100. The Strength Of All Crew Has Been Greatly Improved!

On the Black Pearl, Al tossed Charlos aside.

"Wake up, Tom, time to work!" Al urged, shaking Tom from his deep slumber.

Tom jolted awake at Al's urgent tone, swiftly jumping out of bed to attend to his duties.

As Tom stumbled to his feet, he was startled to see Al standing before him, a strange fellow with a fishbowl atop his head and billowing black smoke surrounding him!

Reacting on instinct, Tom deftly retrieved a concealed brick and swiftly struck Charlos on the forehead!

As Tom brought down the brick, he swiftly sidestepped to Al's side, pointing shakily at Charlos, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.

His expression seemed to convey, "What in the world?"

Al remained silent, simply nodding in acknowledgment.

No need for words when the message was clear...

Charlos, writhing in agony from the blow, squealed like a stuck pig!

"Damn you, how dare you attack me! Do you know who I am?"

"I am of divine lineage, esteemed..."

Without waiting for Charlos to finish his tirade, Al shoved Tom aside, his voice cold and firm.

"I ask, you answer. Speak one more word of nonsense, and I can't assure your safety aboard this vessel."

Confronted with Al's threat, rather than backing down, Charlos shot Tom a disdainful glance.

He chuckled mockingly, taunting Al and Tom, suggesting they should surrender now if they wanted to leave the ship in one piece!

But if they dared to lay a finger on him, they'd have the entire world hunting them down!

Al couldn't help but burst into laughter at the irony. After all, he himself was a notorious pirate wanted all across the globe. Wasn't that essentially talking nonsense?

Observing the sheer arrogance of this individual, Tom swiftly produced a hefty 100-kilogram sledgehammer from his hiding spot and placed it menacingly in front of Charlos.

Then, with a raised eyebrow, Tom seemed to challenge him, silently asking, "Feeling arrogant now?"

Despite Al's reputation, Charlos remained defiant and continued his tirade!

In the blink of an eye, Tom seized the sledgehammer, poised to turn this arrogant fellow into a pile of mush!

Al was taken aback by Tom's readiness to strike, quickly intervening.

"Tom, hold off on using that hammer. If you kill him, how will I stir emotions in the Summit War?"

After a moment's consideration, Tom nodded, tossing the sledgehammer aside. Instead, he retrieved a fly swatter from his hiding spot and flung it at Charlos' face.

"When did Whitebeard and the Marines begin their battle?" Al inquired, noticing Charlos' silence.

With Charlos remaining tight-lipped, Al dismissed Tom's actions and allowed him to continue his antics freely.

Crack!

Crack!

Crack!

Tom's unrestrained fury erupted, unhindered by Al's attempts to restrain him!

Tom wieldied a fly swatter in both hands, relentlessly striking Charlos' face, leaving ghostly afterimages with each blow!

Despite Charlos' attempts to resist, he stood no chance against Tom's onslaught!

As the beating persisted, fear crept into Charlos's eyes as he glanced between Al and Tom!

These guys have absolutely no fear of my status!

For the past 800 years, the descendants of the 20 founding families of the World Government have proclaimed themselves to be heirs of the Creator. 

But never before has anyone dared to lay a hand on the Celestial Dragons, let alone subject them to such brutal treatment without a second thought!

"You're all insane, utterly insane!" Charlos shrieked, his voice filled with venomous curses as he thrashed about in agony.

At this point, Charlos's face resembled that of a swollen pig's head!

Yet, Al paid no mind to his suffering. He retrieved a Western sword from his backpack, pressing it against Charlos' neck with chilling determination.

"I'll give you until the count of three. If you don't spill it, I'll start slicing off pieces of you," Al declared icily. "Starting with that lofty head of yours."

Upon hearing Al's ominous ultimatum, Charlos gazed at him as though he were staring into the eyes of a demon!

Without a moment's hesitation, Charlos divulged the requested time and date without reservation.

"And now you're begging?" Al retorted, his expression darkening. "Three days later? You better not be playing games with me."

With a furrowed brow, Al delivered a sharp slap across Charlos's face using the flat of the Western sword. Despite his calm tone, a palpable aura of menace emanated from him!

The mere threat was enough to send Charlos into a state of shock.

After giving him one last glance, Al left him be, only to be interrupted by a beep in his head.

[Acquired six pieces of Tom's magic chalk]

[Obtained exclusive items for the lottery machine, a set of Muscles' super fitness equipment]

When Al saw the two system prompts, his breath caught in his throat!

Tom's magic chalk, a tool Al had used previously to tweak the system, had left only a small black mark on the system page after using two-thirds of it. This limitation meant Al could only modify one talent when adjusting his own stats later.

"If one piece of chalk could only leave a mark, five won't change the system, will they?" Al pondered, sitting cross-legged on the deck. Resting his chin in his hand, he decided against further modifications to the system after careful consideration.

Determined not to repeat the disappointment of last time, where most of the resources were consumed with no tangible results, Al retrieved the chalk from his system backpack, immersing himself once more into the virtual world.

Before him, all the items transformed into a series of numbers.

As Al focused on Tom, a series of numerical panels appeared in front of him.

But to Al's astonishment, apart from his name, Tom appeared as a series of question marks.

Name: Tom

Ability: ???

The question marks on Al's face sent a shiver down his spine, making him briefly wonder if there was a glitch in the magic chalk!

Sensing something amiss, Al proceeded to check the value panels of all summoned crew members.

To his bewilderment, every panel, save for the name, was filled with question marks!

"This...," Al muttered, feeling perplexed. His intention was to modify Tom's values, perhaps to enhance their strength or some other attribute.

But faced with this predicament, it seemed Al had exhausted all the chalk and couldn't erase the question marks behind any of them!

Abandoning the idea, Al swiftly redirected his attention to Nico Robin, who was nearby.

Name: Nico Robin

Age: 28 years old

Devil Fruit: Flower-Flower Fruit (intermediate stage, not awakened)

Demon Blooming: Not Awakened

Armament Haki: Elementary

Observation Haki: Not Awakened

Measurements: -----

Hobbies: Reading, Sadism.

After a quick glance at Robin's numerical panel, Al wasted no time. He directly modified Robin's fruit ability to the top-level development stage, awakening the Demon Blooming. Additionally, he upgraded Observation Haki to the awakened state.

As for the elementary level behind Armament Haki, Al also modified it to internal destruction, which is Ryou Haki!

Robin's Flower-Flower Fruit with Top Armament Haki

The thought of that scene left Al feeling uneasy. 

In that moment, envisioning the sea of arms entwined with Ryou-level Armament Haki suddenly sprouting from their foreheads, Al couldn't help but shudder. 

Ryou-level Armament Haki could pierce eyeballs and slit throats without a moment's notice, leaving no chance for escape.

Who could withstand such an onslaught?

Recalling Robin's vice grip on Franky in the original story, Al couldn't help but shiver. 

After the modifications, Al couldn't help but feel puzzled when he saw Robin quietly engrossed in her book without any reaction.

Name: Nefertari Vivi

Age: 16 years old

Armament Haki: Elementary

Observation Haki: Not Awakened

Rokushiki - Soru: Beginner

Measurements: -----

Upon reviewing Vivi's numerical panel, Al proceeded to alter Armament Haki to internal damage.

The Observation Haki has been changed to Awakening, and Rokushiki has been upgraded to Ultimate!

After modifying the numerical panels for both individuals, Al realized he had depleted two pieces of chalk...

Observing Vivi calmly grooming Karoo without any response, Al couldn't help but sink into deep contemplation.

"Is this chalk defective? Why isn't there any reaction at all?"

"What's going on here?"

Just as Al pondered which step might have gone awry, a sharp cry pierced the air from the deck:

"What in the world is this thing? It's terrifying!"

"Nami, we're dealing with a monster! Send a message via the Den Den Mushi!" 

Accompanied by frantic barks, Al snapped out of his thoughts and rushed onto the deck.

Ignoring Charlos, shrouded in black smoke, Al focused on the task at hand. He retrieved the chalk and set his sights on Nami and Carina.

As the surroundings shifted, the numerical panels for Nami and Carina adjusted accordingly.

Name: Nami

Age: 18

Devil Fruit: Logia Rumble-Rumble Fruit (primary stage, no awakening)

Armament Haki: Elementary

Observation Haki: Use Rumble-Rumble Fruit

Rokushiki - Soru: Intermediate

Having already modified two people's information panels, Al is quite adept at it.

The Devil Fruit has been upgraded to the advanced stage, Armament Haki has been directly changed to internal destruction, and Rokushiki have all been upgraded to Ultimate!

Name: Carina

Age: 20

Devil Fruit: Barrier-Barrier Fruit (primary stage, not awakened)

Armament Haki: Elementary

Observation Haki: Not Awakened

Rokushiki - Soru: Intermediate

Al filled in all the values and consumed two sticks of magic chalk in the process, mirroring Nami's information panel.

Al, feeling unsure after changing the values, observed Nami and Carina's lack of response with growing uncertainty.

"What's going on here?" he muttered to himself. "Could it be that this magic chalk I used actually has a glitch?"

Caught off guard by Al's peculiar expression, Nami and Carina spoke in unison:

"Captain Al, what's wrong? Is this peculiar creature our newest crew member?"

Al shook his head vehemently. "No, no, absolutely not!"

Without pausing to think, Al quickly explained:

"This is the guy who asked you for directions and then shot."

"Then, Captain Al, why are you looking at us so strangely?"

"It's nothing, I just wanted to ask if you've noticed anything unusual about yourselves."

After listening to Al's words, Nami and Carina exchanged puzzled glances before examining their bodies. Eventually, they both shook their heads.

Al frowned, his mind filled with questions.

With doubts gnawing at him, Al promptly accessed his own numerical panel.

Name: Al

Age: 21 years old

Combat strength: Between Vice Admiral and Candidate Admiral (excluding Vice Admiral Garp)

Talent value: 999...

Conqueror's Haki: Beginner

Armament Haki: Intermediate

Observation Haki: Beginner

Observation Killing: ???

Rokushiki : Advanced

Kendo Realm: Swordsman

Devil Fruit: Float-Float Fruit (primary stage, awakening)

Al glanced at his numerical panel, then frowned.

While his other abilities seemed satisfactory, Al couldn't shake off his concern regarding the ambiguous status of his "Observation Killing" ability.

"This 'Observation Killing' ability can only be attained after mastering Conqueror's Haki to its highest level," Al mused aloud. "As far as I know, only Red-Haired Shanks, one of the Yonko, possesses this ability."

"This power enables control over one's own presence, rendering opponents' Observation Haki useless."

"Two days until the Summit War. I'll earn as much EP as possible and aim to elevate my Conqueror's Haki and Observation Haki to greater heights!"

With determination in his voice, Al resolved to enhance his abilities. He picked up the chalk and began to modify his own ability data.

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