The night was deep and quiet, the moon bright but the stars sparse.
Upon the tranquil sea, the Going Merry drifted slowly through the still darkness, its solitary silhouette resembling a lone star upon the ocean, accompanied only by a thin, equally faint patch of clouds overhead.
On the deck of the Going Merry, Luffy and the others were still excitedly discussing the battle they had just fought.
Aside from Zoro, this was the first time both Luffy and Sanji had entered a Pokémon-ized state, and the two of them had endless things to say.
By comparison, Usopp—standing beside the three of them yet completely clueless about what Pokémon-ization even was—had turned utterly dumbfounded.
"So the gap between me and them really is that big…"
Listening to Luffy and the others talk about techniques and insights, the usually silent Usopp quietly tried, within his own body, to initiate Pokémon-ization himself.
But whether it was the base attributes brought by level differences or the control of willpower, he fell far short of Luffy and the others—so much so that he couldn't even grasp the slightest hint of entry.
Even so, Usopp didn't feel discouraged.
After all, this kind of thing had long since become routine for him.
Even if he had to admit that he was the weakest member of the Straw Hat Pirates, he wouldn't offer the slightest rebuttal.
The only thing was—
He would never stop moving forward.
"Pokémon-ization, huh… With my talent, it might be hard to pull off anytime soon. But among the insect tribes I've nurtured, it's not like there aren't some exceptionally gifted ones."
"With the number of insects inside my body now, I could already handle a nation-level war at any moment. It's about time I start considering cultivating an insect king."
Countless thoughts flashed through Usopp's mind, and he decided that once Laboon returned, he would immediately put the plan into action.
There was no helping it…
Although the Going Merry was already spacious enough, under his crewmates' firm opposition, he ultimately failed to move the insect breeding bases aboard the ship.
And while his Storage-Storage Fruit could create space for the insects to survive, it didn't allow them to move freely—nor did it grant them any breeding capability.
"I wonder how things are going on Laboon's side right now…"
Usopp's thoughts wandered aimlessly.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Red—the Trainer—did not join the "Pokémon" discussion at all.
That was because the system update didn't take very long. Just as Luffy and the others were still heatedly debating how to fuse and circulate different Pokémon energies throughout the body…
A crisp electronic notification suddenly rang out in Red's mind:
[Ding~! System update complete. Welcome back, player.]
A brilliant flash of light flickered before Red's eyes.
The next instant, a virtual screen appeared directly in front of him, freely adjustable in size and orientation according to his will.
It was none other than the device interface that had previously existed only within Red's consciousness.
The familiar game interface.The familiar battery indicator.The familiar Pokémon list…
"The update's finished!"
Seeing this, joy immediately surged through Red's heart. Ignoring Sanji and Zoro's debate over multi-attribute Pokémon-ization, he found a quiet corner and began studying the updated system.
After the update, the device seemed noticeably smarter.
Before Red could slowly discover the changes himself, an update report popped up directly in front of him as a system prompt, allowing him to clearly understand what this update entailed.
First—and most visibly—
The device that previously could only appear in Red's mind could now be materialized directly before his eyes, with far more flexible and convenient controls.
Red: Great. Another useless feature.
Continuing downward, the following update finally made a smile spread across his face.
"Wasn't waiting for nothing~," he murmured softly, carefully reading through the details.
Setting aside the largely cosmetic control update, the device had added three brand-new functions in total.
The first was the [Main Backpack Function].
Previously, whenever Red extracted items from the Pokémon world, it required a massive consumption of battery power.
But with this function, once Red cleared a game world, he could transfer the items from that world's backpack into the main backpack.
Then, while in the pirate world, Red could directly retrieve items from the main backpack—without any battery consumption at all!
This was nothing short of an epic-tier benefit for the device, and an equally epic buff for Usopp and Franky!
Previously, limited by the quantity of items like Evolution Stones, the two of them had been restrained in developing Pokémon-ized weapons and equipment.
Now, with the main backpack function, they could continuously receive Evolution Stones and other resources from Red.
Their Pokémon-ized weapon development would advance even further.
Moreover, the Straw Hat Pirates would no longer need to worry about recovery items like Super Potions in the future.
At the very least, when converted into Super Potions, the money Red had in the game worlds was probably enough for the Straw Hats to fight five or six Yonko crews back-to-back.
"Not bad, not bad. Keep it up next time, Daddy Device!"
After finishing the description of the [Main Backpack Function], Red smacked his lips in satisfaction and praised the device in his role as its host.
The second newly added function delighted him even more—
[Offline AFK Function]!
That's right!
The very same offline AFK feature Red used to see all the time in those low-budget mobile games from his previous life!
This function allowed Red to spend battery power to send any number of "Pokémon" into game worlds he had already cleared.
The more "Pokémon" sent in—and the longer they stayed—the greater the battery consumption.
The "Pokémon" sent into the game worlds functioned exactly the same as when Red personally brought them in.
However, without a Trainer, they couldn't pick up items, earn money, or battle other Trainers. They could only fight wild Pokémon to gain experience.
Even so, this feature was a godsend—both for Red and for the Straw Hat crew!
Experience equals power!
Although he didn't yet know how much battery it would cost to AFK a Pokémon for a full day, Red believed that, given the system's usual style, it wouldn't make things too unbearable for him.
Right, Daddy Device?
The [Offline AFK Function] would undoubtedly become one of Red's primary tools going forward.
And this feature might be even more useful than he initially imagined.
With his thoughts shifting, Red turned his gaze to the final update.
[Shop Function]!
Just as the name suggested.
This function allowed Red to open a shop system directly from the device's main interface at any time.
The shop sold all items that had appeared in any game world Red had cleared.
Even items that were unique within a game world could be purchased with battery power.
For example—Master Balls…For example—Mega Stones…
"Looks like the battery power I worked so hard to save won't last much longer…"
After only a brief glance, Red forcibly suppressed the urge to splurge and muttered with a sigh.
(End of Chapter)