Aside from the valuable Devil Fruit, the Navy—more specifically, Admiral Kizaru—also provided Kyle with a startup fund of 50 million Berries, a newly developed seastone pistol from the Navy's R&D division, and a high-grade blade called Frostbite.
You had to admit—
Even though Kyle's current strength was only on par with a low-tier pirate with a bounty around ten million, the superior gear and the Devil Fruit's power were more than enough for him to make waves in the East Blue.
This kind of special treatment? Only a blood-related nephew like Kyle could enjoy it.
Kyle didn't waste a second of the past three days.
With the help of the Navy's extensive intelligence network, he thoroughly studied the map of the East Blue.
Not only did he locate the Kingdom of Goa, the hometown of the Hero of the Marines, Garp—he even found the specific islands where Shimotsuki Village, Cocoyasi Village, and Syrup Village were located.
Unfortunately, Zoro had already left Shimotsuki Village by this time, and no one knew which corner of the East Blue he was currently lost in.
If Kyle could recruit that weirdo onto his crew, it would definitely make his journey as a spy a whole lot easier.
In the original storyline, Zoro appeared in Shells Town a year later.
But now, with Kyle acting as a butterfly effect in this world, who could predict what the future held?
Not even Kyle himself.
After all, he still didn't know what kind of system he actually had!
"If even the starter pack from the locals is this generous, then my companion system better not disappoint!"
He muttered under his breath while staring at the still-static system interface in front of him.
The merchant vessel from Marineford was far more powerful than any ordinary civilian ship.
Its massive body cut through the waves like a sharp blade, sailing swiftly toward the Red Line.
Kyle, who already had a ticket to his destination, would disembark at one of the ports located beneath the Red Line where there was an elevator system.
From there, he'd ascend to the top, travel across the Red Line via vehicle, and finally reach the East Blue side for a transfer.
Because this was a civilian process, the entire journey would take at least three full days.
Luckily for Kyle, he didn't find it boring at all.
Seeing with his own eyes the massive Red Line wall and its colossal elevators—things that only appeared in anime setting books—was already an eye-opening experience for him.
"Yeah… No image or video could ever prepare you for this."
His eyes sparkled with curiosity.
Ever since he left Marineford, Kyle's true nature had begun to surface.
Gone was the brooding and solemn exterior.
If not for the fact that his fellow passengers looked so tense—worried they might run into a passing Celestial Dragon—he would've asked the driver to stop the vehicle so he could scribble "Kyle was here" somewhere as a souvenir.
But even the most majestic scenery becomes dull after a while.
And so the voyage dragged on for over twenty days across the vast sea.
Nearly a month after he first set out, Kyle finally reached his destination—Yakxi Island in the East Blue!
This island was home to a large shipyard.
It was said that over 70% of the fifty massive warships under East Blue Warlord Don Krieg's command were built right here.
Even before setting off, Kyle had already contacted an undercover Navy operative stationed in the East Blue to order a custom ship.
Since it was paid for with Navy funds, Kyle had no clue how much it cost.
Now, over twenty days had passed since the order was placed—it should be completed right on schedule.
At the Port of Yakxi Island
Thanks to his credentials, Kyle was quickly guided by the staff to his ship.
It was a mid-sized sailing ship—slightly larger than the Going Merry from the anime.
Two decorative cannons had been mounted on the upper deck.
After all, anyone familiar with the One Piece world knew: cannons were practically decorative against seasoned sea-farers. Anyone worth their salt had some sort of technique to deflect cannon fire.
Still—
When Kyle personally tried firing one during a demonstration, he couldn't help but shout:
"Holy crap! That's awesome!"
After inspecting his ship with admiration, Kyle eagerly had the staff move it out of the dock.
Though a little clumsy at first, with his above-average physical abilities and the ship's instruction manual, Kyle eventually managed to get the vessel into open water.
After a quick exploration of the ship, he immediately claimed the top-deck room as his captain's quarters.
He sat cross-legged on the floor, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
"Here it comes... the moment of truth!"
"System, you've been fishing long enough. It's time to reel something in!"
He pulled a pirate flag out of his backpack—one he had prepared long ago.
The black canvas bore a lifeless, hollow-eyed skull fluttering in the wind.
It was a design based on his former self's image—already officially registered with Sengoku himself.
The pirate crew's name was registered along with it.
That's right.
Even before leaving Marineford, Kyle had already chosen a name for his crew:
The Dusk Pirates!
A name that sounded ordinary at first, but with a bit of thought, carried some flavor.
To Kyle, who had spent seven days stuck trying to name his crew in the system, the name wasn't even that important anymore.
But once he knew he'd be working as a spy, he suddenly recalled an anime he'd watched before—"Spy × Family."
So he borrowed the codename of the strongest spy in that series—Twilight—as inspiration.
He hoped the name would bring him a little luck.
Now, the pirate crew name, flag, and ship were all in place.
Everything was ready—except the final spark!
The moment he raised the pirate flag on the mast, even before Kyle could make a move, a system prompt suddenly popped up in his mind:
[The system has detected that the host has established their own pirate crew. Would you like to bind to "Dusk Pirates"?]
[Confirm] or [Decline]
"Huh? Are systems that advanced now?"
Surprised mid-pull on a rope, Kyle paused—then grinned in excitement.
He quickly confirmed the choice with a thought.
In an instant!
The long-frustrating "Name Your Crew" screen faded into gray mist and vanished from view.
A brand-new game interface appeared in his mind.
"It's here—it's finally here!"
Seeing the interface appear, so familiar yet so new, Kyle's heart began pounding.
Suppressing his excitement, he took a closer look, checking if anything had changed now that he had crossed into this world.
To be honest—
Compared to a cheap mobile game, this system was much cleaner.
At least all those annoying pop-up offers trying to scam you into spending money were gone.
But in truth, that wasn't exactly good news.
After all, who wouldn't want to get an S-rank support character for just a $1 first-time purchase? Opportunities like that didn't grow on trees!
"Looks like the game system changed after crossing over."
Kyle sighed thoughtfully.
He had a strange feeling—
The system changes weren't just about removing pop-ups.
At the moment, the interface displayed five main options:
[Captain], [Inventory], [Crew], [Dock], and [Gacha]
Kyle opened the [Captain] tab first.
A new window popped up.
On the left side was a 3D model of Kyle—identical to how he looked now.
When Kyle waved his hand, the model did the same.
He could even rotate it 360° using his thoughts.
"Nice… I won't need to buy a mirror ever again!"
"I like this feature."
After admiring his digital avatar, Kyle turned his attention to the right side of the screen, which displayed his personal stats.
[Captain: Kyle]
[Level: 0]
[EXP: 0/10]
[Total Combat Power: 0]
[Skills: None]
"...Wow. This really is a newbie interface. But still…"
Kyle frowned as he looked at the stats panel.
"Even if I'm just a small fry, I should still have some combat power. I'm still a Grand Line-level small fry, after all."
"And what's with the Skills section? I don't remember captains having skills in the original game…"
Sensing his confusion, the panel suddenly flickered—and several sub-windows popped up to explain:
[EXP]: For every 1 million Berries spent within the system, the captain gains 1 EXP.
[Total Combat Power]: Captain's combat power = total crew power × captain level × 10%
[Skills]: Each time the captain levels up, one random skill is drawn from the full character skill pool.
"So that's how it works…"
And thus, the real game finally began.
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Note: If you're enjoying the story, you can read up to Chapter 42... You can read 39 chapters ahead of the current one) on my Patreon: patreon.com/Aurevynluv