A sharp sense of danger drove Rain to throw all his focus into the [Exchange Shop].
He stared at his massive pool of points—[Sin Points: 458,210]—and his eyes burned.
His goal was very clear: patch the weak spots.
Rain opened the most crucial tab first—[Haki].
[Haki · Peak Observation Haki → ??? Observation Haki]: (Locked in grey)
[Haki · Basic Armament Haki → Intermediate Armament Haki]: (Locked in grey)
[Unlock condition: Host must first awaken or learn Basic Armament Haki]
Rain nodded in understanding as he read.
"So anything above Peak still just shows up as [???]…" He glanced at the Observation line and thought, "Do I need my [Physique] to reach [Peak] too before I can unlock the path beyond?"
"In other words, both my Observation and Armament Haki are currently in a state where they can't be upgraded with points."
Since Haki couldn't be improved for now, he shifted his attention to the category that could give him the biggest immediate combat power boost—[Skills].
His [Physique Tier] was at [Advanced]. According to the rule that skill rank couldn't exceed physique rank by more than one level, that meant he could push any skill to a maximum of [Top-Tier] right now.
Rain immediately kicked off a one-man arms race.
"System."
"Redeem [Skill · Intermediate Swordsmanship → Advanced Swordsmanship → Top-Tier Swordsmanship]."
Cost: 110,000 Sin Points.
Next was shooting.
"Redeem [Skill · Intermediate Marksmanship → Advanced Marksmanship]."
Cost: 10,000 Sin Points.
He looked at the extra 100,000 points needed to push Marksmanship from Advanced to Top-Tier, and his finger hovered in mid-air for a moment before he pulled his gaze away.
"I have read a few fanfics in my previous life where the main character maxed out guns and became a monster…"
He weighed it out in his mind.
"But for me right now, the good steel needs to go where it matters most."
Blowing 100,000 points on Marksmanship felt a bit wasteful; his core combat style at the moment was swordsmanship. And he still had to save for the inevitable astronomical cost of pushing "Top-Tier" to "Peak" someday.
For now, Advanced Marksmanship was enough.
Once that made sense to him, Rain continued.
"Redeem [Skill · Intermediate Stealth → Advanced Stealth]."
Cost: 10,000 Sin Points.
"Redeem [Skill · Intermediate Combat Techniques → Advanced Combat Techniques]."
Cost: 10,000 Sin Points.
Command after command went out.
He watched his Sin Points shrink from over four hundred thousand down to [Balance: 318,210].
A full 150,000 points burned in just a handful of seconds.
Rain didn't feel a shred of regret—only fierce excitement.
The next second, a massive wave of information crashed into his brain like a mountain collapse or tidal wave.
All the intricacies of sword power generation, shooting calculations, stealth breathing techniques, joint locks and holds in close combat… everything appeared in his mind with perfect clarity, like memories he'd had for years.
Rain could tell: this knowledge was fully his now. With just a week or two of practice and adaptation, he could turn all this theoretical mastery into real, practical strength.
Feeling the huge influx of data in his head, he kept thinking calmly:
"The Pirate King Roger—the man who stood at the peak of the seas—only had his abilities rated at [Peak]."
"Now I've pushed my swordsmanship to [Top-Tier], backed by an [Advanced] physique and [Peak] Observation Haki… On these seas, I finally have some real ability to protect myself."
With his strength raised, his gear had to keep up.
He turned his eyes to the armory in [Standard Goods].
Loguetown did have Sandai Kitetsu, but considering that blade's curse and the fact that Good-Grade blades weren't particularly expensive…
"System, spend 20,000 points to custom forge a [Good-Grade Blade]. Requirements: durable blade, weight biased toward the front, suited for rapid slashes."
[Customization complete!]
Rain felt his palm sink as a pitch-black katana appeared out of thin air in his hand.
The scabbard was wrapped in the skin of some unknown deep-sea beast, carrying a cold, eerie sheen. The handle was tightly bound with dark green hemp cord, providing an excellent grip.
He slowly drew the blade.
Vmmm—!
A faint sword hum rippled through the air.
The blade was thin and slender, exuding a chilling aura that made one's skin crawl.
The weight was perfectly centered just ahead of the tip, as if it had been born for lightning-fast thrusts and extreme slashes.
"Spend another 20,000 points to custom forge a [Fine Firearm]. Requirements: long range, high penetration, willing to sacrifice some stability."
[Customization complete!]
In his other hand, a sleek, black semi-automatic pistol appeared.
The frame was smooth and clean, without any unnecessary ornamentation—pure function over form.
The cold metal, the solid weight in his grip, and the barrel longer and thicker than that of a normal pistol all screamed extreme performance.
Rain casually hefted it and immediately felt how perfectly it was balanced. This gun was clearly designed for precise long-range shots and deadly, one-shot kills.
He was very satisfied with the two pieces of custom gear. But unlike many swordsmen or marksmen, he didn't get excited thinking up some grandiose names for them.
In the shop's list, above [Good-Grade Blade] were the stronger [Great-Grade Blade] and the legendary [Supreme Grade Blade].
These two weapons were more than enough for now, but in a future where monsters crawled all over the sea, they were destined to be replaced sooner or later.
"Just transitional starter gear. No need to get sentimental."
He thought calmly.
"When I've got a Supreme Grade Blade or a Legendary Firearm in my hand, then I can worry about names."
After finishing all that, Rain glanced at his remaining 268,210 Sin Points.
His gaze shifted peacefully to the shop's other tab—[Dimensional Curiosities].
"Still a few days until the monthly refresh. That thing should still be there."
He did some quick mental math, then tapped into it with his will.
Sure enough, in the center of the golden display stand, the same ancient-looking ring he'd been eyeing before—but couldn't afford then—was still floating.
[This Month's Curio: Storage Ring]
Description: Contains a five-cubic-meter independent space. Items can be stored and retrieved via thought. Time flow in the space is nearly zero, allowing perfect preservation. Cannot store living beings.
Price: 100,000 Sin Points
He'd been drooling over this for a long time, so Rain didn't hesitate for a second and sliced off a hundred thousand points.
[Redemption successful]
With the system chime, a simple, pitch-black ring appeared in his palm.
Rain slipped it onto his index finger—perfect fit.
He focused his thoughts.
The custom sword and gun he'd just redeemed vanished from the air instantly.
"Convenient," he muttered in genuine appreciation. The value of this ring far exceeded the 100,000 points.
He checked his final balance: [Sin Points: 178,210], and let out a long breath.
The over 400,000-point windfall he'd gotten from Roger had been burned down to spare change in a very short time.
But he felt no regret—only a solid sense of security he'd never had before.
Satisfied, Rain was just about to exit the system—
when his thoughts brushed against a golden-glowing icon.
[Wish List]
Rain froze.
Shit, I almost forgot! His stomach dropped. Who knows how many days it's been… what if it expired?!
With his heart in his throat, he tapped the icon with his mind.
The screen unfurled. Under Roger's record, the line for [Wish List] still clearly showed the words (Pending Activation).
Rain let out a long sigh of relief.
"Good… still there."
In that case…
"Let me see, Gol D. Roger… what kind of last wish the Pirate King who opened an era left behind."
He steeled himself.
"System, activate [Wish List]."
[Warning: Once a Legendary (LR) wish is activated, it cannot be canceled. Please confirm.]
"Can't be canceled…"
His mind instinctively flashed back to the system logs, to all the other wish lists he'd tossed aside and never bothered to read.
[Ark's Last Wish: Find and kill the tavern owner who betrayed him.]
["Blood Shark" Flores's Last Wish: Plant a bomb in the Loguetown Marine branch and bury the whole base with me.]
...
Most pirates' last wishes were that kind of revenge-obsessed, world-burning garbage.
Thankfully, ignoring them didn't make them disappear. So to this day, aside from Buck's trust quest, Rain hadn't touched a single one.
But Roger's wish was clearly flagged as non-cancelable.
Rain's eyes returned to Roger's golden wish entry.
"Well, this is Gol D. Roger we're talking about," he thought. "With his kind of personality, his last wish shouldn't be that low-level."
His curiosity—and the lure of getting another shot at a "super loot box"—outweighed his caution about unknown risks.
"Screw it. I'll gamble."
He clenched his teeth and made his choice.
"Confirm."
The moment his thought confirmed it, the text flared with brilliant light and unfolded before his eyes.
[Gol D. Roger's Last Wish: Bloodline]
Description:
"I created the Great Pirate Era and gave countless people the dream of chasing freedom. But my only bloodline may never truly know freedom because of it. If possible, I hope he won't be shackled by my name—that he can live freely and choose his own path."
Quest Objective:
In the future, find Gol D. Roger's only blood relative, and when he faces a 'fated, unavoidable death with no choice,' intervene once to protect him, giving him the right to choose his own life.
Rain stared at this wish, stunned on the bed.
In his mind, the flames of Marineford's war flashed by, the image of a man's chest being pierced by magma, and Sengoku's declaration that had shaken the world.
"Only blood relative…"
"A fated, unavoidable death…"
Rain's gaze turned incredibly complicated.
"So I have to follow this wish and do it, huh?" he muttered, brows knotting. "The goal is to save the Pirate King's only bloodline… If the Marines ever found out, wouldn't they just brand me a traitor on the spot?"
Even so, his hesitation only lasted about ten seconds.
His eyes calmed again, and a faint, self-mocking smile tugged at his lips.
"What am I even fussing over?"
"Marineford? That's more than twenty years from now." He shifted into a more comfortable position and leaned lazily against the pillow.
A flash of ambition he didn't even notice himself flickered in his eyes.
"Twenty-plus years from now… what will my power look like? For all I know, the Empty Throne under Im's ass might be mine by then. Saving one person at that point would just be a matter of saying the word."
He shook his head and shoved those distant, borderline arrogant thoughts out of his mind.
"What's the point of overthinking it?"
"That's future me's problem. For now, just enjoy the present."
He closed the [Wish List] screen and sealed that heavy burden away in the deepest part of the system—for later.