It was much as Aiden had expected; completing the last wish allowed him to choose once more from the target's selectable rewards.
As soon as he returned to his quarters, Aiden's mind dove rapidly into the system, returning to the previous rewards interface. The two selectable rewards he had previously abandoned surfaced before his eyes once again.
[Skill Improvement · Stealth (Intermediate)]
[Skill Improvement · Marksmanship (Intermediate)]
"I want both. Can I just be quick enough to grab them both?"
Aiden stared at the two skills, falling into a state of indecision.
"Marksmanship is an ability that can immediately increase my combat power, but for now, I don't really have any place where I need to fight."
"Stealth... this is the first time the system's shown an ability like this. Its strategic value is enormous."
After a moment's hesitation, Aiden made his choice.
"[Skill Improvement · Stealth (Intermediate)]!"
Countless pieces of knowledge and muscle memory regarding how to hide his form, erase his presence, and move through shadows were instantly engraved into the depths of his mind.
Aiden could feel that as long as he willed it, he could now easily merge with the shadows in the room.
Having finished all this, Aiden prepared to close the system and go to sleep, satisfied.
But he suddenly noticed the shop icon in the corner of the menu—the one that had once been grey—was now emitting a faint blue light, no longer in an unselectable state.
"Hmm? When did this unlock? It didn't even give me a 'ding'..."
Aiden complained inwardly for a second and then clicked in without hesitation.
The light-screen before him shifted instantly. Two tabs composed of golden patterns appeared at the top of the screen.
[General Goods], [Dimensional Items]
Aiden's thoughts were clear; he first clicked on the more "unpretentious" looking [General Goods] to browse.
In the next second, a dazzling list unfolded before his eyes like a waterfall.
Rows of items, like racks in an armory, appeared before him.
[Marine Standard Saber]: Price 200 Sin Points
[Marine Standard Flintlock]: Price 200 Sin Points
[Excellent Grade Firearm]: Price 20,000 Sin Points (Description: Upon exchange, a unique, excellent grade firearm can be customized from the system.)
[Great Grade Blade]: Price 20,000 Sin Points (Description: Upon exchange, a blade comparable to the 50 Great Grade Blades can be customized from the system.)
...
[Legendary Firearm]: Price 500,000 Sin Points (...customize a unique, legendary grade firearm.)
[Supreme Grade Blade]: Price 500,000 Sin Points (...customize a blade comparable to the 12 Supreme Grade Blades.)
Not only were there blades, but there were also firearms—which were rarely mentioned in the original world—though for the time being, he couldn't afford any of the useful ones.
Aiden calmly closed this page. He knew very well that these things would have nothing to do with him for quite a while.
Continuing down past the weapons section was the items section: [Sea Prism Stone Bullets], [Eternal Pose], [Vivre Card], [Devil Fruit Encyclopedia]. These things, which were worth a fortune in the outside world, all had clear prices here.
He even saw a [Devil Fruit Compass]: "Allows the user to designate a specific fruit; the compass will point in the direction of that fruit."
It seemed to be something that fit the One Piece world-view but had never been seen in the manga.
What moved him most, however, were the items under the [Skills] and [Haki] categories.
In the [Skills] category, he saw his two skills that were only at the [Novice] level:
[Skill · Novice Swordsmanship → Intermediate Swordsmanship]: Price 1,000 Sin Points
[Skill · Novice Marksmanship → Intermediate Marksmanship]: Price 1,000 Sin Points
[Skill · Intermediate Stealth → Advanced Stealth]: Price 10,000 Sin Points
Immediately following that, he clicked on the [Haki] category. Most of the items inside were greyed out.
[Haki · Novice Armament Haki → Intermediate Armament Haki]: (Grey Locked) [Unlock Condition: The host must first awaken or master Novice Armament Haki on their own.]
[Haki · Novice Observation Haki → Intermediate Observation Haki]: (Grey Locked) [Unlock Condition: The host must first awaken or master Novice Observation Haki on their own.]
"As I thought, Haki cannot be bought out of thin air. I must master the 'Novice' level of the ability first..." Aiden wasn't surprised by this.
Aiden finished browsing through almost all the items and confirmed two core rules in his mind:
First, this shop was almost omnipotent. From weapons to skills to Haki and the improvement of various techniques, it could provide everything. The only exception was [Physique], which could not be purchased directly with points, and the improvement of various abilities could not exceed the Physique's grade by more than one major level.
Second, the [Skill] and [Haki] upgrade packs in the shop could only increase the level of abilities he already possessed; they could not make him learn a new craft from scratch that he understood nothing about.
"I see..." Aiden instantly figured out the system's optimal growth path!
"The essence of the [Exchange Shop] is an upgrade station, not a learning machine. Its role is to quickly raise my [Novice] skills to [Intermediate] or even [Advanced], saving me a massive amount of time."
"And the [Execution Rewards] are the true treasure vault! It's not just the only way to obtain [Physique], but also the opportunity to obtain [Rare Talents] and [New Skills] that simply cannot be bought in the shop!"
"After all, the value of a top-tier fighter's [Physique Improvement] definitely isn't something you can measure in just a few thousand or tens of thousands of points."
Aiden's logic became incredibly clear at this moment:
"In the future, for [Selectable Rewards], I must prioritize [Physique] or [Rare Skills/Talents] that can't be bought in the shop. Meanwhile, [Sin Points] will be used to quickly raise the level of the low-tier conventional skills I already have!"
After clearing his thoughts, Aiden looked at his balance of [Points: 2420] and no longer hesitated.
"System, exchange for [Swordsmanship · Intermediate] and [Marksmanship · Intermediate]!"
[2000 Sin Points consumed... Exchange successful!]
Two massive streams of information surged into his brain. Countless techniques, tricks, and combat experiences regarding swordsmanship and firearms were clearly presented before him, ready to be called upon at any time.
Aiden had an epiphany; as long as he started practicing, it would probably only take two or three days of work to let these two skills reach the Intermediate level.
Having finished his business, Aiden finally clicked on the [Dimensional Items] tab, which looked very high-end, with a hint of curiosity.
Unlike the densely packed list of [General Goods], this page was extremely simple.
There was only a golden display stand, and in the very center of the stand, an item floated. Below it was a small line of text: "Refresh Countdown: 29 days, 22 hours, 31 minutes..."
Aiden looked closely and found it was a strangely shaped... camera?
[Dimensional Item: Dress-Up Camera]
Description: Place designed clothing patterns into the camera and aim at a target to take a photo; this will cause the target to instantly change into the clothes on the pattern.
Price: 50,000 Sin Points
Aiden looked at the description of this item and fell silent.
He was silent for a full ten seconds.
"...That's it?"
"Fifty thousand points... just for... changing clothes?"
"And it's a 'Wonder' that only refreshes once a month?"
"This system... surely it's not being operated by some perverted goddess who loves playing dress-up, is it?!"
Aiden felt his inner critic burning with a fiery passion.
He closed this "unprofessional" page without hesitation. After all, for a very long time to come, he would definitely not be willing to use 50,000 points to exchange for such a thing.
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