Tenryū Yuto's cheat came to this world together with him.
But Yuto was not Kozuki Oden. He could not just pop out of the womb and start walking.
For the first few years, even when he drew total nobodies, Yuto still could not beat them. All he could do was grow up, quietly train his body, and wait.
Fortunately, the physical quality of Celestial Dragons was generally quite good.
An adult Celestial Dragon was usually around three meters tall, about the same height as a Marine admiral. They just tended to look a bit bloated from lack of training, and very few of them had the patience to cultivate their bodies.
Thanks to his excellent physical talent, Yuto started being able to take down some of those nobodies before he even turned ten.
These people had no Devil Fruits, no special physiques, and did not know any of the three types of Haki. The only thing their ability cards could do was toughen Yuto's body.
If he kept improving at that pace, and wanted to rely on pure physique to stand up to opponents with Armament Haki, he might really have to stack his body all the way up to Charlotte Linlin's level.
The turning point came when he was twelve.
That year, Yuto awakened Observation Haki on his own.
With Observation Haki, he could handle Haki-less nobodies with ease, and his physique improved rapidly.
With an almost prophetic awareness of incoming attacks, he could even hold his own against opponents stronger than himself.
At thirteen, thanks to his enhanced physical foundation and deliberate training, Yuto finally awakened Armament Haki.
From then on, even if some New World tough guy with two colors of Haki showed up among the nobodies, he would still have a chance at victory.
Another three years passed. Most of the cards he drew during that time were powerhouses he could not yet defeat. Even so, thanks to all those nobodies' hard work, Yuto's strength grew to the point where he could contend with Hina.
…
Yuto opened his eyes, and the ever obedient maids immediately stepped forward. The familiar scene replayed itself.
After breakfast, Yuto began another day of doing absolutely nothing.
"My current strength is roughly at the level of a Marine Headquarters rear admiral. When I train seriously, the shockwaves are getting pretty big. It is getting inconvenient to cut loose in the Holy Land. Looks like I will have to rely mainly on the real combat in the system space from now on."
His position was actually a bit awkward.
Among the nineteen Celestial Dragon families, including the families of the Five Elders, there was not much real power struggle.
Aside from a handful of highly motivated types who wanted to join the God Knights, the rest of the Celestial Dragons were just trash waiting around to die of old age. At most, they would get into petty conflicts over who got which slave, and those grudges would usually be forgotten by the next day.
The elites and the trash practically lived in separate circles. Unless they were born into the same family, they might remain nothing more than nodding acquaintances for their entire lives.
Yuto was, of course, a complete nobody mixed into the trash circle. Only by playing dead could he grow safely. He would not jump out until he could beat Imu easily in the card space.
Right now, his problem was that he did not have any true direct subordinates.
The maids and guards in his manor were fine for running errands. Turning them into truly useful fighters, however, was impossible unless Yuto spent ability cards on them.
According to his plan, he would not use any physique or Haki enhancement cards on his subordinates until he reached admiral level himself.
For normal missions, he could always leave things to CP.
But for something like heading to Birka to grab the Goro Goro no Mi, he really did not have anyone he could trust yet.
If he sent CP to fetch it, they would definitely bring the Devil Fruit back. They would also, without a doubt, report every detail of the operation to the Five Elders.
That would put Yuto directly under the Five Elders' gaze. The Five Elders might not particularly care, and they certainly would not steal his Goro Goro no Mi.
But once he was exposed, everything he wanted to do afterward would become much more troublesome.
With a sigh, Yuto shifted his focus back to the sea.
Crocodile and Moria would both challenge Whitebeard and Kaido in the next few years. After losing, one would crawl back to Paradise and start throwing his life away, and the other would wander around digging up graves.
Many transmigrator seniors had recruited these two with promises of helping them take revenge.
Yuto was well aware that he did not possess the legendary "talk no jutsu." He could not just wave his hand and expect the strong to come flocking to his banner. Besides, those two were not the sort who would easily bow their heads to someone else.
Bartholomew Kuma, Jinbe, and Hanafuda could theoretically be recruited as subordinates, but the first two had fundamentally conflicting stances with Yuto. As for Hanafuda, his relationship with Kaido ran deep enough that he had even entrusted his child to him.
The Marines were even more out of the question.
Although the Marines under Commander-in-Chief Kong were not as independent as they would later become under Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the seeds of change had started sprouting ever since Zephyr became an instructor.
Unless Yuto fully revealed his talent and gained the full support of the Five Elders, asking the Marines to hand over personnel was nothing but a daydream.
"Forget it. I should focus on leveling up first. Once I get Charlotte Linlin's Iron Balloon, I will not have to worry about safety at sea."
Yuto sighed and headed back to his room.
"System, activate."
After obtaining Hina's Armament Haki, Yuto's strength had grown by leaps and bounds. He decided to challenge the Charlotte Linlin card again.
If he could get her Iron Balloon, even if he still fell short of elite vice admiral level, he would at least be able to hold out until reinforcements arrived.
At that point, he would finally be able to leave Mary Geoise and head out to sea to search for suitable subordinates.
…
Yuto appeared once more in the card space. This time, the setting was a town.
Before he even started searching, a mountain of flesh nearly four meters tall came into view.
It was strange when you thought about it. Charlotte Linlin as a child and Charlotte Linlin in her old age basically looked the same, yet in her youth she had been genuinely beautiful.
Oda once said that the most beautiful woman on Hachinosu was Shakky, but Yuto personally felt that the most beautiful was Miss Bakkin, then Charlotte Linlin, with Shakky at best in third place.
Before he could say anything, a fist the size of a cooking pot came crashing down toward his head.
Yuto dodged in a panic.
"No martial ethics at all."
Boom.
The fist slammed into the ground, punching a deep crater into the street.
Boom.
Another punch followed. Yuto was forced to keep dodging, without any room to counterattack.
Charlotte Linlin's strength and defense were inhuman. Even with his boosted Armament Haki, Yuto knew better than to meet her head on.
He had never quite understood the way people in this world fought. Those idiots who liked to go fist to fist just for the spectacle. Sure, it looked hot blooded, but would it kill them to dodge once in a while?
The efficiency was unbelievably low.
After all his battles in the card space over the years, Yuto had developed a style of his own.
It was nothing complicated. He focused on dodging and using his forearms to intercept blows, then aimed his strikes at the opponent's head and liver for maximum damage.
It sounded simple, but that alone put him above everyone else on the sea.
Why did so many people in this world seem to have ridiculously thick health bars?
Because everyone fought like a walking explosion. You use your ultimate, I use my ultimate, then we collide them in the middle.
Dodge? No such thing.
Anyone who dodged was a low tier pirate.
Most of the damage got canceled out in the clash, and they rarely attacked vital spots.
In a world where everyone was basically a walking tank, injuries like that would not kill anyone.
…
Charlotte Linlin smashed another fist into the ground. A sharp glint flashed through Yuto's eyes.
He stomped hard on the ground, using the rebound to instantly appear on Linlin's massive hand. Another flash, and he was right in front of her.
He shaped his hands like hammers and pushed his Armament Haki to the limit.
A ruthless, ruthless, ruthless blow.
Boom.
Charlotte Linlin was sent flying. Her massive body toppled backward, dust billowing everywhere.
Yuto landed and did not stand there posing or observing his handiwork like every other "strong warrior" in this world.
He rushed her again.
Finishing blows were important.
Strike while they are down and do not give them a chance to get back up.
You want to play "dramatic smoke, stand up without a scratch, and start doing sit ups in the crater"?
Keep dreaming.
"Drop the Iron Balloon for me."