Inside the Magic Protector, Drake stared blankly at the cup on the table, lost in thought. Not far from him, the training room flickered with bursts of violet-blue light—Kenshin was clearly pushing himself again.
In Drake's hand was a small golden rod, about ten centiters long. His fingers twirled it skillfully, making it spin like a blur.
In his mind, he summoned the system interface.
[Host]: Drake (Vale D. Drake)
[Cultivation]: Sword Grandmaster (Jianhao) {Path: Grandmaster $\\rightarrow$ Saint}
[Skills]:
Interdiate Armant Haki: {$7,333 / 10,000$}
Interdiate Observation Haki: {$1,001 / 10,000$}
Beginner Conqueror's Haki: {$899 / 10,000$}
Sword Skill: Sweep the Eight Desolations {Interdiate}
Sword Skill: Dance of the Myriad Demons {Interdiate}
Sword Skill: Freshness from Beyond {Interdiate}
[Items]: Canhong Sword (Interdiate), Ruyi Jingu Bang (Golden Rod), Power Scanner.
[Tools]: Magic Protector (Beginner).
[Crew]: Kenshin (Sword Grandmaster), Kim D. Bell (Swordsman).
His experience points had increased significantly. Generally, system mission XP was funneled into his Armant Haki. After the war, he had spent $1,000$ points to awaken Observation Haki, as only mission-earned XP could be used for direct exchange.
His current progress in Observation and Conqueror's Haki was largely due to his own efforts. Looking at the requirents for Conqueror's Haki made him wince: while Armant and Observation needed $10,000$ XP to move from Interdiate to Advanced, Conqueror's Haki required $10,000$ just to move from Beginner to Interdiate.
Furthermore, Conqueror's Haki couldn't be improved through standard training; it only grew as the user's personal spirit and "presence" expanded.
The golden rod spinning in his hand was the reward for dealing with the Celestial Dragon. It could grow or shrink at will, reminding him of Sun Wukong's staff, but this one only weighed about ten kilograms. It lacked the divine weight of the original legend, and he hadn't discovered its true "miracle" yet.
Drake suspected its durability was its greatest asset, but he wasn't foolish enough to test it against a wall—if the miracle wasn't its hardness, he'd have no one to complain to but the "Dog System."
[Ding! Main Mission Triggered: The Dragon Flag Pirates have been established. The Host must now rapidly expand the territory and sphere of influence. As a senior "Brother-Protector," you must ensure that outsiders tremble at the re ntion of your organization's na!]
A Main Mission!?
Drake was startled, then overco with joy. Main mission rewards were usually incredibly generous. Judging by the recent rewards, they seed to be tailor-made for him. He suppressed his excitent, but then a headache ford.
How was he supposed to expand a sphere of influence? Did he have to go out and conquer islands like a warlord?
He wanted the Dragon Flag Pirates to follow an elite route—a small, tight-knit group of ten or so. He wanted a crew like the Straw Hats, but the mission asked for "territory."
"System, does 'sphere of influence' strictly an territory held by the main crew?"
[Ding! Any forces or subordinate fleets under the Pirate King's banner count toward the Host's sphere of influence.]
Drake breathed a sigh of relief. This made sense. Powerful crews like the Yonko didn't just have one ship; they had dozens of subordinate crews who sailed under their flag. Just like the $40 $ allied ships Whitebeard brought to Marineford, or the future Grand Fleet.
"System, I have another question. How exactly does 'Cultivation' increase? It feels a bit disconnected from raw combat power."
[Ding! Cultivation level determines the 'ceiling' of your strength. Generally, it increases through years of accumulation. However, there is a second way to accelerate it.]
"And that is?"
[Combat! Only through the baptism of a hundred battles and comprehending the essence of life-and-death struggles can Cultivation be increased rapidly.]
Combat!
The realization hit him. Whitebeard, Garp, and Sengoku had all fought thousands of battles in their youth. Reaching the "Sword Saint" (Peak) level at their age was natural. But Red-Haired Shanks was terrifying—he was much younger than Akainu, yet he had already reached that sa peak.
Shanks had been an apprentice on Roger's ship, fighting legendary battles since he was a child. If Cultivation determined the ceiling of power, then all the Yonko were likely at the "Saint" level.
To fight a Saint, one had to at least be a "Great Grandmaster." Anything less was striking a stone with an egg. This explained why the Admirals struggled against an old, sick Whitebeard—without reaching that "Saint" threshold, defeating a Yonko was a pipe dream.
"Drake-san." Bell walked out of the kitchen, carrying three glasses of fruit juice. He placed one in front of Drake.
"Bell," Drake closed the system panel and smiled. "Your sister is still safe for now, right?"
"Mmm!" Bell nodded. "They wanted to capture to force her to submit." He paused, then added, "My sister is actually quite strong. She has a bounty of 300 million Berries."
He then lowered his head shyly. He had just rembered that Drake's first bounty was already 400 million.
"Hahaha, as long as she's safe. We know she's being held prisoner, but where?"
"Scheit told the location," Bell confird.
"And how are our guests?" Drake gestured toward the lower deck.
"In the holding room. Scheit still hasn't woken up..."
In the lowest level of the Magic Protector, inside a dark, windowless room, the unconscious Scheit and the trembling fat lackey were huddled together. Drake had brought them along because they might be useful—and if not, Scheit was worth 200 million Berries. They were short on cash, and turning him in to the Navy for a "payday" sounded like a great plan.
The fat lackey shivered in the dark. Every ti the floor vibrated from the training room above, he squeaked in terror, deathly afraid of annoying the "monsters" upstairs.
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