Chapter 186: Here's Another 5 Billion for You!
"I didn't even feel it… That was already one hundred and fifty times?"
Smoker's face turned sour, tinged with a hint of guilt.
Those fifty thousand reward points had been military funds allocated by Fleet Admiral Sengoku—not his own personal stash.
If he had used them to purchase a single, powerful item, it could be justified.
But to blow thirty thousand points just on Random Keys, with nothing to show for it? How was he supposed to explain that to Marine HQ?
Would Sengoku keel over from rage?
But the transaction log was right in front of him—he couldn't lie about it.
Smoker slowly began to recall the moment he'd gone crazy with refreshes.
"Why didn't I realize it?"
His face twisted with regret. He wanted to slap himself across the face.
It was like he'd been possessed—blindly refreshing the shop over and over, thinking, It's only 200 points each, until he'd burned through every last bit of his funds.
And even now, if he somehow got more reward points… he'd probably still be unable to resist using more keys.
The thrill was too strong—like buying lottery tickets. The desperate desire to get stronger was intoxicating.
He was screwed.
Smoker clutched his head and stared blankly at the floor.
"If you're short on points, you can buy a Fate Lock to temporarily freeze that item."
Fang Yi offered a helpful reminder. "Locked items won't be refreshed in the next 7-day cycle. Only the other four will be replaced."
Four?
That wouldn't work!
What if the one item that was supposed to appear ended up being some game-breaking piece of gear?
Smoker's hesitation vanished in an instant.
"Merchant, please hold on…"
He pulled out his Den Den Mushi and, gritting his teeth, called Marine HQ. "Fleet Admiral Sengoku… I used up all the funds you just sent me. Can I request more?"
In his palm,
the Den Den Mushi—capable of mimicking the expression of the caller—morphed from blank confusion to shocked disbelief, and finally to furious rage.
He endured Sengoku's furious shouting, the angry objections of various vice admirals in the background, and then issued a solemn oath:
He would claim the Soul Reaper's first kill in the name of the Marines.
In the end, Smoker purchased the Toxic Flame Technique and received an additional 20,000 reward points.
"Damn it, Smoker!"
"If you don't get that kill, you'll spend the rest of your life hunting pirates!"
Though livid,
Sengoku wasn't one to hesitate once the decision was made.
Smoker needed 20,000 points. So he immediately exchanged 5 billion Berries of military funds for 50,000 reward points—ensuring that Smoker had enough power to challenge pirates and revolutionaries alike.
Fang Yi smiled as he asked, "Would you like to purchase another Random Key?"
"I…"
Smoker's body turned into smoke,
purple poison gas now tinged with faint red flames. At level 1, the Toxic Flame Technique didn't provide any game-changing power yet.
The image of Sengoku's face flashed in his mind. Feeling guilty, he clenched his teeth. "Buy it!"
If he didn't, that faint Toxic Flame energy would remain useless.
This is for the Navy. For justice!
—
Blood mist and Yin energy devoured the land,
the Reaper's scythe constantly harvesting the battlefield and burning away players' health.
"Despicable humans… Die!"
In the devastated heart of the ghost town—crumbling courtyards and shattered streets everywhere—
a crimson stone pillar stood at the center, with chains piercing through the Soul Reaper's limbs and organs, binding its body and powers.
Only the death scythe atop its head, forged from condensed Yin energy, could still move by will.
Even so,
it was enough to overwhelm most players. The weaker ones couldn't even endure the ambient Yin energy and were forced to retreat to the island's edge.
Doflamingo frowned. "Sengoku defying the World Government… Now that's a surprise."
Invisible strings extended from his fingers, spreading across a 50-meter radius.
Anyone who entered would trigger hidden traps filled with explosive black powder.
This was part of his Puppeteer's Mechanisms, enhanced by the String-String Fruit.
There was no other reason.
Garp's fists were too damn strong.
If he didn't have access to player-level abilities, he'd have been flattened already.
Thankfully, he had the skills of a Puppeteer,
which let him control mechanical puppets, set elaborate traps, and manipulate battlefield flow. Combined with the String-String Fruit, even someone like Garp could be danced in circles.
"According to the game prompts, this is the weakest state of the Soul Reaper. It only gets stronger from here."
"The first kill will be the easiest."
Doflamingo's face twisted. Looking at the monster wreathed in deathly energy, he didn't know where to start.
"Easy" was relative.
The Game Merchant had clearly never considered the players' strength.
It was like how a petty tyrant could still wipe out villages.
And now, the players were no more than those unarmed villagers—struggling with all they had just to scratch the boss.
"Marines, Revolutionaries… you'll all be stepping stones for me!"
Doflamingo raised both arms, scattering blocks of gray-black wood.
Each piece was intricately carved like a work of art—200 infantrymen with shields and spears, and four knights mounted on warhorses.
Strings fell down like a net,
sticking to the blocks. An animating energy flowed from his threads into them.
[Puppeteer's Mechanisms].
Just like Smoker's Venomous Blood,
this was Doflamingo's internal energy source. It flowed like water through his body, fueling all his puppeteer skills.
With further upgrades, it could even form a solid core.
It was this energy that let Doflamingo unleash full mastery of his Puppeteer Class.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The ground shook.
The 200 shield soldiers moved in perfect unison, led by the four knights on horseback. Together, they burst from the earth and charged the Soul Reaper.
These puppets felt no pain, no fear.
Like tireless undead warriors, they could wipe out an entire kingdom in half a day.
Shields. Spears.
Half of the soldiers fused into a wall of shields. The other half transformed into long spears.
The four knights combined into a massive cavalry unit, gripping the spears like javelins.
Whoosh.
The air shrieked as the spears tore through it, twisting the very space around them.
"STOP!"
A furious shout echoed—it was Dragon, the Revolutionary Army leader.
He leapt high into the air. Wind-element dragon wings beat hard behind him, placing him directly in the path of the massive cavalry spear.
Facing such a devastating strike—
From his chest, where his Wind Dragon bloodline was strongest, tiny shimmering scales appeared, spreading all the way to his arms.
True Form: Wind Dragon.
This level of bloodline activation triggered dangerous dragonification,
risking temporary madness and turning him into a bloodthirsty beast with no regard for life.
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Franklin1