Chapter 338: Template Cultivation Mode
Devil Fruit Compendium
Epic Item
Use: Identifies the type of Devil Fruit you choose, including artificial ones you've created yourself.
Note: All Devil Fruits obtained through the Traversal Simulator are in an unidentified state.
Looking at the item's description, Zhou Ning was momentarily stunned—he hadn't expected it to be this advanced.
This Devil Fruit Compendium wasn't a reference book as he'd imagined, but more like a Devil Fruit identifier—it could directly determine a fruit's type. No wonder it was classified as an Epic item.
For him, this was actually a great reward. After all, trying to identify a Devil Fruit by its image alone was too abstract. It could be considered a decent start.
He had produced and stockpiled quite a few Devil Fruits recently, planning to sell them to players. He'd also been meaning to pick one to eat himself, but didn't want to settle for less. Now, he no longer had that concern.
The fourth reward was once again a blank draw.
[You have obtained a Rare Item: Browning M1906 Pocket Pistol, with several .25 ACP rounds included.]
[You have obtained an Exotic Item: Hizel's Flying Machine.]
[You have obtained an Epic Equipment: Coulson's Wristband. (This item has been collected into the Hall of Curiosities.)]
[You have obtained a Rare Item: M4A1 Carbine Rifle, with several 5.56×45mm rounds included.]
...
That's it?
Zhou Ning felt a sharp pain in his chest. Spending 9,000 Vecktas on this ten-pull felt like drawing nothing but air. Aside from the Devil Fruit Compendium, what else was even worth mentioning?
Other than those guns, the prototype of Hizel's Flying Machine should have come from a quest given by a goblin NPC in World of Warcraft's Un'Goro Crater, which required killing a bunch of dinosaurs for their scales.
Hizel's Flying Machine
Exotic Item
Equip Effect: Allows you to glide long distances after jumping from a high place.
Description: Even after a long time, you can still smell the metallic tang of blood on the glider's wings.
It was somewhat similar to a hang glider—useful enough, but definitely not worth 900 Vecktas.
As for the other Epic item, once Zhou Ning checked its stats, he finally felt a bit consoled. Among everything he got, this one was by far the best.
Coulson's Wristband
Quality: Epic
Equipment Type: Wrist/Weapon
Required Level: 58
Attributes: +7 Agility
Effect 1: Launches a grappling hook toward a designated target.
Effect 2: Emits a powerful electric shock.
Effect 3: Can be used to create an explosive device.
Description: A standard piece of agent equipment, created by Tony Stark for Coulson after the nuclear war.
Not only was it practical, but it also granted bonus attributes. Zhou Ning equipped it immediately without hesitation—it might come in handy in certain situations.
After collecting Coulson's Wristband and the Devil Fruit Compendium, both Endless War (II) and Sailing the Seas in the Hall of Curiosities gained a new addition, granting him a total refund of 40 Traversal Coins. At least it was something of a recovery.
Well, whatever—it was money he'd taken off players anyway. Zhou Ning consoled himself with that thought and proceeded with another ten-pull.
To his dismay, this round went even worse—out of ten, six were blanks. That was just cruel.
[You have obtained a Rare Item: Webley Scott Bulldog Revolver, with several .45 ACP rounds included.]
[You have obtained an Exotic Equipment: Iron-Spined Serpent Spear.]
...
Not until the final draw did a purple glow appear—an Epic-grade item again, this time also from the One Piece world.
[You have obtained an Epic Skill Book: Marine Manual · Moonwalk.]
Marine Manual · Moonwalk
Epic Skill Book
Use: Learn Moonwalk, one of the Six Styles of the Marines.
Well… not bad, actually. Zhou Ning had regretted missing out on the Six Styles back in the Across the Seas instance.
Although this draw yielded something, spending a total of 18,000 Vecktas for just three decent items made his heart ache. He now deeply understood one universal truth—gacha games are pure evil!
He clicked to use the skill book, and as it dissolved into fragments, a new entry appeared in his skill bar.
[Moonwalk (Beginner): You can consume Focus to kick the air with powerful leg strength, generating lift that allows you to walk as if climbing invisible stairs. However, you cannot hover for long. Duration depends on Agility, Focus, and skill level. You can also use it to attack from aerial blind spots.]
Not bad at all… It seemed to pair nicely with his recently learned Tempest. Use Moonwalk to ascend, then perform a spinning descent with gunfire—it would definitely look cool.
After two rounds of ten-pulls and an 18,000 Vecktas loss, Zhou Ning decided to stop. The updated gacha system was something to dabble in, not to sink into. Even if he had a gold mine, it wouldn't survive this.
Next, he turned his attention to the simulator's new feature—the Template Cultivation Mode.
Upon clicking in, he found an extremely simple UI with only two options and a small question mark icon in the upper right corner.
The first option was "Find a New Character," and the second was "Run Traversal Simulation." The simplicity was almost crude. It looked somewhat similar to the regular traversal function. Zhou Ning imagined that if there were a display above his head, it would be filled with question marks.
He clicked the question mark icon for more info—and suddenly it all made sense. This mode was somewhat like a farming game. You spent Traversal Coins in the first option to find a "new version of yourself"—essentially like creating a new character in an RPG. The higher the investment, the stronger the starting stats.
After creating the character, you'd send it into a random world via the second option. Each new character would return after 24 hours with a brand-new template.
For example, spending 100 Traversal Coins would create a version of Zhou Ning with the initial attribute "Feeble." Sending him into a random world allowed you to choose one of three growth strategies: Cautious, Balanced, or Aggressive. Cautious was free; Balanced and Aggressive each required an extra 50 Traversal Coins.
Traversal could occur through either physical or spiritual transfer, meaning the new Zhou Ning might directly replace an existing NPC in that world—resulting in templates like First Emperor Zhou Ning, Spider Sense Zhou Ning, or Injustice Superman Zhou Ning.
Choosing Cautious might lead to a mundane "Office Worker Zhou Ning" type of life; Balanced could go either way—success or failure; while Aggressive carried a high chance of death and failed template creation, but could also produce a supervillain or superhero. Everything was unpredictable.
This… was actually pretty interesting. Yet as intrigued as he was, Zhou Ning couldn't help feeling a chill. Could it be that the templates he'd been purchasing all along were the results of higher-dimensional versions of himself running this exact process?
After pondering for a bit, Zhou Ning decided to click "Find a New Character" to see what would happen.
A new prompt appeared on screen:
[You have chosen to find a new character. Searching for another version of you…]
[Please select the initial attributes of this alternate you. Note: Attributes are not everything—even a loser may turn things around.]
[1. Feeble — 100 Traversal Coins]
[2. Ordinary — 200 Traversal Coins]
[3. Outstanding — 500 Traversal Coins]
So this was just about how much you were willing to spend, huh? Basically a money sink disguised as a feature. Zhou Ning exhaled slowly, then decided to give it a chance to scam him—just to test the waters.