[You have gained a new skill: Amphibious Breathing]
[Type: Passive Talent Skill]
[Description: Upon mastery, you will receive nature's blessing, granting you the ability to breathe freely in any environment.]
[Note: Compared to the misleading name "Amphibious," "Omni-Breathing Method" might be more suitable.]
["No need to panic when facing a powerful enemy—just sink to the bottom of the sea and take a nap. Who knows, maybe you'll wake up next to a masked ivory Fishman."]
["Aquaman sucks!"]
Aquaman really did suck. For once, the system's snark matched Nao's own thoughts.
"Breathe in any environment, huh?"
He scanned the description again, thinking it over—then decided to run a little test.
Heading into the bathroom, he filled the bathtub to the brim and dunked his whole face underwater.
Two minutes. Three. Five… Watching bubbles rise lazily around him, Nao confirmed it: he could he could indeed breathe freely underwater, just like a Fishman. No effort, no limits.
Then he surfaced, walked to the mirror, pinched his nose, and held his breath.
This time he waited longer.
No airflow. No gas exchange. Internal and external respiration had both stopped completely—yet he felt no discomfort at all. His body remained perfectly normal.
"Incredible!"
Nao abruptly let go, staring at his reflection in awe. "I don't even need gas exchange between tissue cells and blood? Has my internal body structure been directly altered?"
Only an S-rank loot box could give something this busted.
—At this point, can I even be called human anymore?
"Now I'm not just capable of moving freely underwater like a Fishman—I can actually use this in battle."
His eyes lit up. His brain kicked into high gear.
"Poison gas? Suffocation? Plugging my mouth and nose? All useless."
"Even if I'm sealed in fluid, or locked in an airtight box—it wouldn't make a difference."
"Hell, I could survive in space now."
His thoughts spiraled. It took a while before he snapped back to reality. When he did, a satisfied grin stretched across his face as he eyed the new skill now listed in his status panel.
Once a lucky bastard, always a lucky bastard.
This roll? Totally worth it.
"Alright, time for the random attribute points."
Nao decided to ride the hot streak and open them all at once.
With zero hesitation, he tapped his inventory. The blue dice reappeared, spinning rapidly—
[Roll Complete — +1 to Charm]
[Roll Complete — +1 to Intelligence]
[Roll Complete — +1 to Charm]
The results caught him a little off guard.
Not a full triple in Charm—two points went there, one to Intelligence. Looked like randomness finally lived up to its name after all those pulls.
"Still… Intelligence is a solid pull."
Nao nodded to himself. That stat, like Charm, was a high-tier attribute—every point cost a fortune. Way steeper than his base Strength, Agility, or Stamina.
Boosting it would help with future swordsmanship and Observation Haki training.
As for those two Charm points…
They pushed his current Charm to a terrifying 16.
"Ugh…"
Nao instinctively glanced up at the mirror—
—and immediately froze.
—Holy crap, who is that guy?!
Could anyone really look that good?
The black-haired youth staring back at him had blade-sharp brows and piercing eyes. His aura was striking. Just locking eyes with him could pull someone in, like getting dragged into quicksand—deep, inescapable, intoxicating.
Even Nao, with his iron will, stood there dumbfounded for a solid ten seconds before shaking himself and yanking his eyes away.
So that's what they meant by quantitative change leads to qualitative transformation.
Compared to before, his overall presence and charm had just jumped to an entirely new level.
"Whew…"
He rubbed his cheeks, suddenly a little troubled.
At 14 Charm, he already attracted more attention than he wanted. Now that he'd leveled up again, wouldn't it just get worse?
"…Big Mom's not gonna fall for me or something, right?"
He chuckled nervously.
Unlikely, sure—but the image of that Yonko's massive frame made him shudder anyway.
Damn. Gotta scrub that thought out of his brain now.
...
With both the S-rank gift box and the random stat rolls done, it was time to deal with the real windfall: 350,000 points.
"Wait… today's the day the Item Shop refreshes, isn't it?"
As always, Nao played it smart. Before he spent anything on attributes, he opened the Item Shop. If there was anything valuable this week, he wanted to know before he splurged.
Just in case he ended up broke and missed out on something great.
[Secret Technique – Left-Right Zigzagging Art: 3,000 points]
[Fine-Grade Sword "Harukaze ": 20,000 points]
[Unlimited Premium Cigars: 50,000 points]
[Special Vivre Card: 160,000 points]
[Rolls-Royce Dawn Black Badge: 8,000 points]
[Physical Training Acceleration Card (180 Days): 28,000 points]
…
As expected, 90% of it was garbage.
A few items were straight-up ridiculous. Like this gem:
[Secret Technique: Left-Right Zigzagging Art]
[Type: Skill Scroll]
[Description: Upon activation, move left and right at extreme speed within a three-meter range, used to extinguish small fires in front of the user.]
[Note: A divine skill from an ordinary male high school student in an island nation, possessing considerable infectiousness.]
"Divine skill my foot!"
After glancing at the description, Nao was startled. This thing might be somewhat useful for an ordinary person on Earth, but what good was a hammer to him?
Why dance when a single sword slash could solve the problem?
The sword "Harukaze" and the Black Badge Rolls-Royce were just as worthless.
The car? Not his thing—never was, even in his previous life. He didn't care about style or luxury. Cars were just metal boxes on wheels.
The sword?
Eh. That was old news.
Back when he was a broke recruit with nothing, yeah, he'd have drooled over a Fine-Grade sword.
But now? He had Yone's Twin Sword, upgraded to Great-Grade level.
He could get a Fine-Grade blade any time he wanted. No point wasting 20,000 points.
The cigars?
Even though he didn't smoke, they had trade value.
If they were truly unlimited, he might have shelled out for them.
…But of course, there was a catch.
Like those fake "bottomless" noodles or "infinite" chicken buckets, you had to finish one cigar before lighting the next. No way to cheese the system.
So in the end?
Only two items were actually worth considering:
Physical Training Acceleration Card (a must-buy)
The Special Vivre Card
[Custom Vivre Card]
[Type: Permanent Item]
[Description: A special Vivre Card that can be divided into one main card and eight sub-cards. In addition to all the features of a normal Vivre Card, the player holding the main card can expend a large amount of mental energy to teleport to a random, unobserved location within a one-kilometer radius of a sub-card holder.]
[Each teleportation will cause the corresponding sub-card to burn out and become non-renewable.]
[Note: Want to protect the people you care about? Without a doubt, this is one of the best items.]
["Ace, get one for me too!"]
"It says permanent, but it's really just an eight-shot consumable…"
Nao frowned thoughtfully.
160,000 points wasn't cheap.
Since he got the system over six months ago, only the Limb Regeneration Scroll had ever cost more than this.
But still—
"Buying it."
He didn't hesitate.
Life was short. You couldn't live just for yourself.
Protecting his family. His friends. The people who mattered to him. That was the real reason to get stronger—and stay alive.
In the One Piece world, danger was everywhere. Who knew if he'd ever get another shot at an item like this?
He wasn't going to miss the chance.
The two items together cost 188,000 points. But even as the numbers drained from his balance, Nao felt no regret.
With a thought, the Vivre Card appeared in his hand—solid, real, heavy with purpose.
"Clear fault lines… break here, and you get one main and eight sub-cards."
He breathed out slowly. "Alright. Who do I give these to?"
His mentors? Out.
Garp, Zephyr, Tsuru—those old monsters didn't need his protection.
Friends?
Rosinante deserved one.
Shiryu? Nah, that guy had a freakishly stubborn fate. No need—for now. Still, maybe he'd give him a regular Vivre Card just to be safe.
Family?
Obviously.
His mom and dad would each get one.
And for the women in his life…
Gion could get one later today.
Shia—he'd hand her one when she returned to Headquarters.
As for Belle-mère…
"Belle-mère."
That pink-haired firecracker popped into his mind. Had it been a year and a half since they last saw each other? Still no letter back. Was she still mad?
Nao looked down at the Vivre Card.
Yeah. It was time.
Time to go home.
Time to talk things out with her.
Time to face that conversation she'd never let go of—marriage.
That's it.
Time to take a trip back to the East Blue.