Chapter 157: Chapter 157: Reaching Half a Million Achievement Points, Scaring Hiyori
The Sun and Moon Pirates, sailing out of Wano's waters
The ship vanished into the vast sea, leaving Wano behind.
Kuke, finally able to relax, lay back in his rocking chair, slowly swaying back and forth.
With the peace and quiet, he took a moment to check on the status of his crew.
After the battle against the Beasts Pirates, where nearly everyone had fought, each crew member had experienced some degree of growth in their strength.
The most notable were Kuina and Koala.
They weren't particularly strong before, but after maturing and fighting in such an intense battle, they grew quickly.
Kuke first assessed the new crew members gained in Wano.
Starting with Yamato.
Her strength had increased significantly, by nearly ten thousand points.
Yamato's current power level was now 67,542.
Ulti's power level had also increased by 4,000, now reaching 8,762.
Black Maria's power level: 32,132.
As for Hiyori, her power level was almost negligible, only 99.
The combined power level of the new members from Wano exceeded 100,000.
This meant that Kuke's overall strength had increased by over 100,000, now surpassing 800,000.
Kuke then turned his attention to Kuina and the others.
Kuina's talent had truly started to show; the battle had allowed her to grow into someone who could use Flying Slash attacks and wield the power of a master swordsman who could cut through iron.
Her power level had already exceeded 10,000.
Her strength had doubled, officially making her a Swordmaster.
Koala, Baby-5, and the others had experienced smaller improvements, gaining an additional one or two thousand in power.
Kuke reviewed them all.
They were all growing.
The growth of each individual crew member contributed to Kuke's own strength, bringing his overall power level close to 840,000.
Kuke's physique had also improved, rising from 101 to 108.
After taking in Black Maria, who possessed the Zoan-type power of an ancient species, Kuke's own physical abilities had increased by +7.
His body was tougher now.
Kuke wasn't entirely sure if there was anyone on the seas who could break through his defenses, but he was confident that, with his physical power and Haki, no Emperor-level enemy could easily harm him.
It was Kuke's incredible physique that had allowed him to quickly defeat Kaido.
Power levels compared offensive capabilities, and while his offensive strength was greater than Kaido's, it wasn't strong enough to crush Kaido in such a short amount of time.
But, combined with his exceptional physique, it resulted in an unbelievable outcome.
Even though his power level hadn't yet surpassed one million, Kuke was confident that, in a head-to-head battle against an enemy with a power level above one million, the outcome would still be uncertain.
Unfortunately, he didn't know whether there were enemies on the seas with power levels exceeding one million.
Pirates and Marines certainly didn't have it.
If anyone did, it would only be within the World Government.
Kuke temporarily put aside his grand ideas.
"Right now, the crew's overall strength has long surpassed that of an Emperor's crew. I wonder how we compare to the Pirate King's crew?"
Compared to the current Emperor crews, it almost felt unfair.
The real comparison would be with Roger's crew from back then.
"We might be comparable, but we're still below the Rocks Pirates, who once ruled the world."
Kuke knew there was still work to be done.
Apart from power levels, Kuke looked at his achievement points.
"Only three hundred points away from half a million. I'll definitely reach it today." Kuke glanced at his achievement points: 499,723.
To be precise, only 277 points were needed.
Kuke relaxed for an hour, letting the points accumulate naturally.
The achievement points finally broke through 500,000.
He gained a new ability.
Achievement Milestones:
30,000 Points: Acquired Ship Spirit.
100,000 Points: Acquired one hour of invincible defense per day for the pirate ship.
200,000 Points: Each crew member has the right to be resurrected once a month.
The previous abilities had each significantly benefited the crew.
Without those abilities, they wouldn't have been able to go against the Marines in the first half of the Grand Line so easily.
Instead, they would've been surrounded by constant threats.
"Now I've gained the ability for crew members and the ship to teleport."
Kuke's lips curled into a smile.
This was a very useful ability.
Each crew member, regardless of where they were, now had the right to teleport back to the ship once a month. The ship itself could also teleport to the crew's position, or the entire ship could teleport to any place they had previously visited.
An unbeatable level of mobility.
Combined with the previous abilities, even if their combat strength couldn't match the Marines or the World Government, Kuke felt confident they could raid Marineford or Mary Geoise and retreat whenever they wanted.
Kuke looked at his achievement points again, curious about what the next ability would be.
The Next Milestone:
1,000,000 Points:
Ability 1: All previously acquired abilities could be used without limit by spending achievement points.
Kuke's eyes lit up.
Once the achievement points exceeded one million, he could use all the previously acquired abilities multiple times within a short period—resurrection, invincible defense, teleportation.
There would no longer be any time restrictions.
Previously, they only had an hour of invincible defense each day, and resurrection or teleportation was once a month.
Now, they could be used multiple times, though it would cost achievement points each time. The cost wasn't even that high.
"If I can use them multiple times, then I'll truly be invincible." Kuke was very tempted.
And that was just one of the abilities after breaking a million points.
Ability 2: ???
Three question marks.
"This is the first time question marks have appeared. What kind of ability could it be?" Kuke wondered.
But no matter what it was, he would find out after reaching a million. Even without the second ability, just the first one was enough to get excited about.
"Though reaching a million won't be easy."
It had taken him two years to reach 500,000 achievement points.
He had accomplished a series of unprecedented feats to get this far.
The further he went, the harder it would be to gain more points.
First, it was hard to find new crew members.
Increasing bounties was also becoming difficult.
The more famous he became, the less impact his actions would have on the sea.
Naturally, earning achievement points wasn't as easy as before.
"Relying solely on pirates won't be enough to reach a million. I'll need the Marines and the World Government to help."
After some thought, Kuke called out to Violet, who was observing the surroundings. "Violet, come over here."
"Sit."
Kuke patted the spot beside him.
Violet obediently sat down next to Kuke, habitually picking up a piece of fruit and holding it up to Kuke's mouth.
Kuke also habitually took a bite.
It had become a routine on the ship.
Kuke even felt like he was being pampered by these women.
Becoming a man who didn't need to lift a finger.
"Violet, during the battle, did the Marines make any moves?"
The battle had ended too quickly; even if the Marines and the World Government had made a move, they wouldn't have had time to act.
But Kuke wanted to know if they had the intent.
And maybe see if he could squeeze some achievement points out of the Marines.
"Yes, that day, Akainu led a fleet to the New World, but before the battle even ended, they turned back," Violet recalled.
Kuke pondered, instinctively biting into the fruit offered.
It felt a bit harder than usual.
Then he realized he had accidentally bitten Violet's finger.
Their eyes met.
Violet blushed and lowered her head.
"Did you wash your hands?"
"I did," Violet said, her voice barely audible, "Hancock said the Captain is a clean freak, so we all bathe daily."
Kuke raised an eyebrow.
He didn't deny his attraction to beautiful women, but it wasn't as if he had those kinds of thoughts for every crewmember.
"You can go now."
Feeling a bit awkward, Kuke waved Violet away.
He felt like his reputation on the ship had changed.
"Clearly, I haven't made moves on most of them. I have a lot of self-control," Kuke muttered, rubbing his chin.
Feeling like he was being misunderstood.
"Captain, will you pretend to eat my hand too?" Hiyori's timid voice came from behind, and she held out her small hand.
"?"
Kuke waved his hand, confused as he looked at Hiyori.
"Captain, could you pretend to eat my hand, but not really eat it?"
"..."
"Do you want me to turn into a big bad wolf and eat you all up?" Kuke put on a "ferocious" expression.
Almost scaring Hiyori to tears.
Gion came over to comfort her, giving Kuke a reproachful look.
Under Gion's glare, Kuke continued wandering around the ship.
He sat on a high platform, gazing at the distant horizon.
"Betty, come over and massage my legs," Kuke called out to Belo Betty, who was also on the platform.
"Captain, you've become decadent. You're acting just like those nobles now."
"Come here."
After a few gentle slaps, Belo Betty, blushing, covered her backside.
"Don't forget, you lost the bet."
Belo Betty obediently crouched beside him, massaging his legs.
After a short while, Shakky approached from behind.
"My dear Captain, shall I help you with the massage too?" Shakky asked with a smile, getting ready to kneel.
"No, please, I don't want Rayleigh to kill me." Kuke refused immediately.
"Don't mind him."
Kuke quickly placed both legs into Belo Betty's lap. "Shakky-sis, stop teasing me."
"My dear Captain, you seem a bit biased. You clearly have a thing for girls like Betty."
Belo Betty, who was massaging his legs, secretly perked up her ears.
A slight smile played on her lips, her eyes shining with an unusual light.
Kuke noticed it.
Turns out, you weren't as innocent as you pretended to be, fully aware of relationships between men and women.
Kuke acted as though he hadn't noticed anything.
Carefully, he asked Shakky,
"Shakky-sis, any updates on the investigation?"
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DONT FORGET POWER STONE
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