Baiyun's first feeling right now was:
This wretched luck of his was absolutely unbelievable!!!
Three voyages out to sea.
The first time, he ran into a sea vortex.
The second time, he was snatched away by a giant bird.
The third time, he was directly blasted into the ocean by a cannonball.
What the actual hell!
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!!!!
This luck was so infuriating that Baiyun couldn't help but turn into a human telegraph operator.
After he finished venting, he raised his head and looked around again. Everything in sight was a vast, white expanse; the sky and the ground were identical, without any impurities. He couldn't see the end ahead, as if there were no boundaries.
"Is this heaven?"
"Or hell?"
"That can't be right. I shouldn't be so fragile that I'd die just like this."
Baiyun mumbled to himself, raising his hand only to find that the little white snake on his wrist was also gone.
Just as he was feeling confused, a mechanical voice suddenly spoke up.
Baiyun was intimately familiar with this voice. After all, this was the entity that had sent him to the world of pirates and granted him that 'heaven-defying' yet sickly skill.
"You're finally being smart now."
"True. While you are a bit useless, you haven't died just yet."
"This place is the depths of your consciousness. You have currently fallen into a deep slumber."
The System's voice, which hadn't been heard for ten years, appeared and explained.
"The System?" Baiyun's tone was filled with utter disbelief.
"Hmph."
The System replied, its voice still haughty.
"It really is you, you damn thing!"
"Where the hell have you been for the past ten years? You're just deciding to show up now, playing dead and then resurrecting?!"
"Hurry up and tell me, what the hell is the third ability I drew!?"
"Is it this bracelet on my wrist?"
This was the accumulated fury of ten years of obsessive curiosity.
For the past decade, Baiyun could only assume the bracelet was the third ability, constantly forcing himself not to dwell on the question.
But his brain refused to cooperate; Baiyun would still occasionally obsess over the issue. Without a clear confirmation from the System, he might have been tormented by this question forever.
"It really... isn't!"
The System answered with an exasperating, dramatic pause.
Baiyun's heart leaped into his throat.
"Stop!"
"Alright, if it's not, then it's not. Now, immediately, tell me what the third ability is!"
"I'm afraid you'll catch a 'virus' again and suddenly vanish."
"I might be young, but ten years followed by another ten years—who the hell has the patience for that!!!"
Baiyun asked bluntly, urging the System to get down to business. If it vanished again and only reappeared ten years later, he was sure he would lose his mind.
"That's terribly rude of you!"
"What do you mean 'vanish'! What do you mean 'catch a virus'!! Do you have any manners?"
"I just suddenly had pressing matters to attend to!!"
The System argued stubbornly.
"Heh."
"What is that supposed to mean!!!"
Baiyun chuckled twice, causing the System to instantly bristle, though it immediately tried to console itself.
"Never mind."
"Anyway, once I tell you the third ability, yours truly won't have to show up again."
"Then hurry up and tell me already!!"
Baiyun quickly urged.
"Fine!"
"The third ability is... BEEP... BEEP..."
"..."
"..."
"Were you startled? Hahahaha."
"Baiyun: ... 'Are you insane?'"
Baiyun couldn't help but wonder if this bastard was truly a System. If it was, it needed to get its damn priorities straight.
"Tch, you have absolutely no sense of humor."
"Fine, fine, I'll just tell you directly."
"The third ability you drew ten years ago is called: Luck."
The System finally revealed the third ability Baiyun had drawn.
"Lu... ck?"
Baiyun could hardly believe his ears.
"You call that an ability?"
"Of course, it's not pure, simple luck."
"Luck is something intangible; you can't see it or touch it."
"Your third ability, to be precise, is: Luck Variation."
The System offered another explanation, but Baiyun only grew more confused.
"Can you please explain it more clearly?"
"Honestly, you're dense."
"Luck Variation, simply put, means the amount of luck you possess changes every single day."
"It could be extreme fortune."
"Or it could be extreme misfortune."
"Isn't that the same damn thing for ordinary people?"
Baiyun couldn't help but curse and interrupt.
"Will you damn well let me finish speaking!!"
Well, now the System was cursing too.
"While ordinary people experience that, you are different. The amount of luck you possess increases daily."
"Let's put it this way: calculated in points, the maximum luck a person can have is 100 points."
"The luck you possess increases by one point every day. In just 100 days, your luck will reach the maximum value."
"During the daily Luck Variation, if your luck is poor, or even negative, the extra 100 points of luck you've accumulated will counteract that misfortune, pulling any negative luck into the positive range."
"If your luck is good that day—a positive number—it will be compounded, causing your total luck to skyrocket."
The System provided a complete and detailed explanation. This ability was truly heaven-defying; once 100 days passed and he had 100 points of maximum luck, he would essentially be immune to misfortune—unless his base luck was so abysmal that it hit negative 100.
"But wait, that doesn't sound right."
"That doesn't sound right at all!!"
"If this ability is so incredible,"
"then how the hell have I been so unlucky on these recent voyages?"
Baiyun asked skeptically. If the ability truly worked this way, why was he still so plagued by bad luck? Could his base luck possibly be negative 100 every single day?
...
A/N: The journey continues! If you're eager to read far ahead and support this story, consider joining the Eternal Phoenix community. You can find me on Patreon by searching for "Eternal_Phoenix".
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