First Meeting with Whitebeard, a Heaven-Sent Opportunity!

Chen Ye's feet slammed heavily onto the solid deck with a dull thud.

Before he could catch his breath, the giant hand clamped around the back of his neck like iron pincers released him.

Having suddenly lost his support, Chen Ye, already completely exhausted, staggered and nearly dropped to his knees. He forced his weakening legs to hold, braced himself against his knees, and used the last of his strength to stand.

The World Spins in his vision finally eased somewhat.

Slowly Raised His Head, he began to survey his surroundings.

This was an incomparably broad deck, broad enough to host a small football match.

The air was filled with a complex, strange scent—the fragrance of fine wine, the dry smell unique to wood repeatedly weathered by sea winds and blazing sunlight, and a faint, almost imperceptible... smell of gunpowder.

The deck was packed with people.

No, to be precise, it was packed with monsters.

The Crew Members were all built like little giants, bare-chested and displaying granite-hard muscles and savage Scars.

Some stood in corners, wiping Cannon barrels thicker than Chen Ye's thighs without a care for anyone else. Others sat in groups of three or five, guzzling liquor from wooden barrels, their laughter rough and uninhibited.

Whenever their gazes casually swept over Chen Ye, they carried a pure, condescending scrutiny.

It was neither contempt nor curiosity. It was more like they were looking at a weakling.

Chen Ye continued examining the surroundings and the people around him.

His gaze locked tightly onto a man leaning against the mainmast not far away.

The man had a distinctive golden Pineapple Head. His eyes were half-open, half-closed, and he looked so lazy that he seemed about to fall asleep at any moment. He wore an open purple shirt, exposing the enormous, iconic tattoo on his chest.

"Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' First Division!"

"Phoenix... Marco..."

Chen Ye's gaze moved stiffly, and he saw someone else nearby.

A man with two exaggerated walrus mustaches was carefully polishing the two Western swords in his hands with silk. His movements were elegant and his expression focused, as though those swords were the most precious works of art in the world.

"Flower Sword... Vista..."

Chen Ye's Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty. His throat was so dry it felt as if it might catch fire.

He saw them. He saw them all.

Those figures who had existed only in manga panels and anime scenes were now right before Chen Ye's eyes.

And every one of them radiated a suffocating pressure as they stood before him.

This wasn't a cosplay party.

This wasn't a 3D experience.

This was reality.

Just then, the Diamond-like man who had hauled him from the sea—the Third Division commander, Jozu—spoke in a deep, muffled voice.

"Hey, kid."

Chen Ye's body stiffened as he slowly turned his head.

There was no expression on Jozu's rugged face. He merely jerked his chin toward the bow.

"Pops wants to see you."

Pops?

Chen Ye's mind buzzed, turning completely blank.

He slowly walked forward.

The pirates on the deck automatically parted to either side, opening a path for him.

He passed through the crowd and finally reached the bow.

Then he saw that figure.

A figure so enormous it surpassed imagination.

The man sat in a massive chair custom-built for him, his body like a small mountain. All kinds of medical tubes were inserted into him, and infusion bottles hung at his side. Those medical devices formed a striking contrast with his Haki-filled bearing of a King.

Yet even with infusion bottles hanging from him, his air of one who could Reign Over the World had not diminished in the slightest.

He merely sat there quietly, as though he were the center of this sea. Everything around him, whether the roaring sea wind or the fierce Crew Members, had become nothing more than a backdrop to set him off.

That iconic enormous white crescent-shaped mustache, those arms thicker than an ordinary person's thighs, and that naginata resting quietly beside his chair, wider than a door panel...

Chen Ye's pupils shrank to the most dangerous pinpoints.

"World's Strongest Man..."

"One of the Four Emperors, Whitebeard..."

"Edward Newgate!"

At that moment, Chen Ye felt his very soul tremble.

It was an absolute suppression that came from the level of life itself. He had no doubt that even though the man before him was gravely ill, a single thought or glance from him could crush Chen Ye into the most insignificant dust.

This was the only thought in Chen Ye's mind.

From being hunted by the Small Fry Pirate Crew, to falling off a cliff, to being rescued by one of the Four Emperors' ships... this roller-coaster experience was far more thrilling than riding a Roller Coaster.

At this moment, Chen Ye was filled with only two words!

Fear!

Before an existence like this, any lie or scheme seemed pale and ridiculous. He did not even dare raise his head to meet the other's eyes.

Amid this Extreme Fear and despair, the cold Mechanical Voice deep in his mind surfaced again like a ghost.

God-Tier Spacetime Summoning System

Current Energy: 0

Unable to perform spacetime travel

Unable to perform any Time-Space Summon

Those lines were like black lightning, cleaving through Chen Ye's fear-ridden consciousness.

Energy...

Right, energy!

The system needed energy to activate!

But where would the energy come from?

Chen Ye's mind began spinning madly at an unprecedented speed.

He recalled the condition for the system's earlier activation—[Detected the host's intense Will to Survive].

That meant the system was directly tied to his mental state—or rather, his state of life.

Then what was the source of energy?

Robbery? Killing? Completing missions?

No, that was too slow and too impractical. In his current state, where he was utterly powerless, any Grunt could take his life.

There had to be a more direct, more efficient method!

Chen Ye's gaze began to rise uncontrollably, inch by inch.

His eyes finally landed on Whitebeard's arm, pierced by an Infusion tube.

He saw it—the skin across Whitebeard's body, furrowed like ravines, was covered in Scars!

They were a man's mark!

Whitebeard...

The World's Strongest Man.

That title represented not merely destructive power, but authority as well!

A thought—a ridiculously bold, even insane thought—exploded in Chen Ye's heart!

"What if..."

"What if the energy the system can absorb comes from other living beings?"

"Then the man before me..."

Chen Ye's breathing instantly became scorching hot.

As he looked at Whitebeard, his gaze changed completely.

He was no longer looking at a legend, at a powerful man.

It was more like he was looking at an enormous Lucky Bag!

The man before him was undoubtedly the largest Experience Pack in this world!

Even if he was old and gravely ill, the rate at which his life force leaked away might still exceed all the energy an ordinary powerful person possessed in a lifetime!

As long as Chen Ye could draw even the tiniest trace of energy from him, like scooping up a ladle of water from a Great Waterfall...

It would be enough to activate his system!

Enough to give him the means to survive in this damned world!

This mad plan was like a seed that instantly took root and sprouted in Chen Ye's heart, then grew wildly into a Giant Tree in a twisted form.

Risk?

Of course there was! It was boundless!

If he were discovered, his fate would definitely be ten thousand times more miserable than being hacked to death by Rotten Tooth Buck.

But what about the opportunity?

The opportunity was just as boundless!

This was his only—and best—chance!

Being picked up by the Whitebeard Pirates was not a dead end, but a heaven-sent opportunity! It was a huge gamble!

If he won, he would Ascend to Heaven in one step!

If he lost... well, he was going to die anyway.

In an instant, the fear, confusion, and despair in Chen Ye's heart were all replaced by a cold, burning ambition.

It seemed as if every drop of blood in his body began to boil at that moment.

He slowly straightened the spine that had been slightly hunched from fear.

He raised his head and, facing that mountain-like shadow, looked boldly and actively into the man's eyes for the first time.

At that moment, the man who seemed to have fallen asleep twitched his eyelids and slowly opened his eyes.

His gaze fell upon Chen Ye, calm yet carrying an unquestionable authority.

Then a voice like thunder, yet carrying a trace of laughter, echoed across the entire deck.

"Gurararara..."

"Kid."

"Who are you?"