Chapter 124: VIP Activated
Beyond the fusion of Haki and Psychic Power, what surprised Ian the most was that the effect of Psychic Power materialization had finally appeared!
He picked up the Enma sword in his hand and tried to wrap Psychic Power around it. In the past, Ian had also attempted this kind of wrapping, but back then, the concentration of his Psychic Power wasn't sufficient to achieve materialization, only limited reinforcement. So, to enhance his cutting power, he often had to resort to using the Evil King Flame Slayer Sword as a substitute.
But now, it was different. As Ian output his Psychic Power, the entire blade seemed to be coated with a layer of black film!
Ian hadn't guessed wrong. The effect of Psychic Power materialization was the same concept as the hardening effect of Armament Haki.
He found an iron plate and gently slashed down with the Enma sword, easily cutting the iron plate in half.
This materialized black hardened layer not only increased the sharpness of the weapon but also provided protection. The harder blade wouldn't break even under a strong impact.
If Rayleigh could see this scene, he would probably be very surprised. He had never seen someone who had just awakened Haki achieve Armament Hardening.
But that wasn't the case. Ian had long been using the card system to experience the use of Psychic Power. Now that his Haki had awakened, because it was the same type of energy, Ian was very proficient in using it.
Others awakened first and then experienced it, but he experienced it first and then awakened. The order was reversed, but the result was the same.
Maintaining the hardening effect on the blade, Ian felt the consumption of his Psychic Power. He found that although the current consumption was slightly higher, due to his good physical condition, his Psychic Power recovered very quickly. Just maintaining the hardening effect, Ian could last for a long time.
Of course, it might be different in battle. During combat, Ian would not only consume Psychic Power but also physical strength. Maintaining this state would shorten the duration considerably. This required him to continue his physical training to gain stronger stamina.
Just as Ian was enjoying feeling his newly enhanced strength, Hogkin returned. He was carrying a leather suitcase, which contained the remaining money.
Ian took it, opened it, and saw it was filled with Berry bills. He nodded in satisfaction.
Back when he established the Ian Family, besides wanting more hands to gather intelligence, it was also to ensure a steady stream of income when he was busy. Ian did need money, but honestly, if making money kept him tied up, it would become a burden.
Closing the suitcase, Ian noticed Hogkin's hesitant expression and asked him, "Is there something else?"
Hogkin said, "Ian Boss, there is indeed something. I think I should tell you..."
"Go ahead!" Ian said.
"Recently on Sabaody Archipelago, not only have there been more pirates, but also more bounty hunters and assassins!" Hogkin said. "But strangely, although these people appear on Sabaody, they haven't been catching pirates or anything."
"Oh? What's going on?" Ian asked curiously.
Hogkin shook his head and said, "I don't know about that, but I heard these people come from all over the world. Many are famous assassins or bounty hunters, and quite a few well-known pirates are mixed in! The strange thing is, despite their different identities, there are no signs of conflict!"
"It sounds like they're all in the same group..." Ian said thoughtfully, tapping the table.
"Yes!" Hogkin nodded. "I suspect someone is organizing these people's appearance here... maybe planning something..."
"Don't worry about that for now!" Ian said. "As long as these people don't provoke us, ignore them!"
Hogkin nodded and said, "Understood!"
After he left, Ian carried the money box back to his room. Lorin and Elena had already been sent away; their family's whereabouts had been found. After sending them off, Ian had no one to serve him now, but he wasn't used to such luxury anyway, so he didn't mind.
Combining his original money with the money in the box, Ian thought for a moment, set aside over twenty million, and first recharged one hundred million Berry in one go!
"You have recharged 500,000 diamonds, with an additional 10% bonus. You have received a total of 550,000 diamonds!"
"You have recharged a total of one hundred million Berry in one go. You have become a Junior VIP! You can obtain Junior VIP privileges!"
As the recharge completed and the system's prompt sounded, Ian was stunned. He had never heard of VIP when recharging before!
He had found it strange back then. The card system was originally derived from a knockoff mobile game, and VIP systems were basically standard in such games. But when he recharged before, he never heard anything about VIP experience, making him think the system didn't have this feature.
He didn't expect it to require a one-time recharge of one hundred million Berry to activate. The system was still as ruthlessly money-grabbing as ever...
"What privileges does Junior VIP have?" Ian couldn't help asking.
"It can unlock the Advanced Card Shop, where high-star card fragments and high-star exclusive treasure fragments can be randomly refreshed!"
Ian quickly found the location of the Advanced Card Shop. On the system interface, it was next to the original Fragment Shop. The original Fragment Shop was free to open, so it refreshed one-star and two-star card fragments, which could be purchased with exchanged souls. However, the Advanced Card Shop refreshed three-star card fragments, and the purchase requirements were higher. Most required diamonds to buy, with only occasional fragments that could be exchanged with souls.
"Can Junior VIP only refresh three-star cards?" Ian asked.
"Yes. Advanced VIP can refresh four-star cards, and Supreme VIP can refresh five-star cards!" the system replied.
Ian was speechless. No matter how he looked at it, it was still about squeezing money. But Supreme VIP was probably the only source of five-star cards he knew of so far.
He wondered how much money he would need to recharge in one go to unlock Supreme VIP...
Not only that, but the number of diamonds required to refresh the Advanced Card Shop had also skyrocketed. Refreshing the free Fragment Shop cost 20 diamonds, but refreshing the Advanced Card Shop cost 200 diamonds, a full tenfold increase.
However, Ian did notice one benefit: unlocking the Advanced Card Shop could reduce the number of ten-draws he needed to some extent.
For Ian, this made it easier to cultivate cards. Now that the cards he had equipped were gradually taking shape, getting specific cards through ten-draws had become more difficult.
Not every card drawn was suitable for Ian. For example, the Shadow card was very suitable for Ian, who favored a speed-based style. Naturally, he would want to cultivate it to a high five-star level. But getting a large number of Shadow cards through ten-draws to increase its star rating was, as one could imagine, very difficult.
Having a shop where he could directly buy high-star card fragments was different. Ian could spend a lot of diamonds to keep refreshing. As long as Shadow card fragments appeared, he could buy them. This was much more cost-effective than relying on luck to draw!
Originally, with this recharge, Ian wanted to see if he could draw another four-star card to replace the Magoichi Saika card. But he accidentally unlocked the VIP privilege and brought out the Advanced Card Shop. So, Ian had a new idea.
This time, he definitely wanted to try to draw a four-star card. But once he did, he would save the remaining diamonds. In the future, he would save up the money he earned and recharge it all at once, striving for a higher VIP level. That way, the Advanced Card Shop could refresh four-star card fragments. After the new card slot unlocked at level 20, he could keep refreshing and choose a specific four-star card that suited him to buy.
This way, Ian could build his card deck, attributes, and skills entirely based on four-star cards.
Of course, even now, Ian could refresh the shop and buy Magoichi Saika card fragments to try to upgrade the Magoichi card to four stars. But that would consume too many resources, and a four-star Magoichi card might not be as effective as a native four-star card.
So Ian decided to continue with ten-draws.
Thus, he holed up in his room and began another round of ten-draws.
However, whether his luck was good today or not, after only twelve consecutive ten-draws, he pulled two complete cards!
The first one he drew was a card from Street Fighter: Blanka! That green-skinned, fanged beastman from the Amazon jungle!
As soon as Ian saw this card, he felt nothing. It was just a three-star card.
Tossing it aside, Ian continued drawing. This time, he got a card he hadn't expected!
A four-star Iori Yagami!
He had done so many ten-draws and noticed this issue: cards from the King of Fighters series seemed to appear more frequently due to the larger number of characters.
Iori Yagami was a character Ian had always liked, so after drawing this card, he stopped.
This four-star card could already be used to replace the Magoichi Saika card.
Just as Ian was about to carefully examine the attributes of the Iori Yagami card, he suddenly heard a knock on the door. He had to stand up and go open it.
Opening the door, he found Hogkin standing outside, holding an invitation. He said to Ian, "Boss, someone just delivered this to us!"
Ian took it curiously and opened it. He found that this invitation was inviting him to a gathering.
However, what kind of gathering it was wasn't mentioned at all. There was only a location.
"Who sent it?" Ian asked suspiciously.
"I don't know. The person was wearing a coat, with their face hidden underneath. I couldn't see clearly!" Hogkin said. "They dropped the invitation and left!"