"..."

Klein was utterly shaken inside.

Ten days—just ten days—and they pushed out such an insane update?

He would never call them a janky studio again.

"This is insane! Even Loyalty is a thing now?!"

And to his shock, Loyalty worked just like in games—it only increased, never decreased!

"This update is fire! Absolute fire!!"

"So good!"

"As expected, game devs need to be whipped. If you don't curse 'em out, they won't deliver. Pressure creates diamonds—and this update? Exactly what I wanted!"

Without missing a beat, he looked up at the rooftop terrace of the ship, where Gloriosa was currently training.

[Name: Gloriosa. Affiliation: Amazon Lily. Title: Queen. Skills: All Three Types of Haki...]

[Affection: 65]

[Tip: Affection reaches 90 to form a kinship bond.]

Same white frame interface.

"Only... 65!?" Klein frowned as he slurped his drink through a straw. "Guess forced connections don't work... but now that affection points are visible, this'll be easy!"

As his eyes focused on Gloriosa, she sensed it too.

'He's staring again... and now he's frowning?'

'Did I mess up my training?'

She walked over, her face dripping with sweat. "Lord Klein, did I do something wrong with my Shigan training?"

"I'll demonstrate for you," Klein said, standing up. He wanted to see if teaching her would raise affection.

After explaining the core of Shigan, he gave her a hands-on demo.

Sure enough—

[Affection +1]

"Thank you, Lord Klein." Gloriosa bowed slightly, having gained new insight—her talent wasn't bad at all.

Klein leaned back in his lounge chair, rubbing his chin, beaming internally.

"Jehehehehe~"

"At this rate, both Loyalty and Affection can be maxed out. Lovely. Just lovely!"

So satisfying—

Once Affection hit 100, everything would be within his control. Complete trust. No betrayal.

Damn game devs, I freaking love you now!

He repeated the process with Shakky and the other Amazon Lily warriors.

Naturally, he checked Shakky's stats as well.

[Name: Shakky. Affiliation: Amazon Lily. Skills: Two Types of Haki...]

[Affection: 59]

Even lower…

But Klein wasn't the least bit concerned.

Teaching them brought a solid wave of affection gains:

[Affection +1]

[Affection +1]

[...]

So good—

Being able to grind affection this easily made everything feel ten times more efficient.

Ecstatic, Klein passed on Rokushiki: Moonwalk to them.

And just like that, another affection wave:

[Affection +1]

[Affection +1]

[...]

"Damn devs actually acted human for once."

Then Klein glanced over at the Marines on deck—each of them had a gray frame around their names.

"Hmm… in games, red-named mobs usually mean hostility. These guys are all gray…"

"Probably because the level difference is way too big."

He was delighted.

If the system could show that, it meant he could instantly tell who posed a threat.

Glorious! Even better than Bulbasaur!

He skimmed over their loyalty scores—most of the Marines had between 65 and 75.

"Alright then, time to farm affection with these Marines too—make them my most Loyal Orange troops!"

"When I raise my arm, they'll move as one! Just imagining it feels amazing!"

Once their Loyalty was high enough, desertion would become a thing of the past.

But Klein knew—he had to show them some real care.

Weak subordinates would only bring him shame.

Just then, the system popped up:

[Choose your attack mode:]

[Team Attack, Friendly Fire, Peace Mode, Free-for-All, Faction Attack, Enemy Attack...]

"WTF!?"

"Sheeesh!?"

Klein was startled—this kind of feature wasn't new in MMOs or Legend games.

Players could toggle attack modes to avoid friendly fire.

Even FPS games had it. Plenty of players had vented their anger by offing teammates.

Still, he never expected—

That the devs would actually add attack mode options!

Mother of beans!

Sweet mercy!

Klein understood all too well: in the One Piece world, high-tier battles could literally destroy the world.

Skies split, oceans cracked, Buggy shattered—basic stuff for the top dogs.

With Logia users tossing magma, ice, and lasers, friendly fire was inevitable.

No wonder…

In the War at Marineford, the nameless fodder soldiers must've suffered more than anyone could imagine.

Klein grinned.

"This new mode slaps. No more friendly fire. And if someone tries to use my crew as meat shields?"

"They'll get wrecked!"

"These game devs actually spent my Sky Island loot wisely!"

Finally, he felt a bit better—at least his money hadn't gone to waste.

The new features? Solid value.

Then he opened the new "Sailing Pass"—the battle pass!

[New Sailing Pass Released!]

[Unbeatable 10,000% rebate! Loaded with rewards just for you!]

[Buy the deluxe version and jump straight to level 10!]

[Special Price: 98,000,000 Berries]

"98 million?! Wasn't it 68 million last time? It went up!"

"Damn!"

Even small money was still money. Thirty million Berries might not look like much, but those daily deals added up.

"Let's see the rewards first."

He skipped the basic rewards—just skimmed them. Too meh for his taste.

But the deluxe version? Definitely improved over last time.

Looked like they'd done some optimization.

Level 10: Paramecia Devil Fruit Chest ×1

Level 30: Random Pet Chest ×1

Level 50: Skill Point Chest ×1

Level 70: Pet Talent Reset Stone Chest ×1

Level 90: Random Named Blade Chest ×1

Level 91–100: Armament Haki Upgrade Materials ×1, Observation Haki Upgrade Materials, Conqueror's Haki Upgrade Materials, Pet EXP Packs ×10, Zoan Devil Fruit Chest ×3, Character Ascension Materials ×5, Random Skill Chest ×3, Instructor Bundle ×2, Skill Upgrade Scrolls ×5, Skill Boost Scrolls ×3

While looking at the deluxe Sailing Pass rewards, one detail caught Klein's eye.

"Skill Point Chest: Open to receive 1–10 skill points randomly."

'Skill points?' He had a good guess—probably some kind of skill system revamp. He'd check later.

Also—

Even the Devil Fruit chests were now split by type: Zoan, Paramecia, etc.

"Solid rewards. I'm buying."

This amount of money? Pocket change for Klein now.

[-98,000,000 Berries]

Totally worth it. But for whales like him, waiting months to grind levels was out of the question.

So...

Klein waved his hand decisively. "Buy level-ups!"