It was a beautiful and sunny afternoon at the Gray Terminal.
Ron, Ace, and Sabo looked at the money they had stolen, their eyes filled with excitement. Ron felt the time was right; Ace and Sabo had been training for two and a half years, and their strength had caught up.
The setting sun painted the outline of the garbage piles red. The three teenagers sat around a bonfire, roasting the wild boar they had just hunted. Grease dripped into the fire, making a "sizzling" sound.
Sabo was gnawing on a leg of meat, Ace skillfully turned the roast, while Ron, the eldest brother among the three, was uncharacteristically silent, his gaze thoughtfully fixed on the flickering flames.
"Hey, Big Brother Ron, why are you acting so strange today?" Sabo tilted his head, his mouth still greasy. "Are you thinking of some bad idea?"
Ace also looked up, casting a suspicious glance at Ron: "Did you secretly hide money?"
Ron heard this, a slight smile playing on his lips, revealing a mysterious grin. He slowly put down the meat in his hand, clapped off the grease, and sighed with feigned profundity: "Actually... I have a secret I haven't told you guys."
"A secret?" Sabo's eyes lit up, and he immediately leaned closer, "Did you really hide money?"
Ace scoffed: "Impossible. Ron's money is all managed by me."
Ron shook his head, his gaze sweeping between the two, and lowered his voice: "I'm coming clean, no more pretending—actually, I'm a System User who ate a System Fruit!"
"System Fruit?!" Ace and Sabo exclaimed in unison, their eyes wide.
Sabo suddenly stood up, even dropping the meat in his hand to the ground: "A Devil Fruit user?! Big Brother Ron, you're actually a devil fruit user?!"
Ace was also too shocked to speak, but soon, his eyes became fervent: "No wonder... no wonder you could always predict the enemy's movements and always find the most effective ways to get stronger during training! So it was because of a Devil Fruit!"
Ron watched their reactions with satisfaction, chuckling inwardly. As expected, the two brats' attention was completely drawn to "Devil Fruit," automatically ignoring the strange title "System User."
"That's right." Ron nodded with a profound air, "And the most special thing about my ability is—I can share it with you."
"Share?!" Sabo and Ace were shocked again.
"So... we can also have some kind of system?" Ace's voice held barely concealed excitement.
"That's right." Ron grinned, "But, you have to promise me one thing first—"
"What is it?" Sabo asked impatiently.
"From now on, you must strive to become stronger and never act on impulse, because your deaths would cause me great harm." Ron narrowed his eyes, smiling like a fox.
Ace and Sabo exchanged glances and nodded without hesitation: "Once a Big Brother, always a Big Brother!"
However, Sabo suddenly seemed to think of something, his brow furrowing slightly: "Wait, Big Brother Ron, if we accept your ability... does that mean we can't eat other Devil Fruits later?"
Ace also realized, his expression becoming serious: "Yeah, can't a person only eat one Devil Fruit?"
Ron waved his hand and chuckled: "Don't worry, my ability is different. I'm just 'lending' it to you; it doesn't affect your ability to eat other Devil Fruits later."
"Really?!" Sabo's eyes lit up.
"Of course." Ron nodded, "And when you find the Devil Fruit you want later, you can eat it without any impact."
Ace and Sabo exchanged glances, so excited they almost jumped up.
"That's great! Then we'll be System Users too!" Sabo cheered.
"System Users..." Ace repeated softly. Although he found the name a bit strange, as soon as he thought about getting stronger, he immediately grinned, "Good! Then from today on, the three of us will be—System User Brothers!"
Ron watched their excited expressions, chuckling inwardly: "These two fools, they have plenty of surprises waiting for them later..."
The bonfire crackled, illuminating three young faces. Ace and Sabo held their breath, their eyes fixed on Ron without blinking, as if awaiting some sacred ritual.
"Are you ready?" Ron's lips curved slightly, and he lightly tapped his finger in the air, as if pulling an invisible string.
In an instant, a translucent light screen appeared before Sabo's eyes. Pale blue data streams poured down like a waterfall, finally condensing into several golden flickering words—
[Strongest Pay-to-Win System · Bound]
[Host: Sabo]
[Current Balance: 0 Berries]
[Rule for getting stronger: Paying to win is awesome for a moment, always paying to win is always awesome!]
Sabo's eyes widened, his mouth slightly agape, and he froze in place.
"Sabo? Hey! What's wrong with you?" Ace waved his hand in front of him, but saw nothing, so he looked at Ron in confusion, "What exactly did he see?"
Ron smiled without speaking, his gaze falling on Sabo's system interface, where it clearly displayed:
[Elementary Martial Arts Mastery — Price: 10,000,000 Berries]
[Intermediate Armament Haki — Price: 1,000,000,000 Berries]
[Advanced Observation Haki — Price: 10,000,000,000 Berries]
[...]
Sabo's breathing quickened, his fingers trembling slightly.
"This... this is too outrageous!" He finally couldn't help but shout, "The martial arts I've practiced for so many years can be directly obtained for just 10,000,000 Berries?!"
Ace was utterly confused and couldn't help but grab Sabo's shoulder and shake him: "Hey! What on earth are you talking about?!"
Sabo suddenly came back to his senses, excitedly grabbing Ace's arm: "Ace! Big Brother Ron gave me a 'Pay-to-Win System'! I can get stronger just by spending money!"
"Get stronger by spending money?" Ace looked skeptical, "You weren't tricked by Ron, were you?"
Sabo shook his head like a rattle, his eyes sparkling with excitement: "No! It's real! The system clearly states that 10,000,000 Berries can exchange for Elementary Martial Arts Mastery, and 1,000,000,000 Berries can learn Armament Haki!"
Ace was a bit bewildered because he hadn't heard of Armament Haki, so he was very confused. But then Sabo explained what Armament Haki was to him.
After understanding, Ace, knowing how difficult it was to obtain Armament Haki, gasped and turned to Ron: "Ron, this... this is too exaggerated, isn't it?!"
Ron shrugged, looking calm: "Exaggerated? This is just the beginning. Sabo's family has more money than they can spend, perfect for paying to win."
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