Chapter 259: Farewell, Nika Fruit!
"Is that so?"
Kaido's voice grew weaker as he slowly closed his eyes, whispering so softly only he could hear:
"It wasn't Joyboy who defeated me… It was that Straw Hat brat…"
So… he wasn't just a fake Joyboy?
Maybe, once, he too had the chance to create the world of his dreams.
How foolish—
to have spent most of his life chasing after some meaningless prophecy.
How pathetic—
to have been taught a lesson by a kid.
"Luffy!"
The Straw Hat crew rushed to his side, even Usopp shakily sliding down a rope from the hot air balloon.
"You're the hero who saved the Oikot Kingdom,"
Nami said proudly, amazed that being a pirate could mean being a hero's crewmate.
Zoro hadn't expected it either.
That Luffy could really defeat both Kaido and Blackbeard—
that his final light-based power could rival the very top players.
"Damn it… I'm supposed to become the greatest swordsman. I can't fall behind!"
He grit his teeth, already planning to resume training as soon as they returned.
If their captain's goal was to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with top-tier players like Whitebeard,
then as his swordsman, Zoro would have to aim at someone like Mihawk.
Luffy had earned the right to fight among the best.
Zoro, meanwhile, had only just barely entered the first-tier player bracket.
He needed to hunt more polluted monsters!
"My Flame Devil-Slaying Magic… I need to refine it too.
Just this once, Mosshead, I refuse to lose to you."
Sanji noticed Zoro's heavy expression and immediately let out a mocking laugh.
Though he hated to admit it,
Zoro had shown slightly better performance in that battle.
And that, Sanji absolutely could not accept.
"What's a filthy cook doing comparing strength with me?" Zoro snapped back.
"It's 'chef', not filthy cook, you damn mosshead!"
Sanji yelled, casting a glance at Nami—
then his tone softened, full of hearts:
"Only a chef who can protect the woman he loves is a real chef. Right, Nami-swan~?"
"Right. You better work harder."
Nami held back the urge to electrocute him on the spot, giving a perfunctory reply.
"Ahahahaha!"
Luffy laughed loudly as he watched his rowdy crew,
his smile genuine, no longer influenced by the Nika Fruit.
Usopp asked curiously:
"Luffy, even if you hadn't sold your Rubber Fruit,
didn't you already have enough reward points to beat Kaido and Blackbeard?"
In the Reincarnation Game, there were two ways to sell items.
One was to offer the source energy, keeping the item itself—
players didn't lose the item but got fewer reward points.
The other was a full surrender—
players gave up the item completely, but gained more points.
Because of the loss involved,
few players ever chose the latter.
"Yeah, but I didn't like how it felt."
Luffy scratched his head.
He always felt like something—or someone—was whispering in his mind,
pressuring him to choose power over freedom.
When he finally sold the fruit,
it was like a sudden flash of clarity—
He recalled something,
then sincerely said to that unseen voice:
"Thanks for helping me win all those fights.
But my dream is to become Pirate King."
What he needed were his crewmates, his dream—
not the chains of fate.
"Guys, let's go to the Grand Line!"
"Set sail!"
Back on the island,
the people of Oikot were desperately searching for the rubber boy who had saved them.
But when they reached the shore,
all they saw was the Going Merry bobbing away at sea.
"Hey, rubber kid, don't run!"
"Stop the ship!"
The kingdom's royal guards stood at the docks, shouting.
They had been entrusted by the king and the people
to bring back the Straw Hat crew for a grand ceremony of thanks.
On board the Merry, the crew looked puzzled.
"Are they calling for someone?"
"Sounds like they're looking for Luffy."
"Maybe he broke too much of the island with that last punch?"
"That's probably it.
We're pirates after all. No way they're calling us back to throw a party!"
Nami suddenly turned into a devil, baring her teeth:
"I can't believe I thought you were a hero! Run!
I don't have the money to pay for the damage!"
"Ahahahaha!"
Back in the Game Shop, Fang Yi turned his attention away, sighing:
"With Kaido dead, Wano will definitely fall into chaos."
"If he had survived, despite his cruelty,
he could've become a top-tier player like Whitebeard or Shanks."
After all,
to resist the Pollution, you didn't need to be noble.
Ambition and willpower were enough to earn a place in the Reincarnation Game.
Now that Kaido was gone,
the Beast Pirates—cobbled together by force and fear—would collapse instantly.
In the original fate,
even the more cohesive Whitebeard Fleet scattered after their leader's death.
Kaido's crew would fare worse.
His three top commanders had their own agendas.
The Tobi Roppo and other officers, the Wano rebels—
a civil war for power and land was inevitable.
And opportunists,
pirates and the Navy alike, hungry for assets to convert into reward points,
wouldn't miss this golden opportunity.
"Old and new eras never change hands peacefully,"
Fang Yi murmured.
He didn't care who won.
Resources were fixed.
Whether they built one top-tier player
or a dozen first-tier ones—
they'd all become seeds to fight against the Pollution.
Two months passed in a flash.
The Soul Reaper Lord on the Death Island was finally slain.
The pirate network erupted in celebration.
[Congratulations, player "Red-Haired Adventurer," on founding the "Adventurers' Guild"!]
[Congratulations, player "Crimson Giant," on founding the "Crimson Legion"!]
[Congratulations, player "God Im," on founding the "Divine" faction!]
[Congratulations, player "Joker," on founding the "Flamingo Corps"!]
With the Soul Reaper's death came a surge of full family tokens
and countless fragments.
Factions rose like mushrooms after rain.
The Navy had already shown the power of the family system.
Even though Red-Haired broke their defenses,
it didn't erase the fact that the Navy had stood against multiple Yonko crews.
It was like the six great sects besieging Bright Peak—
even if the Ming Cult lost,
their status as top-tier remained undeniable.
In the infamous Pirate haven of Mock Town,
inside a circus tent as grand as a palace,
the Buggy Pirates gathered—
joined by two unexpected guests.
"Mr. Buggy… You seem troubled."
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Franklin1