Ding!
"Congratulations, Host. You have achieved the Ten Million Performance Bonus Achievement and have unlocked the qualification to upgrade your Treasure Chest."
"You may spend 20 million Performance Bonus to upgrade your Treasure Chest from Silver to Gold."
"Once upgraded, you will no longer be able to exchange for Silver Treasure Chests. Please consider your decision carefully."
"After the upgrade is complete, you will receive a guaranteed Gold Treasure Chest upgrade reward."
"Upgrade eligibility is valid for 24 hours."
"If you do not choose to upgrade within 24 hours, this opportunity will be permanently lost."
A series of system notifications echoed through Lucas’s mind.
He raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Not long ago, he had been wondering how he could raise the Silver Treasure Chest to a higher tier.
He hadn’t expected the system to hand him an upgrade opportunity so quickly.
However...
Recalling the repeated warnings in the notifications...
Lucas couldn’t help feeling that this system truly behaved like a ruthless landlord.
The moment he had finally managed to save up a little "money," it immediately found another way to spend it for him.
Originally, he had been happily counting on his fingers, planning to indulge himself.
A full twenty-pull.
Now...
That dream had been crushed before it even began.
The last ten-pull had nearly driven him into despair.
Pull after pull had been nothing but repeated 100 Doriki rewards.
If not for the final two jackpot prizes...
His supposed "luck" would have been a complete joke.
This time, he had honestly intended to go all out with twenty consecutive draws.
But according to the system...
If he missed this upgrade opportunity now...
Who knew when the next chance would come?
More importantly...
The Silver Treasure Chest’s reward ceiling only reached the Gold tier.
If he wanted to continue relying on the system to rapidly increase his strength...
He would eventually hit a bottleneck.
As expected...
The system had him completely cornered.
This upgrade was unavoidable.
Although he’d lose the chance to do a twenty-pull...
A guaranteed Gold-tier reward didn’t sound bad either.
"System."
"Upgrade the Treasure Chest immediately."
"Ding! Please wait..."
"Ding! Congratulations! Silver Treasure Chest successfully upgraded."
"The upgrade will require two working days to complete."
"Once finished, the Host will receive the guaranteed upgrade reward."
The notification sounded once more.
Looking at the countdown timer that had appeared inside his consciousness, Lucas rubbed the bridge of his nose helplessly.
Is this karma for working a nine-to-five?
Even upgrading a Treasure Chest has to follow business days?
If he remembered correctly...
Today was Thursday.
Excluding Saturday and Sunday...
The upgrade wouldn’t finish until Monday.
Still...
There was no point dwelling on it.
He could only hope the upgrade reward would bring him a pleasant surprise.
Now that the Treasure Chest had advanced from Silver to Gold...
Its exchange cost had also increased from 1 million to 10 million Performance Bonus each.
If he wanted to enjoy another luxurious ten-pull...
He’d have to find a way to earn a lot more bonus money.
"Lucas!"
Garp’s booming laughter suddenly rang out.
"I failed to catch the Straw Hat Pirates."
"But that move of yours just now..."
"It really had my style!"
Lucas withdrew his consciousness from the system.
Thanks to his Observation Haki, he already knew exactly what Garp’s so-called pursuit had consisted of.
The old man had simply wandered about a kilometer away...
Picked his nose...
And then casually walked back.
When it came to his precious grandson...
Garp was absolutely determined to let him off.
Lucas didn’t mind in the slightest.
He had already sheared plenty of wool from the Straw Hat Pirates today.
There would always be a second...
Or even a third opportunity later.
The Straw Hat Pirates were still too inexperienced.
They weren’t even worth a Gold Treasure Chest yet.
Right now...
Finding new sources of "bonus income" was far more important.
"Oh, right."
"Helmeppo found quite a few pirates who were blown away by the explosion."
"They’re seriously injured."
"That Tobi Roppo survived too."
"He lost an arm and a leg."
"His whole body’s charred black, and he’s still unconscious."
"If you don’t mind..."
"I’ll take him back to Marine Headquarters for you."
Garp laughed as he patted Lucas on the shoulder.
"You heard what Sengoku said earlier."
"If I return empty-handed..."
"I doubt he’ll even let me through the Gates of Justice."
As the undisputed master of slacking off...
Garp had long since become immune to Sengoku’s threats.
Bringing back a captured Tobi Roppo would at least give everyone a convenient excuse.
"The Tobi Roppo’s still alive?"
Lucas wasn’t particularly surprised.
Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit users possessed astonishing vitality.
They were practically cockroaches.
Besides...
Everyone in the New World had access to the two standard forms of Haki.
With both the durability of an Ancient Zoan and the protection of Haki...
Completely vaporizing one with a single Hundred-Type Guanyin: Zero Hand had never been realistic.
When the heavily injured Tobi Roppo was finally carried over...
Lucas’s eyes suddenly lit up.
A bold idea flashed through his mind.
"Garp..."
"I’m afraid I can’t lend you this Tobi Roppo."
"I’ll personally escort him back."
"You?"
Garp blinked.
"Since when did you become so conscientious?"
"But if you don’t mind the trouble..."
"I certainly don’t."
"At worst, Sengoku will refuse to see me for a few days."
"Oh, right."
"He also asked me to tell you that Marine Headquarters will be assisting the World Government in hunting down CP9."
"If there’s no problem..."
"You can leave after you clock in tomorrow."
By now...
Garp had long grown accustomed to Lucas’s peculiar work habits.
Making Lucas head out after he’d already gotten off work...
Would probably result in him charging overtime pay instead.
"No."
Lucas adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and took another drink.
"I’m sure Fleet Admiral Sengoku wants the CP9 matter handled as soon as possible."
"There’s nothing left for me to do here."
"Sailing after work doesn’t count as overtime."
"I’ll just treat it as enjoying the sea breeze."
Then he turned toward Helmeppo.
"Has Koby come back yet?"
"If not, tell him to get over here immediately."
"Make sure the Tobi Roppo survives."
"We Marines exist to save lives."
"Understood?"
Save lives?
Helmeppo froze.
He slowly turned to look at the pile of mangled bodies that had just been gathered nearby.
His mind went completely blank.
One attack...
Had reduced hundreds of pirates into barely recognizable remains.
How...
Did that have anything to do with saving lives?
Watching Lucas leave without another word...
Everyone suddenly felt an absurd thought emerge in their minds.
Bogard’s lips twitched before he finally spoke.
"Vice Admiral Garp..."
"Do you think Admiral Lucas suddenly became so enthusiastic about saving the Tobi Roppo..."
"...because he wants to use him as bait to lure Jack the Drought here?"
"So he can collect an even bigger bonus?"
The moment those words fell...
Everyone silently nodded.
It sounded exactly like something Lucas would do.
Even Garp was no exception.
Especially when they looked at the unconscious Tobi Roppo lying on the stretcher.
The supposedly unconscious pirate...
Actually twitched involuntarily after hearing Bogard’s words.
At that moment...
Everyone became certain.
Admiral Lucas really would do it.
For the sake of a bonus...
He wouldn’t even spare a disabled man.
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