Chapter 9 – The Price of Power & Incoming Pirates
Moonlight poured over the little house like liquid silver. Koya slept peacefully, a faint smile on her lips. Ding Li slipped outside so his restless energy wouldn't wake her.
Under the moon he opened his panel and stared at the 391 unspent emotion points. Without hesitation he dumped every single one into Physique.
A torrent of heat exploded through his body—ten seconds of pure euphoric power. When it faded, he felt like a god trapped in mortal skin.
Status: [Physique: 440] [Vitality: 10] [Soul Strength: 10]
He took one experimental step—and shot forward like a cannonball, slamming face-first into a century-old tree a meter away. The trunk, thick as three men, shuddered violently; leaves rained down like green snow.
Ding Li rubbed his forehead, laughing in disbelief. One casual step and he nearly uprooted a tree.
For the next hour he stumbled around like a drunk giant—every twitch of muscle threatening to launch him into orbit. Eventually, exhausted and terrified of accidentally crushing Koya in his sleep, he dragged himself to Rem Hai's empty room and collapsed.
He asked the system what the hell was happening.
"Attribute imbalance. Normal phenomenon. When Physique exceeds Soul Strength by more than 5×, motor control collapses. When Physique exceeds Vitality by too much, stamina cannot keep up. Host is currently a literal five-second burst fighter."
Ding Li groaned. Great. He'd turned himself into a glass cannon with butterfingers.
Morning
"Ding Liii! Where are you…?" Koya's worried voice yanked him awake.
Ding! +1 [Worry]
"I'm here…" he croaked.
She limped in (still sore from their night together), saw him looking half-dead, and immediately burst into tears.
"You're not dying, are you?! Don't leave me!"
"I'm fine… just starving," he managed, forcing a smile.
She bolted out and returned with an entire grilled meter-long fish. The smell brought tears to his eyes—not from hunger, but from remembering the first meal she ever cooked for him.
He devoured it in minutes and finally regained enough strength to sit up.
"You're such a silly girl," he whispered, gazing at her with infinite tenderness.
One week later Koya was fully recovered and bouncing with energy again. Ding Li… was still stuck in a borrowed wheelchair.
Every day Koya pushed him around the island like a proud little wife, greeting villagers, collecting emotions, and letting him slowly adapt to his monstrous strength.
Another week after that—he'd been dumping every new point into Soul Strength—he could finally walk without accidentally launching himself into the stratosphere.
Status:
[Physique: 440]
[Vitality: 10]
[Soul Strength: 108]
[Total Emotions: 528 / 10,000,000,000,000]
He still tired almost instantly if he pushed hard (Vitality 10 was now the weak link), so the wheelchair remained his throne. The islanders found it hilarious—the guy who could probably punch a sea king now being pushed around by tiny Koya.
Every evening they returned to their favorite spot on the beach to watch the sunset.
That night the peace shattered.
A black-flagged pirate ship barreled toward Mya Mya Island, cutlasses glinting under the moon. Drunken laughter and threats carried on the wind.
Koya's hand tightened on the wheelchair handles. Ding Li's eyes narrowed, a dangerous glint flickering in them.
He might still be half-crippled by his own stats. He might not know exactly where he stood in the One Piece power scale yet.
But one thing was certain:
These pirates had just made the worst mistake of their lives.