[Initializing Spirit Seed: Power of Chaos for Pioneer #008…]
Just like last time, as soon as he heard that voice, Gusion felt his vision go dark, and a tremendous force pulled him away.
But unlike before, this time he felt as if he were enveloped by chaos, gestating within a primordial point. Various forces intertwined and fused around him. In a haze, Gusion sensed an order within the chaos, as if a certain truth was hidden inside.
He had no idea how much time had passed before he gradually regained consciousness, and the familiar notification from the End Space echoed in his ears.
[Spirit Seed: Power of Chaos successfully loaded. Chaos Spirit Seed slot for Pioneer #008 unlocked. Please check your personal info for details.]
Gusion got up from the ground, stretched his body, still feeling a bit dizzy.
He washed up in the bathroom, then relaxed on the sofa until his mind cleared. Excited, he began to check his new Spirit Seed.
In his personal menu's Spirit Seed section, only seven slots remained empty. The first was Origin, the second—Chaos.
He tapped on Chaos and looked at the details.
[Spirit Seed: Chaos]
Seed Sequence: 5
Growth Stage: Not yet sprouted
Irrigation Method: Use bloodline items to water it. The stronger the bloodline item, the better the result. Repeated use of the same type and quality will yield diminishing returns.
Spirit Seed Ability: At this growth stage, the Pioneer can choose to place a bloodline item into the Chaos Spirit Seed slot when using it. Bloodlines in this slot will no longer conflict with others; the Chaos Spirit Seed will automatically harmonize them and remove potential side effects from conflicts.
Bloodlines placed in the Chaos Spirit Seed can be actively erased. At this stage, erasing a bloodline will remove all attribute bonuses it once gave, and it cannot be restored. Use with caution.
Current Slot Count: 1
Current Bloodline Erasure Cooldown: Once per mission world interval
[]
After reading the functions of the Chaos Spirit Seed, Gusion found it largely matched his expectations, though its strength made him frown a little. He felt the Chaos Spirit Seed that Body Killer had was much more powerful than what he saw here.
"End Space, what's going on?"
Gusion tried asking the End Space.
[The Spirit Seed you saw before was a later-stage version. To prevent potential side effects, End Space has reset your Chaos Spirit Seed. Please cultivate it anew.]
Gusion realized—he had nearly forgotten that Spirit Seeds require upgrade to unlock slots. Body Killer must have invested a lot and watered it many times, which is why he had three or four bloodlines. Gusion's version was the default one, just like when he first got the Origin Spirit Seed—only one slot.
This made sense. After all, Body Killer had filled his Chaos Spirit Seed with all sorts of trash bloodlines (in Gusion's view). If it had transferred over unchanged, Gusion would have felt uncomfortable.
Now, End Space had expended some power to restore his Chaos Spirit Seed to factory settings, letting him customize and cultivate it as his own.
The only regret was that the growth stage had also been reset, so Gusion couldn't freeload off the resources Body Killer had spent.
Overall, he was quite satisfied with the Chaos Spirit Seed. With it, he no longer had to worry about the upper limit of bloodlines—only his current combat power.
He could use his best bloodline now, and if he wanted to upgrade later, he could erase the old one and replace it with a stronger bloodline.
Plus, with multiple bloodlines, some abilities could synergize, like how Body Killer probably wanted Enel's Rumble-Rumble Fruit. If he could eat it, combining it with the Water-Water Fruit could lead to all sorts of creative combos.
"Tch, just when I thought I'd struck it rich, here comes a money pit."
Gusion muttered to himself on the sofa. He'd had a lucrative haul this world. If he sold all the Devil Fruits he didn't need, he could be a millionaire. But seeing the Chaos Spirit Seed's irrigation method, he realized this was a real money sink.
He still wasn't sure how many bloodline items it would take to unlock an extra slot.
He asked End Space for details, and surprisingly, End Space answered directly.
Using his current resources as an example: feeding an Epic-grade Devil Fruit would push the Chaos Spirit Seed to the sprouting stage, with some overflow effect—just a little more would unlock two slots.
If he used two Devil Fruits, he could push it further and unlock three slots.
Beyond that, it wouldn't work; higher stages required better bloodline items. The first slot just needed a Legendary-grade bloodline, but the fourth slot would need either a lot of Epics or maybe even a Dark-Gold bloodline.
After some thought, Gusion decided to use two Devil Fruits he didn't need to unlock three slots. The irrigation process wasn't instant; the Spirit Seed had to absorb slowly—the sooner he started, the sooner it would grow.
According to the estimated timeline, with such high-quality fertilizer, he could unlock the second slot during this End Space stay, but not the third.
Sounded great, but Gusion was broke at the moment. He'd have to go sell some goods and get cash to certify the Devil Fruits in his storage.
Thinking of this, Gusion slapped his forehead and took out a Deadman's Chest from his storage. "Almost forgot about the loot box."
This was Body Killer's Deadman's Chest. Gusion marveled at his luck—he hadn't gotten any other chests during the mission, but killing Body Killer dropped this one, definitely worth it.
He rubbed his hands in anticipation, took a deep breath, and opened the chest, reaching inside.
After a moment, his eyes lit up—he felt a round object, covered in ridges, with a texture like fruit. He didn't hesitate to pull it out.
[You obtained Devil Fruit: Paramecia—Telekinesis Fruit (Epic)]
His eyes shone. Fifty percent chance, and he hit the jackpot right away!
He perked up and kept digging. Soon, he found another Devil Fruit-like object and couldn't help but smile as he pulled it out.
[You obtained 3,000 End Space Coins]
A miss—and it was End Space Coins. Gusion was speechless. He figured Body Killer's storage should be filled with valuable items, so why did he end up with coins?
He was also a bit puzzled: Body Killer was from the Divine Space, yet he drew End Space Coins. Were currencies interoperable between Spaces, just with different names?
A bit disappointed, but he wasn't upset. The Deadman's Chest was a bonus, and just getting a Devil Fruit was already a good haul.
For his last try, Gusion focused and rummaged around, finally finding something book-like, which made him perk up.
He remembered Body Killer's book well—it was definitely a great item, thick and full of functions. Even as a fallback, it was surely Epic-grade.
He drew it out eagerly.
[You obtained 1,000 End Space Coins]
"Damn!"
Gusion nearly lost it. The feeling of almost getting something good, only to come up short at the last second, was rough.
No use getting mad—he still had two more chests.
Gusion consoled himself not to be greedy. A single Devil Fruit was already insanely valuable; he could just consider this building up his luck for next time.
With that, he grabbed Strawberry's chest from his storage and opened it directly.
[You obtained 30,000 End Space Coins]
Huh?
Gusion was stunned, shook the chest, and only when the Epic-grade chest disappeared did he recover.
This was an Epic chest—how could it only give 30,000 coins?
Where was the promised Devil Fruit? The promised Supreme Grade Sword? End Space, give me my chest back!
Gusion was frustrated, even doubting if his double luck was working.
He took a deep breath, told himself to stay calm, and grabbed the last chest: a side quest reward that guaranteed a Lightning-type Devil Fruit. The range was uncertain, but it was worth a shot.
The chest looked different from usual, deep purple with pitch-black patterns like lightning streaking across it.
Gusion lifted the lid, and was initially disappointed—no special effects or flashes inside.
But when the notification came, he was stunned, then overjoyed.
[You obtained Devil Fruit: Zoan—Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Beast Model: Raijin Form]
Mythical Zoan!
He hadn't expected to get the upper limit prize.
Why was he so surprised? He had great luck, and it had doubled. This was only natural!
He pulled out the dark purple Devil Fruit, covered in thunderbolt-like patterns, and checked its details.
[Devil Fruit: Zoan—Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Beast Model: Raijin Form]
Origin: End Space & One Piece Derivative World
Quality: Epic
Item Type: Bloodline
Usage Requirement: None
How to Use: Eat any part to activate
Details: A Devil Fruit imbued with the power of the Thunder God. Eating it grants +3 to Constitution, Strength, Agility, and Spirit.
Also grants Raijin-like abilities: immunity to all lightning attacks, the power to control lightning offensively, and as you master its power, greater attribute boosts and more bloodline skills.
Rating: 700+ (Range: 400–700)
Evaluation: Exceptionally high potential; extremely powerful in overall combat.
[]
End Space's descriptions of bloodline items weren't very detailed, but that was normal. You had to use the bloodline and check your personal menu for the specifics—everyone's physique was different, so even the same bloodline could have different effects.
Skill details and power could vary slightly, which was normal.
Just looking at the rating, this Fruit was top-tier—even on the Tier 3 Explorer market, you'd rarely see a few.
For reference, Gusion's Rumble-Rumble Fruit was only 700 points, no plus.
The origin was marked as both End Space and One Piece, meaning it was born in the One Piece system via End Space's power. Whether or not it existed in the One Piece world, Gusion didn't care—what mattered was that he had it.
As for the Raijin Fruit, there was only one thing to do—eat it.
He'd considered eating Enel's Rumble-Rumble Fruit, but this Mythical Zoan Raijin Fruit was a clear upgrade, so the Rumble-Rumble was unnecessary.
The Raijin Fruit also let him control lightning, plus had Zoan traits for stamina and recovery, with much higher growth potential.
He didn't plan to eat it immediately, though—he wanted to finish his attribute upgrades first, then eat it to break past the Tier 2 attribute cap.
He currently had 21 free attribute points, 6 of which were a reward from the mission. His only happy problem was that he had so many free points, but hadn't advanced in tier, so the cap was 50.