Chapter 1: Awakening
The cold ground pressed against his cheek. The smell of rust mixed with the stench of rotting food drilled into his nostrils.
Chen Yu's consciousness felt like a stone sunk deep in water, being dragged to the surface inch by inch by the piercing light.
He slowly sat up, surveying his surroundings.
It was a gloomy, deserted alleyway.
There were Garbage piles stacked as high as a man, with dense swarms of flies buzzing around them.
Drip—
A sticky sensation came from his fingertips. It felt as though a viscous liquid was flowing beneath him.
As he looking down, Chen Yu's pupils constricted violently.
Blood. Blood everywhere. It was red bordering on black, meandering along the cracks in the ground.
"Blood..." He heard his own voice, raspy like sandpaper rubbing together. He suddenly realized something was clogging his throat; the saliva he coughed up was streaked with blood.
Clang—
Just then, his right hand bumped against something. He lifted it stiffly—a long, narrow silver dagger was clenched in his palm.
Blood beads slid off the blade. The handle was glued to his hand by dried blood scabs, and the special symbol engraved on it looked somewhat blurred.
Through the reflection on the blade, he could faintly see his own face covered in blood. His unfocused eyes were gradually regaining their light, and a hideous gash across his throat was slowly healing.
"Haa... Haa..."
Chen Yu's chest heaved violently as he gasped for air. "I'm not dead?"
Chen Yu, an Earthling. On Earth, he had crossed paths with a "hundred-ton King of the Road" (a truck). Despite giving it his all, he could not defeat it.
He had transmigrated to this world yesterday.
In this life, his status was illustrious. He was the eldest son of Chen Guodong, the head of the Chen Family, one of the three great noble families of Lanjiang City.
He was a top student at Lanjiang No. 1 High School, ranking first in both Spirit and Physique.
Today was the Federal Awakening Day. According to Federal regulations, citizens who reached the age of eighteen could participate in the Awakening Ceremony.
Because Chen Yu's mother had sacrificed herself for the Federation, and because of his own exceptional spiritual talent and excellent grades, he possessed a Highest-Level Awakening Quota.
This meant he could choose a High-Grade Awakening Pod during the ceremony.
This signified a higher success rate for awakening, as well as the potential for stronger, rarer abilities.
By this time today, he should have been lying inside a High-Grade Awakening Pod awaiting his awakening.
He should not be lying in a pool of blood on some random street corner.
"Holy sh*t, this is a battle for the heir's inheritance..." As he digested the memories of the moments before his death, Chen Yu couldn't help but curse aloud.
After Chen Yu's mother died, the original owner's father immediately welcomed a woman of equal social standing, Zhang Li, into the family.
Thus, the original Chen Yu gained a stepbrother, Chen Chen. Fortunately, Chen Yu's spiritual talent was extraordinary, suppressing Chen Chen at every turn.
However, the original owner had a weak personality and was repeatedly manipulated by Zhang Li, who played the role of a benevolent mother perfectly.
She would verbally suppress him daily, belittling him by saying he wasn't as sensible or considerate as his brother Chen Chen. She denied the value of his spiritual talents, making him doubt himself.
She would gossip in front of Chen Guodong, appearing to "care deeply" for the original owner on the surface, while secretly picking at his faults, making his father feel that the original owner had character flaws, gradually shifting favor to the younger brother.
Using a "motherly" tone, she demanded the original owner yield to his brother. She forced him to give up even reasonable benefits, and if he resisted, she would passive-aggressively label him "unfilial" or "stingy."
These actions directly caused the original owner's cowardly personality to spiral out of control.
As for Chen Guodong, he grew to dislike Chen Yu more and more. His most frequent comment was: How did I end up with such a weak son?
Eventually, he left Chen Yu to fend for himself, asking no further questions.
When Chen Yu first transmigrated, he had complained more than once.
"With this status and position, how could he get bullied like this?"
"This dad is blind in both his eyes and his heart."
"He doesn't love the top-tier eldest son, but pours his heart into the younger son?"
"This whole family is sick."
But having only arrived a day ago, Chen Yu hadn't dared to blow his cover, playing the role of the coward perfectly.
The final image in his memory was from last night.
Zhang Li called to say his father was critically ill. Although Chen Yu was wary, he didn't think too much of it and rushed to the hospital ward.
But he found only Zhang Li and an old maidservant in the room—no one else.
He heard the old maid say with hatred,
"As expected of that slut's bastard, this face really is good-looking."
The old woman stepped forward and pinched Chen Yu's face. "Looking at this face makes me want to kill you!"
"If the Master hadn't forbidden it, you'd be dead already!"
"Mmph! Mmph!" Chen Yu resisted violently, but it was useless.
"You? Worthy of a Highest-Level Awakening Quota?" Zhang Li's face, stripped of all disguise, was as hideous as a venomous snake.
She sneered, "Rest easy and give it to our Chen'er!"
The next moment, he felt his throat being blocked by something, unable to draw breath.
The terror of death swallowed his reason.
On the brink of death, Chen Yu truly realized that the saying "Strength reigns supreme in this world" was not just talk.
Then, everything went black.
He had successfully achieved the "One-Day Tour of Another World" achievement.
Opening his eyes again, it was now the present.
Connecting the clues in his memory, Chen Yu basically pieced together the cause and effect.
"It looks like Zhang Li wanted to kill the original owner for a long time. She only kept him alive this long for the sake of that Highest-Level Awakening Quota."
Chen Yu stared at the blood-stained dagger in his palm and touched the healed wound on his throat.
"Throat slit... and I didn't die?"
"Disguised as a suicide by throat-slitting? Zhang Li must have planned this long ago."
According to her plan, the dead original owner would obviously not appear at the Awakening Ceremony.
Plus, this place was remote. By the time he was discovered, the grass on his grave would be tall enough to harvest.
At that time, everyone would just assume the eldest son of the Chen family committed suicide due to the pressure of awakening or the inability to handle family comparisons.
And she, Zhang Li, would at most suffer the regret of "failing to notice the child's abnormalities in time."
She would then turn around and logically take over everything with Chen Chen, including the High-Grade Awakening Pod that should have belonged to him.
Chen Yu believed she had the means to do it.
"Buddy, you really had it rough." Chen Yu took off his blood-soaked jacket.
He used the jacket to wipe the dagger in his hand clean.
"If this were a palace intrigue plot in a romance novel, I couldn't make any guarantees."
"But this is a high-stakes martial world where strength is king!" Chen Yu shoved the dagger into his pocket.
"This vengeance, I'm definitely taking it!"
Chen Yu walked out of the alley.
The location wasn't far from the Awakening Ceremony.
Perhaps Zhang Li was so certain he would die that she hadn't even considered the distance.
Chen Yu gave a wicked, confident smirk.
"Just you wait!"
He had the confidence to say this not out of arrogance, but because he had learned from his memories that this world was called Blue Star.
A hundred years ago, a purple meteorite crashed into Blue Star. Since then, ferocious beasts had run rampant. At the same time, humans discovered they could obtain magical abilities from the meteorite.
Humanity formed an Alliance and built hundred-meter-tall walls to keep the beasts out, allowing the human race to survive.
And these magical abilities all came from the manga from his previous life: One Piece.
However, this world did not have the One Piece manga. They were still in the exploratory stage regarding these abilities.
But Chen Yu, as a hardcore One Piece fan, essentially had an "Omniscient Cheat" turned on.
...
Awakening Center.
Inside the hall, which was large enough to hold hundreds of people, a massive magic circle was inscribed on the floor.
In the center of the array hovered a palm-sized fragment of the meteorite.
Rows of awakening pods, gleaming with metallic luster, were arranged in an orderly fashion around the meteorite fragment.
The Awakening Ceremony was the most important event in the entire Alliance. At this moment, the spectator seats above the hall were packed with people who had come to watch.
Most were family members, but there were also business tycoons and school leaders.
The hall was so quiet that only the low hum of the magic circle operating could be heard. Hundreds of students had already laid down in their corresponding awakening pods.
Only one of the few High-Grade Awakening Pods closest to the central meteorite remained empty.
The staff member in charge of the ceremony checked the time, frowning slightly. "Chen Yu hasn't arrived yet? According to regulations, the ceremony must start in ten minutes."
Whispers began to rise from the crowd. Some looked toward the family of three—Chen Guodong stood by the empty High-Grade pod—with eyes full of curiosity.
A look of worry appeared on Zhang Li's face at just the right moment, before melting into a helpless sigh.
She gently patted Chen Chen on the shoulder, her voice gentle yet clearly projecting across the hall: "Everyone, let's wait a little longer... However..."
She paused, as if making a difficult decision, her eyes turning slightly red.
"Actually, I received a message from Yu'er this morning. He said... he wasn't feeling well and probably wouldn't be able to make it."
As soon as these words came out, the hall erupted in an uproar.
"How is that possible? That's a High-Grade Awakening Pod!"
"The eldest son of the Chen family is actually giving up such an opportunity?"
Chen Guodong let out a cold snort of displeasure. "Hmph! Not coming just because he's not feeling well?"
"Making everyone wait here just for him?! Ungrateful brat!"
"I'll send someone to find him and drag him here if I have to!"
Hearing this, Zhang Li held onto Chen Guodong's arm. "Husband, don't."
Her face showed just the right amount of heartbreak. "The child... is probably just too nervous."
"As a member of the Chen family, he cares about the family's reputation too. Let's wait a bit longer..." Her frowned brows perfectly mimicked a doting mother.
"He still knows he's a Chen! Running away at the last minute, cowardly and shrinking!"
Chen Guodong glared lightly at Zhang Li. "You just spoil him too much!"
"We aren't waiting for him!" Chen Guodong looked at the staff member and said, "Please begin the ceremony."
"Uh... this..." The staff member exchanged a subtle glance with Zhang Li and said, "If no one enters the High-Grade Pod, the ceremony cannot start."
The staff member paused for a moment, then added, "The quota for the High-Grade Awakening Pod can be transferred. If Chen Yu hasn't come, did he say who he wanted to transfer it to?"
"Ah..." Zhang Li feigned surprise. "So that's how it is..."
Chen Guodong looked at Zhang Li in confusion. "What is it?"
"Husband, what should I do..." Zhang Li's face went pale. "Yu'er asked to meet me last night. I was so happy; I thought he had finally accepted me as his mother."
"We talked a lot. He even said that if he didn't go to the awakening, he might as well give the opportunity to Chen'er..."
"I thought he was joking at the time... I even encouraged him... Could Yu'er have done something foolish?"
"It's all my fault... It's all my fault... I didn't notice..."
Chen Guodong gently comforted Zhang Li. "It's okay, it's okay. You just love to overthink things."
"With Chen Yu's personality, would he dare to commit suicide?"
Speaking of Chen Yu, Chen Guodong inexplicably felt a belly full of anger. "Since he said that..."
"Then Chen'er, don't let your brother's good intentions go to waste."
Chen Chen timely revealed an expression of hesitation and emotion, whispering, "But... wouldn't that be bad? Brother, he..."
"What's bad about it?" Chen Guodong interrupted him immediately, his voice cold. "With his personality, he's useless!"
"It's best that he has some self-awareness!"
Chen Guodong patted Chen Chen on the shoulder encouragingly. "We are all one family, no need to feel guilty."
"I know you have a kind heart, Chen'er, but you shouldn't be indecisive at a time like this. Go, quickly."
The staff member immediately chimed in, "Yes, Young Master Chen Chen, don't hesitate!"
Seeing his father nod, Chen Chen "reluctantly" nodded his head. Under the gaze of the crowd, he lifted his foot and walked toward the awakening pod that symbolized the highest priority.
Just as his hand was about to touch the cabin door, a cold voice suddenly rang out from the entrance of the hall.
"Who the f*ck dares to steal my Awakening Pod!"
(To be Continued)