Kaizer's head felt like it was splitting open.
He tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids were glued shut. Something warm and sticky coated his face. He instinctively wiped at it — his hand came away slick with blood.
His vision was blurry. The stench of blood and gunpowder flooded his nostrils. He lay sprawled among a pile of still-warm corpses. Flames crackled nearby, while explosions, screams, and the clash of steel echoed from every direction.
Every bone in his body felt shattered. A strange, hollow ache throbbed in his chest.
He looked down.
A fist-sized hole punched straight through the left side of his chest. Through the gaping wound, he could see splintered ribs and dark red tissue still twitching faintly.
"…What the hell?"
Consciousness began to fade.
The last thing he remembered was the flickering computer screen in his office at 3 a.m., the crushing chest pain while pulling another all-nighter.
Then darkness.
Wasn't I… still at work?
That was Kaizer's final coherent thought before he blacked out.
The darkness didn't last long — maybe minutes, maybe seconds.
Kaizer gasped sharply, inhaling air thick with smoke and blood. When his eyes snapped open, he was still lying in the same spot… but the horrific hole in his chest was gone.
Not just gone — it had completely healed. The skin was smooth and unmarked, as if nothing had happened. Only the torn Marine uniform and dried bloodstains proved the wound had ever existed.
The agonizing pain had vanished too. Aside from being soaked in blood and sweat, he felt… surprisingly good.
[Ding——]
A cold mechanical voice echoed directly in his mind.
[Host vital signs restored.]
["Many Children, Many Blessings" System successfully bound.]
[Identity confirmed: Kaizer, former citizen of Blue Star's Hua Nation. Current status: Marine Lieutenant (body compatibility 92%).]
[Beginner's gift package delivered.]
[Acquired: Demi-human Bloodline (Beginner Level)]
[Trait: Basic Undying Body — After death, respawn randomly within a 10-meter radius of your last intact location. Regeneration speed increases with bloodline fusion.]
[Acquired: IBM (Black Ghost) Summoning Permission (Beginner Level)]
[Description: Consume vitality to summon humanoid avatars made of black particles and bandages. Invisible to normal people; visible only when the IBM harbors killing intent toward a target. Each IBM lasts 5–10 minutes before dissipating. Can communicate with the host via special electromagnetic waves. Weaknesses: Struggles in rain, head strikes cause collapse, intense collisions between IBMs may cause fusion and information corruption.]
[Current Mission: Survive 24 hours on the God Valley battlefield.]
[Time remaining: 23:58:17]
Kaizer froze for two seconds.
A system? Demi-human bloodline? The One Piece world?
He pushed himself up and looked around. The hillside had been torn apart by cannon fire. Corpses of Marines, pirates, and elegantly dressed Celestial Dragon guards littered the ground.
In the distance, a grand castle burned fiercely. Higher in the sky, three colossal figures clashed violently.
Not three — two against one.
A wild-haired giant of a man wreathed in eerie black-red energy swung his fists madly. His opponents — a red-haired man in a straw hat and a Marine with a dog-head cap — fought together, each collision sending explosive shockwaves through the air.
Rocks D. Xebec. Gol D. Roger. Monkey D. Garp.
Kaizer's breath caught. As a die-hard One Piece fan, he recognized them instantly.
This really was the One Piece world… and he was right in the middle of the God Valley Incident.
"BOOM——!!!"
A deafening explosion rocked the battlefield. The shockwave hurled Kaizer several meters through the air.
"Cough… cough…" He staggered back to his feet, the system window still glowing in his mind.
Stay alive. First, just stay alive.
He glanced toward the edge of the battlefield. According to the original story, Big Mom and Kaido should be retreating around now.
That was when he heard it.
"Mamama! All this treasure is mine!"
A booming female voice rang out from the left.
Kaizer whipped his head around.
A nearly nine-meter-tall woman with pink hair, wearing a pink dress, laughed wildly as she burst out of the burning castle. She carried a sack even larger than herself, her face lit with childlike excitement — yet her eyes gleamed with cruel greed.
Charlotte Linlin. Age 30.
Behind her, a tall, broad-shouldered young man with long black hair dragged a heavy treasure chest. Scars covered his bare upper body, but his eyes burned with wild ambition and a reckless grin.
Kaido. Age 21.
The pair charged straight toward the slope where Kaizer lay — the shortest escape route off the battlefield.
His heart pounded. Run? Too late. Play dead? They'd already noticed the movement.
Sure enough, Linlin's huge eyes locked onto him.
"Huh?" She stopped, tilting her head. "There was definitely a dead body here just now…"
Kaido frowned. "Linlin, ignore it! We need to go — Rocks won't last much longer!"
But Linlin was already striding over. The ground trembled under her steps. She loomed above Kaizer, her massive shadow swallowing him whole.
"You…" She bent down, pink hair cascading like curtains. "Weren't you dead? I saw the hole in your chest."
Kaizer's mind raced. The system, the demi-human regeneration, Linlin's personality…
He forced himself to look up and meet her enormous gaze.
"…I didn't die completely," he rasped.
"Mamama!" Linlin burst into laughter. "How interesting! I watched your heart get blown away!"
She reached down with one enormous hand and snatched him up. Her fingers clamped around his waist like iron vices; he could hear his ribs creak in protest.
"Linlin!" Kaido barked impatiently. "What the hell are you doing?!"
"This guy died — and now he's alive again!" Linlin shook Kaizer like a toy. "I'm taking him back to study!"
"Are you insane?! We can't drag some dead weight —"
Before he could finish, a monstrous roar erupted from the center of the battlefield.
All three turned.
Rocks' body was undergoing a horrific transformation. His skin cracked open as black-red patterns spread like veins. Muscles bulged grotesquely, twisted bone spikes erupted from his back. His eyes turned pitch black, and what came from his throat was no longer human — it was the howl of a beast.
"…Demonification," Kaido muttered, face darkening. "That bastard Imu really turned him into a monster."
"Run!" Linlin didn't hesitate this time. She grabbed Kaizer and bolted.
Kaido spat, shouldered the treasure chest, and followed.
Kaizer dangled in Linlin's grip, the world jolting violently. In the distance, Roger and Garp fought desperately against the demonized Rocks, each clash shaking the very atmosphere.
So this is the real truth behind God Valley? Imu pulling strings from the shadows?
"Mamama! We made it out!"
Linlin leaped down the slope and jumped aboard a small pirate ship waiting at the shore.
Kaido kicked the mooring ropes free right behind her.
"Set sail! Now!"
The sails dropped. Favorable currents caught the ship, carrying it swiftly away from the coast.
Linlin tossed Kaizer onto the deck and plopped down heavily. The ship tilted under her weight.
She opened the massive sack. Gold, jewels, and several strangely shaped fruits spilled out — Devil Fruits.
Kaizer's eyes locked onto one: a gray-white fruit with swirling patterns, radiating an eerie chill.
Paramecia-type — Ghost-Ghost Fruit.
"What are you staring at?" Linlin noticed his gaze and grinned. "Want it? This is one of my treasures!"
Kaizer looked away and pushed himself up.
He checked his body again — aside from the blood and filth, there wasn't a single wound.
The demi-human regeneration was even stronger than he'd expected.
"Just what the hell are you?" Kaido loomed over him, staring down coldly. "Marine? One of the Celestial Dragons' dogs?"