Chapter 65 – New Map, New Features
Summary: Congratulations! You've completed a brilliant and glorious life. You've cleared this map perfectly! In this journey across worlds, your life surpassed 99.99% of other travelers. Not only did you find the Grand Treasure and become the Pirate King, but you also personally ended the Celestial Dragons' rule. You even brought an end to the infamous and controversial Great Pirate Era. What's more, you ushered in a 300-year-long golden age. After your death, historians of this world regarded you as the one who changed the course of history, and your deeds will be remembered for all eternity.
Evaluation: S
World Exploration Rate: 98.6%
Rewards:
– 20 Traversal Coins for achieving over 90% exploration
– 10 Traversal Coins for your major contributions to the world's scientific history
– 4 Traversal Coins for your minor influence on world literature
– 22 Traversal Coins for your unprecedented impact on world history
Because you perfectly cleared Across the Seas, you are granted a one-time opportunity to retain a talent in the real world.
Since you earned an S-rank evaluation and cleared the world, the Pirate King—Zhou Ning—has now become a hidden time-travel template. With exceptionally good luck, it may be selected randomly. This template carries the exclusive title Pirate King and will bring the flagship Pluton during the traversal.
[Congratulations, player, for completing the game. A new map and new features have been unlocked. You've obtained the right to revisit cleared instances with a paid rewind. Please check the relevant tabs for more details.]
[Your current alignment tendency: Lawful Neutral → Chaotic Neutral.]
[Please select your reward.]
[Option 1: Randomly obtain three skills or proficiencies gained during your journey.]
[Option 2: Randomly obtain three items acquired during your journey.]
That damned Pirate King world really turned people into demons—he'd been doing just fine as Lawful Neutral and got forced into Chaotic Neutral.
Still, raking in 56 Traversal Coins in one go felt amazing—like getting rich overnight!
But choosing between the two options was seriously tough.
Option 1 had some of the skills he desperately wanted, like Divine Departure and Basic Swordsmanship. As for the Devil Fruit Technology, it was likely a bottomless pit—since its materials were probably unique to the Pirate King world, there was no guarantee he'd find substitutes in his current world.
Option 2, on the other hand, had more tangible benefits. Clearly visible among the options were a sword, a gun, and Skypiea Shells. Although the simulation process had been vague, there was a good chance it also included Devil Fruits, Pluton, or Uranus. Any of them would be a major addition to the Hall of Curiosities.
After weighing the pros and cons, Zhou Ning ultimately chose Option 1. As tempting as Option 2 was, what he really needed now were skills. No matter how rare an item was, there'd probably be a chance to pull it from the reward pool later.
[You selected Option 1.]
[You've obtained the skill: Divine Departure (Beginner).]
[You've obtained the skill: Synthetic Devil Fruit Manufacturing.]
[You've obtained the skill: Basic Swordsmanship (Advanced).]
[Divine Departure (Beginner)]: A sword technique unique to Pirate King Roger, infused with both Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki. A tremendously powerful strike that requires the exclusive weapon Ace to reach full potential.
[Synthetic Devil Fruit Manufacturing]: A technique for creating artificial Devil Fruits. Only Zoan-type Fruits can be randomly produced. (This skill cannot be upgraded.)
[Basic Swordsmanship (Advanced)]: Fundamental sword techniques. Passively increases sword damage and precision.
Zhou Ning let out a breath of relief—he'd gotten everything he wanted. Divine Departure and Basic Swordsmanship significantly boosted his close-combat abilities. While he still wasn't on par with melee-focused professions, at least now he could hold his own if things got up close.
He opened up the details on Synthetic Devil Fruit Manufacturing and instantly relaxed. Thankfully, the simulator had shown some mercy—Devil Factor conversion materials could now be replaced with a catalyst called Starlight Reagent. This substance was one of the base ingredients for superpower-enhancing potions and could be crafted once his alchemy reached expert level. The other ingredients were just fairly common herbs.
This instantly filled Zhou Ning with motivation to grind alchemy. He could already picture a future swarming with kobolds and minotaurs.
Sure, it might be a bit of a scam, but maybe players would like kobolds?
Time to check the rest of the rewards!
[Detected: Player has perfectly cleared Across the Seas. You are eligible for a one-time draw to retain a talent in the real world. Proceed? Yes/No]
[Yes!]
[Draw complete: You have obtained the Purple Talent – Grandpa-in-a-Ring.]
[Grandpa-in-a-Ring (Purple)]: Your ring houses the soul of a powerful local warrior. You might as well call him your "Portable Grandpa." Note: Works especially well with loser-protagonist-type builds.
A simple, ancient-looking ring had suddenly appeared on his finger, making Zhou Ning pause for a moment.
Zhou Ning: "…"
What kind of twisted setup was this? Was the talent going to bring Roger's soul along for the ride too?
He tried muttering "Hey" to the ring—silence.
Looks like just like in the simulation, he had to feed it first.
After finishing his haul, Zhou Ning opened the simulator panel again. Sure enough, a small red dot had appeared on the map—clearly, the next map had been unlocked. A new tab had also appeared on the right: Rewind.
The new map had a great name: War of the Gods. Just hearing it evoked the grandeur of an epic mythological tale.
The price was surprisingly reasonable—only 60 Traversal Coins.
Zhou Ning had just received 56 coins, which wasn't quite enough for a traversal—but at least it wasn't multiplied by five again.
Clicking into the Rewind interface, he saw the three maps he had already cleared: Mist-Lost London, Endless War, and Across the Seas.
Reading the instructions, Zhou Ning suddenly understood.
This feature allowed him to spend double the usual Traversal Coins—minimum 20—to either use a completely random character template or one he already possessed. He could select any point in time to begin his traversal—but it might be a world already altered by his previous time travel.
Just like regular traversal, Rewind also let you bring back three things—regardless of whether they were items or skills. For example, in Mist-Lost London, you could choose to start in 1938 New York for Part II of the storyline, or 1988 for Part III.
But in 1938, you might encounter your Legendary Vampire self—or maybe just your normal self. In 1988, you might find Dio Brando who had just been rejuvenated by Legendary Vampire Zhou Ning… or perhaps the world hadn't changed, and it was still the evil savior you'd once met.
This setup was actually quite appealing. Pricey, yes—but full of potential.
…
Zhou Ning walked briskly along the canal district, umbrella in hand, heading toward the school.
The shockwaves from Charles VI's death hadn't settled yet—police and black-uniformed Sunwatchers were still stopping pedestrians everywhere to ask questions.
Normally, this would be the market's busiest hour, but now the marketplace was strangely subdued.
It was as if, overnight, the city of Darkland had fallen into a quiet slump.
The new semester would begin in a few days, and today Zhou Ning was heading over to formally resign from his teaching assistant job with Professor Wesley. He wasn't particularly short on money now, and brewing basic potions in the alchemy building no longer advanced his skill proficiency. So that 5-Vecktas-per-month job had become dispensable.
Reaching the campus, he noticed the usually quiet grounds were now bustling with students.
Suddenly, among the students by the roadside, Zhou Ning spotted a familiar figure—short, black-haired.
Wasn't that the Child of the Plane, Leandro?
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