twenty years, so it was natural to have at least 'some' expectations for the world and its characters...right?

Exhaling a sigh, Thomas picked up the rather old-fashioned pen slotted into the log's spine, formalizing his plan by writing it down. Most of his actions would depend on 'when' he was in the canon timeline, but there were a few things he had to do. There were obvious ones, such as visiting Skypiea, Fishman Island, Zou, and Wano, but if the opportunity presented itself, he would at least try to save people like Ace and, if he was far back in the canon, characters like Bell Mere and Kuina...

While it would be easier to bide his time and let canon events unfold until the defeat of Kaido, Thomas wanted to 'experience' the plot that had left such a profound impression on him over the past 23 years. A part of him didn't want to damage the integrity of the plot, but a much larger part of him wanted to change things for the better. After all, he was supposed to be fighting against fate. Why shouldn't he change things...?

Though he genuinely wanted to improve things for the better, Thomas would be lying to himself if he said he didn't have ulterior motives. If he were to have 'any' chance with someone like Nami, he would need to do something pretty major to catch her attention. Even if he just liberated her village while she was traveling around the East Blue and gathering funds, he could leave an everlasting impression that would 'compel' her to seek him out...

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By the time he was finished drafting his plan, Thomas was beginning to feel at least a little sleepy. Focusing on something had allowed him to get over his motion sickness, at least for a short while, so he jumped at the opportunity to get a bit of rest before the start of a new day...

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After less than four hours of sleep, Thomas dragged himself out of bed to use the restroom before making his way up to the ship's deck. He needed some fresh air, so, while continuing to channel Mana into the Cook's Card, he made his way outside to greet the day.

Though he half-expected to find Drake standing on the bowsprit, Thomas wasn't too surprised to find her absent. She had her private quarters for a reason, so he suspected she was either still asleep or lounging about until breakfast. The Sun had barely started its ascent—

Noticing a group of derpy-looking white birds with large beaks, black-tipped wings, sailor's caps, and newspapers tucked under their wings flying overhead, Thomas immediately tried to flag them down. Luckily, the group of News Coos had noticed him long before he noticed them, so one of them immediately swooped down, perching on the edge of the portside taffrail(the handrails that prevent people from falling off a ship).

As there was a convenient little tab that showed the cost of a newspaper, Thomas handed over a 100 Belly coin, slotting it into the red satchel tied around the News Coo's neck. In response, it used its black-tipped beak to fetch one of the papers from its newspaper tote, handing it to him before flying off to join its companions.

After watching the flock of News Coos fly away, Thomas opened the wax-covered newspaper to try and make sense of its contents. There were a few fliers listing updated bounties for pirates in the South Blue, articles related to rebellions in distant kingdoms, and recruitment notices asking for brave and righteous individuals to join the Navy. However, the thing that caught his attention were two articles, one with the title 'Spade Pirates Enter the Grand Line!' and 'The Birth of a New Supernova!'.

As the Spade Pirates were the crew founded by Portgas D. Ace, Luffy's blood-brother, Thomas immediately deduced that the canon events had yet to start. Ace would join the Whitebeard Pirates shortly after the Spade Pirates' debut in the Grand Line, and he was with them for at least a year before Luffy set out from Foosha Village. In other words, he had at least a year to travel from the South Blue, his apparent location, to the East Blue.

Fortunately, while he couldn't remember the exact layout of One Piece's world, Thomas knew the East and South Blue were sister seas. They were separated by the Calm Belt and the Grand Line, but with the Hind's ability to fly, they may be able to circumvent both. If not, they could always sail up the Reverse Mountain and simply fly down in the direction of the East Blue...

Though he doubted things would be that straightforward, Thomas felt it would be worth it so long as he could cross paths with the Strawhats at least once before the Paramount War. He had no plans to accompany them on their voyage directly, but establishing rapport with them early on would make things much easier for him. If he was serious about Nami, he could even track down the location of Weatheria and just happen to meet her there when Kuma sends her flying over from Sabaody.

Interrupting Thomas's thoughts, the Cook's Card suddenly flashed white, disappearing from his hand as what could best be described as a magic circle appeared beneath him. He was startled by its abrupt appearance, but he was far more surprised by the diminutive, 130cm tall little girl that popped out. She had auburn, reddish-brown hair that was cut in a bob, a long ponytail that nearly reached the ground, and an outfit that resembled an apron formed of white feathers. A large blue and black ribbon was tied around her waist, red and gold sleeves resembling the oversized sleeves of a Japanese Shrine Maiden adorned her arms, and she had white tabi covering her feet, each elevated atop platform shoes. However, the thing that stood out the most about her, other than the black beak protruding from her forehead, was the creepy-looking bird nested within her hat. It was nearly spherical, and its red, ostensibly lifeless eyes seemed to peer directly into Thomas's soul...

While Thomas was staring at her with a stupefied expression, the little girl was staring up at him with an earnest and curious look on her face. Then, increasing Thomas's feelings of incredulity, she suddenly lowered herself to the ground, sitting on her knees before bowing forward with her hands touching the deck as she said, "Benienma greets her Master..."

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(A/N: Mascot acquired?)

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