The Beginner's Gift

"Was it a dream?" Qingyun looked around but didn't notice anything different. He only felt that his mind was much clearer.

Once Qingyun was fully awake, he realized that he could see some strange things.

"What... what is that?"

Qingyun was a little scared. He saw many streams of blue energy moving around not far away, and it made him uneasy. He thought he was seeing ghosts.

"Wait, there's some on me too?" The moment Qingyun noticed the blue energy around himself, he understood what it was.

"Is this chakra? I can actually see chakra?" Qingyun muttered to himself.

"Looks like you're not as dumb as you seem." The speaker was no longer the white-haired old man. Instead, it was an unfamiliar voice that sounded mechanical.

"Who are you? Are you the system the old man mentioned?" Qingyun asked in return.

"That's right. I'm the system, and I'm no ordinary system. I'm the Devil Fruit System!" The system sounded extremely proud.

"Devil Fruits? Aren't those only found in the world of One Piece?" Qingyun asked.

"Exactly. You ate that pill, didn't you? Only after eating it could you break through the dimensional barrier and receive a system reward from another plane, like me!" The system spoke with great confidence.

"By the way, you're a beginner, so the system will give you a beginner's gift pack! Would you like to open it?" the system asked.

"Of course!" Qingyun didn't need to think twice before opening the so-called beginner's gift pack.

"Congratulations, host! You've obtained the Paramecia-type Chop-Chop Fruit!"

"What?" The system's announcement nearly scared Qingyun to death.

"The Chop-Chop Fruit? Isn't that Buggy the Clown's power? Are you saying I have his ability now?"

Buggy the Clown wasn't very strong in One Piece, and compared to the overpowered abilities of the Logia fruits, the Chop-Chop Fruit really did seem far inferior.

"System, can I trade it for another one? This ability is kind of weak." Qingyun wasn't impressed by the Chop-Chop Fruit at all. Aside from splitting apart and getting in a sneak attack, what else could it do?

The system immediately replied, "Host, don't look a gift horse in the mouth!"

"This is the world of ninjas! Just imagine: if your enemy doesn't know what you can do and swings a sword at you, then you suddenly use your Chop-Chop ability. Wouldn't that...?" The system trailed off, but Qingyun understood.

"Huh?" When he thought about it, the system had a point. The Chop-Chop Fruit might be pretty useless in the world of One Piece, but if it made his opponent hesitate for even an instant, that opponent would be as good as dead.

After all, when masters fought, a single moment could decide life or death.

"All right, all right! Since you're the Devil Fruit System, how do I get rewards for new Devil Fruits?" Qingyun asked directly.

The system replied, "Of course! The beginner's gift pack was just a freebie. As a system, I naturally have even better rewards!"

"To obtain rewards, you need to accumulate points and exchange them for what you want!" the system explained.

"Exchange points for rewards? Then how do I earn points?" Qingyun asked immediately. This was the key to the system.

"There are at least three ways to earn points. First, kill enemies or defeat opponents. The stronger and higher-ranked the enemy you take down, the more points you'll earn!"

"Second, persuade enemies to surrender. If they join your side, you'll also receive points."

"Third, we'll issue missions from time to time. Once you complete them, you'll get a surprise ten-pull! Those ten pulls come with a huge point reward."

"Every 100 points can be exchanged for one reward."

"Got it." Qingyun now fully understood how the system worked. In short, it was all about fighting and completing missions.

Just as Qingyun was about to shut off his system, it suddenly began chiming repeatedly.

"What's going on, system?" Qingyun asked at once.

"What a coincidence! I didn't expect a mission to appear right after you awakened me!"

"What mission?" Qingyun was excited too. Completing a mission meant a surprise ten-pull! A whole ten-pull! The things the system gave out had to be pretty good!

"Mission: Gather chakra, learn to control it, and use it to climb to the top of a designated tree! Time limit: one week!"

Qingyun's excitement immediately turned to dejection. He was only three years old, and his body hadn't fully developed. Although he could gather chakra, the white-bearded old man had stolen the little he'd managed to gather before.

"One week? System, are you trying to get me killed?" Qingyun was close to despair.

"Tch, I'm not trying to get you killed! You're my host. Climbing a tree with chakra in a week isn't impossible! You're so clever and hardworking, you'll surely find a way to do it! All right, I'll wait for you to return victorious before I show up again. Oh, and you can't use your Devil Fruit ability!"

After saying that, the system disappeared, leaving Qingyun alone with his worries.

"One week... climbing a tree? Gathering chakra?" Qingyun knew that Naruto and Sasuke had struggled to climb trees in the original story. He didn't know how long it had taken them, but it certainly hadn't been easy.

"Forget it. No point worrying about it now. If I want to learn to control chakra, I need to gather it first. I'll try that!"

Qingyun had thought gathering chakra would be difficult, since he'd failed every time before. But this time, he realized that all he had to do was focus, and he could clearly see the chakra pathways in his body.

"Maybe it's thanks to that pill that let me break through dimensions?" Qingyun then gathered chakra with ease, blue light shimmering around him.

"Not bad! My chakra reserves must be stronger than anyone my age!" Qingyun grinned, then let the chakra disperse without doing any more.

This time, Qingyun didn't try to learn how to control chakra. Instead, he shouted, "Chop-Chop!"

At once, his body split apart: his left hand, right hand, left leg, and right leg.

Seeing his new ability, Qingyun suddenly thought of a strategy that might work.

"When Buggy the Clown splits apart, his body can fly, but his feet have to stay on the ground. That's a small bug. But if I learn to climb trees, I'll be able to move my feet around much more freely!"

Before long, Qingyun had thoroughly studied his Chop-Chop Fruit powers. Basically, slashing attacks couldn't hurt him. If someone who didn't understand his ability swung a sword at him, he could take that enemy's life in an instant!