After some back and forth I was able to calm down the heated villagers and clear up the misunderstanding, being forced to release the old man in the process; where he later confessed that he attacked because he believed me to be a thief looking for some special 'commodity' found in the forest this time of year, with thieves and pirates alike flocking to the island in droves.

I had no idea what he was talking about and said so, explaining that I simply wanted a place to stay and merely helped when I saw pirates attacking innocents.

After a few more questions the old man, Ichiro Rosa, who I learned is the chief of the village, finally allowed to stay in the now semi-destroyed village.

…

Now here I am, laying on a hard mattress as I stare up at the craggily ceiling of the room that the old chief lent me for a night in recompense for attacking me.

'Ha~ I guess that's as good as I could've expected, I AM still a stranger after all… guess I'll just have to find myself a job or something until I know what I want to do in this world,' I then softly roll onto my side and begin to contemplate on a more important subject.

'The slow-slow fruit… why is it so… weak!? I know that in the show the fruit was merely a joke, but in real life… it just makes no sense. There's no way a fruit that can play with time so casually can be so weak…' remembering that one pirate that managed to spot my attack and actually managed to avoid it.

'There's no way light should be so slow…'

I try to recall every piece of information on how photons and devil fruits work, or at least how their supposed to work.

After some heavy brainstorming, I come to a simple conclusion, I was using it wrong!

The energy rings aren't meant to be the attack itself… but simply a component of it! And if what I think is happening to the beams for them to be so slow is true… than the anime did a real injustice on what the fruit is actually capable of!

With that in mind I immediately stand up off the bed and exit the room, excited to test if my theory actually holds water or if it's just some overly optimistic rubbish.

…

I walk along streets of this cozy and strange village, passing by houses that look like flower vases, _ and even green houses, yet most are built of stone and wood, like everywhere else.

As I pass the town square, now full of tied up and unconscious pirates, something curious catches my eye, a bound and still clearly depressed Porche being escorted towards the square by a few of the local men.

I walk up to them and inquire, "Hey guys! Why are you taking her as well?" I ask, a little curious to the situation, she is a pirate after all so she must've known the risks that come with being one… but last I remember, she wasn't the one who attacked the village… not that I think that would even matter in this callous and cruel world.

"Eh? Oh, is you... well, we don't really know, ya know? We saw her walking outta Bloom Forest, just like you. But da weird ting is dat she don't talk! We been asking her why she there, but she don't say nothin'! So, we all figured she must be a thief and we puttin' her wit' the rest. She ain't sayin' nothin' to object, so we gotta be right, right? "One of the men in the group answers, scratching the back of his head in confusion.

"Ah! well actually she- "I go to correct him but stop as I glance down at her hunched and depressed figure, seeing this a tiny sense of pity grows within me so I simply go with it, and change my words.

" …actually, I think I remember seeing her on the same ship I was on when it was attacked, she must've drifted to the other side of the island or something, she's probably behaving like that due to losing someone close to her or something." I quickly come up with a plausible excuse as I shrug.

The backstory I created for myself is an extremely basic but solid one: I'm a shipwrecked survivor that drifted ashore after a group of bloodthirsty pirates attacked and sank the ship I was on; there is a bit more to it than that but overall, it seems to work fine, as everyone simply accepts it, while giving me sad looks and then moving on.

"Oh... well if dat's da case den she free to go... we all know how it feels to lose someone to dem damn pirates, y'know?" and as expected, the men quickly untie her before briskly walking away.

"Um~ that was easy?!" I gawk at how simple that was… this world is really fucked up!

"Anyways… Porche, right? Don't think too deeply on why I helped you out or anything, honestly, I just felt like it… call it a spur of the moment thing... well, I'll be seeing ya… good luck!" I awkwardly start as I catch her giving me a questioning look, followed by speedily walking away.

'Phew~ that was awkward!... why the hell did I even do that!?' I begin to berate myself as I walk through and out of the village proper.

'Now she could spill the beans and ruin my story!... I guess I just didn't want to see her suffer in a horrible place like Impel Down after knowing what she's been through recently… am I too soft? Meh~ whatever, it's not like it'll affect me even if she does talk,' I quickly conclude after some thinking.

What the hell would some weak villagers on this random ass island even do if they found out I lied?

'Anyways, let's forget about that, I have some tests to run!' I joyfully proclaim in my head, forgetting about the whole matter.

[2 Months Later]

"Agh! 96… Ugh… 97!" I tiredly count out as I perform another low squat with a large, car-sized boulder strapped to my back.

'Has It already been two whole months?' I reminisce silently as I inhale and exhale large gulps of air.

"A lot of things sure have happened…" I mumble under my breath as I glance to my right, where a person can be seen doing upside down sit-ups on a vine 10 feet off the ground.

"Oh~ did you *ugh* need *ugh* something Cade-kun?" the strained but still sweet voice of a woman questions at my gaze.

"No *Ugh* nothing… Porche-chan," I hastily respond back while looking away from the blue haired woman I encountered and 'saved' all those weeks ago.

"Okay~"

Now back to what I was saying, a lot's happened this month, including the fact that I now go by Cade, the name I chose after I remembered I had no recollection of my own name… which sucked when one of the villagers asked for it and I had to awkwardly come up with an excuse as to why I couldn't answer... super embarrassing!

Anyways, the reason behind that particular name is simple, because I liked it!

I overheard one of the villagers call me the 'ghost around town,' due to never being seen around the village, mostly due to the fact that I like to spend most of my time in the flower forest or Bloom Forest as it's called, exercising, and meditating. (Cade means ghost in Welsh)

Especially after I discovered a little trick the locals use in order to safely navigate the dangers of the place.

Another important thing that's happened is that I learned a little more about my situation, more specifically the name of the island I currently stand on: Lily Island, named after its lily-like shape and more obviously the large amounts of 'Lilies,' or flowers found everywhere.

Surprisingly, this island is located somewhere I know very little about, the West Blue; one of the four 'normal' oceans in this world, but more importantly for me, an enigmatic place almost completely unexplored in the anime or manga.

When I first learned of this, I was both extremely surprised and excited, surprised because of the huge unknowns it represents to me, and excited because I get to explore and live in a place 'outside' of the main story.

Lastly, my most crucial discovery in this time came when I was skimming through the newspaper – that was sold by a large carrier albatross – and read the headline!

"Supernova Fire Fist Ace Defeated by the Whitebeard Pirates!"

Reading this caused my eyes to widen in shock, not only on coming across the article on Ace being defeated by Whitebeard, but by the fact that this confirms on what part of the timeline I was thrown into, two years before canon starts!

Two years before Luffy sets off on his crazy ass adventure that shakes the entire world to its core!

"Oh~ Cade-kun, you almost done? I want to arrive in time for the party!" the soft voice of Porche brings me out of my thoughts.

"100! *Phew* yeah, I'm done for the day" I breathlessly respond as I go to untie the large boulder from my back.

"Here let me help~," Porche approaches me after jumping down from her perch above, helping me untie the 'sticky vines' I use to hold up the boulder.

*Boom*

"Thanks… we ready?" I ask as I crack my back, getting a few pleasant pops in response.

"Yeah~," she happily replies before glomping onto my arm as we walk back to the village.

Now onto the most obvious change in these two months… Porche.

Well, it all started about a month ago, two weeks after the incident with Foxy and the pirates.

I was out on a morning walk after helping out old man Ichiro with some errands he had for me, when what appeared to be a lifeless zombie approached me!

The creature was dirty, wearing ripped and grimy clothes that revealed scuffed up and dirt-stained skin underneath. A mop of dirty and tangled hair covered hollow and lifeless eyes, clearly, I was face to face with some sort of diabolical creature!

"C-cade…" the creature spoke in a hoarse tongue… making me wonder if it was instead a ghost or a ghoul? Maybe a witch?

"Cade… mind if we talk?"

… until the creature, which I was sure was a ghoul, spoke clearly while at the same time brushing back its matted hair, revealing a beautiful face with a slightly pointed nose underneath!

It was Porche! The very same woman I came across twice on my first day in this world… and had almost forgotten about since then.

"Uh… Porche?! What can I… do for you?" I dumbly ask while trying to conceal my surprise at the state she was in…

"… Sorry for how I look… you know after everything I just… anyways, I wanted to ask if you're able to talk with me for a minute and answer some questions I had… please!" Porche implores me with an embarrassed expression on her face, clearly now realizing the state she was in.

"Sure, what is it you want to talk about?" I accepted her request while shrugging my shoulders, I had nothing better to do at the moment and there was nothing wrong with answering some questions she clearly needed answers to.

"Well…"

From there she bombarded me with questions regarding the death of her formal boss… to which I answered honestly for the most part.

Revealing that I had only just eaten the devil fruit moments before their arrival… as well as a few other unimportant things.

I would have liked to keep that a secret… but anyone with half a brain would quickly realize I was lying, not only are my powers extremely underdeveloped, but anyone who sees me training and theorizing on what the fruit can even do would quickly realize the truth.

The answers seemed to have relieved her of something as her tense shoulders sag in relief.

She then begins to ask about lighter subjects, like why she always saw me constantly training and working out as if my life depended on it? Wasn't I already strong with the fruit?

To this question I had to hold back a facepalm, of course someone as weak as her would think that simply having a devil fruit makes one strong… just like in canon.

Either way I answered truthfully; revealing that a devil fruit doesn't make you strong… not without pushing your boundaries and training to constantly improve every single day.

As for the working out… the answer was quite simple, I was weak! Weaker than normal, so I was working hard to correct that. That was shown to me clear as day after a silly incident with the old man happened.

This clearly surprised her, but she didn't argue against it, however she did make funny faces, probably thinking along the lines of, 'If you're weak than how weak am I?' which was confirmed when her next question was if she could join me?

This caught me off guard but after considering it for a bit, I nodded and accepted it, there was nothing wrong with having her with me, her presence might even help in some of the future training sessions I'd come up with.

"Sure, you can join me." I smile slightly as I notice a spark of life enter her previously dead eyes.

"O-okay! Do you wanna start now?!" she eagerly asked while excitedly nearing me, to this I quickly raise my hands and declare, "tomorrow, we can start tomorrow!"

Clearly due to the fact that she currently looked more like a ghoul, stench and all, than a proper human!

"Oh- okay! Thanks Cade-kun! Thanks for answering my questions! I'll see you tomorrow!" she awkwardly but happily replies after remembering herself.

Followed by quickly running away to what I presume is a long and painful shower.

"See ya tomorrow…" I mumble to myself as I continue on my relaxing morning walk.