Character Card—Rukia Kuchiki

For some reason, despite being an ordinary gacha machine with no guaranteed-drop system whatsoever, it thoughtfully included a [Ten Pull] button.

It seemed that even after mutating, the system had retained some of the game's player-spending inducements.

Wanting to understand the system's mechanics, Kael gritted his teeth and pressed [Ten Pull] on the ordinary gacha machine.

In an instant, a long string of system notifications appeared before his eyes.

[Congratulations! You have obtained E-rank item: Saeko Busujima's school uniform!]

[Congratulations! You have obtained E-rank item: Mai Sakurajima's bunny girl outfit!]

[Congratulations! You have obtained E-rank item: Shinpachi Shimura's glasses!]

[Congratulations! You have obtained E-rank item: Sekai Saionji's woodcutter's axe!]

[...]

[...]

Looking at the string of E-rank items, Kael's mouth twitched.

Although he had prepared himself mentally, seeing 10 million Beli get him such a pile of useless junk still dealt him quite a blow.

"Sure enough, whether before or after transmigration, gacha machines have never changed their scammy nature!"

One-fifth of his starting capital had vanished just like that.

For a moment, Kael even began reflecting on whether everything had gone too smoothly since he set sail, causing him to become overconfident.

However...

Just as he silently regretted his choice, the final notification from the ten-pull flashed before his eyes.

[Congratulations! You have obtained A-rank item: Character Card—Rukia Kuchiki!]

"Huh?!"

Seeing this notification, Kael froze. A look of disbelief appeared in his eyes.

He hurriedly raised his head and focused his gaze on the notification that was gradually fading away.

"What the hell!? An A-rank pull from the ordinary gacha machine!? And it's even a high-tier item like a Character Card!!?"

He quickly opened the inventory system and, amid a pile of inexplicable equipment items, found an item with a card icon.

At the top of the item was a short-haired girl dressed in a black Soul Reaper uniform.

The girl wore a resolute expression, gripping a sword in both hands as she looked ahead, as if confronting some enemy.

"A Character Card... It really is a Character Card..."

"I actually have this kind of insane luck!?"

Looking at the red-glowing border around the card, Kael's eyes began to shine with an excited red gleam.

Although Rukia was a little young and not quite his type.

Still, she was a beautiful girl, after all.

And after using Bankai, Rukia's combat strength was at least on the level of a Marine Admiral!

Whether for visual appeal or practical use, she was a character Kael could be extremely satisfied with.

The thoughts flashed through his mind, and Kael immediately tried clicking the card with his consciousness.

However, just as he thought he could directly summon a Rukia Kuchiki like in the game...

A pop-up window marked [Warning] suddenly appeared.

[Warning! No compatible crew member detected. Loading failed.]

Kael: Huh???

"What's going on?"

Like a newly lit flame being doused with a bucket of cold water, Kael's eyes widened in a daze.

The next moment, another pop-up window identical to the earlier feature explanation appeared in his consciousness.

[Character Card: Can be attached to a pirate crew member, loading them with the corresponding character's attribute template. Crew members loaded with templates will be absolutely loyal to the captain. Requirement: Compatibility ≥60%.]

"This..."

After carefully reading the Character Card's description, Kael's expression instantly turned bewildered.

"So... Character Cards don't directly summon characters from another world into the pirate world."

"They load attribute templates onto other people instead..."

"So my dream of raising big-breasted girls aboard my ship just went down the drain?"

"Tch, what a shame."

Kael curled his lips and sighed inwardly.

Still, although it added an extra step, it could at least ensure that crew members loaded with templates would never betray him.

Come to think of it, this was instead a powerful method that could help Kael stabilize his crew and recruit members without restraint.

"Forget it. Since the rules are already laid out, I'll make good use of them."

"I just wonder how this compatibility is determined..."

This time, the system did not give Kael another information window explaining compatibility.

Clearly, he would have to explore all of this himself.

According to the system...

There were two conditions for loading a Character Card.

One was being a member of the Dusk Pirates, and the other was compatibility.

Although 60% did not sound particularly demanding, who knew what exactly this so-called compatibility was calculated from?

If it was based on Rukia's power system, then there probably were not many people in the entire pirate world who wielded blades of the soul!

"I shouldn't overthink it yet."

"Maybe the compatibility requirement isn't as strict as I imagine."

"Perhaps I can just find any flat-chested female swordswoman and meet the system's requirements."

"But then again, where am I supposed to find a flat-chested female swordswoman, and how do I get her onto my pirate ship!?"

As he watched Aksi Island gradually disappear from sight in the distance, an image suddenly appeared in Kael's mind.

Under the fading light.

A pair of childhood friends stood on a grassy field.

The girl lightly patted her chest, while the inexperienced moss-haired brat blushed furiously.

When it came to female swordswomen in the world of One Piece, the first person Kael thought of was Kuina, a girl with extraordinary talent who had unfortunately been killed off by the plot.

Of course.

Kuina's death was already set in stone, so recruiting her was unlikely.

But in the East Blue, there was a substitute Kuina—Marine Headquarters Chief Petty Officer Tashigi, currently stationed in Loguetown!

Most importantly, because she was part of the Marines, dealing with her might actually be less troublesome for Kael.

"Looks like I'll have to trouble my second uncle or Fleet Admiral Sengoku~"

"Forget it, I won't worry about that for now."

"It looks like the Character Card won't be useful anytime soon. I should keep testing the system's other mechanics."

Kael hesitated briefly, but ultimately decided not to test the limits of the ordinary gacha machine again.

Whether this A-rank Character Card was guaranteed for his first ten-pull or he had simply gotten lucky...

With his funds being far from abundant, it was better not to put all his eggs in one basket.

Turning his gaze to the premium gacha machine, Kael hesitated for a moment before pressing its button with his consciousness.

The expensive premium gacha machine did not allow multiple pulls. He could only choose a single pull and wait for a miracle.

Perhaps transmigration had changed Kael's mediocre luck, or perhaps beginners had some sort of protection mechanism.

This time, a miracle happened again!

As the gacha machine shook, another notification window appeared before Kael.

[Congratulations! You have obtained A-rank weapon: Zanpakuto!]

"Holy shit! Another A-rank!?"

An icon glowing with red light appeared, then transformed into a streak of light and entered his inventory.

For a moment, Kael could hardly believe his eyes.

When he played that fanservice mobile game, he had never been this lucky.

But when he considered that the 20 million Beli he had spent was enough to buy a decent property in some small countries...

The result no longer seemed quite so exciting.

Once his emotions quickly settled, Kael shifted the interface before him to his inventory with a thought and inspected the Zanpakuto's information.

[Zanpakuto]

[Category: Weapon]

[Rank: A]

[Description: A special item forged from soul power in the world of Bleach. Restricted to use by specific characters.]

???

Why did this game even have limited equipment?

Kael once again discovered another difference between the system and the mobile game.

In the mobile game, equipment merely had certain stats and could increase a crew member's combat strength.

Strictly speaking, the bunny girl outfit and woodcutter's axe Kael had drawn earlier were also types of equipment.

But clearly, the system after transmigration had removed equipment stat panels and added certain restrictions.

"Good thing I drew Rukia earlier. This Zanpakuto must be equipment that goes with her."

Although he had spent 20 million Beli, the money had undoubtedly been well spent judging by the results.

Not only had it helped Kael understand the system's changes and basic mechanics, but it had also given him a goal for the next stage of his journey.

Incidentally, because he had spent Beli in the system, Kael's captain interface had also changed somewhat.

[Captain: Kael]

[Level: 1]

[Experience: 10/50]

[Total Combat Power: 0]

[Skill: Awaiting Draw]

After spending 20 million Beli, his captain level had successfully risen from Level 0 to Level 1.

Unfortunately, it seemed that experience reset every time he leveled up.

So even if he spent all 50 million Beli, he would not be able to raise his captain level to Level 2.

Seeing the words Awaiting Draw in the skill slot, Kael clicked it without a second thought.

In an instant.

A massive prize wheel appeared before him.

Above the wheel was a dense mass of tiny text in various colors, too crowded to make out.

Before Kael could inspect it closely, the wheel began spinning.

In the end, the wheel's pointer stopped above a line of small red text...