The next morning, Fang Yi and his crew went out onto the streets of Birka as if nothing had happened, still searching for Enel.
This time, Fang Yi wasn't pretending—he was genuinely looking. Who knew? Maybe if he found Enel, the system might even give him a special, colored lottery ticket.
The guards tasked with watching them saw that they were out looking for someone named Enel. Aside from continuing to monitor and report, they didn't interfere.
"So they are searching for a man named Enel?" Hafid listened to his subordinates' report, frowning slightly.
He couldn't shake the feeling that Fang Yi's group had another agenda—that their real purpose wasn't as simple as looking for a person.
"And this Enel? Have you found him?" Hafid asked, turning toward the guard.
"Reporting to God—we haven't found anyone by that name. Even the palace itself has been thoroughly checked. There is no Enel among us," the guard replied quickly.
"Hmm… Keep monitoring them. If they don't cause trouble, let them be. But the moment they do anything against our laws—seize them immediately!" Hafid ordered, his eyes narrowing.
"Yes, my Lord!" The guards hurried off to pass down the command.
That night, once again, Fang Yi, Shanks, and Barrett returned to their rooms early, just like the night before.
After an exhausting day of searching outside, even though the guards rotated shifts, fatigue set in. Soon, many of them were nodding off.
"Let's move! Shanks, you lead the way—to the place you found yesterday!" Fang Yi whispered as the three slipped out under the cover of darkness, heading straight for the palace.
In no time, Shanks led them into a chamber that looked very much like a shrine.
"From the layout and the murals, this does look like a ceremonial room. Let's split up and search for hidden compartments or mechanisms," Fang Yi said after giving the place a quick sweep with his eyes.
The three spread out, searching carefully. But even after turning the room upside down, they found nothing.
"At times like this, I miss Buggy. That guy's luck at finding treasure is downright absurd! Even though he never actually gets to keep the loot, he always manages to stumble on it somehow." Fang Yi said with a bitter smile.
"Hah, if Buggy heard that, he'd be overjoyed." Shanks chuckled.
"Forget it. You two go check the other areas. I'll finish up here. If I come up empty, I'll switch rooms too. No sense in wasting all three of us in one place." Fang Yi waved them off.
"Got it." Shanks and Barrett nodded and left.
Once alone, Fang Yi stopped rummaging and instead began thinking carefully.
Enel hadn't been part of the priesthood—so how had he discovered the Rumble-Rumble Fruit?
First, Fang Yi reasoned, it couldn't have been hidden in an important or guarded place—otherwise Enel would never have been able to obtain it.
Second, it had to be in a location rarely visited, or else someone else would've found it long before.
With those conditions in mind, Fang Yi gave the room one last check to be sure he hadn't overlooked anything, then slipped outside. Instead of leaving, though, he climbed onto the roof for a better view, scanning the palace grounds for secluded areas.
"…Hm?" After a while, he noticed a dilapidated building on the eastern edge of the palace.
It looked abandoned, crumbling, and forgotten—just the kind of place that fit his theory perfectly.
Avoiding patrols, Fang Yi slipped inside.
"This place looks abandoned for sure…" He glanced around at the broken, dust-covered interior, clearly long untouched.
But that only made him more convinced—this could be it.
Just as he began searching, faint footsteps approached.
Fang Yi quickly ducked behind a headless statue of a god. Moments later, a group of guards passed by outside, their steps fading into the distance.
As Fang Yi was about to step out again, something caught his eye.
"…Huh? This looks familiar."
On the back of the statue, carved into the stone, were several drum-like designs.
"Wait a second… Enel has these drums on his back, doesn't he?" Fang Yi leaned closer, realizing the resemblance.
This was a clue. His focus immediately locked onto the statue. But after searching it inside and out, he still found nothing.
"…Forget it." With a grimace, Fang Yi clenched his fist and smashed the statue apart.
"Found it!"
Among the rubble lay a small chest. Inside, just as he'd hoped, was the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
"Beep—detected special energy. Absorb?"
A mechanical voice from the system suddenly rang in Fang Yi's mind, catching him off guard.
"What the…?" Fang Yi froze, staring at the fruit in his hand.
The system's prompt left him puzzled.
So, this "special energy" must mean the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. But what did "absorb" mean? Was the system asking to absorb the fruit itself? Or was it prompting him to do it?
If it were simply the system taking the energy, then theoretically, any Devil Fruit would do. In that case, wasting such a rare fruit here would be foolish—he could just feed the system a random one back on the Grand Line.
But if the "absorption" meant the system would let him integrate the fruit… then it was worth considering.
Fang Yi had never intended to eat a Devil Fruit before. But if the system was guiding him, maybe it could eliminate the drawbacks—like losing the ability to swim. Even if not, if the system was involved, it had to be different from just eating it directly.
After careful thought, Fang Yi chose to let the system absorb the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
The fruit in his hand instantly shriveled up and dried out. At the same moment, a wave of dizziness hit him. His head buzzed like a swarm of flies, and an unfamiliar energy surged violently through his body.
Fortunately, the sensation didn't last long.
"Absorption complete. System upgrade in progress…"
"System upgrade in progress. Estimated completion time: 23:59:59."
As control over his body returned, Fang Yi exhaled deeply.
The system had given him incredible power—but this sudden forced upgrade made him wary.
It was still an unknown entity. If one day it decided to erase his consciousness, he might not even be able to resist.
But with so little information and no alternative for now, he could only carry on.
Testing his limbs, Fang Yi found his abilities and inventory still worked. Only the other menus were locked until the upgrade finished. At least his core functions remained intact.
Hopefully, this upgrade will bring new features.
Once he had adjusted, Fang Yi headed to the rendezvous point and signaled Shanks and Barrett.
"Captain! What's up? Did you find the fruit?" Shanks was the first to arrive, curiosity in his eyes.
"Yeah. I've got it." Fang Yi nodded without hiding it. "Once Barrett gets here, we'll head back. Tomorrow, let's take a day off and enjoy Birka. The day after, we set sail."
Barrett soon arrived, and Fang Yi repeated the plan. The three then returned to their quarters.
The next day, Fang Yi took the crew on a full tour of Birka, wandering all day before returning at nightfall.
As the countdown on the system's upgrade reached zero, Fang Yi eagerly opened the interface—
"System upgrade complete."
"Lottery system upgraded—please check."
"Shop system upgraded—please check."
"Bounty system upgraded—please check."
Fang Yi hadn't expected the shop to receive an upgrade, too. He had been waiting for this.
He immediately opened the new shop menu.
The results left him quite satisfied. Compared to before, the selection had expanded greatly. Unfortunately, his current points weren't enough to buy everything.
New Shop Items:
Body Inheritance (Intermediate): 50,000 points (limit 1)
Strength Inheritance (Intermediate): 50,000 points (limit 1)
Agility Inheritance (Intermediate): 50,000 points (limit 1)
Skill Upgrade Ticket: 10,000 points
Tower of Bounties Key: 50,000 points
Devil Fruit (Logia: Rumble-Rumble Fruit): 10,000 points (usable only within the Tower of Bounties, for imprisoned souls, limit 1)
Music (Intermediate): 3,000 points (Tower of Bounties use only)
Shipwright (Intermediate): 3,000 points (Tower of Bounties use only)
Navigation (Beginner): 1,000 points (Tower of Bounties use only)
Medicine (Beginner): 1,000 points (Tower of Bounties use only)
Painting (Beginner): 1,000 points (Tower of Bounties use only)
Sculpture (Beginner): 1,000 points (Tower of Bounties use only)
Aside from the usual three types of inheritance powers, there was now also a skill upgrade ticket. The rest mostly tied into the Tower of Bounties system.
Closing the shop, Fang Yi immediately switched to the Bounty interface…