Chapter 180: A Wrong Turn in Destiny

The Batoia led his followers and was the first to arrive at Ohara in West Blue.

It was the closest island to them, so they planned to take a short rest here.

Meanwhile, Stac’s group made no attempt to hide their destination, heading straight for the Felix Family’s territory—the Kingdom of Trino!

Flying over the ocean, Karl spotted a deserted island ahead.

“We’ll stop here for now. Let’s see what we gained from Mariejois.”

Landing on the deserted island, he touched down on the beach and used his wood element powers to craft a wooden table and chair.

After settling himself, he emptied everything he’d plundered from Mariejois onto the massive table.

With a wave of his hand, he swept a mountain of gold straight into his System’s storage.

That left three small boxes, several ornate swords, a book, and a parchment inscribed with strange symbols.

He picked up the swords first and tossed them into the System space. He couldn’t tell if any of them were legendary blades.

And since none of them appeared on his System panel, they most likely weren’t famous swords, anyway.

Next, his attention drifted to the book.

He slowly opened to the first page. An illustration of a fruit and its description appeared before him.

“A Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. That’s a good find.”

Sure, he didn’t always need a Devil Fruit guide, but this was a treasure once hoarded by the Celestial Dragons. It should be quite comprehensive, perfect for giving his subordinates a leg up identifying fruits.

Karl eyed the Devil Fruits in front of him, feeling a bit dissatisfied.

“Didn’t the Celestial Dragons put their Devil Fruits in a vault? Why are there only three here?”

What Karl didn’t know was that Celestial Dragons have an innate dislike for Devil Fruits. None of them would willingly eat one. Even though normal people considered Devil Fruits precious treasures, to the Celestial Dragons, they were just toys—sometimes fed to slaves on a whim.

So it’s no surprise their supply of Devil Fruits was always the smallest.

“Forget it, forget it. Time to see what’s in these boxes.”

He opened the first box. Inside was a white fruit, covered in mysterious white patterns.

He quickly grabbed the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia and compared it. “Logia-Type – Cloud-Cloud Fruit.”

A smile tugged at his lips. “Luck’s on my side. The first one’s a Logia.”

He stored the Devil Fruit away and hurried to open the second box.

Checking against the guide again. “Paramecia-Type – Disease Fruit!”

This is the One Piece World, so everyone should have strong bodies, right? What’s this fruit even for?

What, is it going to make people pregnant just by staring at them?

Whatever. He put it aside.

He quickly opened the last box.

But just then, he stopped flipping through the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia.

“Huh!”

He sucked in a sharp breath, practically doing his part to raise global temperatures.

Because he’d reached the end of the encyclopedia and still couldn’t find any information about this fruit.

“If I remember right, only Devil Fruits that the World Government has blocked from being found don’t show up in the guide.”

Even Luffy’s Gum-Gum Fruit had its Nika form’s name screened out, so this one must be in the same category.

“System, identify this one for me.”

“Points deducted. Deduction complete.”

As anticipation built, the System’s voice sounded in his mind.

“Paramecia-Type – Space-Time Fruit!”

Right then, Karl felt as if a giant question mark floated above his head.

Space-Time Fruit? Wasn’t that the one Toki ate?

The System broke its stoic silence with a trace of annoyance: “Toki ate the Time-Time Fruit, not the Space-Time Fruit.”

The reply startled Karl so much he almost jumped.

“Wait, you can talk now?”

System: “You idiot, you big dumb—! You absolute—! You—!”

“If you hadn’t dragged out the world’s progress for so long, I would’ve recovered sooner, you know!”

Karl awkwardly scratched his ear, as if he didn’t hear a thing. “So…how long have you been able to talk?”

System: “Since you changed the fate of God Valley.”

He thought hard. But as far as he remembered, he hadn’t changed much at God Valley.

Rocks still died. The pirate crews split up. Golden Lion, Newgate and the rest founded their own crews. Really, not much changed.

System: “…”

“You utter fool—!”

Karl pretended not to notice and scratched his ear again.

The System fell silent for over ten seconds.

System: “It was your existence. Originally, you were supposed to die at God Valley. That would’ve put the timeline right back on track. But with my help, you made it out alive.”

“And on top of that, you killed a Five Elder who wasn’t supposed to die.”

“That alone has changed the course of the One Piece World in a huge way.”

Hearing this, Karl nodded thoughtfully.

“So, back in that black void, you’re the one who woke me up?”

System: “…”

“Alright, alright! I get it! I get it! No more, please!” With the System about to launch into another tirade, he quickly raised both hands in surrender.

Honestly, what’s wrong with his System? Why’s it always so irritable?

Then the System said slowly, “Do you know where you were supposed to go at the very beginning?”

Karl froze. “Wasn’t it here?”

System: “For crying out loud! I literally just asked if you knew where you were supposed to go first! How are you still not getting it? You—!”

Filtering out the foul language, Karl asked with surprise,

“So, where was I supposed to go originally?”

That seemed to make the System freeze up. “Anywhere but here. That’s all I’ll say.”

“Wait, hold on a second!”

Seeing the System about to shut down, Karl pounced on the chance. “Since you sent me to the wrong place, shouldn’t you give me a little compensation?”

The System’s voice sounded almost disappointed. “That initial talent you got wasn’t even from this world.”

After saying that, the System fell completely silent. Not another word.

Karl sat there, deep in thought.

The first talent… Did he mean Titan’s Gift?

If he remembered right, Titan’s Gift came from the Cultivation World.

And the System leveled up soon after, never offering a talent lottery again.

So the first time he transmigrated, he was actually supposed to go to the Cultivation World?

Right now, Karl looked troubled. Who could’ve guessed things would turn out like this?

He threw his head back and cried, “Oh, come on! Why does fate have to mess with me like this?”

The Cultivation World—now that was a place of wonders. Eternal life, plucking stars, seizing the moon. That would’ve beaten playing pirates here any day.

He slowly lowered his head, a menacing glint flashing in his eyes. “I’d like to know who’s behind all this.”

“Or else…”

With a loud smack, his right hand slammed into the table. “Bang!”

The ground split open instantly, seawater pouring in and gradually filling the deep hole.

He slowly rose, his back turned to the world, looking utterly alone.

“Alas! What can I do, what can I do?”