Chapter 158: El Dorado - The Promised Land
"Hoh. A rather interesting treasure map," the fairy, Lucia V, said, crossing her legs in mid-air as she inspected it. "Appraising this will cost a little bit of magic."
The [Treasure Map of a Mysterious Sea] floated in the air, shimmering with a faint light.
[Do you wish to spend 3000 Dimensional Points to appraise the item: Treasure Map of a Mysterious Sea?]
"Yes."
In the Nexus, a powerful Reincarnator spent money like water. No matter how many resources you earned, you could always find a way to spend them.
The fairy received the payment and lightly tapped the map. A golden point of magical light fell into it, and a wave of golden light pulsed outwards.
[Appraisal Complete.]
[You have obtained the item: Map to El Dorado - The Promised Land (Special Item - Scarce)]
[Map to El Dorado - The Promised Land]
[Quality: Scarce (Special Item)]
[Description: A special treasure map from the world of One Piece and its derivatives. It points to the legendary city of gold.]
[Effect 1: Before deployment, you may spend 1 D-rank Singularity to activate this map. Your next mission world will be re-anchored to a One Piece derivative world.]
[Effect 2: Once inside a One Piece derivative world, this map will display the specific coordinates of the target location.]
Kaito took the map, which now clearly showed the skull-shaped island of Jaya. He wasn't too surprised. A treasure map from the great seas... in the Nexus, that was almost certainly going to be from either a One Piece world or a Pirates of the Caribbean world.
"El Dorado," the city of gold, clearly referred to the story of "Noland the Liar." And "The Promised Land" referred to the promise between the explorer Noland and the great Shandian warrior, Kalgara. But when a piece of Jaya was launched into the sky by the Knock Up Stream, Noland was branded a liar and executed by his king, his name infamous for centuries. Kalgara, meanwhile, was left on the sky island, leading his people in a centuries-long, bloody war to reclaim their home.
Kaito looked at the map for a moment, then stored it. The greatest value of this item was not the treasure of El Dorado itself. Gold was not that important to a Reincarnator. A player who had abandoned all legal and moral constraints could easily acquire money. (Of course, if a Reincarnator could seize the entire city of gold, they would likely receive a high-tier Singularity, and since gold also has a certain mystical value in magic and alchemy-related worlds, its price would exceed his current estimation.)
For most Reincarnators, the true value of this map was its first effect: the ability to force their deployment into a [One Piece Derivative World]. That effect was priceless. The One Piece world was not only vast, but it also possessed a relatively complete physical training system. For low-tier Reincarnators, its high power ceiling was more than enough to carry them through the early and mid-game. And its special power system, [Haki], was widely adaptable.
Not to mention, there was the ultimate treasure of the sea: the [Devil Fruits].
"El Dorado… I wonder how the Nexus will set the timeline…"
Kaito then cleaned out his inventory. Of his firearms, he only kept the original [Misfortune's Knock]. He had no time or resources to invest in a shooting proficiency, and now that he had both [Killing Intent Sense] and [Tekkai], low-level firearms were almost useless against him anyway.
After this round of training and trading, he was left with: 2 B-rank, 3 C-rank, 3 D-rank, and 1 E-rank Singularities. His Dimensional Points, after the massive per-minute cost of the Training Hall, had dropped to 16,350.
He had even been forced to liquidate some of his other, less valuable resources into Dimensional Points just to keep a B-rank Singularity in reserve for his [Secret Trove: Cursed Blood Origin]. He had simply spent far more time in the Training Hall than he'd expected. The 2-C-rank sparring session had cost 150 DP per minute. If he continued to train this way, the cost would be astronomical.
Of course, this massive expenditure of resources had also resulted in a rapid increase in his strength. In just a few mission cycles, all of his base attributes were now approaching the limit of the first tier, and his numerous high-level abilities and his innate combat talent had given him an anomalous level of fighting power. He could now easily kill a Second Tier Reincarnator like Grinder, especially one who was a bad matchup for him, without taking much damage.
Kaito turned and returned to the public space. He had already used up over an hour of his Dwell Time. If he weren't a Star-ranked Reincarnator now, he would have already been kicked out.
[Mercenary Tao]'s reputation was now at its peak. Wherever he went, people recognized him. The moment he stepped out of the Appraisal Office, someone was already calling out to him in a jaunty voice.
"Mercenary Tao! A guy like you actually joined that woman Luo Xi's crew? Heh. Did she give you some... special treatment?"
The speaker was a cat-man with a long tail. It was impossible to tell if it was just an avatar or a bloodline.
Kaito's face was a mask of indifference. He had no interest in talking to such a nobody. He just walked forward, as if the man standing in front of him didn't exist.
VMMMM!
The space between them seemed to distort. As Kaito took a step, the cat-man's body bizarrely warped to the side, and Kaito passed straight "through" him. This was the passive "absolute peace" setting of the public space. Unless a formal agreement was made, Reincarnators couldn't even physically touch each other here. (Any... physical transactions... had to be conducted in a private space.)
The cat-man, [KK], had a dark look on his face. He could feel the eyes of the other Reincarnators on him, mocking him. "Shibal!" he cursed.
[KK] wasn't a complete nobody. He had once worked with the monster [Kalpa]. As such, he wasn't as afraid of these infamous "monsters" as other players were. He had wanted to team up with the new monster, Tao. He had an incredible piece of information—the real-world identity of a very important Reincarnator. If they could hunt that person together, the profits would be immeasurable.
But this Mercenary Tao had "betrayed" his trust. He looked resentfully at Kaito, who was already entering the [Rank Management Office]. He turned to find other partners, but he didn't see that several of the info-brokers in the bazaar were now watching him.
"Oh? I didn't expect you to have touched the [Constitution] limit break."
Knight-chan propped her chin on her hand, looking thoughtful. In her eyes, a Reincarnator like Kaito should have been aiming for the Agility or Strength limit.
"Is there a problem with the Constitution limit, Miss Knight?"
She shook her head. "No problem at all. Those who break the Constitution limit are usually those with incredibly powerful physiques. You certainly qualify. After breaking this limit, one usually obtains a powerful damage immunity ability, or in some rare cases, a unique biological trait, like the ability to survive in extreme environments—lava, the deep sea, or even a vacuum."
Kaito listened, his understanding of the power gap between the first and second tiers becoming clearer. In layman's terms, this was the line between "normal" and "supernatural." 20 points in a single stat was the absolute limit for a "normal" creature. To touch that [Limit], was to touch the threshold of the supernatural. After breaking it, not only would the efficiency of your stats increase, but you would also gain a clear, supernatural trait.
He thought about his own special situation. "Can a Reincarnator break multiple limits and obtain multiple traits?"
Knight-chan shook her head. "Every evolution is an irreversible act. For a Reincarnator, breaking a limit is an evolution of your very essence. Until you reach the next stage, you cannot evolve again."
Kaito understood. Therefore… "Then what happens if I touch the limit in all four stats at the same time?"
He didn't need her answer. He already knew.
Knight-chan also gave him an energetic smile. "A perfect being… will, of course, receive a perfect evolution."
Kaito smiled, satisfied. He repeated her definition.
"A perfect being… I like the sound of that."
Kaito returned to his manor in the jungles of Myanmar. He lay on his rocking chair, swaying gently, his mind at ease.
"Boss Kaito!"
"We have a lead on the [Immortality Grass]!"
Lin, leaning on a cane, struggled up the stairs, his voice full of excitement. He found the madman with his eyes closed, seemingly asleep.