A ten-year-old child, wearing a coat that resembled feathers and a bird-like mask, was seen strolling through the snowy mountains of the Snow Kingdom alongside a reindeer. The two were searching among the snow-covered bushes and trees, looking for medicinal herbs their mother had asked them to find. Suddenly, the reindeer spoke—a sight that would normally be shocking, but the child remained unfazed, suggesting this was a regular occurrence.
"I hope Doctorine won't get mad if we fail to find what she needs. I really don't like being scolded," the reindeer said to the child, whose face remained hidden—only his eyes were visible, glowing red with strange patterns.
"She will definitely be mad, Chopper. So we have to keep searching," the child replied, revealing the reindeer's name.
"Ahhh, let's do our best, Dougan," Chopper responded, unintentionally revealing the child's name as well.
"I told you to call me Douglas. We're friends—only strangers call me Dougan," the child corrected him.
"Ahh, I forgot. Sorry, Douglas," Chopper replied, blushing at the mention of friendship. All his life, he had been treated like a monster. But now, there was someone who accepted him.
Meanwhile, Douglas continued searching through the snowy brush and suddenly spotted a fruit with a strange swirling pattern. He froze in shock. He knew exactly what it was: a Devil Fruit. These were incredibly rare in this world, and yet one now lay before him—something he never expected to find.
-------------------
Douglas knew about Devil Fruits because he held a secret. He wasn't originally from this world—he was once a citizen of Earth who had been reincarnated into the world of One Piece after dying in a bus accident. But he hadn't been isekai'd without perks. He came with two special "cheats": the Essence of the Scholar and the Essence of the Human Body.
These Essences were powerful. The Essence of the Scholar gave him the mind of a super-genius, while the Essence of the Human Body granted him a prodigious physique. He had been transported to Drum Island as a baby and discovered inside a treasure chest by none other than Kureha during one of her ingredient-gathering journeys. The chest bore only his name—Dougan D. Douglas.
Kureha raised him, teaching him her vast medical knowledge. Douglas absorbed everything with ease, becoming a doctor at the young age of seven despite starting from the age of five. But he didn't stop there. He was also an inventor, creating useful tools like a specialized heater for Drum Island's harsh winters, and creating some devices that he could think of when there were materials. Despite being only ten years old, Douglas also possessed extraordinary strength despite only casually training, and just conditioning himself and doing some basic exercises.
-------------
"What a strange fruit... Don't eat it, Douglas. Maybe it's poisonous," Chopper warned as Douglas held the Devil Fruit in his hands. He had been tempted to eat it, but Chopper's concern snapped him out of his impulse. Douglas knew nothing about the fruit's abilities—if it turned out to be useless, it would only rob him of the ability to swim, a major drawback in the One Piece world.
"You're right. We should probably ask Doctor Kureha about this before doing anything rash," Douglas replied.
Chopper transformed into his full reindeer form, one capable of carrying a rider. Douglas climbed onto his back, and the two rushed toward the cabin where Doctorine was staying.
When they arrived, they knocked loudly and repeatedly on the door. After a few moments, it flung open with a bang, revealing an extremely angry-looking old woman—Doctor Kureha. She glared at them with irritation.
"Why are you making so much noise?! Did you two already find what I sent you out for?" she snapped.
"No, Doctorine..." Chopper replied with his head lowered. He hated disappointing her.
"But we found this, Doctor Kureha," Douglas added quickly, presenting the fruit. "We wanted to know if it's safe to eat. It has strange patterns all over it."
Kureha's eyes widened the moment she saw it. She recognized the design—it was unmistakable. Her adopted son was holding something extremely rare.
Without saying a word, she turned and walked inside. Chopper and Douglas followed her as she rummaged through her shelves, eventually pulling out a worn book—the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. She slammed it onto the table and began flipping through the pages. Douglas and Chopper joined her, skimming the illustrations, matching them with the fruit in his hands.
Finally, they found it.
Douglas's face turned pale.
He recognized it instantly—not just from the book, but from the One Piece manga he had read back on Earth. The fruit was the Aro-Aro no Mi, a Devil Fruit that was supposed to be in the possession of a terrifying figure: Saint Manmayer Gunko, a member of the God's Knights.
Douglas was stunned. How could he be holding this fruit now?
He began to question the timeline. Was this a result of butterfly effect ripples from his reincarnation? Had the Drum Kingdom found it by chance and unknowingly offered it as tribute before it ever reached Gunko? Or had fate been altered in a deeper, more dangerous way?
One thing was certain—this discovery had far greater implications than either of them could have imagined.
"How lucky—you've found an incredibly powerful Devil Fruit, Douglas," Kureha said, finishing her read-through of the fruit's description. She sounded genuinely impressed. It was already rare to find any Devil Fruit, but discovering one with such potent abilities was extraordinary.
"What are Devil Fruits, Doctorine?" Chopper asked, still unfamiliar with the significance of what Douglas had found.
"They're fruits that grant strange and unique powers to those who eat them," Kureha explained. "You're a reindeer, right? You became what you are now because you ate a Devil Fruit."
She handed the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia to Chopper. "Study this. It'll help you understand more about what you are—and what these fruits can do."
Meanwhile, Douglas stared at the fruit in his hands. He hesitated for just a moment—but only a moment. He didn't need to overthink it.
Fate had placed this fruit in front of him. It was powerful, rare, and in his hands. He wasn't going to waste an opportunity like this—not out of fear of disrupting the story's future.
Without a word, he took a bite.
It tasted horrible—just like every Devil Fruit supposedly did. But within moments, he could feel something awakening inside him. A power surging through his body. He focused.
With a thought, he summoned an arrow of pure energy. It materialized beside him and shot forward, straight through the cabin window, shattering it into pieces.
CRASH!
"PRACTICE YOUR ABILITIES OUTSIDE!" Kureha roared, her patience finally snapping. With surprising strength, she kicked Douglas straight out the door and slammed it shut behind him.