7. Crushed Nami
Al opened up the system panel, and many messages appeared:
[Received 40 EP from Colonel Nezumi.]
[Received 860 EP from Colonel Hatchan.]
[Received 205 EP from Kuroobi.]
After quickly adding them up with the previous emotions, it totaled 1200!
Seeing Hatchan in distress, foam forming at his mouth, Al stayed silent for three seconds before saying, "I hope you wake up soon!"
Following that, Al cheerfully accessed the system store, then left with a curse.
"What a lousy shop! It's like a rip-off! Selling me milk for 88,000?!"
"Why don't you just go milk the cow yourself!"
System: Host, this system store is already very considerate.
The pop-up window in his mind left Al stunned for a moment.
Is the emotional system actually conscious?
Excited about this new discovery, Al wanted to chat more with the system, but after waiting a long time, there was no response.
"System's broken, wasting my time and emotions!"
Al cursed, then shifted his focus to the lottery machine.
Everything here seems good, and it only costs 100 EP. That's the best deal in this messed-up system.
"Lucky draw, here we go!"
With Al's command, all 1200 EP transformed into coins and went into the lottery machine.
[Received 1 Tom's golf club]
[Got 1 bottle of special milk from Jerry]
[Acquired 5 firecrackers]
[Thank you for your patronage]
[Thank you for your patronage]
....
Looking at the three items now in his system backpack and the seven "thank you for your patronage" messages, Al's expression darkened instantly.
What's with all these "thank you for your patronage" messages? I didn't see them listed in the prize pool!
"Shit System! Get out here and explain yourself!"
After waiting for a while, the system remained silent.
Al couldn't shake off the feeling that this broken system was toying with him. Were those emotions earlier just a tease?
Suddenly, Al noticed some tiny text in the bottom right corner.
[Rare items: 1%]
[Uncommon items: 2%]
[Common items: 5%]
[Thank you for your patronage: 98%]
After reading it, Al's expression soured even further, and he cursed, "This font size is fit for a ghost! I thought your broken system had a bit of decency, turns out it's worse than Tencet!"
If looks could kill, even Kaido, renowned as the strongest creature, would be reduced to nothing in an instant.
Al's rage was palpable!
"Stay calm, stay calm. There's no point getting mad at a busted system. We gotta tread carefully."
Al patted his chest, trying to reassure himself.
Taking a deep breath, Al fetched the special milk concocted by Jerry.
He wanted to see what was so special about milk that cost a whopping 88,000 EP in this shop!
Special milk by Jerry: It can temporarily boost all body attributes by 500%.
[Note: After use, the body will shrink. Use with caution!]
The corner of Al's mouth twitched uncontrollably. If it weren't for the system, he wouldn't have even bothered.
He'd envisioned himself a keyboard warrior, ready to unleash his wrath!
Is this it?
You're charging me eighty-eight thousand for this junk?
"Forget it, stay calm, stay calm," Al reassured himself, placing the milk back into his system backpack. Then, he instructed Tom to bring up the Fishmen.
He needed to let out this frustration properly!!!
Sensing the intense aura of rage emanating from Al, Tom couldn't help but gulp nervously. He grabbed one end of the rope and hoisted the three cadres into the air.
Then, Tom pulled out a firework from behind, lit the fuse, and shot out of the pit with the firework.
Not far from the cave entrance, Tom leaped into Al's arms, "meowed," gestured towards Nami's room, and indicated he wanted to sleep there.
Al understood and dragged the three officers towards Nami's house.
Halfway there, a scream echoed from Nami's orangery: "No!"
Shortly after, Nami hurried down the hillside with a wooden stick in hand.
"Meow?" Tom looked at Al suspiciously, as if asking, 'What's wrong with her?'
"Who knows, why worry about it," Al replied dismissively.
Al responded that he doesn't have the bandwidth to deal with all of that right now, especially considering that he and Nami are currently only in a cooperative relationship.
His sole responsibility is to deal with Arlong; as for the rest?
Sorry, he's got bigger fish to fry!
....
On the port not far from Arlong Park, a Marine warship was docked.
Colonel Nezumi dragged his battered body, and with the assistance of his subordinates, he reached a treasure chest covered in mud.
"Chichichi, looks like I'm the ultimate victor!"
When the treasure chest was opened, it revealed a trove of treasures.
The sailor nearby scooped up some Berries and remarked, "Colonel, it's all stained with blood."
"Doesn't matter, it's money!" Nezumi shrugged.
"Oh, and what about the matter I asked you to report to headquarters?" he inquired.
"Reporting to Colonel, upon receiving the news, headquarters immediately arranged for reinforcements."
"Wait a sec, kid, your cat's mine now!" Colonel Nezumi declared, grabbing a handful of jewels and chuckling at the thought of Al getting shot.
....
"Arlong!" Nami snarled furiously.
Originally, she had planned to hand over the treasure she had amassed over many years to Al, hoping he would swiftly deal with Arlong.
However, she soon discovered that the treasure had been stolen.
Nami froze in place for a long time, reflecting on the absurd agreement she made with Arlong when she was a child.
And she remembered Arlong's cruel, mocking laughter.
She realized how foolish she had been to trust Arlong!
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