Lux D. Carl

PS: (Brain storage area: best enjoyed without thinking!)

Ye Fan felt physically exhausted, his legs aching from the long walk home after work. As he entered his apartment complex, he gazed up at the towering skyscrapers, sighing at the noise and bustle of the modern city.

"Ding-dong!"

Suddenly, the phone in his pocket rang, shattering his train of thought.

Ye Fan's expression shifted, and he hurriedly pulled out his phone to answer. "Hello? Mom, is your health okay?"

He asked with concern.

"Look at you, you're already 27. Can't you find a partner? Today, the daughter-in-law of the aunt next door gave birth to a big, healthy boy, and she came here just to show off. Can't you show some initiative..."

Ye Fan's mother rambled on incessantly on the other end of the line.

Ye Fan pulled the phone away with a wry smile, trying to mitigate his mother's nagging. "Hello, hello, hello? Mom, the signal here might be bad, I can't hear you—beep, beep, beep..."

He had no choice but to hang up, buying himself a moment of respite.

"What era is this, and she's still pushing for marriage? Sigh..."

Ye Fan sighed, his heart filled with a longing for freedom. After all, he didn't want to date right now; having seen too many melodramatic disasters, he had no desire to step into the grave of marriage so early.

He finally reached his front door and took out his keys to unlock it.

This cramped dwelling was clearly his sanctuary in life.

Within these four walls, he could shed all his pretenses and reveal his truest self.

"Ding-dong!"

Ye Fan checked the group chat and saw that his supervisor, Zhou Bapi, was tagging him again, demanding he find source material immediately. Ye Fan realized he still needed to find character references for his new comic tonight, or he wouldn't be able to turn in his work tomorrow.

He sighed inwardly, "When will this miserable life of a corporate slave ever end? I thought studying computer science in college would make it easy to find a job, but who knew I'd end up doing anime design?"

As he spoke, he pulled out his chair, turned on his computer, and launched his favorite game, League of Legends.

Ye Fan wanted to find solace in the game, hoping to discover his true self in the virtual world while simultaneously venting his frustrations.

"I'll play Garen in the top lane today."

Ye Fan muttered to himself as he clicked into the ranked queue and locked in his champion.

Then, he walked over to the refrigerator, grabbed a bottle of soda, sat back down, and focused intently on starting the game.

Ye Fan's mood gradually calmed under the stimulation of the game, and his thoughts slowly drifted away from the stresses of his busy life.

His gaze sharpened, his fingers dancing rapidly and forcefully across the keyboard as he fought alongside his champion on the battlefield.

That night, Ye Fan was immersed in the world of the game, as if he had forgotten all the troubles of reality.

He was just an ordinary young man, longing for freedom and hoping to find a sense of existence in the virtual world.

However, he did not know that a massive transformation was about to occur, one that would turn his life completely upside down.

A new world, an unnamed desert island.

Ye Fan shivered.

Feeling a sudden chill, he sat up abruptly, scanned his surroundings, and patted his body.

Was he dreaming? It felt so real.

Ye Fan quickly closed his eyes and rubbed them thoroughly.

When he opened them again, he was stunned. The scene before him hadn't changed at all; the island was filled with the cries of various animals, and the sound of seawater crashing against the shore echoed in his ears.

It was nearing dusk, and then he felt something was wrong. In an instant, a flood of unfamiliar memories surged into his mind...

I am Ye Fan—no, I am Lux D. Carl, 18 years old. While sailing with my parents, we were attacked at sea. I escaped in the chaos, encountered a storm, and drifted to this island. This body drowned, so this is a soul transmigration? This is—damn it, I've transmigrated!

Only then did he realize what had happened. He hurriedly pulled his pants all the way down, lowered his head, and inspected himself for a long time. Hmm, not bad.

He had never considered such a thing before, but since this wasn't his original body, he had to examine it carefully.

According to the memories he had absorbed, his parents had been leading him on a merchant ship when they unfortunately encountered pirates and were ruthlessly murdered. In the panic, he seemed to recall the pirates searching for a Devil Fruit.

The only thing he had brought from the ship was a single chest, which he had grabbed at random during the chaos. The chest wasn't large, but could this actually be the Devil Fruit?

But the most urgent task now was to find a place to hide. After all, this was the Pirate World; any random beast that appeared would be enough to eat him clean.

"System? Is there a system? Are you there?"

Carl called out anxiously. In his view, a transmigrator had to have a golden finger.

As Carl's call echoed in the air, he felt a faint energy surge from within his body, as if responding to his request.

A light appeared before his eyes, gradually condensing into a blue, illusory humanoid figure.

"Hello, Carl. I am the Chinese Anime System. My mission is to help you survive in this strange world."

The Chinese Anime System's voice carried a hint of coldness, like a pre-programmed script.

But fortunately, this was a golden finger he could understand. "Chinese Anime System"—literally, it should have something to do with characters from Chinese animation, or perhaps ACG in general. Thankfully, he usually enjoyed watching anime, so while he might not know every character by heart, he at least recognized most of them.

Although he now suspected this might be a prank by some powerful figures, and perhaps many people were watching him right now. (A bit of the author's dark humor!)

However, he currently lacked any ability to resist.

And Ye Fan—no, it was Carl now.

Since Carl had already confirmed the existence of a cheat, he had no time to open the system panel. He hurriedly looked around, hoping to find some shelter from the wind and rain, but since this was a deserted island, how could there possibly be anything like a house?

He scanned his surroundings quickly, seeing the sky gradually dimming.

He hurriedly found a thick, sturdy tree and climbed up.

One had to admit that the trees in the Pirate World were truly tall; even this one, which he had picked at random, looked to be at least as thick as five grown men could reach around.

Fortunately, the tree was thick enough. Carl scrambled up in a flash and stopped at a height of about ten meters above the ground.

Sitting on a branch, Carl gripped a sturdy limb tightly with his right hand, his body trembling uncontrollably. Gazing at the now pitch-black night sky with specks of moonlight spilling down, he had to admit that he was a bit afraid of heights.

"System, what functions do you have?"

Carl's body was shivering from the cold, but his eyes revealed curiosity and longing for the system; he wanted to know what this system could bring him.

He watched the illusory image before him nervously, anticipating its response, while simultaneously observing his surroundings with caution. He didn't want to die here inexplicably before he had even used his cheat.

"Hello, Host. I am the Chinese Anime System, which contains templates of various Chinese anime characters you are familiar with."

The Chinese Anime System's voice was as cold as ever.

Hearing this answer, Carl's eyes shimmered with excitement. He knew that Chinese anime featured many fantasy and cultivation characters; if he could obtain those, he would be able to take off immediately!

After all, it was truly too difficult for an ordinary person without any abilities to survive in the Pirate World.

He was a fan of Chinese anime himself, and he felt incredibly thrilled at the prospect of possessing Chinese anime character templates in the Pirate World.

"It also carries various Chinese anime skills, talents, and equipment."

The Chinese Anime System continued to explain, its words filled with infinite possibilities.

Carl's eyes widened, and he found it almost hard to believe. He had thought the Chinese anime templates were already powerful enough, but he hadn't expected to also gain various skills, talents, and equipment, which left him ecstatic.

Did that mean he could possess skills like the Nine Yang Manual, the Origin of Qi, or the Six Storehouse Thief?

"Because a massive amount of energy was consumed to transport the Host to the Pirate World, only the lottery function remains for now. Furthermore, there is only one ordinary lottery per month and one unrestricted lottery per year."

The Chinese Anime System added, its tone seemingly revealing a hint of regret.

"To obtain more lottery chances and system functions, the Host must disrupt the main timeline of the Pirate World as quickly as possible."

Carl immediately made up his mind: he would disrupt the timeline of the Pirate World so that he could earn more system rewards.

This would allow him to survive better in this world.

At the same time, Carl frowned slightly. Although he felt a bit of regret that only the lottery function was available for now, he knew he had already obtained a powerful system, which was enough to establish a foothold in the Pirate World during the early stages.

Carl's body relaxed slightly as he leaned against the trunk, his eyes fixed intently on the illusory image before him. His heart could not calm down; he knew that quiet, peaceful days were about to leave him behind.

Moreover, this Chinese Anime System could provide him with Chinese anime character templates, skills, talents, and equipment. With this, his chances of survival in the Pirate World had greatly increased, and he might even be able to carve out a name for himself.