"So, should I buy something or take a spin on the prize wheel?" Ryu looked at his diamond count—over 30,000 now, all thanks to his previous raids on pirates.
"Forget it, I'll just save up until I have 120,000 and buy the advanced movement technique manual!" Ryu had been eyeing a high-level movement technique for a while now: One Mile Step priced at a hefty 120,000 diamonds.
But seeing the newly added prize wheel, he couldn't resist the urge to take a spin.
"Just once—one spin for a manual and one for a treasure. It's only 20,000 diamonds. Worst case, I can always go mess with Crocodile. If I remember right, his bounty was reinstated after he lost his Warlord status, set at around 80 million berries—nearly enough for one spin."
After a moment of consideration, Ryu decided to go for it.
He cleansed himself, then opened the manual draw first.
"You have spent 10,000 diamonds for a chance at a manual!"
"You have received a mid-level movement technique manual: Traceless Steps!"
Ryu was stunned—it was a mid-level movement technique manual. Was this a sign? A way of telling him not to buy the advanced one yet? Maybe just make do with the mid-level manual? He hesitated, unsure if he should save it for advancement later or just learn it now.
"Does this mean my luck is bad today? Should I still go for the treasure?" Ryu scratched his chin, but eventually decided to try it. He wasn't sure what the treasure pool contained, so one spin would at least give him an idea.
"You have spent 10,000 diamonds for a chance at a treasure!"
"You have received Xuan Ice and Jade Fire Wine x1."
Ryu was dumbfounded. Wine? Really? He'd won… a bottle of wine?
Yes, an actual bottle. Taking it out of his inventory, he examined the Xuan Ice and Jade Fire Wine. It came in an elegant emerald-green bottle, carved with designs of plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum. But judging by his tolerance, he figured he'd finish it in a single gulp.
Still, he didn't drink it right away; instead, he carefully checked its description in his inventory.
"Xuan Ice and Jade Fire Wine: Crafted with the Nine Revolving Pills and Blazing Fire Elixir. Consuming it requires inner power to refine it, thereby increasing one's inner strength."
"A treasure that increases inner strength!" Ryu's eyes widened in disbelief, and he re-read it just to be sure.
"It's real! It actually boosts inner strength! And it's something you can't buy in the shop. I knew sometimes you just have to gamble!" Excited, Ryu took out the Xuan Ice and Jade Fire Wine and eagerly took a sip.
"Ah… good stuff!" It had the flavor of the baijiu from his previous life but without the harshness, making it go down smoothly.
"Hmm? What's this?"
As the wine settled, his inner strength seemed to ignite, and he quickly began refining it as instructed. Moments later, he opened his eyes and looked at the bottle, his gaze practically shining.
Just that one sip had been equivalent to several days of hard training. But the bottle was small; it probably wouldn't grant much more inner strength. Still, knowing that treasures from the prize wheel could be this valuable made it worthwhile.
Resisting the urge to down the entire bottle in one go, Ryu glanced at his remaining 11,549 diamonds, already feeling the itch for another treasure spin.
"If the treasure wheel is stocked with things you can't buy in the shop, it's totally worth it."
"Let's go for it! Diamonds are just diamonds! Little money out, big money in! Worst case, I'll sweep through all the bounties in the Baroque Works." Ryu thought determinedly.
"Please, please—let it be another inner strength booster!" He almost started praying.
"You have used the treasure draw and received Dragon Blood Pearl x1."
"Dragon Blood Pearl? Sounds impressive, but probably not another inner strength booster." Ryu quickly opened his inventory to check.
"Dragon Blood Pearl: A mutated form of dragon pearl. Effect unknown. Can be absorbed and refined within the body."
"Effect unknown?" Ryu was puzzled by the system's description.
He took the Dragon Blood Pearl out of his inventory and saw a blood-red orb emitting a faint glow. It didn't look as grand as he had expected.
"So… how exactly do I absorb this? Just eat it?" Ryu was stumped. Remembering how items in novels usually required blood to establish ownership, he pricked his finger and let a drop of blood fall onto the pearl.
The Dragon Blood Pearl glowed briefly as it absorbed the blood, then returned to its original state.
"Am I really supposed to... eat this? Or maybe..." Ryu pondered, then took a dagger and made a small cut on his left arm, slowly bringing the Dragon Blood Pearl close to the wound.
He wanted to test if this pearl would keep absorbing his blood indefinitely. If that happened, absorbing it could be fatal.
But, to his surprise, the Dragon Blood Pearl merged directly into his body through the wound.
"Whoa!" Ryu was taken aback and immediately began checking his body carefully.
Finally, he located the Dragon Blood Pearl near his heart. It didn't seem to be absorbing his blood, or he'd already be a dried-out husk.
"Is this thing some kind of filter? Or does it serve another purpose?" After observing for a while, Ryu noticed that his blood flowed through the pearl as it passed by his heart, then circulated through his body, returning to the heart and cycling through the pearl repeatedly.
"Hm, my strength…" Ryu clenched his fist slightly, feeling that his physical strength seemed to have increased. He opened his status screen, and sure enough, both his strength and speed had increased significantly.
"It looks like this thing is continuously filtering my blood, making me stronger!" He squinted at his stats, which hadn't changed noticeably yet, though he could feel his body strengthening ever so gradually.
"Maybe I should try with my inner power next!" After confirming the pearl wasn't harmful, Ryu cautiously directed his inner power towards it. However, the Dragon Blood Pearl seemed uninterested in inner power and showed no reaction. He didn't dare push it, fearing it might explode if he provoked it too much.
"Phew! Today was a good haul. Looks like it's time to go after some bounty targets!" Ryu stretched with a satisfied grin.
But just as he was about to get up, he froze. The cut he had just made on his arm was already gone, leaving only a faint white scar.
"What kind of recovery rate is this? Could it be the pearl's effect?" He picked up his dagger again and made another small cut on his arm.
Blood slowly trickled out, but the flow was much slower than usual, and it stopped quickly. Ryu wiped away the blood and saw that the wound was already beginning to close.
"Yes! I finally have the monstrous body to match you freaks from the anime world!" Ryu laughed ecstatically.
Whether at Marine Headquarters or during pirate hunts, he had noticed that people in this world had insane recovery abilities. Take Zoro, for example: he'd suffered a massive slash from Mihawk, yet a quick bandage job later, he was still able to fight at Cocoyasi Village.
In Ryu's case, without effective treatment, he'd likely have died from similar injuries. According to Garp, his main weakness was a lack of physical conditioning, which needed constant reinforcement.
Now, with just 20,000 diamonds, he had obtained the Xuan Ice and Jade Fire Wine to boost his inner power and the Dragon Blood Pearl to enhance his body. What more could he ask for?
That night, Ryu didn't sleep. He first trained with the mid-level movement technique, Traceless Steps, and then converted the entire bottle of Xuan Ice and Jade Fire Wine into inner power. He even refilled the empty jade bottle with ordinary wine; although it no longer boosted his inner power, it made for an impressive drinking vessel—a perfect showpiece.
The next morning, Ryu set off again, this time heading toward Rainbase.
He didn't remember if the other Baroque Works agents had bounties, but one person definitely did: Nico Robin! If he remembered correctly, her initial bounty was 79 million berries, so he decided to target her.
He had already confirmed that the system would only reward him with a bounty once per target. Whether he captured and released them or finished them off didn't matter.
Just as Ryu entered Rainbase, a long-lost system notification rang:
"Side Mission: Capture Pirate Crocodile! Reward: 10,000 diamonds, 10,000 experience points, 1,000,000 berries, and one spin on the prize wheel!"
"It's been so long in Marine Headquarters that I almost forgot what mission alerts sound like!" Ryu's eyes gleamed as he looked at the largest casino in Rainbase—Crocodile's base of operations.
However, Ryu wasn't planning to capture the Crocodile just yet. The mission description required capturing Pirate Crocodile. Currently, he was still a Warlord, technically an ally of the Marines rather than a pirate, so Ryu couldn't be sure he'd receive the reward if he took him down now.
If he acted impulsively and ended up only gaining experience points without the diamonds, it'd be a real letdown!
So for now, his target remained unchanged—Nico Robin.
Once inside Rainbase's casino, Ryu exchanged some berries for chips and began playing casually. Even without cheating, his keen hearing and memory made it hard for him to lose, so his stack of chips quickly doubled, attracting the attention of the casino staff.
..............
Advance chapters in patreon.com/CuteSelfieCat