The Paramecia-type Time Fruit was originally consumed by Toki Amatsuki in the main One Piece storyline, granting its user the ability to travel to the future.
In the plot, Toki Amatsuki was an overseas descendant of the Amatsuki family from Wano Country over eight hundred years ago.
Though Toki had never set foot in Wano, she desired to reach its future for some reason, thus using the power of the Time Fruit to transport herself eight hundred years forward.
While the main storyline never explicitly stated why Toki wanted to come to Wano, the timeline suggests it was likely related to Joy Boy's defeat.
But in this world, Joy Boy didn't die, which consequently prevented Wano Country from implementing its Seclusion Policy. Toki Amatsuki might not have even eaten the Time Fruit.
Or perhaps she did consume it but never activated its time-travel ability, living out her natural lifespan and allowing the Time Fruit to re-enter the cycle of reincarnation.
Speaking of Wano Country, one must mention Kouzuki Oden, a theoretical member of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Chronos had no favorable opinion of Kouzuki Oden, considering him nothing more than a fool.
However, Oden was exceptionally strong in combat. From a broader perspective, Chronos wouldn't object to him joining the Whitebeard Pirates, as it would provide another capable ally for Whitebeard.
Unfortunately, due to changes in the world's timeline, not only does Kouzuki Oden seem nonexistent in this world, but the entire Kouzuki Family appears to be absent as well.
It seems that during internal conflicts in Wano, the Kurozumi Clan sought to overthrow the Kouzuki Family's rule. Through schemes and plots, they annihilated the Kouzuki lineage.
But as mentioned earlier, Wano Country in this world never closed its borders. Upon learning of the situation, their ally, the Great Kingdom, acted swiftly, dispatching forces to suppress the Kurozumi Clan.
Both the Kouzuki and Kurozumi clans were wiped out. Currently, Wano is ruled by the Shimotsuki Family, led by Shimotsuki Ryuma, who is also renowned as the world's greatest swordsman.
Due to continuous external exchanges, the country's name has gradually changed in common parlance to the Golden Country.
When Chronos learned that Shimotsuki Ryuma was actually a contemporary figure ruling Wano, he merely sighed briefly before moving on.
With Joy Boy still alive and Garp becoming a great pirate, what difference did one more Shimotsuki Ryuma make?
Chronos's attention was now completely captured by the Time Fruit. He had previously tested other Devil Fruits, but the system showed no reaction. Now, however, the Time Fruit triggered a response.
Comparing the conditions, did the system require temporal energy?
Though his thoughts raced, Chronos quickly refocused and lifted the Time Fruit.
"Old man, I have a feeling this Devil Fruit might be quite useful. I think I'll need this."
Chronos's tone was uncertain, but it caught Whitebeard's attention.
"Oh? Chronos, are you sensing some kind of attraction to this Devil Fruit?"
Whitebeard had vaguely heard the legend that Devil Fruits choose their masters.
"Not exactly. I just want to conduct some experiments. This Devil Fruit might be helpful to me."
Chronos explained. He trusted Whitebeard completely, so he openly shared his need for a specific type of energy with him.
When Chronos mentioned he needed it, Whitebeard had even brought out his Cloud-Cutting Sword, so now Whitebeard understood something.
"Is that so? Kulalala, it seems you'll get your wish today, Chronos!"
Whitebeard was happy for his child and waved his hand grandly.
"In that case, both these Devil Fruits are yours, Chronos. You can distribute them as you see fit."
"Thank you, Father."
Chronos nodded, smiling happily.
His companions around him were also celebrating. They had little need for Devil Fruits; otherwise, with the Whitebeard Pirates' scale, forming a Devil Fruit squad wouldn't be a problem, but there were only three ability users on the ship.
As Chronos's brothers, they were genuinely happy for him.
Chronos didn't hide anything either. Seeing the system's translucent subtitles displayed, he immediately focused inwardly.
'Absorb.'
With a whoosh, the Time Fruit vanished directly, and the text on the system panel finally changed.
It seemed to be absorbing the Time Fruit's energy—the translucent text grew brighter and more solid, eventually emitting a crisp sound in Chronos's mind.
[Ding! Energy replenishment complete. Dimensional Summoning System officially activated.]
[Ding! System Space opened.]
Chronos's consciousness blanked out, and a vast whiteness suddenly appeared before his eyes.
Surveying his surroundings, the space was roughly the size of a football field. The ground beneath was pitch black, the ceiling a chaotic expanse, and at the edges, a vague, shifting white fog blocked any passage in any direction.
Chronos felt a flicker of doubt, but immediately, a blue translucent energy sphere appeared before him.
A sensation arose in his mind—the blue sphere was requesting Chronos to touch it.
After looking around and confirming there was nothing else besides the blue sphere, Chronos finally chose to follow his instinct and reached out to touch it.
!
In an instant, it felt like an electric shock—the blue sphere abruptly merged into Chronos's body.
Time, space, causality, fate...
At that moment, Chronos saw the distant future!
Not just "One Piece," "Toriko," and "Dragon Ball"—Chronos saw more, vaster, and more complex worlds.
[Ding! System fully bound successfully.]
Once the blue sphere had completely merged into his body, Chronos understood, his expression somewhat incredulous.
"Not a crossover universe... This is a... hyper-dimensional fused world!?"
Crossover anime—a fan-created worldview from Chronos's previous life where different anime worlds merged into one, forming a unique setting.
Like crossover anime episodes—"Toriko" had crossed over with "One Piece" twice and even with "Dragon Ball," featuring three series together.
Another example was "Isekai Quartet," a crossover of characters from different isekai series.
Chronos had thought he'd arrived at most in a parallel or crossover universe of "One Piece."
But with the blue sphere's help, Chronos learned that this world was like "Isekai Quartet"—a worldview where characters from other worlds would be added!
Perhaps only three worlds existed now, but in the future, more worlds might merge, even giving rise to continents like "Naruto" or "Bleach."
Chronos's system was originally just a creation of the pure "One Piece" worldview, intended to summon someone and reform the pirate world.
Just like a goddess from another world summoning a hero to eliminate the demon king and strive for peace in that world.
After pulling someone back, the world had drastically changed—the pirate world had become the weakest among the three current worlds, directly suffering from energy depletion.
For the native characters of the One Piece world, the Time Fruit might simply be an ordinary ability.
But for the energy-depleted system, it served as a processor for extracting energy, capable of obtaining energy through time travel.
If Chronos acquired a time machine from the Dragon Ball worldview, the effect would be the same.
Now that the system had finished analyzing the Time Fruit and secured a stable channel for energy acquisition, the system had officially activated.
However, due to the fusion of worldviews, many of the system's abilities were damaged. What was originally a template for leveling up by defeating monsters was now broken.
Fortunately, every cloud has a silver lining. Although the original ability template was damaged, the changes in the worldview allowed the system to acquire a new ability template.
Summoning!
Across the endless dimensional worlds, Chronos could use the system to summon characters, items, abilities, and even everything from different dimensional worlds.
Although the system had just awakened and currently only had this one ability template for summoning, it was sufficient for Chronos at the moment.
As for how to obtain summons, it was simple: participate in this world, stir up the world's plot, develop his own forces, nurture characters, and so on.
In short, the better this world developed, the more energy the system could extract from it, and the more assistance it could provide to Chronos.
After digesting all this information, Chronos rubbed his forehead with a slight headache.
He had thought the biggest trouble was the Dragon Ball world, but it turned out that many more worlds might merge in the future.
What if a dark world from a massive worldview like Marvel or DC came along? Wouldn't that be disastrous?
Well, there was no need to worry unnecessarily. Better to focus on the path ahead for now.
Chronos summoned the system panel. After the blue sphere integrated, he had already learned how to operate the system, along with the information transmitted by the system.
Originally, he only had to manage the pirate world, but now he had a bunch of additional responsibilities.
Even with the system's assistance, Chronos didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Checking the reward settlement panel, Chronos was eager to obtain power that could enhance himself.
[Ding! Host has joined the Whitebeard Pirates. The Whitebeard Pirates are a key faction in the One Piece plot. Obtained one Combat Unit Summoning Card.]
[Ding! Host has strategized for the Whitebeard Pirates, promoting the faction's economic development. Obtained one Technical Unit Summoning Card.]
[Ding! Host has been regarded as the successor by Whitebeard. Whitebeard is willing to pave the way for the host. Obtained Devil Fruit Physique Transformation Card.]
[Ding! Host provided Roger with life-saving information about his terminal illness, preserving the life of Pirate King Roger. Obtained one World-Class Treasure Summoning Card.]
After reviewing the rewards, Chronos raised an eyebrow.
Indeed, the Whitebeard Pirates were his treasure trove, having rewarded him three times in a row. And it seemed Whitebeard already saw him as his successor...
However, the reward for giving Roger the information was an unexpected delight.
Since Roger and Whitebeard had a good relationship, and the two great pirate crews often sparred and held banquets, Chronos was also very familiar with the Roger Pirates.
When Roger contracted an incurable disease, Chronos offered some assistance. While he couldn't cure illnesses himself, he possessed knowledge of certain secrets within the One Piece world.
The Heal-Heal Fruit, the Horm-Horm Fruit, and Pure Gold all held the potential to save Roger.
With Chronos' intelligence, Roger managed to locate the Heal-Heal Fruit, curing his terminal illness. This allowed him to successfully navigate the perilous Calm Belt and discover new continents.
In a sense, Chronos became one of the primary driving forces behind the current upheaval in the pirate world.
The four summoning cards were all different. Chronos opened his information panel to examine them.
[Combat Unit Summoning Card - Upon use, provides three characters who served as combat units in relevant storylines. Host may select one to summon]
[Technical Unit Summoning Card - Same as above, summons technical unit characters]
[Devil Fruit Physique Transformation Card - Transforms host's physique into Devil Fruit adaptive constitution, capable of accommodating one Paramecia, one Zoan, and one Logia Devil Fruit]
[World-Class Treasure Summoning Card - Upon use, provides three top-tier treasures from their respective worlds. Host may select one to summon]
This was quite similar to what Chronos had seen in summoning novels during his previous life, though those mainly focused on historical aspects.
Chronos' system lacked world-affecting modules like balance mechanisms or random intrusions. However, since the world view itself was integrating other dimensions, numerous characters from other realms would appear in the future, possibly even entire worlds merging into this one.
With the system's awakening, Chronos would receive alerts if other worlds truly merged in the future, giving him an intelligence advantage.
He decided to temporarily keep the two character summoning cards, as he hadn't yet left the Whitebeard Pirates.
The treasure summoning card intrigued him - after all, it promised a world-class treasure. Yet "top-tier" didn't necessarily mean "useful." What Chronos valued most was the Devil Fruit Physique Transformation Card.
This likely stemmed from the storyline's Blackbeard, who was already a dual-Devil Fruit user. Since Blackbeard was closely associated with the number three, Chronos speculated he would eventually obtain a third fruit, becoming a triple-Devil Fruit user.
Chronos immediately chose to use the transformation card. A warm, comforting sensation spread through his body.
Checking his information again:
[Name: Chronos]
[Height/Weight: ...]
[Affiliation: Whitebeard Pirates]
[Current Region: One Piece World]
[Mastered Abilities: Armament Haki, Observation Haki]
[Special Ability: Three-Fruit Physique]
There were various other details, but Chronos didn't scrutinize them. Satisfied with confirming his Three-Fruit Physique, he nodded in approval.
Taking one last look at the System Space, Chronos willed himself back to the deck of the Moby Dick.
The System Space operated at a different time flow - almost any duration spent inside amounted to merely an instant in the outside world.
Thus, from Whitebeard's perspective, Chronos had suddenly vanished, then just as suddenly reappeared.
Before anger could surface, confusion arose in Whitebeard's heart. After carefully examining Chronos and confirming he was still the same person, Whitebeard finally asked:
"Chronos, did you just...?"
"Dad, my special ability has activated at the cost of that Devil Fruit. Do you notice any changes in me now?"
Chronos said cheerfully, seeing no need to hide such news from Whitebeard.
"Changes?"
Whitebeard sounded puzzled. Out of respect for his children's privacy, he only used his Observation Haki passively, rarely actively probing. Even when confirming Chronos' condition earlier, he stopped once he sensed no major changes in his aura.
Now hearing Chronos' words, Whitebeard seriously scanned Chronos up and down with his Observation Haki.
"Chronos, your body..."
Whitebeard was astonished. In his detection, Chronos' body now seemed to contain three people!
"Dad, I can now consume three Devil Fruits, but they must be of three different types: Zoan, Paramecia, and Logia."
Chronos gave a thumbs up, causing the entire atmosphere to freeze for a moment.
"Gurararara!!!"
Whitebeard's signature laughter boomed as he placed his large hand on Chronos' head and ruffled his hair vigorously.
"Chronos, you've truly become a worthy monster now!"
Whitebeard didn't doubt Chronos - there was no need to doubt his own son.
As for Chronos' brief disappearance earlier, Whitebeard believed children should be allowed to have their own little secrets.
"Hey hey, this can't be real, can it?"
Marco rushed over and heavily slung an arm around Chronos' shoulder.
"No wonder you wanted Devil Fruits, Chronos! To think there's a monster who can eat three Devil Fruits!"
Thatch grabbed Chronos' other shoulder, his eyes sparkling.
"Chronos! Chronos!"
The surrounding crew members kept chanting Chronos' name, celebrating the birth of this monster.
Chronos smiled brightly - this was exactly why he felt safe revealing this information.
After laughing heartily for a while, Whitebeard finally composed himself.
Looking seriously at Chronos, Whitebeard said: "Chronos, from now on I'll use my authority as captain to fully search for Devil Fruits for you. Tell me, what kind of Devil Fruit combinations are you looking for?"
If he had considered it before, now Whitebeard was completely determined to treat Chronos as his successor.
The power of three Devil Fruits... how terrifying would that be?
Chronos had originally planned to search for the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and Vampire Fruit - both were top-tier Devil Fruits with clear locations.
The only question was the Paramecia type, which offered many choices.
"Dad, have you heard of Skypiea? I have a feeling there's a very powerful Devil Fruit there that I want!"
Chronos said seriously. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit was too versatile and its location was clear - he had to obtain it.
"Gurararara, Skypiea, is it? Then we should prepare to set sail!"
Whitebeard agreed without hesitation. They wandered the seas daily anyway, and now they had a clear goal to accomplish.
"Skypiea?" Marco and Thatch looked puzzled. "Isn't that just a legend?"
"It really exists~" Chronos laughed, "and it's related to the legendary City of Gold."
"Hey Chronos, it's not like we haven't read the story of that big liar Noland."
Marco rolled his eyes.
Chronos shrugged, "Fairy tales are all lies, didn't you know that, Marco?"
"Yeah, they're all lies..."
Marco froze mid-sentence, realizing that if the story about lies was itself a lie, then the story must be true!?
The entire Whitebeard Pirates crew grew excited at this—it was gold they were talking about!
Whitebeard chuckled at the scene and glanced at Chronos, thinking, "This kid is clever."
Chronos smiled back. "The brothers are helping me out; I can't let them work for nothing."
"Alright, men, prepare to set sail! Our target is the legendary Skypiea!" Whitebeard laughed heartily. It had been a long time since he'd embarked on an adventure!
With the Rumble-Rumble Fruit secured and the Vampire Fruit not urgent, all that was left was a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit.
Chronos began to ponder: What other powerful Paramecia-type Devil Fruits did he clearly remember from his memories?
Huh?
Chronos shifted his gaze and noticed that the other Devil Fruit Whitebeard had brought earlier had, at some point, rolled right in front of him.
What was this...
[Ding! Detection panel activated]
[Paramecia-type · Soul-Soul Fruit]
Chronos was taken aback. In this world, Charlotte Linlin wasn't a Devil Fruit user, and Carmel seemed not to exist either, so...
It looked like the Paramecia-type Devil Fruit slot was also settled.