Marco twitched.
Only then did he remember—shortly after the Marineford War, while idly flipping through his panel, he had been chatting with the system out of sheer boredom. At the time, he'd joked, 'Your voice sounds exactly like an AI assistant. Why don't you just call yourself Little Ai?'
He'd meant it completely offhandedly.
He hadn't expected the system to take it literally.
Marco sighed and decided not to dwell on it.
"Fine, whatever. Let me ask you something important," he said. "About these Devil Fruit upgrade paths—can all of them be upgraded eventually, or is it like a Digimon evolution route where you can only choose one path and stick with it until the end?"
There was a brief pause.
A few seconds later, the system's voice chimed in again.
"I have found this information for you…"
Before Marco could respond, the system panel abruptly popped back open—right to the Special Attributes → Devil Fruit Upgrade page.
"…Heh." Marco let out a helpless laugh. "Forget it."
He gave up completely. Asking questions was pointless—this thing really was nothing more than an artificial idiot. He'd originally planned to ask what Redemption, Undying, Impart, and Destruction actually did, but he no longer had the patience.
In the novels he'd read before, the protagonists' systems always came with something resembling customer service. Some even had emotions, offered advice, or actively helped during life-and-death crises.
What he got instead was a pure, emotionless AI.
Still… no matter how dumb it was, the system itself was an outrageous cheat. Against the natives of this world, it was nothing less than a protagonist-level cheat.
"Forget it for now," Marco muttered. "I don't even have 50,000 attribute points anyway. No point thinking that far ahead."
He paused, then added thoughtfully,
"When I hit 30,000, I'll prioritize upgrading Haki first."
His gaze shifted down to the Haki Upgrade section.
Haki Upgrade Options:
Conqueror's Haki (Intermediate) → Conqueror's Haki (Advanced)
Cost: 3,000 Attribute Points
Armament Haki (Top-tier) → Armament Haki (Legendary)
Cost: 30,000 Attribute Points
Observation Haki (Top-tier) → Observation Haki (Legendary)
Cost: 30,000 Attribute Points
Marco sucked in a breath.
"Thirty thousand just to push Haki from top-tier to legendary…?" He clicked his tongue. "That's absurdly expensive."
Still, Kaido-sensei had once said that Haki could transcend all things.
Marco's eyes narrowed slightly as curiosity sparked within him.
Legendary Haki… Just what kind of power does that represent?
"I'll find an opportunity to challenge Kaido," Marco muttered thoughtfully. "If I can push myself far enough, I might be able to upgrade my Conqueror's Haki."
He paused, brows knitting slightly.
"I just don't know whether Conqueror's Haki Infusion counts as Advanced Conqueror's Haki… or if it's already Top-tier."
In the original events, both Red Hair and Joy Boy had demonstrated something even beyond Conqueror's Haki Infusion—a level of Haki so overwhelming it could seemingly suppress Devil Fruit abilities altogether.
When Aramaki had gone to Wano, Shanks had locked onto him with an absurdly long-range burst of Conqueror's Haki, forcibly preventing him from activating his Devil Fruit.
Later, on Egghead Island, the ancient robot had unleashed Joy Boy's terrifying Conqueror's Haki, instantly nullifying the Gorosei's powers and forcibly sending four of them back to the Holy Land.
Those scenes made one thing clear:
If Conqueror's Haki was strong enough, it could outright block Devil Fruit abilities—much like Blackbeard's Dark-Dark Fruit.
Marco had already made up his mind.
He would first try his luck with Kaido and see if there was a way to further refine his Conqueror's Haki through training. If that failed… then he would simply pay the price and brute-force the upgrade.
With that settled, Marco switched the panel to the missions to review his current objectives.
Task: Revenge
Eliminate the Blackbeard Pirates to avenge Father.
Reward: 10,000 Attribute Points
Target Bounties:
Marshall D. Teach — 3,000 Attribute Points
Shiliew, Jesus Burgess, Doc Q, Van Augur, etc. — 500 Attribute Points each
Task: Establish Authority
Respond to the Beasts Pirates' provocation and teach them a profound lesson.
Reward: 1,500 Attribute Points
Task: Challenge a Yonko
Challenge Kaido of the Beasts.
Remain undefeated for 1 day — 1,000 points
Remain undefeated for 3 days — 2,000 points
Remain undefeated for 5 days — 3,000 points
Defeat Kaido — 10,000 points
Task: Kill Wang Zhi
Wang Zhi betrayed the Phoenix Pirates during a crisis.
Reward: 2,000 Attribute Points
Task: Surpass the Old Era—Become the Strongest of the New Era
Reach a bounty exceeding 5,564,800,000 Berries and inherit Father's title: "The Strongest Man in the World."
Reward: 10,000 Attribute Points
Marco studied the five tasks carefully, his thoughts quickly organizing themselves.
First—the Blackbeard Pirates.
Revenge was inevitable. Marco had always intended to settle that debt. The problem was simple: Blackbeard's whereabouts were unknown.
Second—Establish Authority.
Even though Vista had lost Nanku Island, the task hadn't disappeared. Instead, it had given Marco another opportunity. Though the reward was modest, 1,500 points were still worth taking.
Third—Challenge a Yonko.
Marco estimated Kaido's strength to be around Strong Yonko level—befitting the title of "strongest creature in land, sea, and air."
But remaining undefeated for a few days?
That no longer interested him.
He had already defeated Big Mom.
If that was the case, then why shouldn't he defeat Kaido as well?
His goal was clear: victory, not survival.
Fourth—Kill Wang Zhi.
This one posed little concern. Wang Zhi's bounty barely exceeded 2.1 billion, and the man was already old—likely around the same age as Father had been.
Fifth—Surpass the Old Era.
To claim the title of strongest, Marco would first need to defeat Kaido. But even after inheriting Father's title, surpassing Roger's bounty of 5.5648 billion would be extraordinarily difficult.
After all…
Every era had its strongest man.
But there was only ever one Pirate King.
Marco sighed softly.
"These rewards are really stingy," he muttered. "Does a task cap out at ten thousand attribute points?"
Once upon a time, 10,000 points had felt enormous.
Now?
Devil Fruit post-awakening upgrades demanded 50,000 points, and Legendary Haki alone required 30,000. Even if he completed every task currently available, he'd barely scrape past 30,000.
With a shake of his head, Marco closed the system panel.
"Forget it," he said calmly. "I'll take it one step at a time. I'll finish what I can first."
He was no longer in a hurry.
He already possessed Strong Yonko–level strength.
Aside from the mysterious Imu, there was no one left he couldn't face head-on.
Even Kaido—the so-called strongest creature in land, sea, and air—
Marco no longer feared him in the slightest.
—
Before long, two earthshaking pieces of news swept across the seas and spread throughout the world.
The first was that Marco and Big Mom had clashed for ten days and ten nights on the Kohn Islands. In the end, Marco emerged narrowly victorious, forcing Big Mom to retreat and officially cementing his status as one of the Four Emperors.
The second was that at Marineford, Admirals Aokiji and Akainu had engaged in a brutal duel for the position of Fleet Admiral. Their battle also lasted ten days and ten nights, with Akainu ultimately claiming victory.
Shortly afterward, Saint Topman Warcury of the Gorosei personally appointed Akainu as the new Fleet Admiral of the Marines.
And the very first order issued by the newly appointed Fleet Admiral was—
A worldwide conscription.
—
On Onigashima, Kaido stared at the latest newspaper in his massive hand.
He had little interest in who the Marines chose as their new Fleet Admiral.
But Marco's victory over Big Mom genuinely caught his attention.
"…Linlin," Kaido snorted, lips curling with contempt. "When did you become this weak? You can't even beat Marco now?"
Decades ago, when Kaido had first set sail as a pirate, he and Big Mom had shared a close—if volatile—relationship. He never imagined she would decline to such an extent.
Kaido took a long swig from his sake gourd and sneered.
"All she does now is sit at home popping out brats. No wonder she's gone soft. Ever since that old man Whitebeard died, the world's become more and more boring."
Across from him, King spoke calmly.
"Kaido-sama, should we recall Jack? Marco defeated Big Mom and will likely move on Nanku Island next. Jack won't be able to stand against him."
"Hmph. Let him come back," Kaido said dismissively, draining his gourd.
"But don't misunderstand—I haven't acknowledged Marco as a Yonko yet."
A dangerous glint flashed in his eyes.
"I'll find time to test his strength myself."
Meanwhile, on a certain island in the New World, the Red Hair Pirates were gathered together.
"Boss! This is huge—absolutely huge!" Lucky Roux came barreling over, his round face brimming with excitement. "Marco actually beat Big Mom!"
"Oh?"
Shanks took the newspaper from Roux's hands. As he scanned the report, a flicker of genuine surprise crossed his eyes.
"…It seems I underestimated him," Shanks said with a quiet chuckle.
He had always regarded Marco as an excellent first mate—but never imagined that after Whitebeard's death, Marco would step forward so decisively and display such overwhelming strength.
It truly caught him off guard.
A faint smile curved Shanks's lips.
"It looks like you've really grown into a capable captain, Marco."
Since Whitebeard's death, Shanks had worried that Marco might fail to protect the territories Whitebeard left behind—leading to the eventual collapse of the Whitebeard Pirates.
And right now, Shanks needed a stable New World.
The balance among the Yonko could not be broken lightly. If it was, the chaos that followed would be unimaginable.
Now that Marco had defeated Big Mom, his position as a Yonko was no longer in question.
Standing nearby, Benn Beckman let out a laugh.
"No wonder you were always trying to recruit him. When Whitebeard was alive, Marco kept his head down and never showed his full hand."
"I never thought that once Whitebeard was gone, he'd stabilize everything so quickly," Beckman added. "He's impressive."
"Yeah," Shanks agreed, smiling broadly. "I didn't expect it either."
He turned toward his crew and raised his voice.
"Alright, lads—this calls for a feast!"
"Ohhhhhhh!!!"
Laughter and cheers echoed across the island as the Red Hair Pirates erupted in celebration.
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