[Pickable items detected. Do you want to pick them up?]
"Yes."
[Ding! Successfully picked up: Ordinary Physique Crystals ×5, Ordinary Soul Crystals ×5, Ordinary Kendo Crystals ×5, Ordinary Taijutsu Crystals ×5, Ordinary Talent Crystals ×3. They've been stored in your portable space.]
—
Kairos Flint collected the ability crystals dropped after eliminating another wave of pirates. It was a solid haul.
This group of pirates clearly had a higher standing than the previous ones—judging by the grade of the crystals they dropped, none were substandard.
Now, he had a sizable inventory:
[Ability Crystals]: Ordinary Physique Crystals ×8, Ordinary Talent Crystals ×3, Ordinary Soul Crystals ×5, Ordinary Kendo Crystals ×5, Ordinary Taijutsu Crystals ×5
During the fight, he had consumed one Ordinary Physique Crystal to maintain his stamina and ensure peak physical condition in combat. Originally, he had four; now, three remained.
But thanks to the new batch from these five pirates, the total of Physique Crystals had jumped to eight.
"Let's use just enough crystals to upgrade one attribute level for now."
Kairos considered the idea quietly.
Currently, the only attributes he had enough crystals to raise from Civilian Level to Soldier Level were Physique, Soul, and Taijutsu (Physical Skills).
Without hesitation, he took out seven Ordinary Physique Crystals, five Soul Crystals, and five Physical Skills Crystals—and swallowed them all in one go.
A wave of warmth surged through his body as his physique and soul received an intense boost. He also gained a flow of muscle memory and instinctive motion from the Taijutsu upgrade.
His Physique, Soul, and Physical Skills had now all advanced from Civilian Level to Soldier Level. The improvement was noticeable.
Kairos pulled up his shirt and looked down at his abdomen.
He had a solid set of six-pack abs now. That alone felt impressive.
"If a Soldier Level body already looks like this, I can't even imagine what those at the School Level, General Level, or Emperor Level must be like..."
He shook his head slightly, trying to clear his thoughts.
"Nami, stop acting as bait."
Kairos turned and addressed her seriously.
"You planning to bail and not finish the job?"
Nami's eyes narrowed suspiciously. It felt like Kairos was giving up, and if he ran off, she'd lose her promised millions of Berries. That was not something she could tolerate.
"Kairos, I really think you can push through. For the sake of my baby—uh, I mean your sense of justice—you have to hold on and finish off the Greatsword Pirates!"
She urged him with wide, pleading eyes.
Kairos blinked.
"…Alright, Nami. Just shut up."
He sighed and then continued,
"I'm not backing out. But you've already lured out two waves of pirates. If you try again, they'll get suspicious. It's better if I go in myself and deal with the rest."
He laid out the logic calmly.
As for her claim that he was fighting "for justice"?
That was complete nonsense.
Everyone has motives. From Nami's perspective, Kairos asking for nothing in return while continuing to fight likely painted him as a righteous crusader.
But in truth, he only had one goal—the crystals.
So far, he had taken down eleven pirates.
Given that the Greatsword Pirates originally numbered around twenty, that left roughly a dozen remaining.
Besides, the crew had definitely suffered losses during their clash with the guards aboard the passenger ship. Some were likely killed or wounded. That meant only a few were still able to fight effectively.
He had one Ordinary Physique Crystal left. That might give him the edge he needed. It wouldn't be easy, but it wasn't impossible either.
"Are you really confident about this?"
Nami looked at him, uncertain.
In her mind, the reason Kairos had taken out so many pirates was largely due to her bait tactics and his ambushes. If he went in head-on... would he survive?
And if he didn't, her millions of Berries would vanish.
"Come on! We're teammates now. Could you have just a little faith in me?!"
Kairos snapped in frustration.
This partner of his was infuriating. He was about to charge into a battle and she was messing with his mindset. If he didn't already know who she was, he might have mistaken her for a spy working against him.
"If you're that worried, just wait here. I'll take care of those pirates and call you when it's over."
With that, Kairos grabbed the machete lying on the floor and headed out of the cabin without hesitation.
"Who's afraid?!"
Nami shouted back.
"Go ahead! I'll stand here and watch while you get chopped to pieces by those pirates!"
Her words were fiery, but even so, she stomped after him in frustration, following his steps as they both left the safety of the cabin behind.