Sea Circle Calendar 1484, Canyon of the Gods
A group of people wearing white short-sleeved shirts with target-like symbols printed on their backs were running frantically through the forest. Their faces were filled with fear and helplessness, as if some terrifying monsters were chasing them.
"Run! They're catching up!"
"Out of my way! I'm not dying here!"
Boom!
"Ahhh!!!"
A burst of gunfire rang out from behind, and people began to fall to the ground one after another. The fleeing crowd became even more chaotic.
Amid the chaos, four figures stuck closely together. No matter how frenzied the crowd was, the four of them never separated.
There were three boys and one girl in this group. One boy was extremely burly, but despite his imposing size, his youthful face revealed that he was still just a child, like the others.
Though he was much stronger than the other three, he always stayed at the rear, using his body as a shield to protect them.
An arrow was lodged deep into the target mark on his back. Even though he was injured, he gritted his teeth and stayed silent.
The only girl in the group turned back and burst into tears when she saw him. She cried out desperately,
"Bear! Get in front of us! You're too big—it's too easy for them to hit you from behind!"
The boy, Xiong Zai, forced a smile, shook his head, and said,
"Ginny, don't worry about me. I'm fine, as long as you're all safe."
But his weak tone and pale complexion betrayed the truth—he wasn't fine at all.
After all, he was still a child… just a child over two meters tall.
When the other two boys heard Ginny's voice, they both turned to look at Bear.
The boy with the afro frowned darkly when he saw the arrow in Bear's back. He glanced at the boy beside him and said in a low voice,
"Ji Ge, we need to find somewhere safe to hide. Bear's badly hurt! Damn those bastards!"
The boy called Ji Ge wasn't wearing a white short-sleeved shirt like the others but a high-quality white long coat.
He had messy black hair, delicate features, and calm, determined eyes. Despite his childish face, there was a maturity to his expression far beyond his years.
At that moment, Ji Ge's expression was grim as he spoke slowly,
"There's nowhere safe right now. We can't stop. Just hold on a little longer. Once the sun sets, they'll retreat."
"But..."
"Run! Or we'll all die!"
Bear spoke up then,
"Ivan, Ji Ge is right. We can't stop here. If I can't keep going, just leave me and run!"
At only nine years old, he was already prepared to die. Ginny wailed even harder when she heard this.
"No, Bear! I'll never leave you behind!"
Though Ji Ge's words were stern, his pace unconsciously slowed.
It was a dangerous move, but fortunately, dusk was approaching. The pursuers were tiring, and their pace was slowing as well.
Less than an hour later, the gunfire behind them gradually dwindled until it stopped completely.
Just to be safe, Ji Ge and the others kept running for a while longer before finally stopping by a small pool of water.
Plop! Plop!
As soon as Ivan and the others stopped, they collapsed like deflated balloons. Bear, wounded and exhausted, fell flat onto the ground.
Ji Ge scanned their surroundings cautiously. After confirming it was safe, he sat down by the water's edge, staring blankly at his reflection in the pool.
They had been on the run for a week… in this world of One Piece.
Ji Ge had time-traveled.
Originally an orphan on Blue Star, Ji Ge had barely managed to graduate from college through sheer grit and part-time jobs.
Orphans, it seemed, were prime candidates for time travel.
On graduation night, he'd drunk heavily with his dorm mates, drinking until he was completely wasted. He vaguely remembered stumbling out to the hallway to find the bathroom, losing his footing, and falling… before everything went black.
When he woke up, he was a child again—on an isolated island.
His new body's memories were gone, except for his name: Ji Ge. He was eight years old.
He'd quickly realized this was the One Piece world after encountering Bear, Ginny, and Ivan while wandering the island.
These three were unmistakable characters from the series he'd read countless times.
After learning their names and seeing Ivan's iconic afro and flamboyant energy, and Bear's towering nine-year-old frame, Ji Ge knew exactly who they were.
The trio, famous in the pirate world for their kindness, had taken pity on Ji Ge, who was younger and alone. Without hesitation, they invited him to join them. From that day forward, the trio became a group of four.
Based on their ages and their circumstances, Ji Ge quickly deduced where and when they were:
The Canyon of the Gods. The Celestial Dragons' slave-hunting grounds.
When Ji Ge confirmed this, he felt as if a herd of wild horses stampeded through his mind.
He knew what was about to happen. Soon, the strongest forces in the pirate world would converge here for a legendary battle:
The Rocks Pirates, the Marines, and the Celestial Dragons' elite force, the God's Knights.
Just thinking about it made his scalp tingle.
And Ji Ge? He was just a helpless child. A single Celestial Dragon with a gun could end him in an instant.
What kind of hellish start was this?!
Where was the beginner's village he was promised?! He'd been thrown straight into a battlefield against max-level bosses riding on horses!
Even though Ji Ge knew Bear would one day eat the Paw-Paw Fruit and save them all with his powers, that was from the perspective of a reader.
Now, he was prey, hunted in a real-life killing ground.
What if a Celestial Dragon shot him dead before that happened?
What if his very presence changed the future, and they never found the fruit? In the original timeline, Bear and Ivan had discovered it completely by chance!
In the first few days, Ji Ge still clung to some hope, thinking, If time travel is real, I must have a cheat ability too, right? Like a system?
He kept imagining a "Ding!" sound in his head, followed by some electronic voice:
"System conditions met. System activated."
But now, after days of running, with gunfire and screams becoming his daily lullaby, that celestial "ding" had yet to arrive.
Thinking back on their desperate escape, Ji Ge's emotions boiled over. He slammed the water with his fist and hissed through gritted teeth:
"Celestial Dragons… if I make it out of here alive, none of you will live in peace!!!"