Three months later.
On the shores of Apocide Island, where Luffy had anchored his ship,
After enduring the rise and fall of the tides for three months, the ship remained in its place, untouched.
"Luffy-san, the supplies are all loaded," Godia reported, leading a group of children to the dock.
During these three months, Luffy and Robin had converted the former mafia estate into their base of operations and lived alongside the kids. Luffy had also taken the time to teach Godia some basic combat techniques, training routines, and an elementary introduction to the Marine's Six Styles (Rokushiki), as well as Armament and Observation Haki.
Of course, Luffy was mostly winging it, he himself barely understood these concepts, let alone how to teach them. But at the very least, he wanted to give Godia a direction, so the rare power of the Devil Fruit wouldn't go to waste.
In this short time, Luffy had also come to realize just how powerful Mythical Zoan Fruits were.
Godia, who used to be just a slightly stronger-than-average kid, could now easily handle over twenty street thugs without breaking a sweat.
Luffy looked up at the sky. Today was a rare sight, bright sunshine illuminating the usually overcast skies above Apocide Island. It was a beautiful, cloudless day.
"A perfect day to set sail!" Luffy stood at the dock, grinning.
"Let's head out!"
With a sweeping gesture, his red coat fluttered in the sea breeze as he strode up the gangplank onto the ship that had weathered countless storms.
Robin followed quietly, a soft smile on her face, saying nothing, an ideal secretary who let her actions speak louder than her words.
The ship glided out into the tranquil sea like a feathered arrow, its white sails dancing in the sunlight like fluttering butterflies.
After a while, Robin came out from the cabin, holding a Log Pose.
"If everything goes smoothly, we should reach Camos Port in about a month," she said.
"Camos Port?" Luffy looked surprised. "What are we going back there for?"
Robin blinked, caught off guard by the question. She looked at Luffy, unsure how to respond.
Then Luffy pulled out a new Log Pose and tossed it to her.
"This one recorded the magnetic field over the past three months. Let's follow this instead."
"But... but what about Camos Port?" Robin hesitated, clearly concerned.
Luffy waved it off casually. "Relax. Everything will be fine over there, with or without us."
He glanced at her with a smirk. "Besides, did you really think I was going to keep working for Doflamingo?"
"But…"
Robin stood frozen, unsure what to say. She simply couldn't wrap her head around Luffy's logic. Weren't strong people supposed to care about keeping their word? Wasn't everything?
Then again, he was her boss now. So she obediently placed the new Log Pose on the helm's stand and steered the ship according to its guidance.
Out on the vast ocean, Robin read her book while using her Hana Hana no Mi (Flower-Flower Fruit) powers to subtly steer the ship. Every so often, she cast a curious glance toward the cabin.
After finalizing the course, Luffy had immediately disappeared below deck. It had been half a day already, and she hadn't heard a single sound from him.
Had she not known he'd already slept over twelve hours the day before, she might have assumed he was just napping again.
But down in the cabin, Luffy wasn't sleeping, he was overwhelmed.
The reason? He had just unlocked a new feature in his system: the Equipment System.
Once activated, the Equipment System displayed two main panels, one for Luffy himself and one for his companions.
Every time Luffy bought a piece of equipment from the system store, it would create a sub-page in the Host Equipment panel, showing the item's details: stats, description, enhancement potential, and current upgrades.
For example, his current item, [X-Gloves], was labeled "Upgradeable up to three times."
Curious, Luffy asked mentally, "System, what does enhancement actually do?"
The system's cold, robotic voice responded:
[Answer: Host equipment can be enhanced by purchasing 'Evolution Stones' in the system store. Enhancements will boost base stats or unlock unique abilities.]
"How much are Evolution Stones?"
[Evolution Stone: Provides energy to enhance host gear. The number of stones required increases with each upgrade. Price: 500,000 gold coins each.]
The steep cost didn't faze Luffy.
After all this time with the system, he may have been poor, but his standards were high. He also knew one basic rule: expensive usually meant powerful.
Luffy scanned the item description again and asked, "System, how exactly does the cost increase?"
[Answer: The first evolution requires 1 stone. The second needs 2. The third requires 4. Each level costs twice as many as the last.]
"Sigh..." Luffy let out a long breath. "Of course it wasn't going to be that easy."
He did some quick math in his head. A pirate with a 100 million berry bounty would probably yield 10,000 to 20,000 coins. With the Great Tengu blessing, that doubled to 20,000–40,000.
But in the first half of the Grand Line, pirates with bounties that high were rare. Most only skyrocketed once they entered the New World.
So if I want to make real money, I'll need to head into the New World... but with my current strength, I might be a big shot here, but out there? It's a death trap. Luffy's eyes gleamed with silver light. Time to put the "Gatekeeper" title back into play.
"Alright, let's hear about the companion gear too," he said.
[Companion Equipment System: Functions similarly to the host's.
When a new companion joins, a dedicated gear page is created.
Each companion can equip three items, Head, Body, and Legs. Visibility of gear is optional. Gear starts off crude in appearance but evolves as it ranks up, becoming more elegant and tailored.
Initially, only two gear types are available for each slot:
Cloth Armor: boosts Agility and Mental Power
Plate Armor: boosts Strength and Endurance
Attributes are minimal at first, but gear can be enhanced using special stones purchasable in the shop.
Enhancement Stone: Increases percentage-based stats. No cap. Requires a number of stones equal to gear level. Cost: 1,000 coins each.
Star Upgrade Stone: Increases star level of gear. Every star grants bonus stats. Max 5 stars per gear rank. Cost: 10,000 coins each.
Rank-Up Stone: Used after reaching 5 stars to evolve gear to the next tier. Resets star level, unlocks special effects (unique to each user). Cost: 100,000 coins each.]
The system rattled off information like a low-budget mobile game. It was neatly organized, but still left Luffy confused.
In the end, he had to ask the system to project all the text directly onto his retina.
After half a day of study, Luffy reached a single conclusion:
The system was powerful, but everything cost money.
Truly, poverty is the mother of diligence.
"Alright, let's start small," Luffy muttered. "First goal, upgrade the [X-Gloves]."
==========
You can find much more on my Patreon: Patreon.com/Veltoria
There are currently 5 active fanfictions on Patreon, with over 466+ advanced chapters available across them!
From Naruto Onwards, I Control Time — Up to Chapter 290
Haikyuu!!: Rise of Sengoku — Up to Chapter 225
Danmachi: Is It Wrong To Aspire to Be An Adventurer? — Up to Chapter 97
Legend of Hogwarts (Harry Potter x League of Legends) — Up to Chapter 132
I Am Luffy: Partner System Online (One Piece) — Up to Chapter 115