Why Isn't My Otherworld Reincarnation Device a Truck?

The torrential rain fell like a string of broken beads, pelting Chen Xiao's half-worn black umbrella in dense waves. Heavy raindrops struck the fabric with dull, drumbeat-like thumps.

He hunched his neck and stumbled through the narrow, cramped alleys of the urban village. That palm-sized umbrella could not block the downpour at all. His pant legs below the knees had long been soaked through, clinging tightly to his legs, cold and heavy.

"Hehehe! My package finally arrived!"

Chen Xiao murmured excitedly. The moment he received the pickup code, he had rushed over without delay. After taking the package from the delivery locker, he impatiently tore open the waterproof outer wrapping before even leaving the courier station's awning.

With a rip, the tape on the cardboard box was torn open. Inside were two exquisite figures tightly wrapped in layers of bubble wrap—custom-made one-to-one replicas he had saved up for over half a year to order:

One was a Rumble-Rumble Fruit model from One Piece, made of resin and the size of a fist. It was dazzling gold all over, with raised patterns like exploding bolts of lightning, vividly lifelike;

The other was a Sling Ring figure worn by the mages of Marvel's Kamar-Taj. Forged from pure silver, its band was engraved with intricate, mysterious patterns, while the inner ring secretly bore the initials "CX"—a little detail he had specifically asked the seller to add.

Chen Xiao carefully slipped the Sling Ring onto his finger. It fit unexpectedly well. The icy touch of metal spread from his fingertips to his palm, the fine patterns brushing against his skin. Its quality far exceeded his expectations. In his other hand, he tightly held the Rumble-Rumble Fruit model. It felt as heavy as a solid stone, and while the golden resin spikes looked sharp, they had been polished smooth and did not prick his hand.

Making sure no one was around, he gave the fruit model a cheeky lick. The cold taste of resin spread across his tongue. He quickly wrapped both figures back in bubble wrap, afraid they might get bumped or damaged, then hugged them tightly to his chest, ready to take them back to his "happy little room" and admire them properly.

The rain grew even fiercer. Bean-sized drops smashed against the ground, splashing water half a foot high. Murky puddles lay everywhere in the alley, and Chen Xiao accidentally stepped into one. Water instantly flooded his shoes from around his ankles.

"Whatever, I'm already soaked anyway!" Chen Xiao shrugged with a wry smile, tilting the umbrella farther over his chest to protect the package more tightly. Yet he could not suppress the grin on his face. He quickly began planning: when he got back, he would take a set of close-up photos of the figures, add some cool effects, and post them in the meme group. Just imagining those guys turning green with envy was satisfying.

However, as he hurried back, a sharp crack suddenly rang out beside him. Chen Xiao instinctively turned his head and saw a thick wire on an old transformer in the distance sparking blue-white before snapping. Wrapped in blinding electricity, it fell to the ground and sent a ring of electrified water splashing outward.

"I'm screwed!" The thought had barely crossed his mind before Chen Xiao had no time to dodge.

The current surged through the standing water in an instant, like countless cold venomous snakes burrowing madly into every limb and bone. Excruciating pain swept through his entire body. Every hair stood on end, and the only sound left in his ears was the buzzing hiss of electricity. His vision was swallowed by blinding white light, and he could see nothing.

His consciousness gradually blurred beneath the tearing pain. He reflexively closed his eyes, only feeling as though some invisible force had seized him tightly, dragging him downward at terrifying speed. He spun and tumbled until he finally lost consciousness completely.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Xiao abruptly opened his eyes. The blinding white light was gone, replaced by a gray, gloomy sky. The clouds hung so low they seemed about to crush him. A pungent burnt smell filled the air—it was coming from his own body. The edges of his clothes were still stained with charred black fragments. Gritting his teeth, he struggled to sit up and looked around, freezing in stunned disbelief.

Where were the alleys of the urban village? Before him lay a barren expanse of land. The soil beneath him was pitch-black and gave off faint wisps of white vapor, as though it had just been struck by lightning. It was littered with pits of all sizes, without a blade of grass or the slightest trace of life.

"Where the hell did this send me?"

Chen Xiao's throat was painfully dry as he cursed under his breath. The pain in his body still lingered faintly. He raised his hands and felt his arms and legs. Aside from some scorched marks, he seemed otherwise unharmed.

"Where's my stuff?"

He got up and searched the ground. When he turned around, the package wrapping had already vanished. The two figures had fallen into the black mud. The Sling Ring still glimmered with a cool silver light, completely undamaged, while faint currents coiled around the surface of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit model, accompanied by a soft crackling hiss.

Chen Xiao quickly bent down, carefully picked up the Sling Ring, and wiped away the mud. After confirming there was nothing wrong with it, he casually put it back on his hand, then reached for the Rumble-Rumble Fruit model, his heart aching.

"Damn, I waited over half a year for this treasure. It didn't get fried by the electricity, did it? And wait... wasn't I electrocuted? How am I still alive?"

He muttered to himself, his mind in complete chaos as countless questions surfaced.

As his thoughts churned, one of his fingertips was accidentally pricked by a spike on the fruit's surface. A faint pain shot through him. He paused, and curiosity gradually overwhelmed his concern about the unfamiliar surroundings—the lightning spikes, which had originally been smoothed down to avoid pricking hands, had become incredibly hard. They even gleamed with a faint metallic luster, completely lacking their former resin texture.

"Oh no, oh no. The electricity hardened it!"

Chen Xiao stared at the fruit in his hand, looking like he was about to cry. Fortunately, there was no visible damage to its appearance, so it could still barely be displayed. That was all he could do to comfort himself.

Staring at the fruit, he inexplicably lifted it and blew on it, then lightly bit one of the lightning-shaped protrusions—whether to test how hard it was or to indulge his chuunibyou fantasy, even he could not say.

But the expected hard texture never came. Instead, an indescribably disgusting flavor rushed into his nose and swept through his insides. It was bitter and astringent, mixed with a strange fishy stench. It was even harder to swallow than the Chinese medicine and spoiled food he had eaten as a child. He nearly vomited on the spot.

He looked down at the flesh exposed by his bite. Just like in the anime, it was pale yellow, with a dense mango-like texture, and a little sticky juice seeped out. Chen Xiao went completely blank.

"So resin becomes edible after getting hit by high-voltage electricity?"

"But how is there juice?"

"Ah..."

"Did this... no, did it become real?"

As his thoughts surged, he suddenly remembered the setting from the anime: eating an entire Devil Fruit made it easier to awaken its powers. Chen Xiao gritted his teeth, pinched his nose, and stuffed the rest of the fruit into his mouth in a few bites, forcing himself to swallow it. The nauseating taste shot straight into his head and lingered in his mouth for a long time, leaving even his throat sour.

"So this thing really tastes this bad. The anime wasn't lying!" He frowned and swallowed hard, trying to suppress the foul taste in his mouth.

Not long after he swallowed it, an intense wave of dizziness suddenly struck. Chen Xiao's body went limp, and he collapsed back onto the black soil. It felt as though countless tiny currents were racing wildly through his body. Numbness spread through every limb and bone, his mind went blank, and the familiar crackling buzz of electricity sounded in his ears again.

In his haze, blurry white figures flashed through his mind. Black shadows flowed over their bodies. Their movements were sharp and powerful, faint currents of force swirling around them as they methodically practiced some kind of technique. A flash of understanding crossed his mind. That was... the method of using Haki from One Piece?

After an unknown amount of time, the dizziness gradually faded, along with the numbness. Chen Xiao gritted his teeth and struggled to his feet. He felt filled with an unprecedented strength, as though he had endless energy to burn.

"Fuck! Rumble-Rumble Fruit plus Haki—I'm going to be invincible!"

Chen Xiao laughed wildly in excitement, hands on his hips, wishing he could immediately find something to test his powers on.

He impatiently tried to use the Haki that had appeared in his mind, but no matter how hard he focused, even straining until his face turned red, his body remained like a dormant volcano—completely motionless. No black patterns of Armament Haki appeared, nor could he sense any presence around him. It was as if the images in his mind had been nothing but an illusion.

"What's going on? Why isn't it working?" Chen Xiao muttered to himself. Could the Devil Fruit be fake? Or did Haki need some sort of trigger? He took a deep breath, calming his excitement, then slowly raised his hand and spread his fingers. In his heart, he silently chanted:

"Lightning, come!"

In an instant, a tiny spark leaped across his fingertips with a soft crackle. Pale blue lightning illuminated his slightly stunned face.

"Holy shit! It's real! It's actually real!"

Chen Xiao's eyes widened in disbelief as the electricity continued dancing at his fingertips.

"I really got one! When I get back, I'm giving that seller five stars and writing a thousand-word review!" He was so excited that his words came out in a rush, his grin nearly reaching his ears.

Instinctively, his chuunibyou soul erupted completely. He spread his feet shoulder-width apart, lowered his center of gravity, and stood firm. His left hand rested on his hip while his right arm stretched straight forward, parallel to the ground. He clenched his fist, curling his thumb over his index finger. Electricity flowed over his thumb, and the lightning at his fingertips burned even brighter, pale blue light reflecting off his brow and eyes.

But just as he was about to shout that classic line, he suddenly felt the world around him turn incredibly strange. The scene before him began to twist and fold. The distant wasteland, the gray sky, even the black earth beneath his feet all receded infinitely before abruptly drawing close again, overlapping in layers like a shattered mirror, making his head spin.

"This looks familiar... where have I seen this before?"

Chen Xiao furrowed his brow as his mind raced. Then, in the next second, his expression changed drastically.

"This is... the Mirror Dimension?!"

A figure in yellow robes and a hood slowly descended from the folded sky. A faint magical glow surrounded her, and her aura was cold yet imposing.

"Ancient One?!" Chen Xiao's mouth fell open in shock. Though she still wore a hood, her appearance was exactly the same as in the movie.

He stared fixedly at that familiar yet unfamiliar figure. The unease in his heart sank like a heavy block of lead to the bottom. Even the lightning dancing at his fingertips went out unconsciously, and every hair on his body stood up again.

I think I know where I am.