The Second Subordinate

After allocating his accumulated points, Austin removed all the corpses of the dead Ganzack's pirates from his Inventory.

There were 36 corpses in total: Ganzack's body ( Lvl 9 ), 'Plesiosaur's body ( Lvl 18 ), and 34 other pirates' bodies at Lvl 1.

Since it's only possible to create new subordinates who are qualified to get Names and appearances by using the bodies of Pirates with bounties on their heads or Marines with official ranks, Austin chose Ganzack's corpse as a basic material to create his new Subordinate.

Austin then brought a Crystal Soul Grade 3 from the Shop for 30 Shopping Points and started the creation of his second Subordinate.

" Arise!" Austin commanded, trying to activate the creation Part of his Skill, 'All For One'.

A black shadow appeared under Austin's feet and covered Ganzack's body and head. The Shadow kept wriggling around for over a minute, and a human being started appearing at the end. This human being has the same height as Ganzack but with no gender, no hair, or facial expression on his face.

Right after that, Austin received a notification informing him of the Skill's success!

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Congratulations to the Host for creating the second Subordinate.

The results of the Operation are as follows.

Name: Unnamed

Race: Human

Level: 4

Strength: 40

Agility: 40

Stamina: 40

Charisma: 10

The Host is advised to give it a fitting name and appearance!

Warning! The moment the Name and appearance are chosen, they can not be changed again!

_________________________

Austin was satisfied with the outcome and started thinking about an appearance and a Name.

Since Ganzack is a close-combat specialist with no specific weapon, it's evident that this new Subordinate of his will also be the same because it was clearly mentioned that the being created can inherit part of the original body's Skills.

After a lot of thinking, Austin finally settled on a fitting Name and appearance for his new Subordinate.

" From Now on, Your Name shall be Zero!" Austin announced the Name loudly in a deep voice while visualizing the image's appearance he wanted in his mind.

The human being started changing his build and appearance until it looked exactly like what Austin imagined!

A giant, bald man who was 8 feet 3 inches tall ( 251 cm ), with half of his face and body covered with various beasts' tattoos such as a panther on his legs, a falcon on his back, a rhino on his arms, a buffalo on his chest, and a lion on his head. He wore a short blue jacket with no sleeves on it, blue pants, and brown boots.

The giant bald man, or Zero now, kneeled on his knee before Austin while looking at the ground and declared with a strong voice that contained the utmost respect and worship.

" Zero, greet my Lord and Creator !"

Austin expected this display since Brain also did the same back then, so he nodded in acknowledgment and replied, " Rise!"

Zero rose to his feet, showcasing his tall figure that was towering over Austin.

Austin then glanced at the interface and noticed that the clothes and the items Zero was wearing were brought automatically from the Shop for 10.45 Shopping Points.

He scratched his chin, thinking - Since Zero is a close-combat fighter, I don't think he needs a weapon - Austin smiled and decided to continue with the rest of the corpses.

He first ordered Zero to prepare for merging with 'Plesiosaur's body ( Lvl 18 ) before activating the Merging part of his Skill 'All For One' with the key command.

" Merge! " Austin commanded.

A moment later, a black shadow appeared under his feet and covered both Zero and 'Plesiosaur's bodies. These shadows stretched out and converged together until they were utterly engulfed inside the Shadow and vanished. After a minute of waiting, Zero finally reappeared.

Austin used 'Detect' on him and got his current stats!

_________________________

Name: Zero

Race: Human

Level: 13

Strength: 150

Agility: 130

Stamina: 130

Charisma: 20

_________________________

Austin glanced at the rest of the 34 bodies still on the ground and started doing some quick calculations.

After he finished, Austin decided to store two corpses in his Inventory to be used the next time. As for why he did so, it's because Austin discovered that if he merged all 34 corpses at once, he would get a body Lvl 17 at the end, and if he merged that body afterward with Zero, and taking into consideration the 50% rule, the latter would only get 8 Levels from that process.

( 50% of the 17 Level is 8.5, and since there is no such thing as being level 8.5, the System will choose the minimum number, which is, in this case, 8!).

So to not waste 2 corpses, Austin decided to use in the merging only 32 bodies, which would provide the same result in the end.

( 32 corpses merged together will result in a body Lvl 16, and if it's merged later with Zero, the latter will gain 8 Levels at the end, which is the same result if the Operation was initiated with 34 corpses ).

Austin inspected the 32 corpses and activated the Merging part of his Skill 'All For One' by commanding " Merge!".

The same thing happened again as a black shadow appeared under his feet and covered the 32 bodies of the dead pirates. These shadows stretched out and fused together until all the pirates' corpses were completely engulfed inside the Shadow and disappeared.

After over a minute of waiting, a human body finally appeared at the end, and of course, this being was not alive, but a dead body because Austin hadn't used a Crystal Soul in the process but merged all the pirates' corpses together, creating a strong body LVL 16.

" Get ready," Austin said to Zero, and the latter nodded seriously in response.

Austin then activated the Merging part of the Skill 'All For One' again as he commanded, " Merge!"

The same scene happened another time. The Shadow emerged under his feet, covering both Zero and the body Lvl 16, and after a minute, Zero reappeared alone!

Austin used 'Detect' on him to see his new Stats and Level.

_________________________

Name: Zero

Race: Human

Level: 21

Strength: 240

Agility: 210

Stamina: 220

Charisma: 30

_________________________

Austin was satisfied by the sight of his loyal subordinate getting stronger and was overjoyed with gaining a second powerful helper.

And since Zero was Level 21, Austin decided to share with him the 'Melee Combat' Skill and the 'Rokushiki' ( The Six powers ) tree of skills.

" Come forward. I will share with you some of my Skills!" Austin stated, and in response, Zero quickly kneeled in front of Austin, clearly excited by what he was gonna get next.

Austin smiled before putting his hand on Zero's head, using ' Knowledge Sharing ', and shared with him the 'Melee Combat' Skill and the 'Rokushiki' ( The Six powers ), which consists of 'Soru' ( Shave ), 'Geppo' ( Moon Walk ), 'Rankyaku' ( Tempest Kick ), 'Shigan' ( Finger Pistole ), 'Tekkai' ( Iron Body ), and 'Kami-e' ( Paper Art ).

Zero felt dizzy after receiving that much information and Skills at once, which prompted him to close his eyes for a couple of seconds before opening them afterward after sorting out everything in his mind.

" Thank you, My lord! I, Zero, swear that I will serve you and fight for you to the last breath of my life!" Zero declared with so much spirit and passion that it startled Austin for a moment.

" I know!" Austin smiled and patted Zero's shoulders " Try to get used to the new Skills you acquired by training them occasionally to master them perfectly!"

" I will definitely not disappoint you, my lord," Zero answered thoughtfully.

" Good! Now, let's get out of here, so you can meet your other brother, Brain." Austin said before exiting the room with Zero behind.

Brain, who was guarding the room's door outside, was surprised when he found that his lord, Austin, didn't come out alone from the room but with another tall man following him behind.

But what made Brain perplexed was the feeling of similarity he sensed from that strange man, which prompted him to conclude that this huge man was probably like him, created by his lord, which Austin confirmed later when he introduced the man.

" Brain, this your new brother, Zero! He is now a part of the family!" Austin said to Brain.

" Brain Unglaus, the right hand of our lord!" Brain stated, raising his head proudly while extending his hand, adding, " Welcome to the family!"

Zero's eyes twitched for a second after Brain clarified his position as the 'Right Hand'. The big man took the statement as a challenge but decided to not create a scene, at least not now, especially since his lord was watching their first interactions.

Zero didn't want to disappoint or make his creator unhappy, so he extended his hand and shook it with Brain's hand while using a little bit of strength as retaliation.

" My name is Zero!" Zero smiled a savage smile full of meaning and added, " I thank you for your 'warm' welcome, and I look forward to 'working' alongside you!"

Brain was surprised by the strength Zero had put into his grasp during their handshake, but he didn't think much about it and responded with a nod.

" Excellent!" Austin nodded, satisfied by their positive encounter.

" Alright, Zero, search and gather everything you find valuable on this tower," Austin instructed Zero first before turning to look at Brain, adding, " As for you, Brain, I want you to search all over the island for Ganzack's ship."

" Yes, my lord," The duo responded in unison before leaving to do their respective tasks.

" Now, it's time to review the new features and changes in the System," Austin smirked before turning back to the room.

Back at the room,, as soon as Austin opened his interface, he was surprised by the new option added to the System's menu.

_________________________

Welcome To The Supreme Conqueror System Menu :

1 - Character

2 - Inventory

3 - Statistics

4 - Awards & Quests

5 - The Supreme Conqueror Shop

6 – Database

7 - Team members & Subordinates

_________________________

" Team members & Subordinates ?! " Austin exclaimed and quickly 'clicked' on it to check it out!

_________________________

Team members & Subordinates :

1 - Team members: ( 0 )

2 - Subordinates: ( 2 )

* Brain Unglaus ( Lvl 22 )

* Zero ( Lvl 21 )

_________________________

After Austin checked the Database, he discovered that he could now obtain experience points if he, his team members, or his subordinates defeated an enemy.

This new feature made Austin overjoyed because this meant that now even the allies and the non-created subordinates, through his Unique Skill, 'All For One', could give him experience points if they defeated someone.

" So as long as someone joins my crew, they would be counted automatically in this category, and I will start gaining experience points on any opponents they defeat afterward." Austin rubbed his hand in delight.

Austin then checked what had changed in the Shop and found that there were many new things, such as ships, weapons, items, and much more other stuff.

There is even an additional option called 'Customization' in case of buying specific objects such as Ships and weapons, but that would also add additional expenses because, obviously, the price of a standard ship is way different from the price of a customized one.

Suddenly Austin noticed something glowing in his Inventory, and when he checked it, he slapped his forehead.

" Sh*t! I almost forgot about this!" Austin grinned widely in delight at his discovery " Since I'm now at level 60, it's finally unlocked."

" Alright, let's see how I can use it " Austin smirked and took out the item from his Inventory to try it out.

The item was the 'Devil Fruit Creator', which Austin got from 'The Beginner Pack' before.

_________________________

Devil Fruit Creator :

* Category: Item.

* Description: An ancient Item that has long been forgotten in the annals of history. This item allows its user to create a devil fruit that has existed once before. In return, the user needs to pay a certain price depending on many things, such as the strength of the devil fruit and its properties, as well as if the devil fruit has already been eaten by someone at the same time or not.

_________________________

" This item is really an overpowered one!" Austin exclaimed after finishing reading the item's description, " No wonder there wasn't another one in the Shop. Apparently, It can only be obtained via special quests."

" Hmm, Now what devil fruit should I choose?!" Austin scratched his chin.

After thinking for a while, Austin chose the strongest Devil fruit he could think of that was without a user now. He chose the 'Yami Yami no Mi' ( Dark-Dark Fruit ) because, according to the anime, Teach is still on the Whitebeard Ship now, and Tatch hasn't found the fruit yet, or at least that is what Austin thought.

After Austin settled on the Devil fruit he wanted, he 'clicked' on the item to use it.

_________________________

Using 'Devil Fruit Creator'.

The Host chose The Dark-Dark Fruit.

Verifying if The fruit has a user ... Completed.

The fruit has already been eaten by a User!

Calculating the Price ... Completed.

The price of The Dark-Dark Fruit is 5000 Shopping Points.

Checking the available Shopping Points...Completed.

The Host doesn't have sufficient Shopping Points!

Operation Canceled.

_________________________

After he finished reading the notifications, Austin stood rooted in his place, dumbfounded by the result.

" WHAT THE F**K! Did the Dark-Dark fruit have already been eaten by someone?" Austin frowned " Don't tell me Teach has already gotten it?"

Austin thought for a moment before he slapped his forehead again, remembering a piece of critical information he had overlooked.

" Ah, yeah!" Austin sighed " I completely forgot that Teach got it before even Luffy started his journey."

" The incident didn't appear in the anime until the straw hats arrived at the Grand Line," Austin smiled bitterly " But that's only a flashback, which means The Dark-Dark fruit has already been eaten before even the anime's events began"

Austin sighed before noticing the Devil fruit's price and exclaimed.

" 5000 Shopping Points!" Austin thought." Well, if it was so cheap, it wouldn't be considered one of the strongest devil fruit because the item's description clearly stated that one of the criteria of setting the price is the devil fruit's strength."

" Hmm, The only bright thing is that I can still get the fruit as long as I have enough Shopping Points," Austin frowned, scratching his chin. " Although I don't know if there will be some additional conditions or something like that, considering the fruit has already been eaten by Teach!"

Austin shook his head and closed the interface, leaving the room and heading outside the tower.

Along the way, he found Zero waiting for him with a huge sack at his feet.

" My lord, I got everything with some value here, " Zero said, pointing at the bag on the floor.

Austin checked the bag and found 15 million Berries cash inside, alongside some other treasures that were worth at least 10 million Berries.

" Good work!" Austin nodded in approval, praising Zero for his work " Now, Let's get out!"

Austin stored the bag in his Inventory before heading downstairs, followed by Zero, who puffed his chest proudly after successfully finishing the first task assigned to him by his lord.

After the duo exited the tower, they were greeted by the sight of dozens of townspeople with elders and children hugging each other and crying in joy!

When the crowd noticed Austin and Zero coming out of the tower, they quickly came to thank them and offered to host them for a few weeks, but Austin refused, stating that they would only stay for a few hours to rest before continuing their journey afterward.

Later on, Brain returned and informed Austin that he found Ganzack's Ship north of the island. Austin then went to the ship location guided by Brain and stored the Ship on his Inventory for future use.

Four hours later, Austin's group, now consisting of three people, was at the island's shore, ready to set sail. Under the cheers of the islanders, they got on their Ship and departed towards Gecko islands, leaving behind the island and its now liberated residences.

Back at the Ship, after the island's silhouette began to fade on the horizon, Austin turned to look at Brain, asking.

" Brain! When will we arrive at Gecko Islands ?!"

"Hmm! Probably by tomorrow morning, my lord, " Brain replied after doing some quick calculations.

Austin smiled, looking up at the sky, and said, " I look forward to it!"

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