Due to the "ample" time he had, Jay carefully recalled the valuable memories left behind by this body and confirmed that this world was indeed the one he was familiar with, the "Great Age of Pirates" personally set in motion by Gol D. Roger.
This unique world and era made him seriously consider how he should survive and what kind of person he wanted to become.
Vaguely, he seemed to have an answer, but it wasn't fully certain yet.
One thing he was sure of, no matter what he planned to do, he needed absolute power to support him.
Aside from that, he spent three days thoroughly researching his "golden finger" (cheat ability) over and over again.
The so-called system was quite simple, with three main functions: a card pool, a card pack, and card slots.
Simply put, he could spend money to draw cards from the card pool. If he obtained a character card, he could equip it in a card slot.
There were five card slots in total, but currently, only one was occupied. The other four were empty.
Extra or unused cards could be stored in the card pack, but real-world items couldn't be stored there.
Each equipped character card had some additional abilities, but they needed to be unlocked by meeting certain activation conditions.
The rarity levels of character cards, from lowest to highest, were: White, Blue, Purple, Orange, and Red.
(PS: Rarity is relative within the same world. For example, Yujiro Hanma would be a top-tier rare card in the "Baki" world, making him a Red Card! But if you placed Yujiro in the "Dragon Ball" universe, he might only be a Blue or Purple Card... So even among Red Cards from different worlds, there would be strength differences.)
The rarer the card, the more and stronger abilities it provided.
Jay leaned against the cold wall, using all his recovered energy to repair his body as much as possible.
At the same time, his consciousness was browsing the system.
"After opening the starter pack, I not only got my first Red Card but also unlocked my first card pool... Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and a free ten-pull draw."
"In other words, if I draw character cards from this pool, they should all be from the Demon Slayer world."
"Mysterious and unpredictable Blood Demon Arts, various Breathing Styles... They're actually quite suitable for my current situation."
"But right now, there are a few real problems I need to solve..."
"If I want to draw cards, I need money. A single draw from the Demon Slayer pool costs 100,000 Berries, and there's no guarantee system. The more draws I do in a row, the higher the chance of pulling a high-quality character card... Roughly one Red or Orange Card per 100 draws?"
"100 draws… That's 10 million Berries, and there's still no guarantee of getting a Red."
Jay was speechless. If his past self had 10 million Berries, why the hell would he have joined the Marine?
But after thinking about it, he found some comfort in his situation.
At the very least, the [Yujiro Hanma] Red Card had saved him 10 million Berries.
Also, according to the system's description, normally, unlocking the first card pool required absorbing the energy of a Devil Fruit.
Even the cheapest Devil Fruit wouldn't cost less than 100 million Berries.
So in a way, he had just gained a free 110 million Berries!
Oh, right.
There was also the free ten-pull draw, which was worth another 1 million Berries.
But unlocking the second card pool wouldn't be so easy, it required the energy of two Devil Fruits.
This only made Jay's already poor financial situation even worse.
The only good news was that he didn't need to worry about the second card pool just yet.
Because compared to that, he had a much more pressing concern: how to deal with his colleague (Johnson)'s revenge and his superior (Colonel Hammond)'s disdain once he got out of the brig!
Jay tried to recall every bit of information he had about Colonel Hammond, searching for a way to break the deadlock.
After some thought, he actually found a clue.
Colonel Hammond's nickname was "The Guillotine," which sounded extremely ruthless.
But in reality, he was a greedy man obsessed with wealth.
Rumors even suggested that he secretly sold the base's weapons and ammunition to a mafia family in the West Blue.
Although this was never confirmed, it definitely wasn't baseless gossip.
Furthermore, within the Marine's 88th Branch, no matter how serious a mistake someone made, as long as they were willing to pay a "fine," Colonel Hammond would turn a blind eye, pretending nothing had happened. A mere fistfight was nothing to him!
So, in the end, all the problems boiled down to one thing, money!
Damn it!
Jay never expected that after struggling for small amounts of silver in his past life, he would still be desperate for money in another world.
"Screw it! Let's do the ten-pull and feel good for a moment!"
Jay immediately used the system's free ten-pull draw, hoping for a miracle.
[Congratulations! You received a serving of tempura.]
[Congratulations! You received a pack of rice crackers.]
[Congratulations! You received a bowl of miso soup.]
[Congratulations! You received a standard bento.]
[Congratulations! You received a bottle of ramune soda.]
[Congratulations! You received a serving of tempura.]
[Congratulations! You received a serving of tempura.]
[Congratulations! You received a bottle of ramune soda.]
[Congratulations! You received a standard bento.]
[Congratulations! You received a Character Card (White).]
…
"..."
Looking at the string of junk he had just drawn, Jay's expression was truly something to behold.
He wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.
Under normal circumstances, if he spent 100,000 Berries to buy a serving of tempura or a bottle of ramune soda, he'd have to be out of his mind.
This was an absolute scam of a deal!
However, given his current situation, he desperately needed these foods to replenish his body's energy.
Otherwise, even if he managed to endure until his confinement ended, his condition would be terrible, making it difficult to handle the even more dangerous situations ahead.
So, in a way, these ridiculously expensive foods had arrived at just the right time!
If he had known the card pool could dispense food, he wouldn't have forced himself to endure hunger for three days.
Jay didn't even bother checking the Character Card (White) right away. His first instinct was to take out the standard bento.
And, to his amazement, while it had appeared as a beautifully illustrated card in his card pack, the moment he took it out, it transformed into a steaming-hot, delicious-looking meal.
Curious, Jay tried to put it back into the card pack, but it didn't work.
That meant once an item was withdrawn, it could only undergo a one-time transformation from card to reality. There was no reversing it.
Putting his thoughts aside, Jay immediately began stuffing food into his mouth, devouring it like a starving beast.
"Damn… this is delicious!"