Just then, the system prompt suddenly sounded:
[Upgrade complete! New functions unlocking—]
Ron's attention was immediately drawn.
He put down the barbecue fork in his hand, his eyes showing a bit of anticipation.
He knew that this system upgrade might bring some new turning points.
The semi-transparent blue light screen appeared before him again, the progress bar was completely filled, and the system's voice sounded in his mind:
[Upgrade successful.]
[Congratulations to the host for unlocking a new entertainment APP: honor of kings!]
Ron raised an eyebrow, staring at the system prompt for two seconds. "honor of kings?" He subconsciously rubbed his chin. "This name... does this 'Pesticide' mean the same as the pesticide he understands?"
He took out his work phone, and sure enough, next to the TikTok icon, there was a brand new APP icon.
The icon design was quite impactful, a silhouette of a Marine warship, with crossed swords piercing a skull above it, looking particularly ferocious against the dark red background.
"Interesting..." Ron's fingertip lightly tapped the icon.
The screen suddenly darkened, and a shocking CG animation began to play: Roger knelt on the execution platform, the sea breeze messing up his black hair. "Want my treasure?"
Following this classic line, the entire screen suddenly exploded into countless fragments, reassembling into a complete One Piece treasure map.
Immediately after, ten figures rushed towards the treasure map from different directions. In the fierce struggle, the treasure map split into two, transforming into two shining crystal towers, standing respectively at the ends of the canyon.
The ten warriors were also divided into two teams, forming a 5v5 confrontation.
"Only by destroying the enemy crystal can you obtain the complete treasure map..." Ron softly read the game guide, the corner of his mouth unconsciously curving up. "This setting is quite in line with the style of the Pirates world."
The Pirates world was inherently filled with constant warfare; where there were interests, there was war, happening everywhere at every moment. This game fit the current state of the Pirates world very well.
Ron couldn't wait to open the Hero Shop. When he saw the dazzling array of characters inside, he let out a long sigh: "Thankfully the system didn't make me design the heroes myself..."
Otherwise, without these heroes for him to use, just thinking about creating hundreds of hero skills out of thin air, he'd really be screwed.
"Start a match first?" His finger hovered above the "Start Match" button when he suddenly realized a problem: the game had just launched, where would the players come from? Fortunately, the system thoughtfully provided a human-versus-AI match mode.
Then Ron entered the backend settings interface and began adjusting the AI difficulty curve:
"Simple mode lets newcomers get a taste of sweetness..."
"Suddenly switching to difficult mode to give them a blow..."
"Then lowering the difficulty to let them regain confidence..."
"Then putting them on super difficult mode to drive them crazy..."
"Finally ending with simple mode, leaving them wanting more..."
Ron looked at the 'rollercoaster-style' difficulty curve he designed with satisfaction. This kind of emotional manipulation would definitely make players unable to stop.
When they're happy, give them a blow. When they're frustrated enough to smash their phones, give them a little sweetness, making them unable to stop, wanting to play another match after finishing one!
"For now, let's open 5v5, 3v3, and 1v1 for the battle modes," he muttered while setting it up. "We'll develop ranked matches and entertainment modes once the user base grows..."
To lower the user threshold, he directly linked the TikTok account system, saving the trouble of registration and naming.
Just as he completed the last setting, a prompt suddenly popped up in the backend: a user has logged in.
When he saw the other party's ID, Ron's expression turned strange. "Kaido?" He rubbed his chin, a cunning light flashing in his eyes. "Just the right person to test emotional stability..."
He quickly switched to the admin interface and arranged a 'Simple-Difficult-Simple' difficulty combination for Kaido's matches.
"Let you taste some sweetness first..." Ron pressed the confirm button with a wicked smile. "Once you're addicted, I'll let you experience what 'five consecutive crushing defeats' feels like..."
...
Inside the Onigashima main hall,
Kaido leaned lazily on the bronze throne, his thick fingers gently sliding across the phone screen.
He had just finished watching a video of trimming donkey hooves; the 'scrape-scrape' sound made him feel comfortable all over, his dragon scale tattoos slightly rising and falling with his breathing.
"Gulp..." He tilted his head back and poured down a mouthful of strong liquor, the liquid dripping down his beard onto the muscles of his chest.
Just as he was about to turn off his phone for a nap, his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of an unfamiliar symbol next to the TikTok icon.
It was a silhouette of a Marine warship, with crossed swords piercing a skull above it, looking particularly ferocious against the dark red background.
"Hmm?" Kaido's thick eyebrows furrowed together, his dragon-eye-like pupils slightly contracting.
He extended his thick finger and hesitantly tapped this mysterious icon. The screen suddenly darkened, accompanied by the low sound of waves, and the scene of Roger being escorted to the execution platform suddenly appeared.
Kaido's face instantly darkened, his fingers unconsciously tightening their grip.
"Want my treasure?" Roger's voice came from the phone, and Kaido's breathing suddenly became heavy.
Kaido abruptly sat up straight, dragon scales uncontrollably emerging from under his skin.
But immediately after, his anger was replaced by shock; a complete One Piece treasure map actually appeared in the picture!
But that map, glowing with golden light, was somewhat blurry and couldn't be seen clearly.
That map split into two halves in the struggle of ten pairs of hands, transforming into two crystal towers.
"This... this is..." Kaido's breathing became heavy, his dragon-claw-like fingers almost embedding into the screen.
He had never imagined that a software he casually clicked on would actually contain clues about the Great Treasure!
Burning fighting spirit ignited in Kaido's eyes: "As long as I destroy the opponent's crystal... I can get the complete map!"
He muttered to himself, completely drawn in by this game setting.
"Kid's trick..." He said this, but his body honestly followed the tutorial step by step.
"Please select your hero."
A prompt popped up on the screen. Kaido frowned, looking at the heroes appearing on the screen, slightly furrowing his brows: "Hou Yi? Da Ji? Arthur... Who are these characters, daring to be called heroes!"
Kaido's eyes were full of disdain. The word 'hero' held deep meaning in his heart; it was absolutely not something just anyone could be called.
But when Kaido saw their descriptions, the hand holding the sake gourd froze.
"With just a bow and arrow, he could shoot down nine suns??? Impossible!" He looked at Hou Yi's description, his eyes showing a bit of doubt.
"Da Ji was born in ancient times? When was that, eight hundred years ago? Or even longer ago than eight hundred years?"
Kaido's head was buzzing. How was it that he had never heard of these heroic figures?
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