The sound of a door creaking was heard as Finn's new room door opened.
"This will be your room from now on. Go in, and do not leave or wander around without explicit permission," said the soldier who had escorted Finn to his room coldly.
Finn hesitated as he looked at the simple, small room.
"Get in, boy. I don't have all day," the soldier said indifferently, then shoved Finn hard.
Finn stumbled several steps and entered the room.
The soldier immediately slammed the door shut.
Finn looked at the door with a sour expression, then said in frustration,
"Is this how you treat weak civilians?!"
Finn sighed in frustration and stomped the floor in anger.
He had never been treated like this in his life. He had lived his whole life under his father's roof, cherished and respected. When had he ever been humiliated like this?
Finn slowly looked around and examined the small room.
The furniture was simple: a single bed, a wardrobe, and a small dining table with food and water on it.
Finn sat slowly beside the table and picked up the food with a trembling hand.
He began eating while crying silently at the same time.
Tears streamed from Finn's eyes as he devoured the food and drank the water, finally able to relax after a hellish, exhausting day.
---
After half an hour of rest, Finn sat cross-legged on his bed and began to think seriously for the first time.
"I want to go home—to my mother and father, to Franz, Roberto, and Fiona. I want to return to New York and my old life. But to do that, I must become the strongest person in the world of Tian Yuan."
Finn looked at his hand and remembered all the insane events that would happen in the future, according to what he had read in the manhua back when he was in New York. Then despair and frustration spread through his chest like wildfire.
How was he supposed to surpass all members of the Sacred Race, all the Saints, Yao Yao, Tun Tun, and the story's protagonist Zhou Yuan—with only Luffy's rubber powers?
All those characters were blessed by the heavens. They literally had heavenly blessings.
Damn it—he wouldn't even be able to defeat an ordinary cultivator in the Great Zhou Empire.
And how was he even supposed to cultivate in the first place?!
He didn't know how to gather Yuan Qi or open his Qi meridians. He didn't even know if he possessed Qi meridians or a Qi palace at all!
After all, he wasn't a native of this world—these things were exclusive to those born here.
Finn's eyes widened in terror as this realization settled in his mind.
At that moment, the air in front of Finn trembled violently, and a yellow paper appeared out of nowhere.
"What the hell?!" Finn shouted in fear, backing away until his back hit the wall as he stared at the floating paper in shock.
After hesitating, Finn grabbed the paper and opened it slowly.
> "Hello again 👋 How was your first day? Was it good? 🤔
Anyway, I won't keep you long. I forgot to tell you that I modified your body's composition when you transferred to this world, allowing you to cultivate and use Yuan Qi like other cultivators here.
So if you were afraid you wouldn't be able to cultivate, don't worry—I took care of that 👍🏾
However, there are things you need to know. You are a failure and have no talent… literally 🙂
Because you weren't born in this world, you possess no innate talent or potential like the native people.
But don't worry!! 😁 I gave you a cultivation technique engraved in your crystal. This technique will help you greatly with your goal—but it won't make things easy ☝️
There's a big difference between the two, so pay attention!!
The extent of your growth and mastery of this technique depends on how much effort, sweat, and blood you are willing to pour into it 😶🌫️
To unlock the incantation of this technique, simply pour your blood onto the crystal, and everything will activate naturally 🖖
That's all. With this, I have officially completed my duty so that you won't die a miserable death and will have a chance to strengthen yourself and become the strongest 💪🏾
This is the last time I will contact you, so I wish you good luck. Goodbye 🫡
And remember ❗️don't die ☠️."
The paper slowly burned away after Finn finished reading it, crumbling into fine dust.
Finn stared at the remnants in a daze, then began cursing that damned entity a hundred times over.
He sighed tiredly, but a glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes as he looked at the empty white crystal with determination.
After searching for a while, Finn found a small steel knife.
He slowly brought the knife toward his hand, hesitating intensely—he had never been injured before, not even by a small cut.
He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and slashed his palm.
The blade cut through his hand like a hot knife through butter.
"Aaagh!!" Finn screamed in intense pain, but he clenched his teeth hard, closed his fist tightly, and poured his blood onto the crystal.
Drops of blood fell onto the crystal, which then glowed with a faint gray light as numerous inscriptions appeared on its surface.
Finn's face lit up. He quickly grabbed the crystal, ignoring his bleeding hand.
He examined the crystal carefully—but realized he couldn't understand a single word of the engraved text.
Finn groaned in annoyance and threw the crystal away.
"Great. Just what I needed—not being able to read or write."
He sighed tiredly, picked up the crystal again, and hid it carefully. It was his only chance of success—literally.
Then Finn searched the room for a pen and a notebook.
When he found them, he began writing a simple training plan.
In truth, Finn didn't really know what he was doing, but he tried to list all his advantages and shortcomings, then devised a logical plan to become strong enough to defend himself.
"First advantage—and the most important one—is my knowledge of the plot and story of this world. That means I know the major future events and all the golden opportunities for insane power growth," Finn thought aloud as he wrote quickly.
"Second advantage: the gifts that cursed entity gave me—Luffy's Gomu Gomu no Mi, an ancient tattered book written in Japanese, and a mysterious crystal containing a powerful Yuan Qi cultivation technique that helps increase cultivation aptitude."
Finn nodded, then stretched his cheek to check whether he was still dreaming. He sighed sadly when his cheek stretched just like Luffy's, then wrote again in his notebook.
"Third advantage is…" Finn whispered sadly, "…nothing."
He then started listing his flaws—and discovered they were… far too many.
"Aaaargh!! This is useless!!" Finn shouted angrily and hurled his notebook against the wall.
He collapsed into tears again, his body trembling violently with despair and sorrow—until he noticed something.
He looked at his palm and saw that the bleeding had stopped and the wound was slowly healing.
Finn stared at his hand in disbelief, then clenched his fist, grabbed his notebook, and wrote down a new advantage:
Regeneration ability.
Finn smiled warmly and began training, trying to gather Yuan Qi and open his Qi meridians by following the same method he had seen in the manhua.
If Finn remembered correctly, the fundamental life energy used in Yuan Zun was Yuan Qi.
Yuan Qi was a cosmic energy that flowed through all nine heavens of the Tian Yuan world. It flowed in the air, the oceans, deep within the earth—everywhere.
To begin the path of cultivation and strengthen oneself with Yuan Qi, one first had to open the eight Qi meridians.
The cultivation realms Finn remembered were:
Eight Meridians Realm
Qi Nourishing Realm
Heavenly Gate Realm
Alpha Origin Realm
Sacred Palace Realm
Heavenly Sun Realm
Origin Creation Realm
Secret Domain Realm
Saint Realm
There were nine realms in total. The Eight Meridians Realm was the weakest, while the Saint Realm was the strongest.
If Finn wanted to return to his human world, he would have to train relentlessly, survive the dangers of this world, and surpass even the Saint Realm in power.
Although the task seemed impossible, and the pressure and despair were overwhelming—especially since he knew what the future held—Finn still began training and tried to sense Yuan Qi.
He had no other choice.
After three long hours of sitting cross-legged until his backside hurt, Finn felt no change at all—not even the slightest reaction from his first meridian.
He opened his eyes and groaned in frustration.
How was he supposed to cultivate when he couldn't even sense Yuan Qi?
Finn thought about how Zhou Yuan had been able to cultivate immediately after repairing his meridians. Zhou Yuan possessed the Dragon Breathing Technique, which allowed him to absorb Yuan Qi in massive quantities, along with many other techniques given to him by his Saint-level master.
Zhou Yuan was literally blessed by the heavens—he possessed the Sacred Dragon Blessing and the Resentful Dragon Venom, both considered sacred dragon blessings.
On top of that, he had a powerful background, vast resources as the prince of the Great Zhou Empire, and the constant assistance of Yao Yao and Tun Tun—the two most broken characters in the entire manhua.
Envy and jealousy burned in Finn's heart like wildfire.
How was he supposed to surpass all of that with nothing but a talentless rubber body?
After thinking for a long time, Finn decided to take the easier path: strengthening his physical body and mastering Luffy's combat techniques—even though he doubted he could do it.
Luffy had trained for ten full years since childhood just to learn how to throw a proper punch with a rubber body.
Finn didn't have ten years. The plot would begin in two years, and he needed to become strong enough to seize every opportunity.
Time was not on his side.
He also couldn't use the other gifts because of the language barrier.
The tattered Japanese book made his head hurt whenever he looked at it, and the technique engraved on the crystal did the same.
Finn sighed and lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling in a daze as tears gathered and flowed again.
He was just a thirteen-year-old boy. He never asked for any of this.
---
Three days later.
Three days of recovery, eating, and sleeping passed. Finally, Finn was allowed to move freely.
General Wei Cang Lan had planned to send soldiers to escort Finn to a place that didn't exist—but fortunately, he changed his mind and instead forced Finn to stay in the palace to befriend his son, who was the same age as Finn.
"Finn! Come on—stretch yourself around this tree quickly!!"
A boy with black-brown hair and purple eyes, Finn's age, shouted excitedly as he ran ahead.
"Wait for me, Wei Bin!" Finn shouted as he chased after him.
The boy was Wei Bin, the son of General Wei Cang Lan.
Wei Bin was a lonely child due to his father's position as a general of the Great Zhou Empire. He lived in the palace with only his older sister and father—his mother had died when he was young.
Two days earlier, his father had introduced him to Finn, and Wei Bin immediately liked him. Finn's personality was unique and different, and Wei Bin felt that Finn wasn't truly from their world.
He was especially fascinated by Finn's rubber body, like any child would be. He quickly forgot his loneliness and befriended Finn innocently.
As for Finn, he clung to Wei Bin as if he were a lifeline—because he literally was.
If Finn didn't befriend Wei Bin and make himself important to him, he would be expelled from the palace.
They would try to send him back to America—a country that didn't exist in this world.
If the soldiers discovered the lie, they would simply throw him into the wilderness—certain death.
Finn also learned several things.
He asked Wei Bin how to sense Yuan Qi and begin cultivation. Wei Bin explained that one must focus, relax, and meditate inwardly. Once one sensed Yuan Qi, they should draw it into their body and guide it to their Qi meridians.
After repeating this for a certain period, the first meridian would open.
With Wei Bin's guidance, Finn tried cultivating several times like the cultivators of this world—but failed miserably.
When Finn asked why, Wei Bin bluntly told him his cultivation talent was pitifully low—almost nonexistent.
He even said that small children could sense Yuan Qi as naturally as breathing.
Finn wanted to cry and scream in frustration, but he held himself together and tried training his rubber body instead…
And failed miserably.
To this day, Finn wondered how Luffy ever managed to fight with such a cursed body.
He couldn't even throw a proper punch—his arms and legs just stretched and flailed like spaghetti.
How was he supposed to fight like this?!
How was he even supposed to do physical training?!
Finn also discovered that the technique engraved on his crystal was written in this world's language.
He tried using the Yuan Seal on his neck to read it—but quickly discovered the seal only enabled communication, not literacy.
It merely converted Finn's English speech into the local language and translated others' speech back into English for him.
Finn was amazed by the Yuan Seals' capabilities and felt the manhua hadn't done them justice.
He swore to learn about them in the future.
Unable to read his cultivation technique, Finn considered giving the crystal to Wei Bin to read—but changed his mind.
Revealing such a treasure would only lead to losing it.
So Finn hid the crystal as if his life depended on it—because it did.
He then tried reading the tattered Japanese book and managed to translate only one sentence:
"Training Records and Notes of Monkey D. Garp."
Finn nearly flew into the sky from joy.
Who was Monkey D. Garp?!
The Hero of the Marines in One Piece—one of the strongest characters in the entire series.
Garp was powerful enough to rival Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King.
The existence of Garp's training records meant the book contained all the methods Garp used to strengthen his body, the Six Powers of the Marines, and—most importantly—guides to training all three types of Haki.
Finn tried translating the book like a madman—but unfortunately failed.
Time passed quickly, and now Finn was running after Wei Bin, playing with him and trying to please him in every way possible—even if it meant becoming a rubber clown.
Because Wei Bin was a thick thigh he had to cling to tightly if he wanted to survive.
"Finn! Stretch your arms and legs like noodles around this tree!!" Wei Bin ordered excitedly.
Finn sighed and complied—despite the humiliation he felt.