Chapter 23

The flames Ace displayed instantly pushed Natsu's interest in Ace to its peak.

If the Ghost Dominator's main base weren't nearby right now, Natsu would probably have charged over excitedly, wanting to PK Ace one-on-one.

【Ding! Congratulations, Host, for obtaining Emotion Points!】

【Ding! Congratulations, Host, for obtaining 489 Emotion Points!】

【Ding! Congratulations, Host, for obtaining 767 Emotion Points!】

【Ding! Congratulations, Host, for obtaining 596 Emotion Points!】

【Ding! Congratulations, Host, for obtaining 1027 Emotion Points!】

System prompts like these once again flooded Lin Cheng's system panel.

This time it was similar to the way Lin Cheng had previously controlled Ace to 'flex his wealth,' but the specific effect was worlds apart.

The Emotion Points harvested from the previous flexing were only sixty or seventy thousand at most, and combined with Lin Cheng's remaining forty thousand Emotion Points, it barely became a six-figure Emotion Point total.

But now, Lin Cheng's Emotion Points were rapidly leaping toward seven figures.

In just a short while, it directly reached nine hundred thousand Emotion Points. Although the speed slowed a bit afterward, it was still not slow, and it would absolutely be no problem for Lin Cheng's Emotion Points to break past a million once again.

【Portgas D. Ace】

【A-Rank Puppet】

【Star Level: ☆ (+)】

【Pirate Series, Whitebeard Pirates · Commander of the Second Division.】

【Abilities: Flame-Flame Fruit · Mastery, Martial Arts · Mastery.】

【Special Effects: Conqueror's Haki · Entry (☆ Unlocked), Armament Haki · Mastery (☆☆ Unlocked), Observation Haki · Mastery (☆☆ Unlocked), Flame-Flame Fruit · Awakening (☆☆☆ Unlocked)】

【Puppet Charge: 68% (Will automatically recover once depleted, but requires time.)】

【Puppet Recall: Available (Recalls puppet regardless of distance, has a 24-hour cooldown.)】

At this moment, Ace's energy was only at sixty-eight percent.

Before clashing head-on with the Magic Convergent Beam Cannon, Ace's energy was at ninety-eight percent; just taking that one hit head-on consumed over thirty percent of Ace's energy.

'Not bad.'

'Although it consumed quite a bit of energy, it was completely worth it.'

Lin Cheng glanced at the Emotion Points that had unknowingly broken past a million, and the corner of his mouth curved up slightly.

After the Emotion Points broke past a million, a plus sign automatically appeared behind the star levels of Lin Cheng's two A-Rank puppets.

When Ace wasn't drawn, Daiduosi Sect had also shown a plus sign once when Lin Cheng's Emotion Points reached a million.

However, because Lin Cheng didn't have many puppets capable of holding the stage at the time, and Daiduosi Sect had no new two-star special effects, Lin Cheng decided to draw a new puppet.

Now, Lin Cheng faced three choices.

Either upgrade Daiduosi Sect's star level, or upgrade Ace's star level, or draw a new puppet.

For the current script, Lin Cheng's side was considered initially sufficient; Daiduosi Sect at two stars had no special effects, and once Ace was upgraded to two stars, he would be able to unlock two special effects that could greatly enhance single-target combat power.

Observation Haki · Mastery, Armament Haki · Mastery.

And the other basic data would also receive a tremendous boost along with the star level increase.

If a one-star A-Rank puppet Ace's strength level was roughly comparable to Ace at the time of his death in the original work, then once Lin Cheng upgraded Ace's star level to two stars, the two-star Ace would roughly possess Admiral-level strength.

As for Ace's star level being upgraded to three stars.

The Awakening-level Flame-Flame Fruit would likely completely surpass Admiral-level combat power, and at the same time, Observation Haki and Armament Haki would both rise again.

It might still not reach Garp's level, but it would be about the same as an Emperor, with fewer shortcomings and more well-rounded abilities.

However, the consumption involved would also be massive.

Going from one star to two stars was fine, a million Emotion Points; going from two stars to three stars would require tens of millions.

And in the system's evaluation, a three-star A-Rank puppet was only equivalent to a one-and-a-half-star S-Rank; the gap in between could be said to be quite large — roughly that a three-star A-Rank is stronger than a one-star S-Rank, but a two-star A-Rank is weaker than a one-star S-Rank.

'System, upgrade A-Rank puppet Ace's star level.'

Without the slightest hesitation.

Lin Cheng directly chose to throw out all the million Emotion Points he had just harvested, tossing them onto Ace to upgrade his star level.

【Ding! Congratulations, Host, for successfully obtaining an A-Rank Two-Star Puppet!】

【Ding! A-Rank Puppet Portgas D. Ace star upgrade successful, status fully restored!】

【Ding! Congratulations, Host, for successfully obtaining the first two-star puppet, unlocking a new panel, Skill Lottery!】

【Ding! Congratulations, Host, for successfully opening a brand-new system panel, rewarding Skill Gift Pack X1!】

Another string of system notification sounds left Lin Cheng a bit dazzled.

'Probably a Beginner Skill Gift Pack!'

【Ding! Congratulations, Host, for obtaining Skill · Reverse Summon LV1!】

【Ding! Congratulations, Host, for obtaining Skill · Substitute Death Puppet LV1!】

Reverse Summon LV1

Effect: The Host can summon themselves to a designated puppet's vicinity through Reverse Summon.

Substitute Death Puppet LV1

Effect: The Host can block a fatal blow for themselves at the cost of permanently losing one puppet (24-hour cooldown).