Gusion pushed open his door, sprinted to the Upgrade Hall, and entered a giant carnivorous plant to max out his stats.
[Pioneer #008, your base stats (including equipment and title bonuses) are as follows:]
Constitution: 50
Strength: 44
Agility: 42
Spirit: 50
Charisma: 5
Luck: 2
[You currently have 21 free attribute points. Please allocate them.]
Gusion didn't hesitate—he maxed Strength and Agility, spending 14 points.
After a while, his stats updated. He had 7 points left and tried boosting Constitution, but was told he needed to advance in tier.
He was a bit torn. He could put points into Charisma, but saw no immediate use—if talking didn't work, he could always use force.
He didn't have any summon or charm skills either, so boosting Charisma seemed wasteful.
He decided to hold onto the 7 points for now and see if something came up in the market later. If not, he'd dump them into Charisma before his next mission—leaving free points unspent felt dumb.
As he was about to leave the plant, a notification appeared.
[Multiple attributes have reached their tier maximum. Would you like to claim your attribute cap reward?]
Gusion paused, then remembered this bonus.
He opted to claim it and started upgrading further.
[Constitution attribute has reached Tier 2 cap. Please choose one of the following upgrades:]
A. Vitality: +10% max HP
B. Rock Solid: -10% to control effects
C. Iron Body: +10% physical & magical resistance
[]
Gusion considered briefly and chose B—he was already tanky with Haki, but couldn't guarantee not being controlled by some explorer's trick, so reducing control effects was useful.
Next prompt:
[Strength attribute has reached Tier 2 cap. Please choose one of the following upgrades:]
A. Ferocity: +2 to Strength in strength checks
B. Mountain Mover: -10% stamina cost for exertion
C. Brute Force: +10% physical attack damage (calculated separately)
[]
He chose C without hesitation. These bonuses stack multiplicatively—if he always picks them, the total could get very high.
[Agility attribute has reached Tier 2 cap. Please choose one of the following upgrades:]
A. Insight: +10% reaction speed
B. Sprint: +10% movement speed
C. Critical Strike: 10% chance for weak point hits (120% damage)
[]
Gusion asked End Space and learned C didn't stack with his previous weak point hit bonus, which was disappointing. Since these options would likely override each other, he picked A—he already had many crit options, and 5% weak point never triggered last world anyway, so he lost faith in it.
[Spirit attribute has reached Tier 2 cap. Please choose one of the following upgrades:]
A. Meditation: +10% soul energy regen
B. Tenacity: -10% to mental control effects
C. Spellcrafter: -10% soul energy cost for skills
[]
He picked the mana-saving option, knowing his future Fruits would have many skills consuming soul energy—he needed good sustain.
After all upgrades, Gusion hit the Upgrade Hall's shower for a rinse, then headed to the marketplace, refreshed.
He needed to sell off his loot to certify his Devil Fruits.
Certification fees had dropped since his One Piece world exploration had passed 80%—a discount from End Space. Certifying a Fruit used to cost 100,000 coins, now only 60,000.
Before going to Sky Island, his exploration was at 50%. At settlement, it jumped up—perhaps for giving the ancient weapon blueprints to the Beasts Pirates. With his help, they were much stronger and directly targeting the World Government.
With Uranus, Kaido would be a real threat to the Government, and the world's balance could change. That probably explained the exploration boost; next time he returned, the world might be totally different from the manga.
Thinking about this, Gusion arrived at the Tier 3 Explorer Market.
He had to go here—his wares were too valuable for Tier 2s.
He picked a busy spot, set up his stall, and laid out the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, T-Rex Fruit, Dark-Shadow Fruit, and Telekinesis Fruit.
Soon, he drew a crowd.
"Damn, did he beat the whole One Piece world? Fruit wholesale?"
"Four Fruits? And all top-tier."
"Rumble-Rumble? Bro, even if I can't afford it, I gotta ask: you're not eating the strongest Logia?"
"Hey, boss, get over here—someone's selling Rumble-Rumble!"
People gawked, but few were buyers.
Epic bloodlines were expensive, and Gusion's were all top-tier. Tier 3 explorers mostly used Legendary equipment, only a few elites had Epic, and Epic bloodlines were rare.
Most could only afford about 100,000 coins per world—Legendary gear was doable, but Epic bloodlines were out of reach.
Gusion's main buyers were top-end Tier 3 adventure groups who could pull together that kind of cash.
Earlier, Gusion checked the market—right after the One Piece world, others were selling Devil Fruits. Epic bloodlines went for 200,000–280,000.
So, he priced the T-Rex Fruit at 300,000, Dark-Shadow at 240,000, and the Rumble-Rumble at a sky-high 400,000.
He felt these were fair—Epic main weapons were 200,000, maybe 250,000–300,000 for max stats. His nearly maxed Rumble-Rumble, as a bloodline you could use forever, was worth 400,000.
"Damn, bro, you're loaded! Not even contacting me for this? Not cool."
Unexpectedly, Gusion soon ran into an acquaintance—the guy who sold him the Barbarian King Bow, Titan.
On second thought, it made sense: Titan was a top Tier 2, in the arena top 30. Advancing to Tier 3 last world was only natural.
"Pricey stuff, but if it's you, Titan, I'll give you a discount."
Gusion said, "Which one?"
Titan licked his lips, eyes glued to the T-Rex Fruit. "The T-Rex—cut me a deal."
"280,000. No lower."
It was worth over 300,000; Gusion never overpriced for haggling. The discount was for a friend—last time Titan's Bow helped a lot.
Titan hesitated, but knew the market—Gusion's prices were already low, and this was a great deal.
After a moment, he said, "Hold on, I'll have my team move some funds. 280,000 isn't pocket change."
His team had just hit Tier 3, and only he and a few others had advanced. Getting so much liquid cash at once was tough.
He was just envious—why hadn't he gotten the One Piece world? He'd struggled in Jujutsu Kaisen for little gain, and now the market was flooded with Devil Fruits.
"Alright, I'll wait."
Gusion set aside the T-Rex Fruit for Titan; he could tell it suited him, and used well, Titan could earn his money back in the next world.
With so many top Fruits, the crowd grew and grew, until Gusion was getting annoyed.
He glared at the people blocking the front. "If you're not buying, get out of the way."
Some were annoyed, but Gusion's gaze and the Fruits made them back down and leave quietly.
Some were sent by rival teams to disrupt, others just wanted a front-row seat to see who could afford these Fruits.
"Move aside, move aside—our boss is here, you broke losers!"
A short man yelled, pushing through the crowd, his words annoying many.
But when a tall, skinny man in mage's robes appeared, all went quiet.
"That's Hogwartz' captain, Dark Sky Demon—they just slaughtered a mission world recently…"
The crowd parted respectfully. His reputation was bad—a ruthless killer in mission worlds.
"Bro, Rumble-Rumble for 400,000?"
Dark Sky Demon, thin as a skeleton, spoke politely.
"You buying?"
Gusion put down his tablet, pausing his anime—this was a real buyer.