Chapter 228 A+ Card
The road leaving Rainbase was even smoother than Sig had anticipated.
The populace spontaneously cleared the way, yet looked at Sig with gazes full of reverence, which conversely made him feel somewhat unaccustomed.
Sig suddenly remembered a long time ago, after the great fire in the Goa Kingdom, the refugees had shown similar gazes.
After playing Ling Jing and saving the city, Sig, returning to his identity as the Mountain Bandit King, felt a subtle sense of disparity.
It wasn't until the port area that Sig was stopped by a few people.
Blocking the way were precisely Cobra and Igaram's group.
"Mr. Sig, I am Cobra, the king of the Alabasta Kingdom."
Cobra's face was currently filled with gratitude:
"On behalf of the kingdom, I thank you for saving this city."
This king completely disregarded the difference in their statuses and, under the astonished gazes of Igaram and the others, gave Sig a deep bow.
"Alabasta will not forget its hero."
"We ask Mr. Sig to come to the capital Alubarna, so we may express our gratitude slightly."
Speaking to this point, Cobra lowered his voice and said:
'We in Alabasta will also help cover Mr. Sig's tracks."
Sig looked deeply at Cobra for a moment, then said directly:
"Thanks are unnecessary."
"I am merely a... mountain bandit sailing the seas, not some hero."
After saying this, a thought surfaced in Sig's mind.
Within the capital of Alabasta, there truly was something that attracted him...
Thinking of this, he didn't completely refuse but accepted the nautical chart of the waters surrounding Alabasta that Cobra offered.
Alabasta is an island nation; the capital Alubarna is located in another direction on the island, not far from the coastline.
For Sig, whose whereabouts were already exposed to the Marines, traveling by sea to Alubarna was actually faster and safer than crossing the land desert.
Arriving at the port, Kuro and the others who had stayed behind were already waiting on deck.
"Target, Alabasta's royal capital Alubarna. Depart at the fastest speed."
Sig immediately said:
"Kuro, time for work. You can't rest yet."
Sig patted Kuro's shoulder. A single sentence made Kuro, who had just regained a bit of spirit, turn pale again.
However, seeing the two terrifying wounds on Sig's waist and abdomen, Kuro couldn't help but click his tongue. The dissatisfaction that had just arisen in his heart was retracted.
The sandstorm that had swept the area earlier, and the scene of Sig cutting through the sandstorm with his sword, could be seen clearly even from the port.
Such a powerful Sig had sustained such heavy injuries...
Kuro suddenly felt that working overtime on the ship was actually quite good.
At least he wouldn't have to face any terrifyingly strong enemies.
"So.. Robin, what's your response?"
Sig turned his head and looked towards Robin behind him.
After Aokiji made his move, Robin had basically followed behind Sig the entire time and had now boarded the ship with him.
Seeing Robin reveal a hesitant expression, Sig didn't say much more, stating directly:
"You can stay on the ship temporarily; you don't need to decide immediately."
Sig asked himself, he wasn't Whitebeard, wanting to casually acknowledge someone as his daughter was still asking a bit too much; he wouldn't force it.
"Sig, your wounds.."
Beside him, Crocus also approached, frowning as he observed the wounds on Sig's chest and abdomen.
This amount of bleeding simply overturned his understanding as a doctor.
According to common sense, after losing so much blood, even the strongest monster would feel dizzy or even faint, yet Sig seemed completely fine.
"It's fine, I can handle it myself."
Sig refused Crocus's care and walked into the captain's cabin alone.
Only then did he gradually breathe a sigh of relief.
Looking down, the two hideous and terrifying wounds on his waist and abdomen were gone, though the bloodstains still remained.
A virtual panel unfolded before Sig, and he checked his current card compatibility.
Through this incident, Sig mainly played the role of Ling Jing from Ten Cold Jokes [One Hundred Thousand Cold Jokes], and the compatibility surged forward.
Previously, Sig increased the Ling Jing card's compatibility mainly by practicing Ling Jing's skills, resulting in only 31% compatibility over a long period. This time, however, it surged by a large margin, reaching 54% .
Character Card: Ling Jing
Compatibility: 54%
Quality: A+ Grade
Source: One Hundred Thousand Cold Jokes
Abilities: Omitted
The biggest change was actually the card's quality, changing from the original A grade to A+ grade.
According to the card rules, A grade represents 100% of the original character, S grade represents surpassing the original character. This strange A+ grade card left Sig somewhat confused.
"Due to the host's role-playing behavior, the effects of the Ling Jing card and the original character's abilities have undergone certain changes. Please explore the specific situation yourself."
This sentence made Sig's heart stir.
The quality of these cards can change?
So in the future, will there be things like card advancement, card star upgrades, gem inlaying, enchanting, and the like?
"Is it because I played Ling Jing well, and also accomplished things Ling Jing couldn't, protecting a city and the young lady Robin, that such a change occurred..."
Sig muttered to himself.
Besides this, the compatibility of cards like KING also increased slightly during this incident.
Among them, the highest KING card currently reached 86% compatibility (Source text has 86%!). Sig didn't delve deeply into these.
Next, he had another important matter to attend to.
He took out a Den Den Mushi from his person and made a call to the Shock Department on Wanwu Island.
"For the next issue of the Tieba Tabloid, I want to prepare a big news story. It must attract worldwide attention in the shortest possible time. Do you have any suggestions?"
The events in Rainbase city would definitely cause considerable ripples.
Sig planned to simultaneously create a big news story to attract the world's attention, so his activities in Rainbase city wouldn't be too conspicuous.
His initiative in asking about the topic for the Tieba Tabloid this time actually made the chief editor of the news agency on the other end feel somewhat flattered.
All along, it had always been them frantically chasing him for submissions; now it was Sig taking the initiative to ask about topics...
"Mr. Sig, have you heard of Germa 66?"
The chief editor of the news agency on the other end spoke up.
"Our World Economic Journal is a serious world-class newspaper, but besides seriousness, we also have children's serialized manga stories like 'Marine Hero Sora and the Evil Army of Germa 66'."
"According to our market research, this hero manga series is actually very popular among the populace, especially children, with quite a few fans worldwide..."
"There's even a considerable portion of users who buy the World Economic Journal not to read the news, but purely to follow the serialized manga story..."
Sig pondered for a moment, his expression a bit odd:
"Wait.. I just want to make big news, are you asking me to debut as an idol?"