The familiar gacha animation appeared.
Kaien tensed up.
On the screen, streaks of starlight flickered and gathered, swirling like constellations in the night sky.
His eyes stayed fixed on the display—blue, green, white, blue, green, green, white, blue...
The first few didn't matter. He'd already figured out the system's habit: in a ten-pull, if there was a purple or gold card, it would always show up at the very end.
Based on his past experience, the best result he'd ever seen was one gold and one purple in the same ten-pull. Anything beyond that was a miracle—pulling two high-rarity cards meant you were heaven's chosen child.
"Purple! Purple! Purple!"
Kaien prayed that the second-to-last card would turn purple. If it did, the odds of the last one being gold would skyrocket. And even if it wasn't gold, two purples were already a win. As for two golds? He'd never even dared to dream that far.
But then—blue.
The moment the color flashed, Kaien's heart skipped a beat.
Now everything came down to the final card.
"Gold! Gold! Gold!"
Whoosh—!
A golden light blazed across the sky like a falling star.
"A GOLD DROP!!!"
Kaien leapt up, shouting in pure excitement.
Half a year! It had been half a year!
He hadn't seen that golden glow in six whole months!
You have no idea how he'd suffered through that time—working hard every day, drawing card after card, only to see nothing but blues and greens. He'd almost thought his account was cursed. Maybe he'd triggered some kind of "Guaranteed Pity" achievement!
He was starting to believe he'd used up all his luck in life.
But now?
Fate had smiled again.
'Guess I just had bad timing before.'
"System, say something!"
[Say something? About what? You pulled gold after fifty draws—should I be proud of you or concerned?]
"..."
Kaien froze.
He'd gotten too excited again—and yelled at the system.
The animation finished, and the cards began to flip one by one.
The first nine weren't worth looking at—just experience packs. What mattered was the final one.
When the last golden card flipped over, Kaien's eyes went wide.
"It's him!!"
The figure on the card was a towering, muscular old man. He wore a black bandana on his head and no shirt, his body covered in thick muscles and long battle scars.
A pair of black boots, light-yellow pants, and a red-lined white coat draped over his shoulders completed his look. A massive blade—similar to Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade—rested in his hand.
But what truly stood out was the enormous crescent-shaped white mustache curving upward from his face.
There was no mistaking him.
The man known in the One Piece world as the "Strongest Man in the World"—
Edward Newgate, Whitebeard.
"W–Whitebeard!!"
Kaien recognized him instantly. If there was one character in One Piece that left a lasting impression on everyone, Whitebeard was near the top.
The Marineford War—Whitebeard's display of might still burned in Kaien's memory.
It was the pinnacle of One Piece.
To face Whitebeard, the Navy had gone all-out: Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Hero Garp, the three Admirals—Akainu, Kizaru, and Aokiji—along with the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Pacifistas, and a hundred thousand Marines.
And still, Akainu had resorted to deceit, tricking Squard into stabbing Whitebeard right at the start.
Even gravely wounded, he fought against all three Admirals. Though he fell in battle, the power and pride of the world's strongest man shone undiminished.
The only regret—this wasn't Whitebeard in his prime.
Of course, even in his prime, facing the Navy's full might, he would've lost eventually. The World Government's true power was unfathomable. Beyond the rumored Im, the Five Elders each had strength rivaling an Admiral, not to mention the Holy Knights, each said to possess immortality. The Whitebeard Pirates had no chance of victory.
Yet even so, an aging man who needed tubes to stay alive still charged into Marineford alone—
All to save his son.
What a man.
"I struck gold! This time I really struck gold!!"
Kaien pumped his fist and shouted in pure joy.
He now had four gold-character cards.
Ulquiorra's overall power was excellent—balanced offense, defense, High-Speed Regeneration, and devastating skills like Lanza del Relámpago. But even then, he was only strong.
By the end of Bleach, there were plenty stronger than him.
Yoriichi was the opposite—his power level swung between extremes. In raw energy, he was the weakest of Kaien's golds.
His Sun Breathing was the pinnacle of breathing techniques in Demon Slayer, enhancing his body and infusing his strikes with burning damage—but it had limits.
At best, he could shatter a giant boulder, something even minor characters in One Piece could do easily.
What made Yoriichi terrifying was his Transparent World and unmatched swordsmanship.
With magic enhancing his blade, his power skyrocketed—he could slice through dragon scales, grievously wound dragons, and even surpass Mihawk's cutting power.
But defensively, he was paper-thin.
A single ordinary magic blast could seriously wound him.
He was pure glass cannon—absolute attack, zero defense.
Toji Fushiguro was the opposite. His base stats were maxed out, far beyond what any breathing technique could achieve.
He was a monster built for battle—a man who nearly killed Gojo Satoru before being outmatched only because Gojo awakened his Reverse Cursed Technique.
A powerhouse through and through.
Whitebeard, though—he was on a different level.
A man whose raw power rivaled monsters, master of all three Haki types, and wielder of the most destructive Paramecia Devil Fruit—the Gura Gura no Mi.
Strength, speed, defense, offense, ability—all maxed out.
A perfect all-rounder.
In a world full of monsters, he was still called the Strongest Man Alive.
Even Fleet Admiral Sengoku had said it:
He was a man who could destroy the world.
Without question, this was Kaien's strongest gold card yet.
"Full Take Over: Edward Newgate!"