Chapter 58: The Strongest Man in the World
The classic gacha animation appeared on the system screen, a swirling void of stars.
Ren, sitting cross-legged on his bed, felt his heart start to get nervous, his breath catching in his throat. The faint glow of Mira's "Goddess's Blessing" on his arm felt warm. He needed all the luck he could get.
The panel screen still flickered with starlight, which began to constantly converge in the starry sky.
Ren's eyes were fixed on the screen, his hands clenched. "Come on, come on..."
Flashes of light began to appear. Blue... Green... White... Blue... Green... Green... White... Blue...
The first few were almost not worth looking at. Just trash-tier "Thank You For Participating" prizes and small experience packs. He had pretty much figured out the system's pattern for purple (Epic) and gold (Legendary) draws; if a ten-pull had anything good, it would always appear at the very end.
And based on his gacha experience, the best result for a ten-pull was usually one gold and one purple. The probability of hitting a massive jackpot was still very low; two good cards out of ten would definitely make him a "chosen one."
His eyes were glued to the final two slots.
"Purple! Purple! Purple!" Ren prayed, his voice a tense whisper. He was staring at the second-to-last card. If it was purple, then the last one had a high probability of being gold. Even if it wasn't gold, getting two purples in one ten-pull wasn't a loss. As for two golds, he hadn't even dared to consider it.
The light for the ninth slot flashed.
Blue!
Seeing this color, Ren's heart sank. A common-tier item. Now everything was riding on the very last card. It could be blue, purple, or gold.
"Gold! Gold! Gold! Please, just one gold!"
Whoosh—!
A light so bright it blasted his dark room into day-like brilliance erupted from the system panel. It wasn't blue. It wasn't purple. It was a pure, divine, golden light that lit up from the horizon of the animation, falling like a meteor straight toward him.
"IT'S GOLD—!!!"
When Ren saw the golden light, he jumped up from his bed, his fists punching the air. He was so excited he almost shouted.
Half a year! It had been a full half a year!
He hadn't seen a golden legend in half a year!
Did the system know how he had spent the last six months? Working diligently every day, completing mission after mission, only to get nothing in forty pulls! He almost thought he had hit some kind of reverse achievement, like 'Pity Master' or 'Unluckiest Host'.
He had genuinely started to doubt if his luck had run out forever, if his "Sword God" pull had used up his lifetime allotment.
Now, it was proven: he was still a chosen one. It was just that, clearly, he must have been picking the wrong times to pull. Cana's divination was the real deal!
"System, speak!" Ren commanded, riding the high of his victory.
"Speak? What should I say?" The system's neutral voice replied. "Getting one gold item in 50 pulls, Host, are you proud of that? This is what is known as the 'pity' mechanic."
"..."
Uh, he got a little too arrogant by accident and told the system to speak again. He'd forgotten it was a smart-ass.
At this moment, the card-drawing animation ended, and the cards began to flip, one by one.
He didn't need to look at the first nine cards; they were all experience packs, enhancement materials, and other junk he wouldn't recognize anyway. The focus was still on the last card.
Soon, the last golden character card, its back glowing with an intricate, pulsating light, began to tremble. It flipped over.
When Ren saw the character's image on the card, his eyes widened until they felt like they would fall out of his head.
"It's... him!"
This was an extremely tall and burly old man. He wore a black bandana on his head, his upper body bare, revealing a torso crisscrossed with old scars and defined by muscles as strong as mountains.
He wore light yellow pants, black boots, a black cloth belt around his waist, and a massive white captain's coat with a red lining, draped over his shoulders like a cape. In his hand, he held a huge bisento, a polearm very similar to a Green Dragon Crescent Blade.
[Akarin's Note: A bisento is a Japanese pole weapon, similar to a glaive or a Chinese guandao.]
But the most striking, most iconic feature... was his upward-curving, crescent-shaped white mustache.
That's right!
It was none other than the man known as the 'Strongest Man in the World' from the One Piece world—
—Whitebeard, Edward Newgate.
"White... Whitebeard!"
Seeing this person's image, Ren recognized him at first glance. If one were to pick the most unforgettable character in the entire One Piece world, Whitebeard would definitely be on that list.
At the War of the Best in Marineford, the sheer power Whitebeard displayed still left a fresh memory for Ren, years later.
[Akarin's Note: One Piece is a Japanese manga/anime series. Edward "Whitebeard" Newgate was the captain of the Whitebeard Pirates and one of the Four Emperors. The "War of the Best" at Marineford was a massive war he waged to save his adopted son, Ace (who Ren's "Flame Emperor" form is based on).]
It could be said that the Marineford War was the peak moment in the One Piece anime.
To counter Whitebeard alone, Marine Headquarters went all out. They deployed Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the Marine Hero Garp, all three Marine Admirals—the magma-wielding Akainu, the light-wielding Kizaru, and the ice-wielding Aokiji—most of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, an army of Pacifistas, and 100,000 elite Marines.
Even with this setup, they didn't fight fair. Akainu still treacherously deceived Squard, one of Whitebeard's own allies, into backstabbing Whitebeard at the start, severely wounding him.
Yet, despite being old, sick, hooked up to medical equipment, and suffering a mortal wound, Whitebeard still fought. He fought against the three Marine Admirals at once, and his very presence dictated the flow of the entire war. He ultimately died in battle, standing on his feet, but the demeanor of the Strongest Man in the World was fully, terrifyingly displayed.
The only regret was that this was not Whitebeard's peak, healthy state.
Of course, from later story developments, it could be seen that even a peak Whitebeard would undoubtedly be defeated by the full Marineford War's Marine lineup. The World Government was unfathomable. Not to mention the legendary T0, Im, even the Five Elders' individual strengths were likely only slightly weaker than an Admiral's, and there were also the God's Knights. The Whitebeard Pirates, as powerful as they were, had no chance of winning against the entire world.
Yet, even so, an old man who needed tubes just to live, bravely stormed Marine Headquarters, Marineford, to save his son, without a shred of fear.
He truly was Pops.
"I hit the jackpot! I really, really hit the jackpot this time!"
Ren clenched his fists excitedly, shouting and cheering in his room, all composure gone.
He now had four golden legendary character cards.
Ulquiorra Cifer: His overall strength was quite good. He was capable of fighting, tanking, and had super-speed regeneration, plus a super-nuke ultimate move like Lanza del Relámpago. But even with all that, he could only be described as 'quite good.' In the later stages of the Bleach anime, there were many characters stronger than Ulquiorra.
[Akarin's Note: Ulquiorra Cifer is a character from the anime/manga Bleach.]
Yoriichi Tsugikuni: This character had a huge gap between his upper and lower limits. In terms of raw energy level, Yoriichi could be said to be the weakest. Sun Breathing was the strongest breathing technique in the Demon Slayer world, but it only enhanced physical abilities and added a burning effect to attacks. The enhancement was still very limited; pushing a giant rock was the most it could do, something many minor characters in the One Piece world could do.
Yoriichi's true strength lay in the 'Transparent World' (flawless spatial awareness) and his unparalleled, divine swordsmanship. With the enhancement of magic power from this world, Yoriichi's strength had received an epic boost. His single-target burst attacks could break dragon scales and severely wound giant dragons. His lethality was even more terrifying than the World's Strongest Swordsman, Mihawk. However, his own attributes were still the lowest, especially his defense, which was pitifully low. If he was accidentally hit by a regular magic attack, he could be severely injured. He was a true "glass cannon," a character who completely abandoned his own defense for extreme offense.
[Akarin's Note: Yoriichi Tsugikuni is a character from the anime/manga Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.]
Fushiguro Toji: He was the complete opposite of Yoriichi. Fushiguro Toji's basic attributes were maxed out due to his Heavenly Restriction, reaching a level that Sun Breathing, no matter how profound, could not achieve. His lower limit was terrifyingly strong; he was a combat machine, an anti-magic specialist. He once almost killed Gojo Satoru with a single slash, assuming Gojo was dead and not finishing him off. He was ultimately counter-killed by Gojo, who had mastered Reversed Cursed Technique, and was taken offline before the main story began. He was a specialist in killing Mages.
[Akarin's Note: Fushiguro Toji is a character from the anime/manga Jujutsu Kaisen.]
But Whitebeard was different. He was the complete package.
He inherently possessed monstrous, superhuman strength. He had top-tier mastery of all three types of Haki (Conqueror's, Armament, and Observation). And he had the strongest Paramecia-type Devil Fruit—the Gura Gura no Mi, the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, allowing him to create earthquakes and shatter the very air.
[Akarin's Note: Haki is a power system in One Piece. The Gura Gura no Mi or "Tremor-Tremor Fruit" is a Devil Fruit that allows the user to create quakes, and is said to be powerful enough to destroy the world.]
Strength, speed, defense, attack, Haki, and Devil Fruit ability—all MAX!
A true, undisputed super all-rounder.
In the One Piece world, a world filled with powerful, monstrous individuals, he could still be called the 'Strongest Man in the World.'
He was even evaluated by Fleet Admiral Sengoku as a man capable of destroying the world.
Undoubtedly, this was the strongest, most versatile, and most powerful golden character card Ren currently held in his hands.
"System..." Ren said, his voice trembling with anticipation.
"Full Body Assimilation... Edward Newgate!"
[Akarin Note:
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