"A whole ten thousand points?!"
Shane's eyes twitched as he stared at the message, taking a good while to recover his composure.
He had sacrificed so many Devil Fruits and precious treasures before this. He'd plucked rewards from the likes of the Four Emperors and the three Admirals, yet over the years, only three items had ever broken the ten-thousand-point mark.
Those were the genuine Straw Hat, Shanks' severed arm, and the Red Force.
Coincidentally, the severed arm had been worth exactly ten thousand. Now, Oden's journal was sitting at the same table. Was this simply the world's will showing bias toward its "true protagonist"?
"Fine, more points are always a good thing."
Since he was the one benefiting, Shane didn't dwell on it. He scrolled up through the stream of information.
You sacrificed Queen's Plague Gatling; obtained 1,800 points.
You sacrificed King's oversized katana; obtained 2,300 points.
You sacrificed Kaido's kanabo, Hachisai; obtained 6,600 points.
...
He couldn't even finish scrolling.
Wano was truly a treasure trove. Because so many characters had appeared, there was wool to be plucked everywhere. The executives of the Beast Pirates, Orochi's Oniwabanshu, and Oden's old retainers had collectively provided 13,500 points. Now, Oden's personal journal had added another 10,000.
His total points had instantly surged from 25,000 to 48,500. He was only 1,500 points away from the 50,000 required for the Training Card.
Fifteen hundred? That shouldn't be hard to scrape together.
Shane looked up at the Golden Inari Shrine before him. Inari shrines were dedicated to the Inari gods, led by Ukanomitama; worshippers came here to pray for good weather and agricultural prosperity. In a closed-off agrarian country like Wano, they were everywhere.
There was nothing particularly outstanding about this Golden Inari Shrine. Shane had only happened to be passing by and thought the mountain scenery was pleasant, so he stopped to rest and organize his gains.
He hadn't expected a pleasant surprise.
Shane stepped leisurely through the shrine gates. The interior was empty. The shrine maidens who served here had likely fled during the previous night's chaos, thinking war had broken out.
Shane turned his gaze to the left. Aside from the Inari deity, this shrine also housed a grave. No, it wasn't even a grave—just a simple cenotaph. The wooden post driven into the ground bore an inscription:
[Grave of Kozuki Moria]
Strange. Truly strange. Why was there a cenotaph?
Moria was still very much alive, playing the role of a shut-in figurine collector over in the Florian Triangle. That guy had seemingly appeared during the recent Great War, but as soon as things looked grim, he slipped away so fast that Shane hadn't even had the chance to fleece the fat sheep.
"Kozuki, eh..." Shane rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
Gecko Moria. Kozuki Moria. This was the strangest part. If he remembered correctly, Moria's hometown was in the West Blue; he didn't have the slightest connection to the Kozuki clan.
However, when that "Onion-head" was younger, he had fought a decisive battle against Kaido in the Ringo region of Wano—right where the Golden Inari Shrine stood. In that battle, the ambitious Moria was utterly crushed. His convictions and will were shattered, ending his dreams of conquering the New World and leaving him to rot in Paradise for the rest of his life.
Could it be that the local people misheard his name? Perhaps through word of mouth, they mistook him for a hero of the Kozuki clan who had died a tragic death resisting Kaido?
It all lined up; that was likely the case. How ironic.
Moria had clearly fled because he couldn't win. Before leaving, he had robbed the graves in Ringo, even stealing the corpse of the great swordsman Shimotsuki Ryuma—the ancestor of Kuina and Zoro—along with the legendary blade, Shusui. And yet, here he was, being worshipped as a hero.
"I can't even look at this," Shane muttered, shaking his head.
With a casual punch, the resulting shockwave blew away the small mound of earth. He pulled up the inscribed wooden post, wondering if it could be sacrificed, when he suddenly let out a soft exclamation and looked at the ground.
With the cenotaph mound removed, the items buried within were revealed: a blood-stained black jacket and a massive katana.
"Oh?" Shane's interest was piqued. The jacket looked exactly like the style Moria wore in his youth.
He turned his attention to the katana. As he drew it, the blade still gleamed with a cold light; it was clearly a rare Grade Blade. Moria had gone through the trouble of stealing Shusui, yet he wasn't willing to take his own sword?
Had the blow from Kaido been so devastating that he viewed the weapon that accompanied him to his peak as a symbol of shame, choosing to discard it?
"You really are pathetic, Moria."
Shane shook his head and weighed the massive sword in his hand. He flicked the blade with his finger.
Ping!
A clear, resonant hum echoed through the mountains, carrying a lingering trace of resentment and loneliness, as if the blade were recounting its master's desperate flight years ago.
"Unwilling to let go? I suppose so. A good sword being abandoned and buried here for over twenty years—it must be stifling."
Shane could sense the sword's will. Rather than rotting here, it might as well provide one last spark of utility for him. With a thought, he activated the system.
Sacrifice!
A deep blue system panel expanded before him.
You sacrificed Moria's Great Grade Blade, "Shadow-Slayer"; obtained 3,000 points.
"Oh?" Shane was surprised.
It was more than he expected. He thought it would be around eighteen hundred at most, but it far exceeded the average level for a Warlord-tier item. This showed just how deep the bond between the sword and its original master had been.
Moria, you idiot, do you have any idea what you threw away?
Shane shifted his gaze to the other side of the panel.
Current Remaining Points: 51,500.
"That's enough!"
The threshold he had been anticipating—the key to completely defeating Imu's true body—was finally within reach. Without hesitation, Shane opened the trading market and checked out his cart.
You are about to spend 50,000 points to purchase: Random Simulation World Training Card. Confirm?
Description: Upon use, three high-fidelity simulated worlds will be randomly selected from across the multiverse. You may choose one to enter. Time limit: return within one year (Real-world time elapsed: one week).
Confirm!
Purchased! Consumed 50,000 points. Current Remaining Points: 1,500.
The points he had painstakingly hoarded were instantly wiped out. In their place, a black card flowing with deep starlight sat quietly in his inventory.
Shane didn't waste any more breath. He activated it immediately.
Worlds are being rolled...
Roll complete. You may choose one of the following three worlds to enter:
1. Baki the Grappler
2. Dragon Ball Z
3. Bleach