Chapter 83: The Scroll Is a System

Gao Wen exerted great effort to suppress the urge to rush forward and unleash a barrage of attacks.

No way, bro—licking dogs get nothing!

Wait a minute—this guy seems to lick everyone he meets. What’s this, a war wolf?

For a moment.

Gao Wen again didn’t know what to say; after returning to his room, he fell into deep thought.

It wasn’t just Sanji.

Lately, the experience gained from ordinary pirates has dwindled, and perhaps it’s not merely because their potential has been fully tapped.

Laziness is human nature, and as the Gao Wen Pirates’ influence in the East Blue has stabilized, this has grown worse.

The battles these ordinary pirates face have visibly decreased, and the pressure to survive has grown ever lighter.

Their urgency to improve their combat strength has naturally dropped sharply; many have even abandoned training altogether, evident in the increasingly round bellies of several pirates.

Those planning to retire in the East Blue, Gao Wen could ignore.

After all, even if they trained hard, the experience points they yielded for Gao Wen were minimal.

But those like Sanji—individuals with immense potential, destined to follow him into the Grand Line, and who will one day become key combat assets—must not be left unchecked.

“Those like Zoro, with clear goals and self-driven motivation, can be left alone.”

“But as more crew members join, people like Sanji—who don’t care about growing stronger—will only multiply…”

“I need a way to make these bastards hustle themselves—after all, if you don’t work hard, how can I get stronger?”

“007? Bottom-tier elimination? Or performance-based pay?”

At this moment, Gao Wen finally realized that, without noticing, he had become the very person he once despised—you know what…

Damn, it feels great!

Yet these ideas were quickly dismissed by Gao Wen.

It wasn’t that he had a conscience.

Pirates in this world aren’t like the wage slaves of his past life—middle-aged, burdened with negative debt, some even carrying triple or quadruple loans.

Under these conditions, even if the boss’s demands were harsher than the Geneva Conventions, they’d still grit their teeth and hustle—after all, wage slaves aren’t prisoners.

People in the pirate world, especially those with real skills, have countless options; push them too hard and they’ll easily jump ship.

“Reverse pressure won’t work—only positive incentives will.”

“The best at this are gacha games—just shift the mindset from tricking the boss into spending money, to tricking crew members into training…”

After some thought, Gao Wen gradually formed a plan.

The next day.

Gao Wen found Zan Gao and ordered him to assemble a team to forge a batch of metal plates to be worn on the chest.

“Make them coin-shaped metal inscribed plates, with a hole at the top so they can be hung by a cord around the neck.”

“The front must display numbers, starting from 0 up to 100; the back must bear the pirate crew’s flag.”

Zan Gao nodded:

“Simple enough—there’s a ready-made forge at the port; with the molds prepared, we can finish in a few days.”

“But Captain, what’s the purpose of these?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

Gao Wen offered no further explanation, adding:

“By the way, plates numbered 1 through 10 must be made of gold, with craftsmanship distinctly superior to the others.”

“Plate number 0 must be inlaid with gems, its front engraved with the Captain’s emblem.”

“Also, forge another batch of plates matching the quality of numbers 0 to 10—no numbers engraved, front left blank, to be adjusted later as needed.”

“Understood.”

Zan Gao waved his hand and said:

“The gold plates will be a bit more troublesome, but the rest can be done in a few days.”

“Hmm.”

Gao Wen patted Zan Gao’s shoulder, entrusted him with the task, then ordered the rest of the crew to gather in the meeting room.

Half an hour later.

Except for those on patrol or scouting nearby waters, everyone else had assembled in the meeting room—even Zoro, still injured, was present.

Keluo, interrupted mid-training, frowned irritably:

“Why call us here now?”

A Jin guessed instinctively:

“Are we preparing to enter the Grand Line?”

Keluo shook his head:

“No—the new ship’s still under construction. Even if the Crow Port poured all its effort into it, it’d still take at least two months.”

“Then I don’t know.”

A Jin wiped sweat from his body:

“But the Captain wouldn’t do this without a reason—!”

…

“Quiet!”

Before A Jin could finish, Gao Wen’s voice cut through the room.

The murmuring crowd instantly fell silent; all eyes turned upward to Gao Wen.

Gao Wen scanned the room, confirmed that key officers—including Sanji—were present, then spoke directly:

“I won’t waste words.”

“You all know that in three months, we’ll sail into the Grand Line—the most dangerous sea in the world, where the weak have no place to survive!”

“To live, you must spare no effort to become stronger!”

As Gao Wen spoke,

everyone’s expressions grew serious.

In these past months, each of them had taken part in battles—some more, some less.

In fact,

had it not been for Gao Wen and Keluo and the other senior officers bearing the brunt of enemy fire, they’d all be dead already.

And what kind of hellish scene would the Grand Line present?

Only Keluo and others had fire of anticipation in their eyes.

Gao Wen wasn’t surprised by their reactions; he continued:

“To determine your standing within the crew, we will hold the First Martial Arts Tournament in three months!”

“Your ranking will decide your position in the crew’s hierarchy!”

“Starting today, thirty percent of the crew’s annual net profits will be set aside as bonuses for the top one hundred ranked crew members!”

“The higher your rank, the greater your share; the top ten will have priority in choosing treasures like Devil Fruits and legendary swords!”

“For the top three, I will grant one reasonable request within reason!”

His words ended.

The crew stared at Gao Wen in stunned silence, then erupted into thunderous cheers.

Zoro, Keluo, and A Jin’s eyes instantly blazed.

They didn’t care about money or treasure—but Gao Wen’s words made all three instantly link three key words together:

Combat power, ranking, status!

Keluo pushed his glasses up, his cold face unable to suppress the cruel grin:

“Deciding status purely by combat power? That’s just like that guy’s style!”

A Jin gritted his teeth:

“Under these conditions, I can’t afford to lose to anyone!”

In Zoro’s eyes, a flame ignited; his hand instinctively gripped his sword hilt:

“A contest for the strongest in the crew?”

“Interesting!”

As the crew debated, Sanji, standing aside, felt his heartbeat stutter—he realized what had just been said, and his entire body trembled with excitement!

“If I make the top three, I can… I can… request anything… reasonable?”

“Can I hire a chef?!?!!”

(End of Chapter)