Ryu, no, now he was Kaido.
As someone who had read countless web novels, his first reaction after discovering he had actually transmigrated into Kaido's body was, of course, excitement.
After all, in his past life, he had been at the bottom of society. Now he had been transported into a familiar anime world, gaining a new life, and not just any life, but that of the great Kaido of the Beasts. No matter how he looked at it, it was something worth celebrating.
But that excitement quickly vanished.
Through the memories in his head and what he knew about this world, he confirmed something critical.
The current timeline was likely right at the beginning of the One Piece story.
Based on the fact that Monkey D. Luffy's name hadn't yet appeared among East Blue bounties, and Crocodile was still alive and well, it was likely that Luffy had only just set out to sea and was still wandering in East Blue.
Which meant, at most, he had three years before he would be defeated by Joy Boy Jr. and completely fade from the stage.
That was absolutely unacceptable!
But could anything be done to change it?
Kaido thought about it for a long time and realized... he had no options.
First, the enmity between him and Luffy was basically set in stone. Even if they didn't know each other now, they were destined to be enemies. Not just because Kaido ruled over the Wano Country, but also because he possessed one of the red Poneglyphs, a crucial piece Luffy needed to become Pirate King.
So, was the current Kaido confident he could defeat Luffy head-on?
Unfortunately, even though he had fully merged with Kaido's body, inheriting all his power and memories, the moment he thought about facing that ridiculous Nika fruit, with its cheat-level abilities and infinite sit-ups, he still had no confidence in victory.
Worse still, who knew if, due to his presence, the One Piece power system might update again? What if they suddenly introduced something like "martial spirit awakening"? He could only cry himself to sleep.
As for sneaking off to eliminate Luffy before he grew stronger... it seemed like a decent idea at first. But after thinking it through, Kaido gave up on it.
Doing that would only get him killed faster. The enemies he'd face then wouldn't just be the Straw Hats, he'd have to go up against the Red-Haired Pirates, the Revolutionary Army, the Whitebeard Pirates, Marine Hero Garp, and even Dark King Rayleigh.
Besides, both his pride as a transmigrator and his dignity as one of the Four Emperors wouldn't allow him to stoop to such a pathetic move.
Most despairing of all, though, was the fact that as the so-called strongest creature in the world, the peak of the New World, the ceiling of pirate strength, Kaido's abilities had already hit the hard limit of this world. Whether it was his physique, Haki, or Devil Fruit power, he had maxed out the stats.
Even if he wanted to train further, there was barely any room left for growth.
It was hopeless!
After summing it all up, Kaido felt utterly despondent.
Was he really doomed to be nothing more than a stepping stone for Luffy on his rise to the top?
Just as he saw nothing but darkness ahead, a spark of inspiration flashed through his mind...
If he couldn't defeat the chosen child of destiny using the power system of the One Piece world, what if he used the power of another world's rules? To explain this, we have to go back to before he transmigrated.
Back then, he was just a normal office worker on Earth. He used to think that money was the most important thing in life. That there was nothing money couldn't buy. With money, you could get everything.
But after going through a certain event, his worldview completely changed. Health became the number one priority in his life, replacing money.
Still, as a busy office worker, he had no time, energy, or money for serious fitness routines. So he set his sights on gentler, at-home exercises, including some mystical Daoist breathing and circulation techniques.
Of course, back then, he never managed to train anything successfully, nor did he expect to. But now… things were different. Even something as absurd as transmigration had happened to him.
With no hope in sight of defeating the chosen child of destiny, there was no harm in giving those old fictional techniques a try.
At first, it was just a desperate move born from hopelessness.
But to his shock, that one last-ditch attempt, like a carp leaping over the dragon gate, actually brought him hope.
Yes, he had succeeded. He had actually managed to cultivate.
The name of the technique was: "The Self-Circulating Micro and Macro Cosmic Orbit Method".
Back in his previous life, it was one of the countless methods he'd found online, something ridiculously common. It was said to be the most basic foundational Monk cultivation practice, so the instructions and explanations were very detailed.
Unlike the kind of cultivation in xianxia and murim novels, which followed stages like Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Core Formation, this method was different.
After all, in the real world, there was no spiritual energy. And perhaps precisely because of that, this technique had found resonance in the world of One Piece, where spiritual energy seemingly didn't exist either.
This world clearly had no spiritual energy as described in immortal cultivation novels.
This method had three main stages: Refining Essence into Qi, Refining Qi into Spirit, and Refining Spirit to Return to the Void.
Here, "essence" didn't refer to the reproductive essence but rather to the body's acquired energies, physical and material sources of energy, like bodily strength and energy absorbed from food, water, air, and sunlight.
"Qi" wasn't the spiritual energy of cultivation worlds, nor was it simple breath. It was more accurately described by the character 炁, a fundamental life-originating force.
As for "spirit", it wasn't some ethereal soul clone or nascent soul but something non-material, consciousness, willpower, the soul itself.
Thus, "Refining Essence into Qi" meant using the technique to transform acquired physical energy into innate, life-sustaining Qi. This Qi could strengthen the body, purge illnesses, and restore vitality.
"Refining Qi into Spirit" involved using the Macro Cosmic Orbit to merge the cultivated Qi with one's spirit, thereby enhancing mental strength, willpower, and soul power.
Finally, "Refining Spirit to Return to the Void" was the ultimate integration of essence, Qi, and spirit, the so-called convergence of the Three Flowers atop the head. When the Micro and Macro Cosmic Orbits operated on their own, the practitioner would reach a state of internal perfection and unity, a return to the void, and the so-called state of Eternal.
Of course, becoming immortal was far from Ryu's current goal. Right now, he only hoped this technique could help him defeat the so-called chosen one of this world, the Nika fruit user, young master Joy Boy.
So, for the past three months, Kaido had been training in this cultivation method while also growing more familiar with his own body and powers.
And the results? Surprising.
Perhaps it was due to the complete soul fusion after transmigration. Or perhaps Kaido's body had always been unimaginably powerful. Maybe even Haki and Devil Fruit abilities were just another form of energy.
On his very first attempt, Ryu easily entered the first stage, Refining Essence into Qi, and achieved the legendary Qi sense, truly sensing the flow of Qi within his body.
The effects were immediate.
First, while his human form hadn't changed much, his Azure Dragon form underwent drastic transformation. Almost daily, it grew in size, and his strength rose along with it.
Second, nourished by Qi, his body felt noticeably younger. At 57, Kaido had begun to feel the unavoidable decline of age, but now, those signs of aging had visibly slowed.
Moreover, decades of battle scars from his pirate life had begun healing. The most obvious was the wound on his right abdomen, the one left by Kozuki Oden's "Oden Two-Sword Style: Paradise Totsuka." That agonizing injury had begun to fade.
And finally, he felt changes in his Haki. His Observation Haki had clearly advanced, but more than that, his Haki no longer felt as brute-force and violent as before. After refinement through cultivation, it now carried a sense of natural simplicity, as if it had returned to its essence. He could control it with far greater ease, and it even seemed more effective against Devil Fruit abilities.
These changes gave Ryu the confidence to face the destiny awaiting him.
"Hmph, I don't care if you're Luffy the chosen one, the protagonist, the reincarnation of Joy Boy, now that I've become Kaido and possess a power beyond this ocean, the only main character in this world... is me! Worororo..."
With those words, Kaido burst into hearty laughter. Then, transforming into a massive dragon wreathed in flame clouds, he soared toward the Wano Country.
(AN: Ignore all the cultivation thing. No need to remember them as I will be explaining them in the future.)