"Hiss!"
Awakening as suddenly as from a dream, Tang An snapped back to reality in the corner of a narrow alley. He quickly climbed to his feet and surveyed his surroundings.
"Did the transmigration succeed?"
His body felt fine, and even the dozen gold coins, along with the ruby and sapphire daggers he had been carrying, were still with him. He seemed to be in a building alley, where the bustling sounds of the outside could be heard.
"Damn it."
Tang An couldn't help but curse; a random transmigration had been wasted just like that.
He hadn't expected Koushirou to discover him so quickly, leaving him no chance to escape.
Still, managing to stab Zoro at the critical moment meant he didn't return empty-handed.
Opening the light screen, a line of instructions appeared.
"Arrived in the New World. Rewarded with one dice roll. The dice roll resets every natural month."
"Ongoing tasks: Hunting the Child of Destiny, Fated Villain, Transmigrator, Reincarnator, or Reborn Individual rewards +4 dice rolls. Important supporting characters or villainous supporting characters reward dice rolls depending on the situation."
"Randomly grants a Luck boost."
Looking at these instructions, Tang An's expression turned gloomy.
Roronoa Zoro was still alive; he hadn't managed to kill him.
Otherwise, what he would have seen was a successful hunt of an important supporting character from the One Piece world--Roronoa Zoro--with dice rolls granted based on the circumstances, along with a congratulatory message of 3 chances and +1 Luck.
A single dice roll for entering a new world was worlds apart from the four rolls granted upon entering the first world.
The monthly reset also applied here. Did the count restart from this exact moment?
Tang An flipped the light screen to the next page, and upon seeing the blood-red timer showing only three months and five days remaining, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
The life countdown was the same as in the One Piece world; clearly, this transmigration had not affected it.
First, he would roll the dice, and then he would go outside to figure out what world this was.
The dice spun and jumped, landing on a face value of three. The model airplane crossed three spaces, and the moment the familiar light faded, Tang An's previously gloomy expression instantly bloomed with joy.
"One of the Six Powers: Moonwalk."
"Description: Moonwalk is one of the Six Powers from the One Piece world and an application technique of Shave. By using strong leg strength to kick off the air, it generates powerful mid-air suspension force, allowing the user to walk in the air as if climbing stairs. With sufficient stamina, the user can stay airborne for extended periods."
"Requires mastering Shave first."
"Do you wish to learn?"
"Obviously, hurry up."
A seizure-like tremor wracked his body, and a surge of knowledge and techniques flooded into Tang An's mind.
Unsurprisingly, just like martial arts and Shave, Moonwalk only provided knowledge and techniques; mastering it still required step-by-step physical training.
"Is the prerequisite Shave?"
Right now, he could already kick off the air eight times, with two more to go.
As long as he mastered Shave, Moonwalk would become much simpler.
After all, Moonwalk was an extension of Shave.
"Let's figure out what world this is first, then find a place to settle down. Within these three months, I must master Shave and Moonwalk, and find a way to cure my cancer or extend my lifespan."
Walking toward the mouth of the alley, the bustling sounds rushed over him.
It seemed outside was a street.
"This is..."
Standing at the exit of the alley, the first thing that came into Tang An's view was a massive wall over fifty meters tall.
It was hard not to notice something of that colossal volume.
The street was bustling with horse-drawn carriages and crowds of pedestrians dressed in simple clothing. Fruit stands and shops lined both sides of the street, and Garrison Regiment members patrolled back and forth from time to time. The entire town resembled medieval Europe, with neat rows of tall buildings on either side, mostly featuring European pointed-tile roofs.
Giant walls, medieval European architecture, patrolling Garrison Regiment soldiers...
Combining all these conditions made it unmistakable.
This was the world of Attack on Titan.
Tang An had watched this anime; it was one of the rare 404 banned blockbusters. There was a saying in the ACG community: any anime rated 404 was bound to be a masterpiece.
Even if it wasn't a masterpiece, it wouldn't be far off.
The story of this anime was tightly paced, bloody, passionate, and brutal--all fully displayed.
Over two thousand years ago, within a tribe called Eldia, the ruler at the time, King Fritz, had a slave named Ymir.
During an incident where someone had to take the blame for "who let the pigs out," she was made a scapegoat. Fleeing from King Fritz's subordinates, she ran into a tree hollow in an ancient tree and accidentally fell into the lake at the bottom. After coming into contact with an unknown spine-like marine creature, she gained the power of the Titans, becoming the world's first Titan.
She fought in all directions for King Fritz and also bore three daughters: Maria, Rose, and Sina.
In an accident, King Fritz ordered Ymir to be dismembered and fed to all three of her daughters, who ultimately inherited the Titan power.
After generations of inheritance, the bloodline and forms stabilized into nine.
They were the Founding Titan, the Attack Titan, the Female Titan, the Colossal Titan, the Armored Titan, the Jaw Titan, the Beast Titan, the Cart Titan, and the War Hammer Titan.
These nine Titans were the Intelligent Titans, capable of transforming through purposeful actions and bloodshed, and free to revert to human form based on their original consciousness.
Aside from these nine Intelligent Titans, humans could also be transformed into Pure Titans by injecting Titan spinal fluid.
Pure Titans lacked intelligence and were also known as Abnormal or mindless Titans. They had extremely high body temperatures and took no interest in creatures other than humans. Their sole behavioral objective was to eat people; they did not need to eat to survive, possessed tenacious vitality, and shared a single weak spot--a strip about one meter long and ten centimeters wide at the nape of their neck. Otherwise, even if their heads were blown off or their bodies dismembered, they would regenerate within one to two minutes.
Whether an Intelligent Titan or a Pure Titan, one had to possess the bloodline of the Subjects of Ymir--that is, Ymir's bloodline--otherwise, transformation was impossible.
Tang An roughly recalled the plot of this blockbuster anime, and a plan began to form.
He might have found a way to extend his lifespan.
Both Intelligent and Pure Titans possessed extremely tenacious vitality and regenerative capabilities.
Intelligent Titans typically had a lifespan of only 13 years, but Pure Titans could live for a hundred years or even longer without eating or drinking.
However, Pure Titans lacked intelligence, so the best approach was to become an Intelligent Titan.
As long as he became an Intelligent Titan, there was a chance to acquire that 13-year lifespan, and Tang An had no reason not to try.
As for the restriction that only Subjects of Ymir could transform into Intelligent and Pure Titans, Tang An opened the light screen, where a vial of Ymir's bloodline serum appeared before his eyes.
The Subjects of Ymir were descendants of Ymir.
This was obtained by killing Vinsmoke Sanji.
Drinking this vial of serum would grant him half of Ymir's bloodline, making him of mixed descent.
And mixed blood could transform into Titans just as well.
Right now, he needed to figure out what year it was, and whether the Armored Titan Reiner and the Colossal Titan Bertholdt had already breached Wall Maria or Wall Rose.
Then, he would find a way to acquire Pure Titan spinal fluid, and subsequently devour the Child of Destiny Eren, or perhaps the Armored Titan Reiner, the Colossal Titan Bertholdt, the Female Titan Annie, or the Jaw Titan Ymir.
This Ymir had nothing to do with the original Ymir; they just shared the same name.
Having roughly established his plan, Tang An touched the ruby and sapphire daggers at his waist along with his dozen gold coins, which should fetch a fair amount of money.
Living expenses would no longer be an issue.
He could easily last for a while.
Wait, the daggers and gold coins were from the One Piece world. Could it be that he could bring items across when transmigrating to other worlds?
Tang An's eyes lit up. If that was the case, the possibilities for what he could do expanded massively.
On second thought, though, Tang An didn't think this useless golden finger would be that generous.
Whether he could or not, he would find out by testing it later.
The Eldian Empire lived within three massive walls: Wall Maria on the outermost perimeter, followed by Wall Rose, and finally Wall Sina.
If he wanted to sell his daggers and gold coins for a good price, he would have to go to Wall Sina, because that was where the nobles, merchants, and wealthy elites were most concentrated.