AutumnXd
patreon
Chapter 36: The Man Who Will Be King
🕑 Added 2025-06-30 13:31:21 +0000 UTCIn the quiet of his new home, Russell began the sad but necessary job of counting his things. It helped him focus his mind and turn the grief and anger he was feeling into cold, hard numbers.
You could sell eleven pieces of the iron-level material, [Rookie Pirate] (Green), for about 220,000. The market price of the gold-quality [Flesh and Blood Demon] card, which he hadn't used yet, was around 600,000. He had a fortune of about 1.2 million, including his previous savings.
He was shocked by the number. He had never seen so much money in two lifetimes. He did know, though, that his situation was unusual for iron-level cardmakers. It was very rare for someone to be able to make red-quality cards from the start. A regular cardmaker who could only make blue-quality cards would never be able to get rich this quickly. The Spirit Begging Society took advantage of this financial desperation by bribing cardmakers who were having trouble making ends meet to do what they wanted.
Russell put the items for sale on a safe online trading site, ignoring those thoughts. After that, he started to look. He knew exactly what card he had to play next.
His eyes suddenly lit up. He had found it.
Bronze-level Material: [The Chosen One] (Purple). Cost: 880,000.
He didn't have enough cash on hand, so he started a private, encrypted chat with the seller and sent a picture of his own gold-quality card.
"Hi. I'd like to give you this stuff [Image Attached] and $300,000 in cash for your [The Chosen One]. "Is that okay?"
He waited, his heart beating slowly. A response came after a while.
"Okay."
Russell's offer was generous because he thought his own card was worth about 900,000. This gave the seller a small but immediate profit. It was a good deal. Soon, a bonded courier from Metro Express finished the deal, and Russell had his prize in his hand.
Russell's lips curled into a grim smile as he looked at the purple light of [The Chosen One]. Everything was set. It was time to get started.
He focused on the blank card and put all of his mental energy into the picture he wanted to make. He saw a young boy with a straw hat, a simple red vest, and blue shorts. The boy always had a big, innocent smile on his face. He not only channelled the boy's image, but also his ideas: unbreakable hope, a desire for freedom, and a will of steel.
The world disappeared as he used his power to cover the material. He was back in that dark, mysterious place where things are made.
[Please start putting your story together.]
Monkey D. Luffy was born in the East Blue in Windmill Village. His grandfather, Vice-Admiral Garp, trained him in ways that were cruel from a young age because he wanted him to be the best marine in the Navy.
Luffy happened to meet Red-Haired Shanks, one of the Four Emperors of the Sea, and the two became best friends. Luffy accidentally ate the Gum-Gum Fruit during this time because he was so angry that a mountain bandit insulted Shanks.
That same bandit threw Luffy into the sea later on in an act of revenge. Shanks saved him from being eaten by a Sea King, but he lost his left arm in the process. Luffy promised Shanks that he would become the King of the Pirates one day when Shanks was ready to leave the island. Shanks gave Luffy his prized straw hat as a promise.
[When Luffy was seventeen, he went to sea.]
He saved a boy named Coby from the pirate Alvida, then went to Shells Town and met the pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro. After beating the cruel Marine Captain Morgan, he got Zoro to join his crew as the first member. They quickly met the thief Nami and fought Buggy the Clown together.
They beat the clever Captain Kuro in Syrup Village, hired the sharpshooter Usopp, and got their first official ship, the Going Merry. They met the chef Sanji at the sea restaurant Baratie and beat the fleet admiral Don Krieg. It was here that Zoro fought the world's best swordsman, Dracule Mihawk, and lost badly, almost dying.
The crew went to Nami's home, Cocoyasi Village, with Sanji. There, Luffy learnt about her sad past. He kept his promise to make her smile again by defeating the fish-man pirate Arlong, breaking the Marines' corruption, and getting his first bounty of 30,000,000 berries.
The card that was floating in front of Russell started to glow, which meant that the strange space had accepted the beginning of his story. He took a breath and went on.
When Nico Robin, Luffy's crewmate, was taken, Luffy and his crew didn't think twice. They attacked Enies Lobby, the World Government's court island, and declared war on the whole world to get her back.
[On that island, Luffy used his Devil Fruit to gain new powers called "Gear Second" and "Gear Third" in order to defeat an enemy he thought was impossible to beat. He was able to save his friend.]
That was the end of the story. Russell knew that the material had reached its limit and could not hold any more of the epic story. It made sense. Luffy's later adventures, when he was one of the Worst Generation and then an Emperor of the Sea, were way too big for a bronze-level card. To be honest, he was overjoyed that he had even been able to include Gear Third. That move had power that was clearly higher than the bronze level in the original story.
After a while, he came back to reality, his mind full of the picture of a happy boy and his amazing, exciting life. He looked down at the card that was now complete and floating in front of him.
[Straw Hat Boy · Luffy]
Place: Bronze
Red Quality
Type: Creature
Skills:
[Gum-Gum Fruit]: Luffy's body is made of rubber, so any part of it can stretch and bounce back at will. Most blunt-force trauma and electrical attacks don't hurt him.
[Gear Second]: Luffy's blood pumps faster, which puts him in a high-performance state. His speed and strength are greatly increased in this state.
[Gear Third]: Luffy can blow up the bones in his body, which makes his arms and legs huge. When in this state, attacks have a lot of power to destroy. (As a price, the card will go into a weakened cooldown state after use.)
Features:
[Emperor's Recognition]: An Emperor of the Sea has recognised Luffy's potential. Luffy's powers are much stronger when he fights a demon that looks like a pirate.
[Will of D.]: When Luffy is about to lose, he will get a burst of energy that will make Anonymous immune to one fatal blow for a short time
[Optimist]: Luffy's naturally happy and determined personality makes him immune to any negative emotional effects that aren't at the Silver level.
"I'm going to be the King of the Pirates!"
Advanced Route: Bronze [Straw Hat Boy · Luffy] → Gold [Worst Generation · Luffy] → Diamond [Four Emperors · Luffy]
Bonds:
When [Ace] and other related cards are present, it activates [Three Brothers of Windmill Village].
When [Zoro] and other related cards are present, it turns on [Straw Hat Pirates].
Gear Third.geg
Russell couldn't believe that the strange space had really recognised the setting. In the first story, Gear Third could sink a navy battleship with just one blow. It was a very strong trump card, even with the cooldown limit.
Russell held back his excitement and focused his energy to call up his new card.
A boy with a straw hat and a big, happy smile came up to him.
