The air filled Arch's lungs, carrying the weight of his newly augmented power. "Thirty percent... this power up is incredible. Gurararara!"
Come on, Foxxy-Face," he ordered with a paternal wave. "Time to resume the grand adventure and unearth that hidden exit.
He exited the store. The sight was surreal: a young boy marching with unmistakable certainty, shadowed by a large, white beast. They encountered only wilderness and decay: dense grass, subterranean vines, and yet more demolished homes. Arch leveraged his ROOM ability as an internal radar,instantly discerning the presence of any significant objects within the ruins. Crucially, the activation was effortless; the former drain on his energy was gone, a likely benefit of the template increase. The sustained exertion led him to a fundamental query.
Hey, System," he queried. "Tell me, are you essentially a part of me now?
*CREAKKKKK
[SYSTEM]: Affirmative. I am integrated into your consciousness and utilize your sensory input, including your visual and auditory functions.
Yeah, of course," Arch muttered. "And if you're part of me, you're also using my senses, especially my sight, right? So how come when I asked you if you could translate the writings on the cube, you suggested I buy a camera? Aren't systems supposed to be intelligent beings and have a photographic memory?"
*CREAKKKKK
[SYSTEM]: My visual integration processes sensory data in real-time but lacks the necessary external reference library for complex linguistic analysis of unknown languages. The camera was suggested to capture high-resolution, static data points, which allows for offline processing and future comparative analysis.Most of all the Host brain will surely explode due to excessive pressure from accessing and compiling knowledge.
And now, speaking of my purchase, how am I supposed to charge the phone I bought?" Arch continued.
The System automatically converts the ambient energy in the Host's immediate area, including solar energy. The System can absorb these converted compounds and use them to produce the necessary substances required for any specific daily-life necessities.
Arch let out a small, confused sigh. "Yeah, that was all over my head," he admitted, shaking his head. "But hey, the specifics don't matter. What matters is, you're damn dependable, System!"
The journey continued, though Arch had long since lost track of the hours. A subtle, yet undeniable, alteration in the environment prompted him to pause; the already dim underground space was growing darker still, as if the very shadows were becoming deeper and more aggressive. A sliver of anxiety pierced his confidence.
System," he asked, trying to steady his voice, "check the time for me."
*CREAKKKKK
SYSTEM: [ 18:03 ]
When the system confirmed the time, Arch finally breathed a sigh of relief. Due to the sudden darkening, he had thought something was fundamentally wrong with the underground location, but it turned out night was simply approaching.
He was now in a dilemma: out in the middle of nowhere, he couldn't find shelter for himself and his companion.
Suddenly, the fox behind him slowly walked by, passing Arch. Arch looked intently at the fox's snake-tail. The snake-tail, which was draped over the fox's back, looked back at him, nodded its head, and slowly turned, giving him a clear signal: Hey, follow me.
Arch, of course, understood the little gesture the snake face made. He immediately followed the snake-fox.
After thirty minutes of travel, the underground was consumed by total blackness, forcing Arch to rely entirely on the System's pale, forward-casting light. Ahead, finally, the beam caught it: the mouth of a cave, heavily curtained by thick vines and brilliant red flowers.
A perfect shelter!" Arch praised, rewarding the snake-fox with a quick thumbs-up as they reached the entrance
But his enthusiasm dimmed. The cave wasn't open; it was secured by a large, sturdy double door. And that door was locked. He stretched out a hand toward the rusty, heavy mechanism, but the effort was futile. Even standing on his toes, the lock was far, far out of reach—high up on the eight-foot-tall structure, mocking his current five-year-old stature.
ARCH: is this door mocking me?
Is this door mocking me? How dare you!" Arch roared. Unnoticed by him, the snake-fox let out a subtle smirk.
"You dare to mock me! Gurararara!"
Arch resolved to use the power of the Whitebeard Template. He clenched his left hand, closed his eyes, concentrating, imagining, and feeling the power as he repeated the same words inside his head. When his ruby eyes snapped open, his left hand glowed, a white orb surrounding his entire fist. "Gurarararara!" he burst out laughing.
He looked at the big door, and his imagination kicked in again: he saw the door as a big-mouthed creature laughing at him.
"Wahahaha! What is a tiny, tickling kid doing here?" the door-creature seemed to mock.
Arch remained silent, staring intently.
Hahaha! What, too scared to say something? Or did you perhaps piss your pants? Wait, you don't have pants, you have a dress! Wahahaha!" taunted the door.
Arch snapped out of his trance. His eyes narrowed, burning red like a predator's, sending shivers down the spine of the imaginary door. His left fist pulsed with the white orb of power.
In the deepest voice he could muster, Arch declared: "You want my head? Then I'll gladly take you on!"
With all the force he could summon, he swung his left hand, mimicking Whitebeard's infamous strike. With a loud shout, he yelled, "HAKUAAAAA!"
A powerful shockwave gusted out from Arch's punch. The air itself seemed to crack, and a visible fracture line shot straight toward the big-mouthed creature—the door.
"Wh-what a power! Who the helllllll are you, brattttt?!" the door shouted,before being hit in its imaginary chin.
"I AM ARCH D. NEWGATE, SON OF WHITEBEARD! YOU BETTER REMEMBER THAT, YOU STUPID DOOR!"
[End of Arch's Imagination]
----- to be continued-----