Chapter 155
Ian could roughly guess which cards required archery skills—whether it was Uryu Ishida or a Dark Ranger, both would likely need this skill.
However, Ian didn’t plan to use this card. He didn’t have the time or energy to practice another basic skill; his existing ones were already keeping him busy. He had only reached an intermediate level in physical combat training so far.
From his battle with Aokiji, Ian realized his stamina was lacking. For Devil Fruit users, strong stamina allowed them to use their abilities without limit. Ian was no different—better stamina meant faster recovery of his Psychic Power.
Aokiji was much older than Ian, meaning he had spent far more years honing his physical combat skills. Decades of training naturally couldn’t be matched by Ian’s mere months of practice. That was why Ian had fled after using the Black Dragon Wave—he couldn’t sustain a prolonged fight against Aokiji. His only option was to unleash a big move, show off, and then run.
Setting aside Uryu Ishida’s card, Ian turned his attention to another four-star card from the Bleach series.
This card brought him some pleasant surprises.
【Orihime Inoue】
Card Star Rating: Four Stars
Level: 1
Strength: 20
Speed: 30
Stamina: 80
Psychic Power: 320
Skills: Koten Zanshun: Summons Tsubaki from Shun Shun Rikka for attack (Advanced Psychic Training Skill, requires equipping exclusive item Shun Shun Rikka to activate)
Soten Kisshun: Summons Shun’ō and Ayame from Shun Shun Rikka to heal and restore the target (Advanced Psychic Training Skill, requires equipping exclusive item Shun Shun Rikka to activate)
Santen Kesshun: Summons Hinagiku, Lily, and Baigon from Shun Shun Rikka for defense (Expert Psychic Training Skill, requires equipping exclusive item Shun Shun Rikka to activate)
Shiten Kōshun: Summons Tsubaki, Hinagiku, Lily, and Baigon from Shun Shun Rikka to defend and reflect attacks (Expert Psychic Training Skill, requires equipping exclusive item Shun Shun Rikka to activate)
Ultimate: Sōten Kisshun: Passive ability, enhances all skill effects by 100% (Master Psychic Training Skill, can be activated upon card upgrade to five-star red card)
Bonds: Obtain Ichigo Kurosaki: Stamina +40%
Obtain Tatsuki Arisawa: Strength +32%
Obtain Chizuru Honshō: Speed +24%
Obtain Rukia Kuchiki: Psychic Power +34%
Ian was thrilled because this was a card with comprehensive support abilities—attack, defense, and healing all in one. Plus, as a four-star card, it had far more cultivation value than the Sherry card.
However, Ian wasn’t sure if Orihime Inoue’s card could remove the Celestial Dragon’s mark.
Judging from the skill requirements, this seemed to be a pure Psychic Power card. Its strength and speed stats were quite low, but its initial Psychic Power value far exceeded other cards. Moreover, this card seemed to require the exclusive item Shun Shun Rikka to be usable.
Shun Shun Rikka… Ian felt a headache coming on. Did he have to refresh the high-level shop to collect this exclusive item?
No doubt about it—Shun Shun Rikka was a four-star exclusive item on par with a Zanpakutō. He wondered if he had drawn any fragments of this exclusive item during his previous ten-draw sessions.
Ian asked the system and learned that he had indeed drawn some fragments, but only forty-two in total. To synthesize a four-star exclusive item, he needed a full one hundred fragments.
Fifty-eight more to go? Ian thought it over and decided it wasn’t too many, so he began refreshing the shop to find and purchase Shun Shun Rikka.
As a high-level VIP, the card shop could refresh to show three-star and four-star card fragments, as well as three-star and four-star exclusive item fragments. Typically, two to three fragments would appear at a time.
Occasionally, materials for item enhancement would also appear, which Ian could buy as well.
Manual refreshing was different from the system’s automatic refresh. Ian bought any card fragments he could use, making the most of each refresh—after all, each refresh cost 2,000 diamonds, equivalent to 40,000 Berries.
But this process was painfully slow. Fortunately, Jinbe and his group weren’t leaving until the next day, so Ian had the entire night to finish.
Even so, he kept refreshing until past three in the morning before finally gathering enough Shun Shun Rikka fragments to synthesize it.
In that time, he had only refreshed about eight hundred times—far less efficient than the system’s automatic refresh. However, he also managed to pick up quite a few fragments of Flying Shadow’s exclusive item, which turned out to be a rune bandage.
When the Black Dragon Wave was being tamed and summoned, it generated immense heat. Ian had once burned off his own sleeve, so he figured he might need it and bought it along with everything else.
Now that Shun Shun Rikka was synthesized, Ian naturally wanted to test it. But when he did, something baffling happened.
Ian had assumed that using Orihime Inoue’s skills would simply require swapping her into the card slot and equipping the exclusive item, with no other effects. But reality proved him wrong.
When he used Soten Kisshun’s healing skill on his own legs, Shun Shun Rikka materialized on his head!
Say it three times: Shun Shun Rikka materialized! Shun Shun Rikka materialized! Shun Shun Rikka materialized!
When he touched the Shun Shun Rikka on his head, Ian felt like he’d been screwed over!
Because this so-called exclusive item Shun Shun Rikka was nothing but a girl’s hairpins, wasn’t it!?
A grown man, a tough guy—using this card’s skill meant having hairpins on his head!? Was there anything more embarrassing than that?
The system had told Ian that he could only equip one exclusive item at a time for himself, but if the card also had an exclusive item equipped, it would materialize when the skill was used!
That meant if he got Iori Yagami’s exclusive item, the Yasakani no Magatama, it would appear around his neck when using Iori’s skills.
After confirming this with the system, Ian didn’t know what to say. If he removed the Celestial Dragon marks for the departing people tomorrow, in front of so many people, with a pretty girl’s hairpins on his head, wouldn’t they think he was a pervert?
Imagining this scene, Ian could only laugh bitterly and silently pull out his Bear Ear Hat!
Indeed, only the hat was the true savior. As long as he wore it tomorrow, maybe he could hide it from sight.
He tested Soten Kisshun’s effect on himself and found that Orihime Inoue’s healing ability was indeed superior to Sherry’s card. If he had to describe it, Sherry’s card might be “healing,” while Orihime Inoue’s was “restoration”!
The two were completely different. Restoration didn’t just treat injuries—it also returned the body part to its original, undamaged state.
Ian couldn’t quite articulate the exact difference or understand how the system set these abilities, but he knew this card’s skill could achieve his goal, and that was enough.
This also made Ian wonder: could Soten Kisshun’s effect help restore Kuina? Logically, Kuina’s injury was to her brain’s consciousness, while her body was intact. General healing wouldn’t work, but Soten Kisshun’s effect might be useful??
Ian couldn’t judge for now and had to set it aside, waiting for another opportunity.
The next morning, everyone gathered at the coast. Not only was Jinbe’s Fish-Man Pirates preparing to set sail with those returning home, but Ian and his crew, now with a new ship, were also ready to depart.
The young boy who had toasted Ian was also being sent back. Though he had no family left, a kind-looking woman among the slaves was willing to adopt him. So even though the kid wanted to follow Ian and become a pirate, Ian refused and added him to the list of those being sent home.
“Why won’t you let me come with you?” The boy sobbed uncontrollably in front of Ian.
“You’re too young!” Ian patted his shoulder. “We can’t take care of a kid like you. Wait until you’re older!”
Saying “wait until you’re older” was just to placate him. After finally calming the boy down, Ian had him take off his shirt and turn around.
On the boy’s back, a black mark was etched into the skin. The skin damaged by the mark was already necrotic, which was why it appeared black. Ian shook his head, silently put on his hat, and activated Soten Kisshun on the boy’s back.
Two petals fell from the hairpins, transforming into two spirits that stretched out a narrow space, covering the boy’s back. Slowly, the black mark began to fade away!
Jinbe and the others couldn’t see the two spirits, as they were formed from Psychic Power, unlike the hairpin exclusive item materialized by the system. But they could see the mark disappearing. Jinbe remarked in surprise, “You’re a rare healing-type ability user?”
“Not exactly,” Ian replied vaguely, unsure how to explain. “Just one application of my ability.”
Seeing Ian’s reluctance to answer, Jinbe didn’t press further.
The disappearance of the Celestial Dragon’s mark filled the boy with ecstasy. Though young, he didn’t want to carry this shameful mark for life.
Next, Ian repeated the process, removing the marks for everyone.
This healing skill consumed quite a bit of Psychic Power. Ian would heal for a while, then rest, and it wasn’t until noon that he finished treating everyone.