Brain storage area!
Cerebellum storage area!
Sea Round Calendar 1520!
New World, second half of the Grand Line!
On an unknown island!
A tearing pain shot through the back of his head.
Chen Ye abruptly opened his eyes.
The damp scent of rotting leaves mixed with a salty sea breeze and rushed into his nasal cavity.
He lay on the ground, soft, sticky mud beneath him.
All around him stood enormous trees that blotted out the sky. Thick vines coiled around the trunks like pythons, and sunlight could only cast mottled spots through gaps in the leaves.
Where was this?
Chen Ye's mind was completely blank, like a formatted hard drive.
He struggled into a sitting position, and the sharp pain at the back of his head made him suck in a breath.
He reached up to touch it. It was sticky and warm.
Blood.
He looked down at himself.
A white casual T-shirt, a pair of jeans, and Nike sneakers on his feet.
His outfit was utterly out of place in this primitive, savage environment.
"Wasn't I pulling an all-nighter revising a proposal... How did I end up here?"
His mind felt like it was stuffed with paste. His last memory was in the dormitory, where he had downed three cups of extra-strong coffee in a row to rush through a damned project proposal.
For one damned project, he had worked seventy-two hours straight.
When he finally collapsed onto his desk, all he felt was his heart suddenly clench before everything went black.
Death by overwork?
A terrifying thought surfaced.
So now... had he transmigrated?
Chen Ye's heart began pounding wildly as he staggered toward a puddle nearby.
The water surface was murky, but it still reflected an image.
An unfamiliar face appeared in the water.
He looked about twenty, with delicate features, though his complexion was as pale as paper.
Short black hair, and a pair of dark eyes filled with terror and confusion.
That wasn't him!
This definitely wasn't the face of a thirty-year-old corporate slave who had been battered by society for decades!
Chen Ye reached out, trembling as he touched the reflection in the water.
Ripples spread across the water surface, shattering that young face with them.
He really... had transmigrated.
The realization struck his head like a heavy hammer.
No system.
No Golden Finger.
No old grandpa.
Just one life, and a set of modern clothes that were completely useless in this godforsaken place.
"Ha ha ha..."
A coarse, hoarse laugh suddenly rang out from the woods nearby.
That laughter was filled with undisguised malice.
Chen Ye's entire body stiffened.
He abruptly turned his head toward the sound.
Three men emerged from the dense undergrowth.
The leader was a one-eyed man, with a vicious scar slashing diagonally from his forehead to his chin. His remaining eye gleamed with the ferocious light of a wolf.
The two lackeys beside him were equally ugly. One had a face full of fat, while the other was as skinny as a bamboo pole. Both carried rusty scimitars.
Their clothes were tattered, and they reeked of sweat mixed with blood.
Pirates?
Or bandits?
Whatever they were, these men clearly weren't good people!
The one-eyed man's gaze fell on Chen Ye. He froze for a moment, then greed burst from his lone eye.
He stared fixedly at Chen Ye's clean, tidy clothes and the sneakers on his feet.
On this savage island, someone dressed this neatly was either a high-status fat sheep or a passenger from a recently wrecked merchant ship.
Either way, it meant wealth!
"Boss, look! A fat sheep!" The skinny man chuckled, exposing his yellowed teeth.
"Those clothes look nice. Strip them off and they could sell for a good price!" The fat man with the fleshy face licked his cracked lips.
The one-eyed man let out a greedy, sinister laugh.
"Kill him!"
"The stuff is mine. The person... do whatever you want with him!"
At the command, the two pirates immediately charged at Chen Ye, swinging their scimitars like hyenas that had smelled blood!
"Fuck!"
Chen Ye's mind buzzed.
The fear of death seized his heart like an icy hand!
He was just an ordinary modern person. He had never even killed a chicken—how had he ever seen a scene where people wanted to murder someone at the slightest disagreement?
Adrenaline detonated inside him!
His instinct to survive overwhelmed all fear and confusion.
Run!
It was the only thought in his mind!
Chen Ye scrambled up from the ground on all fours. Without even having time to brush off the mud, he turned and sprinted deep into the jungle!
His heart hammered inside his chest.
Wind howled past his ears.
The curses and mocking laughter behind him followed like a shadow.
"Ha ha, run! The faster you run, the more excited I get!"
"Don't run yourself to death! Boss said to leave him breathing!"
Those voices slithered into Chen Ye's ears like venomous snakes, making his scalp tingle.
He didn't dare look back.
He could only run for his life.
Roots and stones beneath his feet nearly tripped him several times.
Sharp branches cut his cheeks and arms, leaving streaks of burning blood.
His lungs burned as if they were on fire, and every breath carried the taste of blood.
His legs felt as heavy as lead.
"Am I going to die here?"
"Am I going to die right after transmigrating?"
"No! I don't want to die!"
Despair and unwillingness screamed madly in his heart.
He gritted his teeth and squeezed out every last bit of strength, moving his legs mechanically.
He had no idea how long he ran.
Maybe a few minutes, maybe over ten.
The sounds of pursuit behind him seemed to have fallen farther away.
Just as a flicker of hope rose in Chen Ye's heart—
The ground beneath him suddenly vanished!
He had charged forward too fiercely and had no time to stop.
The view before him suddenly opened up!
The dense jungle ended here.
Ahead was a bottomless cliff!
Loose stones beneath his feet rattled as they tumbled into the abyss shrouded in mist below.
Below the cliff was the raging sea. Enormous waves crashed against the reefs, producing deafening roars.
Chen Ye's body skidded in a dangerous arc along the cliff edge before finally stopping less than half a meter from the edge.
Cold sweat broke out all over him. His legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed to his knees.
"Rustle—"
The jungle behind him shook.
The three pirates emerged unhurriedly, spreading out in a fan shape to surround him.
His only path of retreat was completely blocked.
"Run."
The one-eyed man wore the teasing smile of a cat playing with a mouse.
"Why aren't you running anymore?"
"Jump! Maybe if you jump, you'll at least leave behind an intact corpse!"
The skinny man and the fat man burst into laughter as well, their scimitars flashing with blinding cold light beneath the sun.
Chen Ye panted heavily, his chest heaving violently.
His back pressed against the cold emptiness behind him. A bone-chilling wind surged up from the bottom of the cliff, making his clothes flap wildly.
He looked at the three villains closing in on him, his eyes bloodshot.
One step forward meant a sharp butcher's blade.
One step back meant an abyss that would crush him to pieces.
A dead end.
A true dead end.
The one-eyed man had clearly run out of patience. He spat a thick glob of phlegm onto the ground.
"Kid, in your next life, keep your eyes open."
He slowly raised the scimitar in his hand, its blade aimed at Chen Ye's neck.
Sunlight fell on the rusted blade, reflecting a speck of scarlet light.
Chen Ye's pupils abruptly contracted.
Time seemed to slow infinitely in that instant.
He could clearly see the cruel smile on the one-eyed man's face.
He could see the dried, dark-red bloodstains on that scimitar.
He could also smell the nauseating blend of rust and blood coming from its edge.
The shadow of death completely engulfed him.
The one-eyed man's arm muscles bulged.
The next second.
That blood-soaked scimitar came crashing down at his head, carrying a bloody wind that tore through the air!
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