“Hiss... My head hurts...”
Ruun rubbed his throbbing occiput and propped himself up.
As far as his eyes could see, there were jagged black rocks, a lead-gray sky, and a expanse of somber, dark green sea.
“An island? How did I end up here?”
“Last night I was clearly up all night watching anime... Is this a dream?”
Ruun braced himself on the ground, trying to stand, but he froze when his gaze swept over his hands.
His skin was being dyed a strange light blue at a visible speed, and his fingernails were quietly extending, becoming sharp and slender.
“What the hell? Did I turn into an Avatar?”
Before his surprise could settle, a subtle stretching sensation came from inside his body; it seemed as if his entire being was silently growing taller.
He instinctively looked down, only then realizing that his familiar T-shirt was gone, replaced by a dark reddish-purple robe of peculiar texture.
“...Huh?”
Beneath the robe, near his ribs, a pair of arms had distinctly appeared!
They hung quietly, as if they had always belonged there.
Ruun tentatively willed them to move, and the newly formed hands smoothly wiggled their fingers, as if born to do so.
Immediately after, a slight tingling sensation came from his scalp, and thick purplish-black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, spreading all the way to his waist.
He pinched his cheek hard.
It hurt.
It seemed this wasn't a dream.
Could it be... transmigration?
Years of immersing himself in web novels allowed him to suppress his panic at this moment; instead, a fresh sense of excitement welled up in his heart.
His parents had died young, and he had few ties to his original world.
Starting a second life in an different world didn't seem so bad.
But this body... He quickly walked to the water's edge, and the moment he saw his reflection, he instantly petrified:
“Julan? I became him? But I remember Julan was in jail in hell most of the time, wasn't he? Do devils also get annual leave to come out and stretch their legs?”
Just as Ruun was questioning his life, a loud bang came from behind him.
He jumped in fright and turned to look.
In the dust, an extremely burly figure was struggling to stand up.
Over seven meters tall by estimation, bulging muscles, huge horns like a crown, and a conspicuously large sake gourd at his waist —
Kaido of the Beasts!
“Eh?!” Ruun was utterly bewildered.
One second it was the setting of 'Jackie Chan Adventures', the next second one of the Four Emperors from 'Pirate King' crashed down before him?
What kind of Frankenstein world was this?
“Ugh, goro goro goro! Damn it! Can't die!”
Kaido shook his neck, seemingly recovering from the impact of his freefall from high altitude, and his gaze casually swept around, then paused.
He clearly hadn't expected anyone to be on this desolate island, and his eyes naturally fell upon Ruun, this blue-skinned person in “strange clothing.”
An invisible pressure descended out of nowhere.
The gravel under Ruun's feet rattled, and several withered yellow blades of grass were instantly pressed to the ground.
However, he only felt a slight push on his shoulder, and his body swayed slightly.
“Hmm? Interesting.” Kaido showed a hint of interest.
Although he had only casually released a bit of Conqueror's Haki just now, it was enough to make ordinary pirates instantly lose consciousness.
“What about this, then?”
Before he finished speaking, an even more immense aura surged from Kaido's body, pressing down on Ruun like a mountain.
However, the anticipated scene did not occur.
Kaido's pupils suddenly contracted.
Just now he could still shake the opponent slightly, but now that he used three-tenths of his strength, this blue-skinned person was as calm as an ancient well, not moving an inch!
Ruun stood in place, merely scratching his cheek in confusion, looking at Kaido as if asking: What are you doing?
There was no other reason.
How could a mighty Moon Devil be shaken by human aura?
When Kaido's Haoshoku touched Ruun, a power from deep within his bloodline instinctively circulated, silently isolating it, like a gentle breeze passing over a majestic mountain.
It was just that Ruun had only recently transmigrated and was completely unaware of the immense power contained within this body, not knowing at all what had just happened.
“Interesting... Very interesting! Ugh, goro goro goro!”
Kaido's booming laughter reverberated in the air,
“Hey, blue-skinned brat! Are you interested in joining my Beasts Pirates?”
Ruun fell into thought.
Newly arrived in this world, joining the ranks of an Emperor of the Sea was undoubtedly a good choice.
However, he had to test what level his current strength was in this world.
He quickly weighed his options and made a decision.
“Yes, but...”
Ruun looked up, directly at Kaido's massive body, with a clear challenge in his tone,
“You have to prove first that you are worthy of my following!”
Kaido did not get angry; instead, he burst into even louder laughter:
“Ugh, goro goro goro! Bold enough! I'll just stretch my muscles and bones!”
He grabbed the giant spiked club, hassaikai, beside him,
“Come on, brat! Let me see what you can do!”
Before he finished speaking, this deadly weapon, shrouded in a dull wind pressure, smashed down towards Ruun's head!
The speed was far beyond his imagination.
Ruun instinctively pushed off with his legs, trying to leap backward, but he felt as if his body had lost its weight.
He effortlessly slid back more than ten meters, far avoiding the club strike that could shatter a hill.
“Boom!”
Where the spiked club struck, the hard black stone ground instantly exploded into a deep crater, sending gravel flying and dust billowing.
Kaido's eyes flashed with surprise: “Oh? A strange way of moving, is that your Devil Fruit ability?”
He could tell that Ruun didn't evade by pure speed or strength; it was more like he floated away.
Before Ruun could steady himself and catch his breath, Kaido's massive body displayed incredible agility; with one step, he closed the distance, sweeping his spiked club across like a thousand armies!
This time, the coverage was larger, sealing off Ruun's space to dodge left or right.
At this critical moment, that strange power within Ruun surged again.
Without time to think, his four arms suddenly crossed upwards to block, and a layer of faint purple aura instantly covered his arms and the surface of his robe.
“Clang—!!!”
The ground beneath Ruun's feet shattered in response, and spiderweb-like cracks spread several meters.
The immense impact made his arms tremble violently, his blood churned, and a metallic taste rose in his throat.
But with the combined strength of his four arms, he managed to withstand this blow that could have leveled a warship!
“Hmm?” Kaido was truly surprised now.
Although he hadn't used Haki, the power of this strike was by no means ordinary.
This blue-skinned brat looked thin, but his physical strength and power were astonishing?
“Interesting!”
Kaido put force into his wrist, and the spiked club pressed down fiercely.
Ruun felt like he was hit by a small mountain; his legs sank further, his knees almost buckling.
He gritted his teeth and held on, veins bulging on his forehead, the power within him surging wildly.
“Hmph!” Ruun roared, and all four arms simultaneously pushed upwards with force, an invisible field of repulsion abruptly spreading out from him.
Kaido only felt a strange upward repulsive force from the spiked club; caught off guard, the spiked club was actually bounced back slightly.
Ruun seized this momentary gap, once again activating his “drift-like” ability, his body sliding rapidly backward along the ground, creating distance.
“Repulsive force? Or... gravity?” Kaido watched this scene, his interest growing even stronger,
“Ugh, goro goro goro! This is getting more and more interesting! Again!”