Reinforcement

Under Black Cyclone's explanation, Lu Li roughly figured out what kind of place End Space was.

First of all, the place they were currently in was the Endless Ancient Vine, an enormous vine that climbed upward through the void. Its branches divided the space into the Ten Heavens.

It could also be called the Nine Heavens, because the lowest level was a commercial district, usually called the Underlayer by Explorers. They were currently on the first level, where all First-Tier Explorers lived.

The commercial district on the Underlayer was also home to a special kind of Explorer known as Supporters. Lu Li felt this was probably the "reduced benefits" situation End had mentioned.

From Black Cyclone, Lu Li learned that not every Explorer faced trial worlds with requirements as harsh as his own. Some Explorers did not face erasure as the consequence of failing their missions. They returned alive after failing, but because they had not passed their trials, they were downgraded to Supporters and carried out various forms of production in End Space.

Since these people were not good at combat, the space would not force them into mission worlds. After all, teleportation consumed the power of time and space. Compared with Explorers who carried out missions relatively frequently, these people only had two or three missions a year in the space, and those missions were comparatively simple—usually entering a mission world to gather special resources and the like.

They were a bit like life-skill players in games. Though their path to becoming stronger seemed to have been cut off, those skilled at production might unexpectedly make a fortune.

After figuring out the locations of the various facilities in End Space, Lu Li parted ways with Black Cyclone. Though he had not signed any contract with the man, he still paid the agreed-upon 50 Doomsday Coins.

Being able to quickly obtain information someone else had compiled was not expensive at 50 Doomsday Coins, in Lu Li's opinion. It saved him quite a bit of time.

According to End Space, Pioneers usually remained in the space for one month. He had already made plans for what came next.

Lu Li first headed straight for the Reinforcement Hall. The so-called reinforcement facility was not the modern building he had imagined. Smaller branches extended from the enormous vine, and huge Man-Eating Flowers sat at the tips of those branches. Mucus even slowly dripped from the edges of some of the flowers.

Lu Li watched Explorers pinch their noses as they were swallowed by the Man-Eating Flowers one after another, only to be spat out again a while later. Though the Explorers who emerged were covered in sticky slime, every one of them looked refreshed. He knew he had come to the right place.

Still, End Space's method of reinforcement looked truly disgusting.

After confirming that he was in the right place, Lu Li did not hesitate. He dove straight into the mouth of a Man-Eating Flower and was instantly wrapped in dense liquid.

Contrary to what he had expected, soaking in this liquid did not make him feel suffocated, nor did it feel sticky or disgusting. Instead, it was cool and refreshing.

Once he settled down inside the Man-Eating Flower, a floating menu appeared before his eyes, which he could operate with his thoughts.

Pioneer 008, you have 5 Free Attribute Points. Please choose how to allocate them.

Lu Li had already decided on the way over. He immediately allocated the points, adding 2 to Constitution, 2 to Strength, and 1 to Agility.

His Spirit attribute was naturally high, and the Reiwei Training Method he had obtained in the Shinigami world could also effectively increase Spirit. Therefore, Spirit was the attribute he least needed to raise at the moment.

As for the Charm attribute, he did not feel it was useful right now. Being handsome would not stop enemies from cutting him down. As for influencing interactions with natives or whatever, Lu Li felt that adding points to Strength would work just as well. Physical communication would do.

Reinforcement is about to begin. You may experience a certain degree of pain during the process. Pioneer, please prepare yourself.

Not long after the prompt sounded, Lu Li felt pain like his flesh was being torn apart. However, he had weathered plenty of storms. This little pain was nothing—not nearly as painful as Teacher Unohana's slashes.

About an hour later, Lu Li was spat out by the Man-Eating Flower. Ignoring the slime on his body, he eagerly checked his new attributes.

Pioneer 008, your base attributes are as follows (including title bonuses):

Constitution: 20 (+2)

Strength: 20 (+2+1)

Agility: 19 (+1)

Spirit: 24

Charm: 6

Luck: 1

Lu Li had not chosen to add 2 points to Agility because Prison Demon could enhance his dynamic reflexes after Shikai, making up for this weakness in the attribute.

He had also learned from Black Cyclone that an Explorer's private room could be remodeled far more extensively than he had imagined. He could completely turn his room into a training ground and cultivate there to further improve his attributes.

After cleaning himself up, Lu Li decided to visit the market and see whether there was any equipment or cultivation method suitable for him at the moment.

If he had to choose, Lu Li was more interested in cultivation methods. Martial arts had declined in the world of his previous life, and many things had been lost. He wanted to see a cultivation method capable of producing internal energy, or perhaps a powerful body-tempering art.

Before long, he arrived at the First-Tier Explorer Trading Market. Perhaps for ease of management, End Space's trading markets were not located on the Underlayer's commercial street but were instead divided by level.

On the Endless Ancient Vine, apart from the Underlayer commercial street, Explorers could only move within the authority range of their Explorer Marks. Put simply, First-Tier Explorers could only remain on the first level and could not go up to the second.

Lu Li, however, could go up, because his Pioneer Mark granted him one additional level of authority. This meant that as long as he had the money, he could visit the Second-Tier Explorer Trading Market and buy some good things ahead of time.

Of course, End Space had not completely cut off low-tier Explorers' channels for obtaining high-tier items. As long as they had money, they could also go to the commercial street and commission Supporters to make equipment. It was just that custom-made equipment was often more expensive.

The goods in the trading market were all finished products that Explorers had obtained in mission worlds. They were of little use to the Explorers themselves, so they wanted to trade them for Doomsday Coins and convert them into effective combat power.

After making a round through the market, Lu Li gained a rough understanding of End Space's prices.

Taking equipment as an example, prices depended on the rating. A Fine-quality main weapon generally cost between 1,000 and 3,000 Doomsday Coins, while a Rare-quality main weapon generally cost between 3,000 and 10,000 Doomsday Coins.

So he had been right not to choose the treasure chest. Even its upper limit was only around 10,000 Doomsday Coins.

As for Inheritance Crystals, he had not seen any for sale yet. When he asked a stall owner about them, the man looked at him as if he were an idiot. Lu Li guessed that ordinary Explorers would not choose to sell such things, so they were basically priceless and unavailable.

"How much is this?"

Lu Li stopped before a stall. He had taken a liking to a "cultivation method."

The quotation marks were necessary because this cultivation method was rather different from what he normally understood cultivation methods to be, though he felt it could still be classified as a body-tempering art.

Armament Haki Training Method

Grade: Rare

Category: Cultivation Skill

Learning Requirements: Constitution 15, Strength 15, Spirit 20

Details: An ability from the Derivative World One Piece. It is a latent power possessed by all humans, an innate ability. Presence, killing intent, fighting spirit... When these invisible sensations are controlled, willpower can become a weapon. This powerful force is called Haki.

This item is a training method for Armament Haki. After use in End Space, the Explorer can directly learn Level 1–3 Armament Haki depending on their comprehension.

Rating: 100+

Evaluation: Dodging? Doesn't exist. Just charge in.

Looking at End Space's evaluation, Lu Li now seriously suspected that each person saw a different evaluation when examining an item.

He knew of the manga One Piece as well, but his Master had only collected some incomplete volumes, so he did not know the full plot. He could study up on it in the space later. After all, if he was going to make a living in End Space, he might enter the One Piece world someday.

He knew a little about the Haki system and believed it had a fairly high ceiling, with considerable growth potential.

Though this item was only Rare-grade, that was probably because it could only allow an Explorer to learn the skill, rather than directly granting them a high initial level of Haki.

And if one entered the One Piece world, Haki was not some difficult-to-obtain training technique. It was a very common ability in the New World. But common did not mean its upper limit was low. The key still depended on the person using it.