The sun shone with dazzling brilliance, casting radiant light over a perfectly clear sky.
Its intense rays beamed down on the shimmering blue sea, with not a single cloud nor a breath of wind in sight. The sea and sky blended seamlessly into one endless horizon.
At the boundary where the ocean met the sky, the rich blue hue stretched gently toward the sandy shore.
The seawater was as clear and blue as the sky itself, glistening with silvery brilliance like a brocade of light.
And amid this vast, boundless sea, an odd figure appeared.
A narrow, straight path of ice stretched over the endless ocean, so long it seemed to connect the ends of the sea itself. It extended far beyond what the eye could see.
Even stranger, atop this icy road, a tall man with curly hair pedaled a red bicycle slowly and leisurely forward, like a schoolboy out on a spring break picnic, completely carefree.
Fortunately, the tires of his bicycle were made from a special super-rubber invented by Dr. Vegapunk, the world's leading scientist, whose genius surpassed the age by 500 years. The rubber was anti-slip, wear-resistant, and leak-proof.
Without such innovation, there'd be no way to keep up with Aokiji's frequent long-distance sea journeys, often spanning hundreds or even thousands of nautical miles.
Still…
Under the blazing sun, Aokiji wiped the sweat from his brow and pulled out a piece of Vivre Card belonging to Hancock.
"Damn it! I messed up again!"
Assigned a covert mission by Vice Admiral Tsuru, Aokiji had departed Marineford with Hancock's Vivre Card, provided by the Kuja Pirates. After a month of pedaling, he finally arrived at the Calm Belt, at the coordinates they'd given for the island.
But when he reached the location, all he saw was a vast expanse of empty ocean. Not even the shadow of an island in sight.
At first, Aokiji thought he must've made a mistake. After all, the Kujas had looked so anxious when they gave him the location, it didn't seem like they were lying.
So he took out the Vivre Card again, confirmed the direction, created a new ice path, and rode for another two weeks.
Only to discover, yet again, the direction had changed.
Even the always-calm and composed Aokiji nearly cursed out loud.
After being misled twice, he finally got smarter. He tore a strip from his coat and tied the Vivre Card to the front handlebar of his bicycle, effectively creating a real-time GPS navigation system, then continued his "rescue the beauty" mission.
Meanwhile, aboard the Thriller Bark, a hundred Sea King zombies were powering the floating island at full speed toward the Kuja homeland—Amazon Lily.
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Night fell.
In his room, Luffy sat cross-legged, eyes fixed on the System Store interface, waiting for midnight.
That's right, tonight was the monthly refresh of the store's Random Item System, and Luffy was eager to see if anything interesting would show up.
He always kept an eye on the system at the start of each month, though in the past, he didn't have many coins to spend, and the items weren't always useful.
But after returning Hancock's shadow, Luffy had gone back to training with Sea King shadows.
Though the coin and XP gain remained solid, it paled in comparison to the days he'd rake in hundreds of thousands in a single day.
Still, his current balance had climbed to 2.79 million coins.
With the refresh coming, Luffy planned to check the items first before deciding whether to purchase a tool, enhance his own abilities, or boost the power of his crew, particularly Robin and Brook.
Even though he'd struck it rich, Luffy had no intention of spending recklessly. Last time he'd blown over a million coins in the blink of an eye. This time, even though he had double the amount, it wouldn't last long without careful planning.
[Ding! The Random Item Store has refreshed. Please check your available items.]
Right on cue, the system chime rang, signaling a new day.
Luffy didn't get too excited, he'd gone through this routine enough times.
If there was something good, great. If not, there were always other ways to grow stronger.
All roads lead to Rome, especially when you're born in Rome.
He opened the store interface and tapped on the Random Item tab.
"Hmm?"
He had to admit, this time's selection was exactly what he needed. And oddly nostalgic, too.
In the three square item slots, three different shoes were displayed.
Luffy focused on the first one.
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[Berserker's Greaves]
Origin: League of Legends
Effect:
Movement Speed +45%
Melee Attack Speed +35%
Price: 350,000 Coins
─────────🏴☠️─────────
"Berserker's Greaves", not everyone knew them by that name, but their other name was famous: Attack Speed Boots.
Luffy couldn't believe his eyes. That familiar icon again.
He remembered the countless nights he'd stayed up grinding for rank. Though he never made it past Master rank in the top server, it had still been a cherished part of his past.
The boots were high value, no doubt about it.
Still, Luffy didn't rush to buy. Instead, he shifted his focus to the second item.
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[Boots of Swiftness]
Origin: League of Legends
Effect:
Movement Speed +25%
Out-of-combat Movement Speed +115%
Price: 150,000 Coins
Another LoL classic, Five-Speed Boots. But the stats were a bit underwhelming.
They'd be great for travel, but in the world of pirates, even if you moved ten times faster, it'd still take five or six days to sail from one island to another.
So Luffy instantly dismissed it.
Now everything hinged on the third item, how would it stack up against the attack speed boots?
─────────🏴☠️─────────
[Mercury's Treads]
Origin: League of Legends
Effect:
Movement Speed +45%
Reduces Elemental Damage by 25%
Reduces duration of all negative effects by 50%
Price: 1,100,000 Coins
─────────🏴☠️─────────
"Whoa…"
Luffy's eyes widened.
There was no question. No contest. Even a fool could see which was better.
25% resistance to elemental attacks.
He'd always been a bit envious that Robin and others had gear with that kind of passive ability.
He never thought the day would come when he could get one himself.
Though, the price…
It was quite the jump compared to the others, even if they all came from the same game.
Luffy took a deep breath and said aloud in his mind: "System, buy Mercury's Treads."
[Ding! Purchase successfully. Item added to inventory.]
As the notification sounded, Luffy's coin total plummeted.
He looked at his new balance, 1.69 million coins, and sighed.
"I knew I needed to plan my spending… The moment I planned it out, it was gone."
Thinking back to the long days and nights spent watching Moria cut shadows, Hogback stitching zombies, Moria reanimating them, and then finally himself putting in work to earn XP…
Looking at it that way… poor Moria really had it rough.
But hey, revolution doesn't succeed in a day, comrades must keep striving.
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"Achoo!"
Back in his room, Moria suddenly sneezed himself awake from a rare moment of rest.
"Ugh… Looks like overusing my fruit's starting to wear down my body…"
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