An island with several huge windmills stood upon the azure sea.
At that moment, on the island's southwestern shore.
A boy lay on the beach.
The cool sensation that occasionally brushed his feet made him slowly open his eyes.
A clear blue sky greeted him.
The faint salty smell of the sea left Xia Chen a little puzzled.
He could not help murmuring:
"Where... am I?"
"Didn't I get killed by a dump truck padding its numbers?"
Xia Chen thought for a long time but still could not figure out what was going on.
And the more he thought, the more his head hurt, so he simply stopped bothering.
At least, from the looks of things, he was not dead!
Xia Chen planted both hands on the ground and pushed himself up.
But a moment later, he suddenly froze.
He stared blankly down at his feet.
Then he touched his face in disbelief.
"I... what happened to me?"
Reflected in the seawater at Xia Chen's feet was not a young man in his twenties already worn down by life.
Instead, it was a boy of about sixteen.
Full of spirit, in the prime of his youth!
It was exactly how he had looked at sixteen!
Just as Xia Chen was still caught up in the fact that he had become younger.
A voice sounded in his head.
[Ding!] [Host detected on the story island Foosha Village. Story Island Check-In System successfully activated!]
???
"A system?"
Xia Chen's already muddled head grew even more confused.
Why had he suddenly been given a system?
He had not died... right?
Suddenly, Xia Chen seemed to realize something.
Windmill Island?
He only knew of one place called Windmill Island!
Could this be the place he was thinking of?
At that thought, a drop of cold sweat trickled down Xia Chen's forehead.
Just then, the system's voice sounded again.
[Host has arrived at the story island Windmill Island. Check in?]
"Yes!"
Xia Chen answered instinctively.
[Check-in successful!] [Congratulations, host. You have obtained...] [Zoan • Mythical Zoan • Human-Human Fruit • Model: Great Sage Equaling Heaven Form! (No side effects version)] [The fruit has been placed in the System Space. Host may retrieve it at any time!]
"Well, that settles it!"
The moment he saw that information, Xia Chen could confirm that he had indeed arrived in the world he had just suspected.
The world of One Piece!
Honestly, if he had learned he had come to a place like this before obtaining the system, he would definitely have been scared to death.
This world was nowhere near as peaceful as it looked in the anime.
There were vicious pirates here, and Marines with their hypocritical justice!
And that bunch of disgusting swine-the Celestial Dragons!
Who knew when some unexpected disaster might come along and send him off again?
But now!
Things were different!
The experiences of countless transmigrator predecessors with systems left Xia Chen completely unafraid.
He had a system. What was there to fear?
And besides...
With a thought from Xia Chen, a golden fruit instantly appeared in his hand.
Human-Human Fruit • Great Sage Equaling Heaven Form!
Xia Chen could not have been more familiar with the Great Sage Equaling Heaven.
He was a character Xia Chen had always loved in his previous life.
"Great Sage Equaling Heaven-Sun Wukong!"
That name alone was enough. Nothing else needed to be said.
This fruit was bound to be a god-tier fruit!
Was the Sun God Nika so awesome?
Sorry!
Even if you cultivated your way to godhood, you would merely be one of the hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and generals standing in my way!
And it had no side effects, meaning it would not have the fatal weakness other fruits had.
Being countered by Seastone!
At that thought, Xia Chen could hardly wait.
He took a huge bite straight out of the fruit in his hand.
Sweet, delicious juice burst across Xia Chen's taste buds.
It left Xia Chen, who had already braced himself to eat shit, a little stunned.
"Huh? Wasn't this stuff supposed to taste worse than shit?"
"Did the no-side-effects version remove the bad taste too?"
After thinking it over, that seemed to be the only answer.
Since that was the case, Xia Chen began wolfing it down.
If it really had tasted worse than shit, he had planned to take just one bite.
Now that it tasted so good, of course he had to eat more.
After all, he was pretty hungry!
Some time later, Xia Chen sat on the ground with a hand over his stomach.
Well, the fruit had not looked big, but it was pretty filling!
Not long after he sat down, Xia Chen felt a surge of energy emerge from deep within his body.
It kept transforming his body.
The process lasted a full ten minutes or so.
When everything finally settled down.
Feeling the power within him, Xia Chen could not help clenching his fists.
He felt as though he could blast an entire mountain apart!
But a moment later, a wry smile appeared on Xia Chen's face.
Although he had become much stronger, the stomach he had finally managed to fill a little was hungry again.
It looked like he would have to find something to eat first.
Xia Chen swept his gaze around.
Suddenly, he saw a fish that apparently had a death wish swimming toward him.
He grinned.
Hadn't food just delivered itself to his doorstep?
"Sizzle, sizzle!"
Xia Chen ate his grilled fish while thinking about his next steps.
Having this system meant he was destined not to stay in one place for too long.
Story islands?
Barring any surprises, those should be the islands that had appeared in the original anime.
In that case, it meant he would have to check in on every one of those islands!
He just did not know where in the timeline he was!
As Xia Chen thought, he opened the system panel, a new feature he had discovered while exploring the system earlier.
It let him see his overall stats.
[Name: Xia Chen] [Fruit: Human-Human Fruit, Great Sage Equaling Heaven Form (beginner)] [Ability: Indestructible Diamond Body (beginner)] [Armament Haki: not awakened] [Observation Haki: not awakened] [Conqueror's Haki: not awakened]
The panel was extremely simple.
It only showed the Three Types of Haki standard to the One Piece world and his level of fruit development.
The Indestructible Diamond Body listed under abilities was the first ability he had gained after eating the fruit.
Its function was to transform his physique into one like the Great Sage Equaling Heaven's.
And surely there was no need to say much about how awesome the Great Sage's Indestructible Diamond Body was.
This was a top-tier physique forged by consuming countless Nine-Transformation Golden Pills and Peaches of Immortality!
Even a top-tier physique in One Piece like Big Mom's Iron Balloon was nothing but a little brother before the Indestructible Diamond Body.
It could trounce it without even trying!
By the time he finished reading that information, Xia Chen had more or less eaten and drunk his fill.
He then headed toward the middle of the island.
Although he did not know the way, heading toward the center could not be wrong!
His main priority now was to find out where in the timeline he was, so he could plan the rest of his journey.
And another thing!
He needed to get a boat...