Chapter 2: Aokiji? Esdeath?

Name: Ethan Hayes

Wealth value: 44 million points (can be used to improve abilities)

Desire points: 2.3 million points (can be used to break through)

Abilities: Frozen Fruit (Beginner)

Skills: Phantom Fist (Beginner), Bajiquan (Beginner)

Task column:

1. Destined Encounter: Facing a special heroine, you can establish a super-friendship with her and gain substantial rewards. Task reward: blue blind box (optional stacking). Task attribute: long-term, single branch task.

[Do you want to spend 10 million wealth points to upgrade your Frozen Fruit ability to Proficient level?]

Ethan's eyes scanned the system interface. His eyes lit up slightly—fruit abilities had levels.

Based on his estimation, the strength of the Frozen Fruit ability he had mastered was likely on par with that of a One Piece marine colonel. But since it was an elemental ability, only those with mastery over Haki could pose a threat to him, leaving the range of strength quite broad.

Still, this was just Ethan's rough estimate, so he didn't take it too seriously.

"I knew the two tasks wouldn't be simple. These must be the system's foundational functions that allow me to increase my attributes."

"The system uses wealth points to enhance my Frozen Fruit ability."

Without hesitation, Ethan decided to spend the points. For him, wealth was just data—numbers on a screen. True power came from strengthening oneself.

He was well aware of the kind of world he now inhabited. When Thanos snapped his fingers, would he be part of the 50% wiped out? And this world had mutants, too. His Frozen Fruit ability was eerily similar to that of Iceman, Robert Drake.

Iceman was a Level 5 Omega mutant—one of the most powerful classes of mutants. Even Professor X, an Alpha-level mutant, ranked below him. Despite Iceman's potential, his current abilities were still underwhelming.

Ethan's advantage with the Frozen Fruit was that he could quickly master the freezing power, which was exceptionally strong in the early stages. As for whether it could match the potential of an Omega-level mutant, Ethan wasn't sure yet.

But with the system, he could push his Frozen Fruit abilities beyond what was seen in One Piece.

As Ethan poured his wealth points into the upgrade, a flood of experience surged through his mind, and his body grew stronger. He was now physically beyond any ordinary human, stepping into the realm of the extraordinary.

[Frozen Fruit Ability has been raised to the level of proficiency.]

[Do you want to continue using wealth points to enhance your Frozen Fruit ability?]

"Promote," Ethan commanded.

[Consume 20 million wealth points. Frozen Fruit Ability has been upgraded from Proficient to Control level.]

More experience filled his mind, and his body strengthened further. Yet Ethan knew he still hadn't fully unlocked the potential of the Devil Fruit. He had only reached Level 1.

In his estimation, Admiral Aokiji from One Piece had likely reached the second stage of Devil Fruit mastery—Awakening.

[To continue improving the Frozen Fruit ability, 5 million desire points are required to break through to the second stage of Devil Fruit abilities: Ability Awakening.]

Name: Ethan Hayes

Wealth value: 14 million points (can be used to improve abilities)

Desire points: 230,000 points (can be used to break through)

Abilities: Frozen Fruit (Control. Level 1), Phantom Fist (Beginner), Bajiquan (Beginner)

"Thankfully, even after selling the copyright for Fifty Shades of Grey, I still gain desire points from the novel's success," Ethan mused. "Once the movie gets released worldwide, my desire points will skyrocket."

But Ethan knew that relying solely on the Frozen Fruit wouldn't make him invincible in the Marvel universe. He would need far more wealth and desire points to truly thrive.

As he leaned back on the sofa, eyes closed in thought, his mind raced. He had learned that the value of desire was akin to faith, as described in some web novels. The emotions people experienced—joy, anger, sorrow—because of him, as long as they reached a certain threshold, could provide him with desire points.

"This is the Marvel world—the world of heroes."

"There are two ways for me to gain desire points: become a villain in the eyes of everyone, or become a hero!"

A hero? Ethan was just an ordinary person and never had the ambition to be a hero. But now, with a powerful ability, countless pairs of eyes would soon be on him, waiting to tear a piece of flesh from him.

There were two options. One was to gather countless admirers who supported him, making it difficult for the powers of the world to touch him. The second was to create a wall of fear that blocked anyone from taking a piece of him.

"I am me, unique—like different fireworks."

"I want both."

"I want to kill."

In Ethan's view, simply harvesting desire from one group of people was a narrow path. God created Jesus to harvest faith, and allowed Satan to harvest fear.

"If I released my full ability now and froze New York, would I get a lot of desire points?" he mused.

A smile tugged at the corner of Ethan's mouth. His Frozen Fruit ability was already incredibly strong. Once Awakened, he would wield freezing power on par with Admiral Aokiji.

Yet, Ethan had lived in New York for several years. He knew many people here. Freezing the city and killing millions would only show how twisted his psyche had become.

But Ethan didn't see himself as a psychopath. He had desires, ambitions, but not enough to kill everyone in New York just to feed them.

He also had people to fear—Professor X, for example. Physical damage had no effect on elemental damage, but Professor X's power came from the mind. If he invaded Ethan's brain…

"Stick to the tasks. Don't stand out too much for now. I still have plenty of time before I face a life-or-death choice."

The day when Thanos would snap his fingers was far off.

The figure of Admiral Aokiji once again appeared in his mind. All of his battle techniques from the anime played through Ethan's thoughts. He deduced with his own abilities and soon perfectly mastered the techniques Aokiji had used.

That was the advantage of upgrading his frozen powers: full control over the fruit's abilities.

"Admiral Aokiji's skills can be replicated without obstacles."

Now, the comic character that appeared in Ethan's mind wasn't Aokiji—it was from another anime, the brutal series known for killing off protagonists in nearly every episode.

Akame ga Kill.

In particular, the Ice Teigu wielded by General Esdeath. The super S-class battle maniac who could manipulate ice had developed her abilities in ways that might mirror the future potential of Ethan's Devil Fruit powers.

Secret 1: Moko Botmo—freezing time and space, where no one but the user can move. Even Esdeath could only use it once a day due to its massive energy consumption.

Secret 2: General Binglan—gathering ice energy over several days to summon a powerful ice army or unleash a storm that could blanket an entire empire.

Esdeath's Ice Teigu was 80-90% similar to Ethan's Devil Fruit abilities.

"Abilities are like a ball of clay. Once your thoughts are solidified through mastery, you can mold and create whatever you want!"

Ethan's eyes glowed with intensity. He understood that while his power ceiling may be difficult to break, the scope of his abilities could be expanded infinitely through imagination.

Imagination was the sharpest blade.