Chapter 5

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Wait a moment.
Thinking carefully, you’ve eaten the Copy Fruit, which allows you to replicate others’ abilities. So, essentially, you can still go all-in to collect the powers of other fruits.
Copy or not, it sounds very protagonist-like and definitely a huge advantage.
You exhale deeply and struggle to jump out of the palm of the blond man’s hand.
Before transmigrating, you might not have managed such a move, but at Level 10, your agility is exceptional. Of course... the other party wasn’t really trying hard either, so you landed easily on the ground.
Choice 1: Sob, dad, what should I do? I don’t want to be a landlubber.
Choice 2: Sob, dad, what should I do? I don’t want to have only one ability.
Choice 3: I’m eating it! I want to eat it, no matter what you say!
Choice 4: Leave.
Is there really any difference between choices 1 and 2?
Having come to terms with it, you casually select the first one, letting out a few fake sobs while acting pitifully, “Sob, dad, what should I do? I don’t want to be a landlubber!”
“……”
Edward Newgate fell silent for a few seconds, then sighed helplessly. He bent down, picked you up, threw you onto his shoulder, and patted your back gently. “If you want it, just eat it!”
“If you want to play in the water later, let those brats take you. Don’t worry, with me around, no one in this world will dare bully you!”
[System: Edward Newgate’s favorability +1.]
“Brats?”
You wonder who he is referring to. Could it be that your newly adopted dad already has other sons? That would be quite a pleasant surprise.
The blond man looks quite imposing, but unexpectedly, he’s really a good person. You rest on his shoulder, casually pull out a small mirror to check your status and his favorability.
[Player Information]
Name: Edward D. Marlowe (Lv. 10)
Gender: Female
Age: 8
Race: Celestial Dragon
Experience: 670/3560 (Next level)
HP: 2990/2990
Stamina: 20/220
Charm: 5 + 5 → 10 (Pretty pink bracelet +5)
Intelligence: 9
Attack: 50 + 16 → 65 (Plain white shirt +1, Sharp dagger +15)
Defense: 42 + 3 → 45 (Plain white shirt +2, Plain blue underskirt +1)
Agility: 39 + 7 → 46 (Plain blue underskirt +2, Sharp dagger +5)
Fruit Eaten: Superhuman Type - Copy Fruit (Unawakened)
Skills: None
Haki: Conqueror’s Haki Lv.1 (81/100)
Title: None
Money: 0
Inventory: Celestial Dragon’s oxygen mask ×1, precious rum ×3.5, wild boar hide ×1, raw meat ×4, false brown cloud-spotted mushroom ×21, grass chicken mushroom ×15, amber mushroom ×3, laughing mushroom ×11… pregnant mushroom ×1.
Current unlocked map: Trial version starting deserted island (Countdown 29 days)
Current favorability stats:
① Edward Newgate: 97.
The “Fruit Eaten” section has been updated!
After consuming the fruit, you can obtain the devil fruit powers of others by either kissing them or collecting a drop of their blood, storing these powers in cards, each of which can be used three times.
…Well, the conditions aren’t too hard, but not simple either.
A note follows: Player reaches Lv. 50 to unlock the awakened state.
Interesting.
Besides the fruit’s surprise, Edward Newgate’s favorability is unexpectedly high—97 points, almost full.
Knowing many games feature gift-giving systems to increase favorability, you jump off his shoulder, rummage through your backpack, and hand him an edible “Grass Chicken Mushroom.”
“Gulala, for me?”
Edward Newgate smiles and accepts your gift without refusal.
[System: Edward Newgate’s favorability +1.]
You hand him another mushroom.
“Gulala, I accept it!”
[System: Edward Newgate’s favorability +1.]
You keep giving.
“For me? Got it, gulala!”
[System: Edward Newgate’s favorability +1.]

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[System: Ding—! Edward Newgate’s conquest progress reached 100/100!]
[System: Congratulations on completing the basic conquest. Due to the low game version, compatibility mode has not been activated, currently unable to automatically initiate the second phase of conquest with this character. Would you like to sever the family relationship?]
Choice 1: Yes.
Choice 2: No.
No!
Who’s foolish enough to let go of such a powerful ally? It’s just adopting a dad—there’s no way you’d refuse.
[System notification: You have officially started the family route! The favorability stacking system will now close. Ding! First conquest success detected, experience gained: 2978 points!]
[System notification: Level up! Player reached Lv. 11!]
So much experience! You hadn’t expected it to be so easy to level up by conquering characters, and you immediately regretted not giving gifts earlier.
Your stamina fully restored to 220, you eagerly prepared yourself. Edward Newgate had a new reaction and reached out to pat your head. “Kid, I’m heading into the forest to hunt. Get the food ready; we’ll set sail after that.”
Choice 1: Okay, I’ll do as Dad says.
Choice 2: No, I want to stay a little longer.
Choice 3: I don’t want to go with you. I want to stay here.
No exit option; a mandatory branching storyline choice.
You actually want to stay longer and grind while your stamina is full, but after over a day on the island, you’ve figured out this game’s quirks.
Whenever a storyline requires waiting, time only progresses if you look away and move a bit away from the blond man. Otherwise, time is frozen.
So during his hunt, you had enough time to grind your Lv.1 Conqueror’s Haki from 81 to 100.
“Okay, I’ll do as Dad says!”
As expected, things progressed smoothly. While Edward Newgate was away, you noticed crabs appearing on the beach—probably a respawn. You stopped heading into the forest, your eyes shining.
…
[System: Player killed a crab! Gained 20 experience points, Crab ×1.]
[System: Player killed a crab! Gained 20 experience points, Crab ×1.]
[System: Level up! Player’s Lv.1 Conqueror’s Haki (100/100) upgraded to Lv.2 Conqueror’s Haki (0/200)!]
Yes!
After killing 19 crabs with diligence, you finally heard the sound you wanted. Meanwhile, just as you turned around, Edward Newgate appeared beside the ship carrying several pheasants without warning.
You: What the heck?
Why does this game even have teleportation? So many bugs!
Sudden appearances aside, at least there were no clipping issues—for now. It’s time to leave this broken island. You lifted your foot to approach when the sky suddenly darkened. The clear blue was swallowed by rolling black clouds, and the sea breeze turned wild.
The sandy beach beneath you trembled as the horizon twisted and rose—
A gigantic crab, as large as a large pirate ship, burst through the waves, emitting a deafening, strange roar.
[System: You killed too many crabs, attracting the collective grudge of the crabs: the Sea Crab Demon.]
Sea Crab Demon, Lv. ???.
You: “……”
??????
[System notification: Battle mode activated.]
[System: Edward Newgate (Lv. 71) joined the battle. Accept invitation? (Auto-accept after 10 seconds)]
Of course!!!
My precious dad, come save your worthless life!
But dad is only Lv. 71, and this suddenly appeared boss’s level is unknown, just a bunch of question marks, ridiculously strong. This is not normal… It’s a cheat!
How can a boss with an unknown level appear on the starting map? Usually, this only happens with huge level gaps. You’ve only killed nearly a hundred crabs—does it really need to summon such a thing to punish players?!
The Sea Crab Demon’s shell is as thick as iron plates. It raised its battleship-sized claw and slammed it toward you without hesitation.
“Clang.”
Edward Newgate flashed in front of you, crossing his arms. His arms turned mysteriously black-purple, as hard as steel, firmly blocking the terrifying crab’s attack.
[System notification: Player observes “Armament Haki” for the first time and comprehends Armament Haki Lv.1.]
Armament Haki’s max level is Lv. 10 and looks very painful when used to strike…
But this is not the time to marvel.
“Go hide!”
Edward Newgate stood firm in front of you without looking back. His tall figure was like the safest shelter from the wind. You obediently obeyed—please, two bosses fighting, only a fool would intervene.
You prayed for the blond man’s success while hiding a bit further back in the forest, watching the battle unfold.
Charge, Dad, crush it!
After an intense fight, despite Edward Newgate’s complaint about not having his weapon ready and being lower level than the crab, he gradually gained the upper hand. The air cracked terrifyingly due to his strange power, the beach and sea wind roared and trembled, and the Lv. ??? absurd monster was knocked dozens of meters away.
Seizing the chance as the crab fell, Edward Newgate chased it down and mercilessly beat the big boss until it couldn’t move.
[System notification: Player teamed up to defeat the Sea Crab Demon! Gained 10,550 experience, Sea Crab Demon’s Shell ×1, Crab Roe ×5 (each restores 3,000 HP and 1,000 stamina), Mysterious Black Crystal ×3, Treasure Chest ×1 (contains 5 gold necklaces, 1 precious pearl necklace)]
You were amazed, thinking your cheap dad is the real protagonist, witnessing his level rise from 71 to 72.

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…So NPCs can level up and get stronger too—such a humane setting.
[System notification: Level up! Player reached Lv. 15!]
[System notification: Congratulations on killing the vengeful Sea Crab Demon! Achievement unlocked: Impossible Hell Trial. Hidden title earned: Crab Slayer.]
[Title: Crab Slayer. Details: When equipped, Attack +50, Speed +50, Defense +50. All crab-type enemies suffer an 80% attack reduction upon seeing you. You can successfully use Conqueror’s Haki on all crabs regardless of level. Sea King-type enemies’ fear of you increases by 50%.]
As expected from a boss-level monster suddenly appearing on the newbie island, the rewards are powerful.
You, the loot king, immediately equipped the new title.
Edward Newgate stood with his hands on his hips, laughing loudly over the fallen monster. Excited, you rushed toward him. Though his constant laughter was a little scary, you knew approaching would trigger new reactions.
More importantly, where was the treasure chest dropped by the crab boss? You couldn’t wait!
But the boss’s corpse did not dissolve into rewards. It simply flipped onto its back on the beach, surrounded by nothing. You felt an inexplicable strangeness and an uneasy premonition.
You recalled the system’s earlier announcement: the player “teamed up to defeat” the Sea Crab Demon, not “killed” it like the small crabs…
Your premonition was correct.
As you neared the white-bearded man, he stopped laughing. The terrifying crab lying on its back twitched a leg, and the tendrils on each side of its mouth suddenly stood upright. Still unconscious, it sprayed a stinking black sticky liquid.
It launched a final strike!
Startled, you instinctively lunged at Edward Newgate, trying to take him away.
Good news: the blond man was fine. He stepped back a few paces with your momentum. But black liquid splattered on your left arm.
[System notification: Player HP -3280 (You resist 80% of the damage)]
Damn!
Even with 80% damage immunity against crabs, you still lost 3280 HP. How powerful was its original attack? Half your health bar emptied instantly!
Don’t forget, you have a glaring weakness—you are extremely, extremely sensitive to pain.
The black liquid on your skin felt like concentrated sulfuric acid, instantly corroding your flesh, emitting burning white smoke. Horrible purple spread from the wound all over your body.
It hurts so much!!!!
You burst into tears and collapsed, tears streaming uncontrollably. Edward Newgate, who you had pushed into, regained his balance and angrily scolded, “You idiot!!”
What? He even scolded you? Mostly because when he lifted you to check your wound, the movement was too rough, causing you even more pain. You couldn’t help but cry louder, whining dramatically, “It hurts so much,I'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.