Klein immediately swapped out the talent [Triple Lifespan] for [Innate Observation Haki], and sure enough, the icon on the skill tree lit up.

At the same time, new upgradeable traits branched out below it:

[Mind Reading], [Memory Reading], [Telepathy], [Emotion Perception]...

"Holy—" Klein was stunned. "These look like the same abilities Queen Otohime of Fishman Island had… like Telepathy and Emotion Perception!"

Such a shame… she had talent, but no strength to support it. She never got to realize her gift—

Klein's blood was pumping now. This meant that if he fully maxed out the traits, he'd possess every special ability tied to Innate Observation Haki.

The true all-round king!

If this were a fully maxed-out version of Observation Haki, who could possibly handle it?

Klein knew the skill system update wasn't just for Observation Haki. It included Armament Haki and even—

He was fired up. He wanted to dump all his money into it, maxing out every Haki trait and leveling them to the top!

But he also understood...

That'd probably require a mountain of Skill Points.

"I knew it. The game got updated, and of course the pay-to-win cost would scale too. But as long as I can keep getting stronger, money's not an issue!"

Spending real-world money to top-up, and still getting wrecked by other players!

Wouldn't that drive anyone mad?

If it were me, I'd lose it too—charging money just to play worse? What am I, a tortured poet?

Klein couldn't help but get excited. After all, Haki was the standard for judging strong players.

Before Haki came into play...

Even the captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates could be beaten by someone like Mr. 3. But with Haki in the picture? Dorry and Brogy could hold their own against the Five Elders!

Even Crocodile suffered because he came from a pre-Haki patch.

Sure, some argue Crocodile and Moriah were just mentally broken.

Next, Klein couldn't resist opening the Armament Haki tree, and sure enough, traits like:

[Emission], [Hardening], [Coating], [Ryuo (Internal Destruction)], [Weapon Tempering]…

"Damn. Yeah, this is gonna take some grinding," Klein muttered, pulling a face.

Then he checked the Conqueror's Haki section.

Traits included: [Intimidation], [Conqueror's Coating], [Observation Suppression], [Demonic Aura], [Asura Mode]…

(The ellipses meant patch content—more traits would be added later.)

Aside from [Intimidation], all the other traits were still grayed out.

His level was too low. He couldn't unlock them yet.

"A whole new triple-Haki skill tree, damn… Let's see how far I can level these up and how many skill points I get."

He had a new goal to strive for!

This massive update to the game made him genuinely satisfied. He was sure there were even more changes waiting to be discovered.

First step: power up. Everything else could wait. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⁂𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱

Klein opened a Skill Chest.

[You've obtained the skill: Divine Evasion!]

A bunch of question marks popped over his head. "You've gotta be kidding me, devs—no, A-dev, are you serious right now?"

"You playing with me?"

"You treating me like some JRPG NPC now?"

Back when he first started playing, he desperately wanted this ultra-stylish, super-powerful skill.

He only ever got 1 shard. Even with the daily deals maxed out, after a whole year, he had barely managed to gather just over 20 shards.

He thought it'd take 2 to 3 years minimum to get enough.

But then, not long ago, he drew the Gold Mentor: Gol D. Roger.

That guaranteed he'd eventually unlock his long-dreamed-of skill: Divine Evasion.

Just… not yet. It wasn't ready.

And now on the first pull, he gets Divine Evasion!?

Mom—(Adoptive Dad)—I don't need to grind shards anymore!

"Still, Divine Evasion without Conqueror's Coating feels like it's missing something. But I just recharged nearly ten billion—should be enough to unlock the coating, right?" Klein wasn't entirely confident.

He didn't want the system slapping him in the face again. That'd be brutal.

It might just push him over the edge.

"Well, this works too. Unlocking it early means I can start using EXP to upgrade Divine Evasion. And as for the shards…"

"They're perfect for evolving the skill later!"

Then Klein thought of something equal parts funny and ridiculous.

"If I go around the seas showing off with Divine Evasion… would Roger change the name?"

"And what would he change it to?"

He was seriously curious.

[You've obtained the skill: Divine Evasion!]

[Duplicate skill detected. Automatically converted into Shards.]

"Couldn't get it for ages, and now I get two at once? You... you've really mastered the gacha game experience, huh?"

No company ever pees into two pots. But you—

Legendary Pee Energy.

This wasn't even the first time Klein had gone through this nonsense. Truly a love-hate relationship.

[You've obtained the skill: Traditional Medicine Fist]

[You've obtained the skill: Six-Sword Style]