As Ace was leaving, he found his path blocked by five pirate ships from the Baroque Works, all of which were after the bounty on his head since they were bounty hunters by nature.
Unfortunately for them, Ace took out all five ships with a single attack.
"Damn it! Who told you to steal my experience points?" Ryu's voice came through, startling Ace. However, knowing Ryu's intentions, Ace didn't stop and quickly made his escape.
Watching Ace flee, Ryu felt a bit helpless. On the sea, Ace's small fire-speed boat was too fast for him to catch up. At that moment, he missed the high-level movement techniques he had seen in the shop.
"Luffy, did you meet with Ace?" Ryu asked when he got back to the Merry.
"Yeah, what's up?" Luffy replied, feeling an increased sense of kinship with Ryu now that he knew more about Ace.
"Do you know where he's going?" Ryu asked through clenched teeth.
"I don't know!" Luffy shook his head.
"His brother said something about one of his subordinates making a mistake, so he went to chase after him!" Sanji chimed in.
"Right, right! That's what he said!" Luffy nodded, looking like he was just remembering.
"He didn't mention a specific location, did he?" Ryu asked anxiously.
"No! What's wrong?" Even Luffy could sense that something wasn't right.
"You idiot! Why didn't you stop him? Blackbeard is not someone to take lightly!" Ryu lightly tapped Luffy's head.
"Well~ it's fine. Ace is really strong; he just took out five pirate ships with one punch!" Luffy said with a silly grin.
"Phew~ What if I told you that Ace might be in life-threatening danger? Would you still think that? Do you even know who they are? Blackbeard was one of Whitebeard's old crewmates! Luffy, your strength is still too weak!" Ryu said sternly.
Luffy's expression gradually turned serious as he put his hat back on and said, "I'll definitely surpass you all!"
"Idiot, that's not the point! I was planning to lend you a hand, but Ace's situation is more urgent, so I'm sending my lieutenant to help you. It's the female lieutenant you faced at the port; her name is Lena. Her strength is pretty average, so don't expect too much from her! I need to go after Ace; otherwise, he'll be in big trouble!" After speaking with Luffy, Ryu left using Moonwalk.
"Do you guys think our strength is really that weak?" After Ryu left, Luffy asked solemnly. This was already the second time Ryu had told him he was not strong enough.
Sanji and Zoro remained silent. Sanji came from the North Blue's noble family, the Vinsmokes, so he had indeed seen strong people, while Zoro had fought against Mihawk and understood the gap between him and the world.
"It's fine, Luffy. You're younger than they are. In a couple of years, I believe you won't be any weaker than them. After all, you're going to be the Pirate King; don't be discouraged!" Nami encouraged Luffy.
"I think Luffy is really strong!" Chopper, the ship's doctor, said with a bit of admiration.
"Phew~ I'm really looking forward to Crocodile now. Let's see if he can handle my level!" Luffy said, narrowing his eyes in the direction of Rainbase.
After leaving the Merry, Ryu first found Lena, instructing her to assist Luffy in quelling the rebellion in Alabasta before setting off alone.
Though Lena was somewhat reluctant, she was willing to follow Ryu's orders. Moreover, protecting the Alabasta Kingdom was also their duty as Marines, so she took her troops directly to the capital of Alabasta.
Ryu, who had left alone, didn't immediately go after Ace. He knew Ace and Luffy would reunite, so he headed straight for the Baroque Works' high-level agents' gathering point, the "Spider Café." He wanted to make up for the last bit of experience he was missing, and those high-level agents seemed to have bounties on their heads as well, so he didn't mind earning a little extra.
However, before he even reached the Spider Café, he encountered a few pirates on the way. After taking care of them effortlessly, he leveled up, so Ryu decided it wasn't worth going to the café anymore. Instead, he casually found an inn and began reviewing his spoils.
"Congratulations, the host has leveled up and received 5 free attribute points and 1 skill point."
This was the unchanging notification that came with every upgrade, followed by the rewards for completing the main quest.
"Congratulations, the host has completed the main quest and received 1000 experience points, 1000 diamonds, 500,000 in currency, and a Beginner Secret Manual x1!"
It wasn't an advanced basic skill but instead jumped straight to a beginner secret manual. Was it because all three of my basic skills were maxed out, or was it just how the system worked?
Ryu looked at the rewards, feeling a bit confused. Although a beginner secret manual wasn't of much help to him anymore, it was free, so he figured he might as well take it.
"You have used the Beginner Secret Manual and obtained the Beginner Gun Technique Manual: 'Hundred Battles Gun Decision.'"
"Eh? Is this a gun technique? Is it suggesting I use a long gun as a weapon in the future?" Ryu scratched his head, unsure of what weapon he would ultimately choose, but learning it couldn't hurt.
"Let's see if there are any changes in the shop!" Ryu thought, immediately opening the shop.
"What is this?" Ryu looked at the completely different shop interface, scratching his head in confusion.
The items for sale were the same, and the prices hadn't changed; it was just the shop's layout that had changed. The previous single draw option was gone, replaced by a ten-draw option and a newly opened lottery room. Finally, there were two new features: Secret Manual Advancement and Secret Manual Exchange.
Ryu first opened the new feature, Secret Manual Advancement. This allowed him to exchange ten beginner manuals for a random intermediate manual, ten intermediate manuals for a high-level manual, and ten high-level manuals for a legendary manual.
The exchange feature allowed him to use diamonds to randomly replace any unwanted manual. It cost 5,000 diamonds for a same-type exchange and 10,000 for a different-type exchange.
After calculating, Ryu found that buying ten manuals was cheaper than advancing one, but considering that quest rewards sometimes included manuals, it was still a decent feature.
For instance, the gun technique manual he had just received could be kept to use when advancing to an intermediate manual, if he hadn't learned it yet.
After looking at the new features, Ryu opened the new lottery room. He discovered it was similar to the previous one, but with categories for each type of draw. For example, if Ryu only wanted to draw manuals, he could click on the manual wheel, and he would only receive manuals with no other items appearing.
However, the cost for drawing from the manual and treasure wheels was 10,000 diamonds per attempt. Ryu couldn't guarantee what he would get, and while the other wheels were cheaper, he didn't really need anything at the moment. Many items were redundant for him, as he wasn't really playing a game.
With all this new information, he felt a mix of excitement and caution about his next steps.
............