The System, feigning mystery, kept Bai Yun in suspense for three seconds before finally revealing why, despite having the ability to change his luck, he was still so unlucky. It was because... "It's because this ability has a restriction: you cannot swear."
"..."
"Huh?!"
Bai Yun couldn't believe his ears.
"Simply put, this ability will increase your luck by one point every day, with 100 points as the maximum."
"However, you cannot swear. If you do, it will immediately reset to zero, and you'll have to start accumulating it again from the beginning."
"There's also a small side effect: if you swear too much, you might become unlucky."
The System provided a detailed explanation.
The details were as follows:
Luck is undefinable, but after becoming an ability, Bai Yun's luck became a visible number.
Numerically, a person's maximum luck is 100 points, which signifies extreme good fortune.
This refreshes daily for ordinary people, and it's the same for Bai Yun.
However, Bai Yun's ability gives him an additional 100 points, adding 1 point per day.
If he doesn't swear, these points are permanent, accumulating one point a day, up to a maximum of 100.
In simple terms, Bai Yun gained an extra 100 points. This means if, on a certain day, Bai Yun's luck is at the extreme 100 points, plus the accumulated 100 points,
200 points would be super lucky—the kind of luck where even if Pluto fired a shot, he'd narrowly avoid it, completely unscathed.
But there's good luck and bad luck.
Points differentiate them.
1 point is a normal state; the more points, the more luck accumulates.
Conversely, a negative number, -1, is ordinary bad luck; the more negative it is, the unluckier one becomes, up to -100, which is extreme bad luck.
Bai Yun's luck ability is manifested here.
If Bai Yun's luck on a particular day is at the extreme -100 bad luck, but he has an additional 100 points from his ability, adding them would make it 0, a normal state. Whether it's bad luck or good luck then depends entirely on fate.
But there's also a side effect: if he swears, the 100 points of extra luck accumulated over 100 days instantly reset to zero. If he continues to swear, it will deduct from Bai Yun's own random luck for that day, point by point.
If it's a lucky day, that's fine, but if it's an unlucky day, he'll become even unluckier.
That's why the System said not to swear, to avoid bad luck.
Bai Yun was stunned. He had already forgotten how many swear words he had uttered over the past ten years; even if not many, he must have said some. No wonder he was so unlucky when he went out to sea... "Hey! Hey! Snap out of it!"
The System called out, waking the stunned Bai Yun, who jumped in surprise.
"Ah!"
"I've told you the third ability. I have things to do and need to go back. We might not meet again in the future."
"Since we've met, do you have anything else to say?"
The System asked, a redundant question.
Bai Yun listened, thinking, 'Where's your 'face'?' At the same time, all the swear words from human civilization up to now gathered in his mind, wishing he could bestow them all upon this 'diligent and responsible' System.
But when the words reached his lips, they only became a gritted, "Take care."
"Still has some manners."
The System replied.
Bai Yun roared internally, Manners? I'm forced to be polite!
"I'm leaving, and you should wake up now!"
As the System's voice faded,
the vast white space seemed to collapse. Bai Yun only felt a complete blankness before his eyes, so utterly white that he couldn't even see his own hands.
He struggled to open his eyes, and with a sudden blink, his consciousness returned to reality.
In reality, Bai Yun's eyes snapped open, sweat dripping from his forehead onto the pillow. What met his gaze was a very ornate bed canopy... "Hey, is anyone there? We want to borrow a ship, and we're looking for Bai Yun!"
Upon arriving at Kaya's grand mansion, Luffy immediately shouted.
In the room, Bai Yun, who had just woken up and sat up, vaguely heard Luffy's voice.
"How come I seem to hear Luffy's voice?"
He then looked around; even his room alone was very luxurious.
"It seems to be a rich person's house."
"Logically, this should be the island closest to where I fell into the sea, so it should be Usopp's—Kaya's house."
Just as Bai Yun suspected, as soon as he finished speaking, Merry, wearing a sheep's head mask, entered the room and brought lunch.
"Oh, you're awake? That's good. It's lunchtime, please have some lunch."
Bai Yun naturally took the lunch. "Are you the butler of this house? Thank you for saving me."
"You flatter me, I'm not the butler."
"I saw you by the sea this morning and brought you back. It's good that you've safely woken up."
Merry stood ramrod straight, very much like a butler.
Knowing that Merry had saved him, Bai Yun immediately bowed to him.
Just as he was about to eat, he heard Usopp and an unfamiliar voice shouting loudly.
"Oh dear, Butler Klahadore seems very angry. It looks like the people who broke in did something extraordinary."
Merry said unhurriedly, as if he wasn't a servant of this house.
Bai Yun roughly guessed from the voices that Kuro had insulted Usopp's father, leading to an argument and a fight between Usopp and Kuro.
Poor Kaya was still protecting Kuro, unaware that the past three years had merely been a grand play staged by Kuro.
After a moment's thought, Bai Yun continued to eat his lunch. He didn't plan to join Luffy and the others yet. He'd rather stay comfortably in this mansion and wait until the battle arrived.
"You eat, I'll go see what's happening."
Merry said.
"You do your thing, don't mind me."
Bai Yun also replied with a smile... Meanwhile, with Luffy and the others.
Usopp left after saying, "I'll never come here again."
With a shout from Kuro, Luffy and the others also left the mansion, and the farce ended... The camera was then moved to Kaya's room. Kaya was confused, unsure if she was right or wrong to defend Kuro and drive Usopp away.
After all, in her mind, Kuro was still the good butler who had taken care of her for three years, not the pirate Kuro of a Hundred Plans who had plotted for her family's fortune for three years.
So, Kuro came in and put on a show.
He said that Kaya's father had saved him, and everything he did was for Kaya's good, otherwise, how could he face Kaya's deceased parents?
With that, Kaya forgave him for what he had said to Usopp. Clearly, Kaya had been manipulated.
Bai Yun, who had come to visit Kaya, heard everything from outside and couldn't help but admire Kuro's acting skills.
Unable to listen anymore, he knocked on the door directly.
"Knock knock knock."
"Come in," Kaya replied.
Having received permission, Bai Yun opened the door and walked in.
...
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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