One Piece: Global improvement system

January 4, 1498, Age of the Sea Circle

Orion took a big bite of the fruit in his hand, which resembled an apple, and enjoyed the summer sun while lying on the wooden boat's floor.

 Suddenly, the waters around the boat began to ripple, and Shyarly shot out of the water at high speed with a wide smile on her face.

"Orion! I've finished setting the traps!" said the little mermaid proudly, having completed her mission.

It had only been three days since she had arrived in this strange place, but she already felt like part of the kingdom.This wasn't just because of the strict rules Orion had laid out for everyone to treat her with respect, but also because the little mermaid had done her best to help in any way she could.

She had volunteered to assist with fishing, since as a mermaid, she had a natural advantage in that area. Orion, on the other hand, didn't want her spending her days fishing to supply the kingdom. To him, Shyarly was family, not a tool to be used.

Still, he understood her desire to contribute to the kingdom's activities, so he had spent KP to buy blueprints for underwater fishing traps.

Then, with Shyarly's help, they distributed the traps across strategic points near Pacific Island, and the local fishermen would handle their upkeep and management.

That way, Shyarly could more easily earn the people's affection and speed up her integration with the rest of the community.It was his ideal that Pacific Kingdom could become a place where no one was discriminated against for their appearance or background—but that was an ideal for the future. He couldn't expect everyone to be open-minded from the start; it was something to be cultivated over time.

In that regard, the introduction of public schools—where certain values could be taught alongside knowledge—would play a crucial role in the years to come.

Orion smiled and took a towel to dry the little mermaid's hair, and she simply closed her eyes in joy, letting him do it.

"Well done, Shyarly. Thank you for all your work," said Orion.

"Hehehe," Shyarly smiled shyly, enjoying the praise.

"How have you been adapting to life here? Do you miss Fish-man Island?" Orion asked.

Shyarly immediately shook her head repeatedly and answered in a rush, almost as if she feared Orion might send her away if her response wasn't convincing enough.

"I'm really happy here, Orion! Everything is so interesting and fun, and I don't miss my old home at all!"

Even though her words and expression were firm, Orion knew it was impossible for her not to miss her life under the sea. No matter how new and exciting this place was, it couldn't compare to the world she'd known her whole life.

"You don't need to force yourself to forget Fish-man Island, or try to be happy all the time. It's normal to miss what's familiar to you," Orion replied patiently.

"Well, I don't miss it!" said Shyarly, crossing her arms and puffing out her cheeks, which made her look very cute and funny.

Orion just shook his head and didn't push the topic any further. Shyarly had just arrived; there would be time in the future to talk about these things in depth. What mattered most was that she was happy living here, and he would make sure that remained true.

Shyarly and Orion spent the rest of the morning enjoying the sun on the small boat, without returning to shore.

Orion had been training all morning and had decided to take a short break with the mermaid. Shyarly, meanwhile, was fascinated by the presence of the sun in the sky, and loved the warm sensation of its rays on her skin. After all, it had only been a few days since she had seen the sun for the first time, and it was still a novelty for her.

By noon, the two of them returned to shore and headed straight to the Lysander family home. Shyarly rode comfortably on Orion's back, hugging his neck from behind. Over the past few days, this had become her favorite mode of transportation, even though she could move around on land without much trouble.

Orion entered his house with Shyarly on his back and found his younger siblings, Dante and Sofía, fighting over a toy both wanted to play with.

The moment they saw their older brother, they dropped the toy and ran clumsily toward him, raising their arms and competing to see who would reach the new "toy" that had appeared first.

In the end, Dante prevailed, launching himself against Orion's chest as he crouched to welcome them with open arms.

"Big bwooo! I wanna pway!" said Dante in his toddler voice, still not speaking very clearly.

"Brother! Come play!" added Sofía, who arrived just a second after her twin and stared at Orion with big, teary puppy eyes.

Orion looked at his little siblings. Dante had a carefree, simple smile, while Sofía looked at him with those puppy eyes—but there was a hint of cunning in her expression.Even though they were only two years old, their future personalities were already beginning to show.

"I can't play with you two today, I've got work to do," said Orion firmly, knowing that if he gave them even the slightest bit of hope, the twins would cling to him for dear life until he agreed to take them on an adventure.

The little ones protested a bit, but eventually gave up and ran back to the toy, starting a new argument over who had the right to play with it this time.

Orion greeted his mother, who was preparing lunch, and Shyarly hopped off his back to help Lira.Orion's family was used to him bringing all sorts of people to live there, but even they couldn't hide their surprise when their eldest son showed up three days ago with a mermaid on his back.

It was the first time they had ever seen someone from that legendary race, and it had taken them a little while to adjust to this new addition to their family.However, after interacting with the little mermaid for a few days, the Lysanders quickly grew fond of her and welcomed her warmly.

Even so, his mother Lira had told Orion that their house had run out of space—and that if he planned to keep bringing more people home, he'd have to build a bigger one.

Obviously, she was just teasing and not really complaining, but Orion knew it was something he had to take seriously.

He didn't have any current plans to bring more people home, but one never knew what the future might hold, and it wasn't out of the question that more names would be added to the list of people living under the Lysanders roof.

For that reason, Orion had talked with his uncle Lolo about it, and they had agreed to start construction on the official royal residence.

There was no budget for a grand palace, since the kingdom's finances were still very tight, but they could use part of the treasury funds along with Orion's personal savings to build a decent enough official residence, which could be expanded later if needed.

Construction would begin soon, and preparations were already underway.

One of the things Orion needed most urgently was qualified people. There were already a few skilled workers living in the kingdom, but many essential fields were still unfilled.

For example, they had no architect capable of building something as large as the royal residence, and until now, all the homes and simple buildings in the kingdom had been built by people with practical experience but little formal specialized knowledge.

Obviously, this was not sustainable, and they would need to start recruiting people with specialized skills in the near future.

Shyarly approached Helsing, who had become her closest companion besides Orion. The two girls were the same age, and their personalities were very compatible—both somewhat quiet and introverted.

That's why they became friends almost immediately, adding another bond to Helsing's increasingly rich emotional life. Compared to her self from a few months ago, Helsing was now a very different person.

These days, Helsing had the love of a family, and her personality had become more outgoing and confident. Though at heart, she was still an introvert—and that was probably not going to change anytime soon, if ever.

Orion climbed the stairs and headed to Rouge's room. He knocked on the door, and once he got permission, he entered the room.

Inside the small room, Rouge was holding little Ace in her arms, rocking him gently with a loving gaze.

Rouge and Roger's little baby was quite the restless one, so it was rare to see him so calm. Orion thought the baby's personality was much more like his mother's—fiery and energetic, unlike Roger's laid-back nature—though he would never say that to Rouge, to avoid being "convinced otherwise" with her fist of love, the classic technique that could defeat even the Pirate King.

"How's Ace doing? It's rare to see him so calm," Orion said as he approached Rouge to look at the adorable baby in her arms.

"Hmph! This boy is so rowdy. He definitely got that from his father! I'll have to keep a close eye on him so he doesn't get into trouble!" said Rouge with a bright smile, her words a bit contradicted by the joy on her face.

"It's good that he's so energetic—it means he's healthy. I'm sure his name will echo across the world in the future," said Orion, thinking that in the system, Ace was classified as a VIP Named Character, just like his father Roger. So it was likely he would become a world-famous figure someday.

"I don't care if he turns out to be ordinary in the future. All I want is for him to be happy," said Rouge with a somewhat complicated look in her eyes.Maybe she already knew that Roger's son would never be able to live an ordinary life.

Orion spent some time chatting with Rouge, then left the house and headed to the heart of the kingdom to find his uncle and Giolla. He needed to speak with them about the kingdom's development and sort everything out before departing once more.

Now that Ace's birth and Rouge's safety had reached a positive conclusion, he had decided to go check on the large group of Named Characters he had detected while heading to Rum Wolf months ago.

Especially because among them was a VIP named Bartholomew Kuma. Orion wanted to see what kind of person this individual was and possibly establish a friendly relationship with him.

When he entered the government building where the council in charge of the matters Orion couldn't handle personally operated, the first person he encountered wasn't his uncle Lolo or Giolla—but little Kalifa, who came running up and began telling him about her day's work.

Orion chatted with her briefly, then tried to leave to find Lolo, but Kalifa tugged on his shirt, looking nervous.

He immediately noticed she was acting strangely, so he opened a door in the air, and the two of them entered his Pocket Dimension.

"What's wrong, Kalifa? Is there something troubling you?" Orion asked directly.

Kalifa hesitated for a moment but finally said,

"Orion… It's about my little sister…"

"Your sister? What happened to her?"

Orion knew Kalifa had a sister one year younger than her, and that the main reason she had been sent to Guanhao at such a young age was to prevent her from forming an emotional bond with her sister—something that could interfere with their futures as agents.

"My sister's still trapped at home, while I escaped alone. She'll grow up never knowing real affection, while I get to live a happy life," said Kalifa, tears welling in her eyes.

Orion immediately understood the problem. Kalifa had agreed to join his kingdom and become his subordinate, which had been a great achievement, given her tremendous talent.

However, it was true that he hadn't handled the matter fully. It was only natural that Kalifa, whose only emotional bond before meeting him had been her sister, would feel like she had betrayed and abandoned her.

Her sister's future was to become just another cog in the Medici family machine. She would never live like a normal person, merely a puppet without a will of her own.

"Don't worry, Kalifa. I promise I'll do something about it," Orion said with a smile, hugging her to comfort her.

"But I know you're really busy, and my sister is under our family's protection—" Kalifa didn't want to be a burden and began listing excuses, but Orion interrupted her before she could even finish.

"It doesn't matter, Kalifa. It's no trouble for me to do something that'll make you happy. Because you're important to me. So don't feel bad for me. If I asked you for a favor, wouldn't you do it even if it was hard?" Orion concluded with a kind smile.

Kalifa immediately burst into tears, apologizing for being selfish and giving him more work, but Orion just kept saying it wasn't a problem and told her to stop being so dramatic.

Then Orion asked Kalifa for any specific information about her sister Alpha's situation.She didn't have any updated info, but assumed Alpha was still living at the Medici family's main base in the second half of the Grand Line.

Still, she wasn't entirely sure, since the Medici family was a massive institution with bases all over the world and it wasn't unusual for members to be relocated if certain circumstances arose.

Orion took note of all the relevant information and began planning how to proceed. Obviously, it was impossible for him to travel to the New World and rescue Alpha right now, but at the very least, he could try to gather intel on her current whereabouts—though he'd have to use unconventional methods.

He finished his conversation with Kalifa and opened a door to leave the Pocket Dimension.His next goal was to meet with Uncle Lolo and finalize everything before heading to where Kuma was located.

However, before he could exit the Pocket Dimension, a bell rang in his mind, and new system notifications appeared.

*Ding*

*The historical event 'Ohara Incident' is about to occur*

*As this event involves a Named Character with compatibility over 95%, forced participation is possible*

*Analyzing distance between Ohara and Host's current location*

*Analysis complete. 120,000 SP are required for forced teleportation*

*Insufficient SP. Unable to travel to required location*

*New Mission Available*

* Mission 15 – Tragedy of Ohara

Description: The Great Tree of Knowledge will burn under the flames ignited by the fearful World Government, causing great losses for humanity.

Objective: Participate in the historical event in any way possible.Reward: ??(The final reward will depend on the Host's actions) *

Orion read the notifications and immediately frowned.He had learned about Ohara from his master Roger and knew it was an island renowned for its scholars and vast library full of all kind of knowledge.

Judging from the mission's description, the World Government was planning to destroy the place, which would be a terrible loss for humanity.

Moreover, the fact that there was a woman on the island with 95% compatibility meant she could be designated on the system as a 'Main Wife'.

Orion was dying to take part in the event. Even if he couldn't do much, he had to at least ensure the safety of the Named Character.

However, 120,000 SP was a completely impossible amount to gather. Since his reincarnation in this world nearly eight years ago, he hadn't even earned 60,000 points—putting the system's demand in stark perspective.

Orion sighed and tried not to think too much about it. It was clear he couldn't act this time, and the mission was doomed to fail.For now, he would focus on the plans he already had.

He exited the Pocket Dimension with Kalifa and went looking for Lolo. Meanwhile, back at his house, the little mermaid was having a vision about the future.