Scholar of Strawhat Pirates

A five-year-old boy trudged through the snow, shivering in thin, inadequate clothing. He was being pulled along by an elderly woman, her grip firm on his small hand. Her face bore a scowl of clear displeasure as the child struggled, trying to shift her hand onto his arm for warmth—but her grip was too strong for him to resist.

"Doctor, let me go! Let me play!" the child pleaded, tugging insistently at her hand.

"No," the woman replied sternly. "You're not even wearing proper clothes. Why would I let you play in weather like this?"

"I'm not cold! I'm a tough adult!" the child insisted with bravado, puffing out his chest.

The woman let out a sharp laugh at the boy's declaration. Their bickering continued until they reached a small wooden cabin nestled at the edge of the snowy hills. Without ceremony, the elder opened the door and shoved the boy inside.

The child, Dougan D. Douglas, was an orphan, discovered inside a treasure chest with nothing but a note bearing his name. The chest had washed ashore near Drum Island, where it was found by the very same woman now raising him: Dr. Kureha.

Kureha was no ordinary woman. A famed doctor with a notorious reputation, she was often called "the Witch" by former patients. Her bedside manner was harsh—she poked and prodded without care, and wasn't above threatening her patients if they disobeyed her instructions. Yet behind that forcefulness was skill, and perhaps even care. She had taken Dougan in, raising him in her remote mountain home.

What Kureha didn't know, however, was that the boy she was raising was never meant to exist in this world.

Dougan had been reincarnated from Earth, sent into the world of One Piece with a carefully crafted background and a cheat ability. Before arriving, he was given a choice: set his history and upbringing. He had chosen to be the son of a slave belonging to a World Noble from the Manmayer family and a member of the enigmatic D. Clan, with blood deemed "tainted." As a baby, he had been thrown into the sea, abandoned rather than killed, and washed up near Drum Island—just as he had written.

He also ensured he'd be found and raised by Kureha. Another cheat he selected was the Essence of a Scholar, a gift that would activate on his sixth birthday and grant him extraordinary intelligence and learning ability, essential for his dream of becoming a doctor. He knew Kureha held the secret to unnaturally long life, living well past what should be possible for a human.

Yet despite all his planning, one thing tugged at Dougan's heart.

He knew that soon, a blue-nosed reindeer named Chopper would suffer great pain—rejected by his kind, branded a monster, and left to wander alone. Dougan didn't want that for him. He longed to find Chopper early, to befriend him, and prevent that suffering.

But then he remembered: Chopper needed that pain. That journey. That loneliness. Without it, the Chopper he knew—the future doctor of the Straw Hat Pirates—might never come to be.

And so, with a heavy heart, Dougan decided not to interfere. He would wait. He would let fate bring Chopper to Kureha in its own time.

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As the year passed, Douglas's sixth birthday finally arrived. When he woke up that morning, he noticed a small vial placed on his bedside table. A label on it read: Essence of Scholar.

Excitement bubbled inside him. He immediately recognized it—his cheat ability had finally arrived. Without hesitation, he uncorked the vial and drank the contents. The taste was oddly familiar, reminding him of the brain supplements he used to take on Earth while studying.

Moments after drinking it, the world seemed to slow down.

Douglas's thoughts began accelerating. His brain processed information at an overwhelming speed, and memories—both clear and hazy—rushed back into his mind. Even the blurred recollections from his past life, ones he'd long forgotten, now played vividly in his mind like scenes from a movie. Every detail, every feeling—restored.

After several intense minutes, the mental flood subsided. Douglas sat up, breathing deeply. His mind was sharper than ever. All of his knowledge about the One Piece world resurfaced clearly—characters, events, techniques, histories. It was all there.

Driven by instinct and curiosity, he approached the bookshelf in Kureha's study. As soon as his fingers brushed against the spines of the books, something incredible happened: the Essence began its true work. Every book he touched—he understood instantly. The information poured into his mind, as if he'd read them cover to cover in seconds.

Thankfully, Kureha was away—out hunting in preparation for Douglas's birthday celebration. That gave him full freedom to explore.

He touched every book in the cabin, absorbing knowledge on anatomy, medicine, chemistry, engineering, and more. But to his surprise, Kureha's library wasn't limited to conventional medical texts. Hidden among them were research notes, private logs, and experimental data—some of which hinted at something extraordinary.

One particular set of notes caught his attention: research into a serum for immortality.

Douglas absorbed every page of it. Through Kureha's detailed experimentation, he discovered that her longevity wasn't mystical—it was scientific. The essence of her method lay in extending the natural limit of cellular division. In normal humans, cells can only divide a finite number of times before they begin to deteriorate—a biological process linked to aging.

But Kureha had found a way to push beyond that limit. Her formula altered the mechanisms of cell replication, allowing them to divide far more times than naturally possible. While it didn't grant true immortality, it drastically slowed the aging process, enough to explain how she was still active past 140 years old.

By the time Kureha returned home, Douglas had absorbed the full extent of her knowledge. Books, notes, formulas—he knew everything she knew, and possibly more.

Kureha returned with a massive reindeer slung over her back—the centerpiece of the birthday feast she had planned for Douglas.

"Doctor, need any help?" Douglas asked, eager to assist.

But instead of gratitude, his offer was met with irritation.

"Do I look helpless enough to need a child's help?" she snapped. "Just sit down and wait for your food, birthday boy."

Douglas chuckled quietly, unfazed by her sharp tone. He knew her well enough by now to understand it was just her way of caring.

More than three hours passed as the delicious scent of roasting meat filled the cabin. Finally, Kureha placed a steaming plate in front of Douglas, joining him at the table. Together, they shared the meal—an unspoken but heartfelt celebration of his sixth birthday.

As the day drew to a close and the fire crackled in the hearth, Douglas turned to her with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Doctor… can you teach me to become a doctor too?"