The morning dawn broke, and the rising sun smoothed away the wisps of coolness like a pair of large hands.
On the vast and boundless sea, a flagless large ship drifted with the wind.
Tang An stood at the bow, loosening up his body. He should have left the Goa Kingdom by now.
Although the old dangers had been initially avoided, new perils would follow one after another.
Setting out to sea like this meant he could encounter pirates and be killed or enslaved at any moment.
Yet compared to the situation in the Goa Kingdom, this kind of danger was clearly much smaller.
Fortunately, this was the East Blue, not the Grand Line or the New World. If it were the Grand Line or the New World, he might have already been buried at the bottom of the sea by now.
Looking at the boundless ocean, Tang An already had a new plan.
First, he had to find a way to cure his cancer, and Devil Fruits were a very good method.
However, if he wanted to rely on a Devil Fruit, among the known ones, there were only a few to choose from.
First was the Heal-Heal Fruit of the dwarf princess in Dressrosa. Calculating the time, it should not have been eaten yet.
Then there was the Ope-Ope Fruit, though there might no longer be a chance for that now.
And there was the Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Phoenix, belonging to Whitebeard's 2nd Division Commander, Marco. That one was out of the question too.
These three fruits were the most likely to cure his cancer.
Aside from those, other Devil Fruits seemed viable as well, such as some special Paramecia types.
For instance, the Paramecia-type Daz-Daz Fruit; eating this Devil Fruit would turn one's body into a blade human.
There was also the Spring-Spring Fruit, turning one into a spring human.
Devil Fruits of this Paramecia type could transform the body into special substances or objects. With his entire body turned into blades or springs, this cancer should be curable, right?
Surely cancer couldn't possibly have any effect on blades or springs! These things were not flesh and blood.
Moreover, there were many other Paramecia-type Devil Fruits similar to this.
Failing that, there were Logia types.
Such as the Glint-Glint Fruit, Rumble-Rumble Fruit, or Magma-Magma Fruit. With his entire body turning into elements, ordinary illnesses shouldn't have any effect either, right?
After turning it over in his mind last night, Tang An decided the one with the highest certainty was the Heal-Heal Fruit.
The other Devil Fruits were only possibilities, after all, since they hadn't been verified.
However, wanting to obtain the Heal-Heal Fruit was no small difficulty.
Just relying on himself to cross the first half of the Grand Line and head to the New World was obviously impossible; he would die on the road at any moment.
The best method was to attach himself to some powerful pirate crew or merchant ship, and the safest choice should be the Marines.
Yet none of these were entirely foolproof; the safest method of all was that he had to become stronger.
With every fraction of strength he gained, his danger decreased by a fraction.
Most importantly, there were fellow transmigrators in this world. Some plot trajectories might have already changed, and Devil Fruits that should have existed were very likely no longer there.
Such a butterfly effect definitely existed.
He just didn't know whether the scope would be large or small. If it were small, it wouldn't matter--everything would simply revolve around the fellow transmigrators. If the scope were large, it was very likely that the plot of the entire world had gone completely off the rails.
Take him stabbing Ace to death, for instance--would there still be a Summit War in the future?
Therefore, thinking it through, he still had to rely on his trashy gold-finger.
Even though the trashy gold-finger was somewhat unreliable, the sweet taste of success he got from stabbing Ace to death made it worth taking a few gambles.
What if he drew a drug that cured cancer next time?
Or what if he drew some heaven-defying skill?
Just a single thing could change his current predicament.
And the East Blue offered four opportunities.
"Roronoa Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Vinsmoke Sanji."
That's right, Tang An had his sights set on these four people.
Right now, all four of these fellows were still children, making it the perfect time to make a move.
Even if these four weren't protagonists, they were at least half-protagonists; failing that, they were extremely important supporting characters.
As long as he killed them all, he would get at least four chances to roll the dice, not counting extra attempts based on circumstances.
If his luck was good, there would even be a luck-value bonus.
All of this made it worth a gamble for Tang An.
"Staying alive is truly not easy!"
Looking at the endless ocean, Tang An's expression turned stern.
He actually liked the Straw Hat Pirates, but he needed to survive.
Between life and preference, anyone knew how to choose.
It wasn't just Nami and the other three who were targeted; Tang An also had his sights on Robin, Chopper, and the rest. In short, all of the Straw Hat Pirates fell within this scope.
No matter how much he once liked them, that was how ruthless he had to be now!
It was about the same as having a passionate, extermination-level romance--it came with a price.
If you love her, you have to kill her whole family.
However, the East Blue was a bit large, and finding the island where Nami and the other three were located was still somewhat troublesome since he didn't know the main route.
The best method was to inquire at the next island; he should be able to get some very important news.
Having determined his target, Tang An woke Raphael up.
The two of them very happily resolved their breakfast. The food and water originally stored on this pirate ship were enough for them to eat for a month.
Tang An refused to believe that he wouldn't see an island or encounter a ship within a month.
After finishing breakfast, Tang An began studying the Military Combat Technique.
This was his lifeline.
Whenever Tang An thought of this, he grew furious. Other people's gold-finger rewards for such skills resulted in instant mastery of divine techniques, whereas he was given a single manual and had to practice from scratch.
There was no video-game-style experience progress bar either, so he didn't even know what level his practice had reached.
The only advantage was that how to cultivate it was entirely imprinted in his mind, making it equivalent to following a step-by-step routine.
He only needed to complete one stage every day, and he would naturally and spontaneously achieve the effects of the later stages.
"Let's start with push-ups!"
According to the method of the Military Combat Technique, a towering building rises from the ground. Without a formidable physique, no matter how powerful the divine technique or skill was, it was useless.
Moreover, Tang An had transmigrated with his physical body. Last night, he had engaged in cinematic exchanges with Arima and confirmed that it was his former body.
The measurements were all identical.
The only peculiar thing was this cancer of his.
Logically speaking, cancer should have dragged his physical body down, yet upon arriving in this world, his complexion was only a bit paler, his spirit looked a bit decadent, and every now and then his whole body felt as if it had been stabbed several times--hurting so badly that even his breathing stopped.
Yet usually his body felt very normal, with no weakness, nausea, or dizziness.
When he was normal, how did he look like a cancer patient?
Only in the dead of night did that kind of pain remind Tang An clearly that he could die at any moment.
He had already died once; he would definitely not die a second time.
Especially under circumstances where he could rewrite his destiny, he wanted to grasp his own fate!
Time passed quickly, and before he knew it, dusk arrived.
He hadn't run into any ships all day, nor had he seen any islands.
He was completely wandering blindly on the vast sea.
Fortunately, Tang An wasn't bored; most of his time was spent doing push-ups, sit-ups, frog jumps, and other physical-enhancement training.
There was also the study of attacks within the Military Combat Technique.
In short, he spent his time very productively.
Tang An was fulfilled, but over at Foosha Village in the Goa Kingdom, a repressive atmosphere permeated the air.
A warship docked at the coast.
Garp disembarked wearing his Marine coat of justice, looking somewhat dust-stained, as if he had just come down from the battlefield.
At this moment, his expression was gloomy, and his whole body exuded the scent of iron and blood, involuntarily sending shivers down people's spines.
Half a day ago he was still in the New World, but a single phone call directly forced him to abandon his mission and return here amidst Sengoku's furious cursing.
And he had returned at top speed.
A girl walked up to a vegetable stand, picked up a cucumber, and said to the boss, "Boss, how much are these cucumbers?"
Boss, "Big sister, everyone uses corn nowadays. The corn has been very plump lately."
Girl, "I'm going to use it to put on a face mask."
After buying the cucumber, the boss asked, "Do you need anything else?"
Girl, "How much is the corn?"
Boss, "..."