In Smoker's office, Kong and Paimon leisurely enjoyed the fruit delivered by Lieutenant Jia. Kong, a frequent sailor, rarely ate such ripe fruit, mainly because it was inconvenient to preserve.
Paimon, her mouth full of a sweet and juicy melon, chewed contentedly, her small mouth resembling that of a hamster.
"So sweet, so delicious..."
Kong also munched on a bright red apple.
"If only your storage space could preserve food, Paimon."
"That's impossible!"
"I read in novels that people's storage spaces can preserve things. A dish put in there for a year would still look brand new when taken out."
"Their spaces are probably made of preservatives!"
"Don't be angry. Here, have a peach."
"Mmm! Delicious!"
"Don't grumble, don't grumble..."
Soon, the Den Den Mushi rang, Sora sorted out his emotions, and the feeling of worry reappeared.
"Kong, how are you doing over there?"
Sengoku's voice was still as anxious as ever.
"It's all right for now. They are all very well behaved. What did the headquarters say?"
"After discussion at the headquarters, it has been confirmed that the clown Buggy in the East China Sea is the one who was on Roger's ship that year! Several old men also said that they had seen him, Roger, and Red Hair fishing in a pirate place. This Buggy is really cunning. He actually used his red nose to disguise himself as a clown and cover up this feature. You have to be careful. He has been silent for many years. This time he appeared with the Revolutionary Army again. There must be a huge conspiracy!"
"Pfft..."
Paimon covered his mouth and forced himself to hold back his laughter.
Sora rubbed Paimon's head.
"Then what about my suggestion? Upgrade his bounty. Maybe some powerful pirate hunters will target him. There seem to be quite a few pirate hunters in Rogue Town. Increasing his bounty may attract those hunters to take action. At least we can hide behind and observe what their purpose is."
Sengoku agreed.
"Well... your idea is fine. The only advantage now is that they don't know we have discovered them. After the discussion of the bounty department, Buggy's strength should not be the best, and his Joker Pirates are not even up to par. If we really want to set a bounty for him, 40 million is the limit."
This price is similar to what Sora expected. Buggy's own strength is not strong. If we really calculate it based on his strength, 30 or 40 million should be about the same, at least doubled.
Sengoku hasn't finished speaking yet.
"But considering that he is a crew member of Roger, it is no coincidence that Long appears with him! Maybe the Revolutionary Army intends to use Buggy's reputation as a former crew member of Pirate King to recruit pirates to cause trouble, so we make an exception and increase his bounty to 160 million!"
"How much!?"
"160 million! This man, even if he is a cripple! But just because he once boarded Roger's ship, he is worth this price!"
"Hiss..."
Sora covered his heart. 160 million, this is not a simple number, but a hundred draws! Buggy gave him 100 draws alone. This is not just taking advantage of others, but taking advantage of others!
"The news from Garp is that three ships of the Revolutionary Army intercepted them. This further confirms the determination of Dragon and Buggy to make trouble in Rogue Town. Sora, you are a navy! Remember your mission! Keep an eye on them! Even if... even if you die, you must carry out your justice!"
Sengoku was already setting a flag, and Sora quickly spat twice.
"Old man, don't curse me! I'm not married yet!"
Sengoku said.
"When you return safely this time, I will introduce you to a young lady."
"Don't!"
Just kidding, Sengoku's aesthetics are not exaggerated. He told Sora before that he should find a big girl to marry, so that she can have children and the offspring born will be stronger.
If Sengoku helps him find one, it may not be impossible to bring back a female giant.
Sengoku reminded again.
"Hold on until Garp comes, and your mission is complete! This time you broke the alliance between these two, which is a great achievement. You will definitely be promoted when you come back! I will have someone update the wanted order now to help you share some of the pressure."
Yeah, then hurry up, I'll continue to follow."
"Thank you for your hard work...Kong."
"It's not hard, I'm serving the people."
After hanging up the den-den mushi, Kong reached out and knocked on the wall twice, and a grass-green palm-sized slime squeezed out of the wall.
The grass slime of the seven major slimes has the ability to split, burrow underground, and is timid.
"Tell Kaeya that the delivery is ready."
The little grass slime nodded, then jumped and burrowed into the wall again and disappeared.
After doing all this, Sora stretched and closed his eyes.
After getting the start-up funds given by Buggy, Sora truly understood the power of the original magic system.
The Hilichurl System's gacha had several tiers. Paimon's mention of one thousand Berries per pull was only the lowest tier.
The one-thousand-Berry tier could only summon the most basic Hilichurls and small versions of the Seven Slimes. Their combat power was extremely low. If a Marine's combat power is rated as 5, these creatures would only have a 1, acting as mere laborers.
The ten-thousand-Berry tier allowed for summoning evolved Hilichurls, such as Hilichurl Berserkers, Hilichurl Stonehide, and medium-sized versions of the Seven Slimes. Their strength was comparable to that of ordinary Marines, and only Slimes at this level possessed basic combat capabilities.
The Hilichurls who had kidnapped Buggy were from this tier, as were the Slimes—only this level of Slime possessed racial characteristics.
The next tier, costing one hundred thousand Berries, involved elemental powers: Hilichurl Throwers and Archers with Cryo, Pyro, and Electro powers, as well as large Slimes with elemental armor, along with Fatui members.
Higher tiers yielded stronger creatures; the highest tier could even summon a god! Their power wasn't inferior to that of the Genshin heroes. The only drawback was the cost; summoning from the god tier required a whopping five billion Berries.
However, that wasn't something Aether needed to consider right now. For now, summoning creatures from the ten-thousand-Berry tier was sufficient.
As he closed his eyes, hundreds of creatures appeared in his consciousness. He'd spent two million Berries summoning them, and he could materialize them whenever needed.
Hilichurl Berserkers were the most numerous, with 67; Grass Slimes were the fewest, only two.
The Grass and Hydro Slimes were the most useful; one could act as a scout, and the other could be used like Seastone.
Kong, looking at these creatures, already had a plan. He intended to go to Alabasta, a paradise for bounty hunters, and also the location of his target:
Crocodile, the Shichibukai with an 81 million Berry bounty.
"Mr.Kong!"
A Marine rushed to the doorway.
"What is it? Did Smoker return?"
He was agitated.
"No, but... that great pirate, Buggy, Roger's former subordinate! He's been captured by a bounty hunter!"
Simultaneously, Paimon gave Aether a thumbs-up. 16,000 Primogems had been credited.
"I understand. Lock him up first; I'll go see him after I make my report."
"Yes!"
After the Marine left, Aether quickly reached out to Paimon.
"Quick! Let's gacha!"
"Okay!"
Paimon's hand touched Kong's, and a gacha interface appeared in his mind.
"One hundred pulls! Go!"
"Whoosh!"
Hundreds of meteors streaked across the sky in Kong's consciousness, mostly blue, with ten purple ones, and most striking of all, a golden meteor nestled in the center, surrounded by the ninety-nine others.
Kong almost cried.
"Four years! Four years! I finally got a gold one!!!"
The meteors fell, and hundreds of cards densely floated before Aether.
He swept his arm, and 89 blue cards flipped over, transforming into experience books that floated into Paimon's cape.
Then, ten purple cards were revealed one by one.
Seven were enhanced experience books, ranging from ten to twenty books each. One was a weapon, identical to the sword at his waist, called the 'Song of the Wind' sword.
The final two were long-awaited character cards.
The final two were long-awaited character cards.
The first was a green-haired girl in a white scholar's robe, the Mondstadt alchemist, Sucrose.
The second was a silver-haired boy with a cool demeanor, the self-proclaimed strongest swordsman of the Wolfendom, Razor.
"They're both from Mondstadt... Oh well, Kaeya will probably be happy to see them..."
Putting those thoughts aside, Kong, full of anticipation, reached out to touch the glittering gold card.
"Who is it...? I don't have high expectations; any of the three Archons would be fine..."
Kong touched the gold card. The card flipped, and a majestic-looking greatsword, black and gold, landed in his hand.
A five-star weapon! The two-handed sword, 'The Unforged'!
"Uh!"
The moment he grasped the hilt, Kong felt his heart stop, his mind going blank.
"MiHoYo designers! I'll f***ing kill you!!! A freaking centipede! Aarrgghh!!!"
Kong slumped in his chair, the light gone from his eyes.