One Piece : Pirate King Sage

In a small black bar in the western suburbs of Luoyang, Wang Lei lay on the sofa in a private room, his legs propped up on the computer desk, intently staring at the screen.

The screen was playing the first episode of "One Piece," which was Wang Lei's favorite anime and the only source of entertainment in his troubled life. He had watched the series from over a hundred episodes to now more than five hundred, following it for seven years, and it had been his strength to keep going.

Wang Lei was eighteen years old, an orphan raised by an old man. The old man didn't take Wang Lei in out of kindness; rather, he was too old to steal for himself.

Starting at the age of six, Wang Lei learned various thieving skills from the old man. Once he had mastered all the tricks of the trade, the old man planned to pull off a big heist to ensure they wouldn't starve for the rest of their lives. Wang Lei was eleven at the time.

After preparing for six months, they targeted a museum where every artifact was a priceless treasure. If they could steal just one, they could live comfortably for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, despite all their preparations, they were caught, and Wang Lei was arrested alongside the old man.

As they were being apprehended, the old man told Wang Lei that he was the last master of the "Thieves' Guild," now reduced to just him. He assured Wang Lei that he would take the blame for all their crimes, hoping that Wang Lei would carry on the legacy of the guild.

Thus, the old man was sentenced to thirty years in prison, which felt like a life sentence for a man in his seventies. However, since Wang Lei was only eleven and the old man had taken the blame, he wasn't charged.

During the time without the old man, Wang Lei struggled to survive. Just as he was about to starve, he first reached into someone else's wallet, relying on the expertly honed skills the old man had taught him. The effectiveness of those techniques was undeniable.

Tasting success, Wang Lei slowly began to wander the streets on his own, with no fixed home. An internet café became his refuge.

The first time he entered a café, he didn't even know how to turn on a computer. It was only with the help of a kind stranger that he learned how to watch movies. Seeing Wang Lei was quite young, the stranger opened an anime for him to watch, which turned out to be "One Piece."

Everything in "One Piece" captivated Wang Lei deeply. He spent days and nights in the café, binge-watching all the episodes available at that time. The story of the main character, Luffy, and his companions greatly inspired him. From that moment on, Wang Lei felt invigorated and decided he would live well until he found his own companions.

Unfortunately, by the time Wang Lei turned eighteen, he still hadn't made a single true friend. His companions were all people who were only interested in his money and skills, which left him feeling disappointed. Now, his greatest source of entertainment was watching "One Piece," replaying it over and over again. He had lost track of how many times he had watched it.

That night, Wang Lei decided to watch it once more. As he watched, he silently recited the lines along with the characters, making almost no mistakes. He had memorized every line and every action in "One Piece."

What others might find impressive seemed ordinary to Wang Lei. When a person's life consists solely of theft and watching "One Piece," it's no surprise they can remember it so well.

He watched from seven in the evening until midnight, feeling a bit tired. He grabbed a backpack beside him, hoping to lift his spirits.

This backpack was the result of his earlier activities that day. A woman, looking quite fashionable, had been flaunting a designer backpack on the street, practically inviting him to make a move.

Wang Lei pretended to be captivated by her beauty and followed her for several blocks. The woman noticed the man trailing behind her, but after sizing him up and seeing his shabby appearance, she dismissed him and didn't look back.

After wandering through several shopping streets behind the oblivious woman, Wang Lei finally saw an opportunity and effortlessly snatched the backpack for himself.

After stealing it, he didn't immediately open it to see what valuables were inside. He preferred to explore these items when he was bored, allowing them to bring him some surprises. It was one of the ways he passed the time.

When he finally opened the backpack, he found three neatly stacked bundles of cash—about thirty thousand yuan—along with half a box of condoms. Wang Lei chuckled; it seemed this woman was involved in that kind of business.

He stuffed the cash into his pocket and continued rummaging through the backpack. There was one more item inside: a finely crafted cross. The cross featured a large blue gemstone in the center and a row of eight small red gemstones beneath it.

As he examined the exquisite cross, Wang Lei felt puzzled. Although the cross had a chain made of small pearls, it didn't look like it was meant to be worn around the neck. It was simply too large—about the size of a palm and weighing around two pounds. Wearing it would be exhausting.

After scrutinizing it for a while without figuring out its purpose, he glanced at the USB port on the computer's main unit. He was struck by the similarity in size between the port and the end of the cross. Could it be something that plugs into the computer?

With this thought, he casually inserted the cross into the USB port.

Once plugged in, the screen showing the first episode of "One Piece" flickered, and a new window popped up with the message:

"Data collection in progress…"

After a moment, the data collection window disappeared, and a line of text appeared: "Data collection successful. Currently in the four-dimensional space of Earth Star. There is no energy available to repair the body in Earth Star. Would you like to continue searching other spaces?"

Below that line was an option, and without thinking, Wang Lei chose "Yes." He wanted to see what this thing actually was.

After making his selection, the data collection window appeared again. After a moment, it confirmed that data collection was successful and presented another option.

"Five-dimensional space 'Mercury' detected. Would you like to enter Mercury to collect energy?"

Wang Lei again chose "Yes." After confirming, the screen displayed: "Emergency measures activated. Conventional energy conversion in progress... Please prepare for spatial traversal..."

Wang Lei chuckled, thinking, "What kind of space traversal is this? Do they think I'm easily scared? I'm just sitting here to see what tricks you can pull."

"Beep... Beep... Spatial traversal will commence shortly. Please disconnect the device..."

After the voice repeated several times, Wang Lei realized what was happening. He reached out to unplug the cross from the port and casually draped it around his neck.

Once he secured it, he suddenly felt a violent shaking, and the lights in the internet cafe flickered before plunging into darkness.

"Damn, the internet manager! What kind of lousy internet cafe is this? To lose power at a time like this while my equipment is upgrading! If this upgrade fails, I'll wreck your cafe!"

Just as he recognized the arrogant voice of Huang Mao Feige, he lost consciousness and fell into a deep sleep.

"Beep... Beep... Insufficient energy for physical spatial traversal. Activating soul traversal mode..."

In a daze, Wang Lei heard this voice before completely losing consciousness, until he finally woke up.

"Ouch... It hurts so much... Ahhh..."

Suddenly, Wang Lei was hit by a wave of intense pain, as if his body had shattered into hundreds of pieces, almost overwhelming him.

"What on earth is happening...?"

Wang Lei opened his heavy eyelids to find a bright blue sky above him, with several white seagulls flying overhead, their melodious cries echoing far and wide.

"Special energy collection in progress..."

The metallic voice echoed in Wang Lei's foggy mind. Through the haze, he could feel the palm-sized cross on his chest vibrating intensely.

"Energy collection complete. A total of fifty-eight stars' worth of energy collected..."

"Main body data collection complete. Vital signs weak. Would you like to proceed with body enhancement?"

Wang Lei was in agony. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be able to hear such things, but now the voice resonated clearly in his mind, as if it were spoken directly to him.

"Body enhancement options are as follows: Strength enhancement: Increases strength, granting the subject special strength attributes. Speed enhancement: Increases speed, granting the subject special speed attributes. Recovery enhancement: Allows the subject to rapidly decompose food for energy and recover bodily functions. Please select an enhancement option… Please select an enhancement option…"

The voice continued to reverberate in his mind. Wang Lei sensed that the voice originated from the cross on his chest—the very object that had brought him here. The "subject" it referred to was himself.

In his current state, he had no strength whatsoever and was in excruciating pain. Unable to speak, he could only mentally repeat: "Recovery enhancement, recovery enhancement..."

"Selection complete. Initiating recovery enhancement..."

After another round of sounds in his mind, Wang Lei fainted once more.

"Enhancement complete. Energy cost: fifty stars. Time taken: three days. Enhancement effect: Recovery ability increased tenfold."

The jarring metallic voice jolted Wang Lei awake. In his disoriented state, it felt as if he had dreamed of receiving a cross, suffering pain, and selecting some kind of enhancement.

When he opened his eyes again, he was greeted by a sky that was a jewel-like blue, a color he had never seen on Earth. The air was fresh, far better than what he was used to in the city. The ocean breeze carried a faint salty scent mixed with fishiness, leading Wang Lei to suspect that maybe this wasn't a dream after all—maybe everything was real.

Suddenly, he grabbed at his chest, feeling a sharp object that pricked his palm. Staring in astonishment, he realized it was true: he had really arrived in a fantasy world.

As the confusion faded, a tremendous hunger surged within him; his stomach felt like it was rebelling, twisting and turning.

After rolling over to get up, Wang Lei's first thought was that he needed to find something to eat. The feeling of hunger was unbearable.

He surveyed his surroundings. The area was a vast beach, the glistening wet yellow sand adorned with beautiful shells. Ignoring the stunning scenery comparable to Hawaii, Wang Lei dove towards a palm-sized shell. He used the cross on his chest to smash a hole in the shell and eagerly began to consume the jelly-like flesh inside.

After devouring the shell completely, the hunger didn't subside at all. Wang Lei picked up the cross and continued searching the beach, stuffing anything edible into his mouth.

Shrimp, fish, clams, oysters, and even a sea turtle—all the edible items were quickly consumed. He acted like a primitive savage, trying everything he could find.

Time passed without him noticing, and as the fiery sensation in his stomach finally faded, overwhelming fatigue washed over him. Wang Lei collapsed onto the sand and fell asleep, his only thought before drifting off being that he wouldn't die of starvation.

"Spatial soul traversal complete. Main body life signs stable. Rebirth system: average. Identity unknown, kinship unknown, social relations unknown. Name: 'Caesar Kado.' Confirmed deceased and disposed of. Blood type unknown, special abilities unknown. Suspected six-dimensional bloodline..."

Wang Lei dreamt of a metallic voice revealing some nonsensical information, essentially informing him of his identity in this new world: that of a ten-year-old child who had been killed and discarded.

As he drifted in and out of consciousness, Wang Lei felt a growing urge to wake up and see this world for himself.

He struggled to open his eyes, and a white ceiling appeared before him. After some effort, he managed to sit up.

He had previously been lying on a wooden bed, next to which was a table where a sleeping little girl was sprawled out. The table was filled with food. Although Wang Lei felt somewhat hungry, he didn't want to disturb the little girl. Instead, he struggled to get up and walked towards the wooden bookshelf beside the table. The bookshelf was filled with various books, and although the text on them was clearly not in Chinese, for some reason, Wang Lei found that he could understand it.

He casually picked up a book and began to flip through it. It was a history book, and he opened to a section about a famous character: "Pirate King Roger."

Staring at the name Roger on the page, Wang Lei felt a wave of dizziness. Oh my god, he had actually crossed over into the world of One Piece! Was it because he had been watching the anime before? Or was he still dreaming?

He bit down hard on his tongue; the sharp pain told him this was no dream—this was real!

In disbelief, Wang Lei continued reading until he reached the last line, which made him truly realize that this was not a dream. The last sentence read: "Do you want my treasure? Go ahead, I've put everything there. The era of great pirates has begun."

"Big brother, are you awake?"

A soft childish voice snapped Wang Lei out of his shock. He turned around to see that the little girl on the table had woken up.

"Mm."

Wang Lei nodded, looking at the slightly dazed little girl in front of him, unsure of what to say or how to communicate. After all, facing someone from another world felt much more awkward than dealing with a foreigner.

"Big brother, what's your name?"

"Caesar… K… Kado."

Wang Lei had originally planned to tell his real name, but the words changed at the last moment. It was better to keep his identity as an Earthling a secret and to blend into this world; his original identity as a child would be more suitable.

"Okay, Kado big brother, my name is Nojiko. Mama Bell-mère said to take you to see her once you woke up."

Wang Lei almost panicked at the little girl's casual words—this little girl was actually Nojiko, Nami's sister!

Under the little girl's guidance, Wang Lei arrived in the living room, where a woman in her twenties was serving food to an even younger girl.

"Hey, Mama Bell-mère, you're so biased! You gave Nami food while I was sleeping!"

The little girl ran over and made a face at Nami.

"Haha, I was going to have Nami come wake you up," Bell-mère laughed as she said this to Nojiko. "In a bit, Mama will serve you some food too."

Sitting at the dining table, Bell-mère asked Wang Lei a few simple questions, and he gathered some basic information about his situation.

It turned out that he had fallen asleep on the beach after eating and was discovered by the villagers of Cocoyasi Village, who brought him back to the village for treatment. He was temporarily staying at Bell-mère's home.

From his understanding, it seemed he had arrived seven years after Roger's death. It would be fifteen years before the main character, Luffy, arrived, and little Nami was already three years old while Nojiko was five. Most importantly, it would be seven years before Arlong and his crew arrived on the island, meaning that when Nami turned ten, Bell-mère would be killed by Arlong.

Wang Lei felt utterly helpless regarding Arlong's impending arrival. While Arlong was just a stepping stone for Luffy, for a young man from Earth, he felt like an atomic bomb—there was no way to resist. Just one Arlong could easily deal with thousands of Wang Leis.

He deeply realized that in the world of One Piece, strength was the only truth. If he possessed Roger's strength, there would be no place he couldn't go or any task he couldn't accomplish.

However, he had little hope of improving his strength. The physical fitness of an Earthling was incomparable to that of those in One Piece; a weightlifting champion on Earth might lift two or three hundred kilograms, while here, they could potentially lift tens of thousands. Wang Lei didn't believe he could train his body to such a degree.

Thus, his greatest wish now was to return to his original world—Earth. At least on Earth, there weren't pirates running rampant like in One Piece. With his skills as a thief, he could live a comfortable life without worries. Although he loved the world of One Piece, he wasn't ready to risk his life to experience it; watching the anime was enough.

He realized that his arrival in this world was caused by the cross he wore, and he hoped to find a way back through it. There must be some other purpose for the cross that allowed a living person to traverse into another space.

With that, Wang Lei settled in at Bell-mère's home under the name Kado, while also researching what purpose the cross served.

 

End of chapter

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