Chapter 10

"The most sinister of them all, the [Dark-Dark Fruit]; the heart-shaped [Op-Op Fruit]; the blazing [Flame-Flame Fruit]... and...

"The [Hollow-Hollow Fruit]! It really is!!!"

Nico Robin

A huge rush of excitement slammed through Adrian. If he had had any less self-control, he would have pulled out the Devil Fruit and eaten it on the spot, regardless of where he was!

Even so, Adrian could not help reaching out to touch the treasure chest tucked inside his clothes.

"So it really is the Hollow-Hollow Fruit. One of the few Paramecia Devil Fruits that are almost impossible to counter..."

As Adrian's thoughts raced, a small voice sounded beside his ear.

"Excuse me, are you still using that Devil Fruit Encyclopedia?"

The speaker was a thin little girl in brown, about five or six years old. She had fair skin and shoulder-length black hair that fell down her back. Her expression was anxious, and her voice hurried.

"I know this might be rude, but I really need it right now, sir."

"It's all right. I found what I needed." Adrian closed the encyclopedia and handed it to the girl. "If you don't mind my asking, little miss, did you suddenly develop some unusual ability?"

"Yes. It's something like flower petals..."

As she flipped through the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, the little girl—no, he could call her Robin now, Nico Robin—still remembered to answer Adrian's question.

"Flower petals? What a beautiful, unusual ability..."

Adrian murmured. He had never expected to run into Nico Robin by sheer chance, much less right after she had eaten the Flower-Flower Fruit.

He offered a helpful hint. "Little miss, I think what you're looking for is on page eighty-seven."

Little Robin immediately turned to the page and found the description. "That's what the fruit looked like... The Flower-Flower Fruit lets any part of the user's body bloom on any solid surface, to attack or serve other purposes..."

Little Robin's face went deathly pale. As though all her strength had left her, she lost her grip on the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, and it slipped from her hands.

"Is something wrong, little miss?"

Adrian darted forward and bent to catch the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia before it hit the floor. He gave its cover a few light pats, and the sharp taps brought Little Robin back to herself.

"I ate that thing..." Little Robin's voice trembled, her words tumbling out in a jumble. "That Devil Fruit. The Flower-Flower Fruit... This afternoon... I was so hungry, and they all called me a monster..."

Looking at Little Robin, who was on the verge of tears, Adrian felt a sudden pang of awkwardness. Was he about to become some kind of comforting big brother?

But when he saw how shaken she was, as if she might burst into tears at any moment, he could not bring himself to leave it alone.

"Have you tried using your ability?" Adrian asked softly.

Little Robin rubbed her eyes and nodded.

"Could you show me?"

Little Robin hesitated. Since eating the Devil Fruit, this was the first person who had treated her so gently. Though she had not wanted to show her ability again, she found herself nodding.

She held out her hand, activated her power, and whispered, "Arm bloom."

A bump appeared from nowhere in the palm of her small, slender hand. It slowly grew until it became an "arm" about the same size as Little Robin's own, its five fingers spreading like petals.

"Do you think this ability is frightening?" Adrian asked.

Little Robin nodded silently and dismissed the ability.

All right, I think it looks pretty creepy too. No one with normal tastes could look at that and not find it bizarre... It's like growing another arm out of an arm. Now I know where Robin got her strange taste.

After a moment's thought, Adrian raised the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia.

"Remember what the book said about the Flower-Flower Fruit?" he asked. "It doesn't just let you bloom any part of your body like a flower. You can make it grow on any solid surface."

"You could try growing something on this book," Adrian encouraged her.

Little Robin obediently followed his suggestion and used her ability to grow a hand on the cover of the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia.

"Try turning the pages with it... There. Does that give you any ideas?"

A little breathless from the effort of using her ability, Little Robin looked up at him. Her eyes were still full of confusion.

Adrian smiled. "It means you can have an extra hand to read, to write, or to do anything else you want."

Little Robin's eyes lit up.

"That's right. A Devil Fruit doesn't mean a monster has been born, no matter what the rumors say. It's just an unusual ability, a power a person can learn to use," Adrian said. "The power itself isn't good or evil. That depends on the person using it. And don't pay too much attention to the children who call you a monster. Ignorant people fear powers they don't understand. Wise people learn to use every tool they have."

Little Robin nodded earnestly. Then she asked with some curiosity, "Big brother, did you eat a Devil Fruit too?"

"No, but I might soon," Adrian said. "Remember one thing: after eating a Devil Fruit, you won't be able to swim in the sea."

"Why?"

"Because everyone who eats a Devil Fruit is cursed by the sea. They lose the ability to swim, and being submerged in water drains all their strength." Adrian smiled. "If you fall into the sea, you'll sink like a stone. Plop—and you won't come back up."

"That's too bad..." Little Robin said regretfully. "Does that mean I can't swim anymore either?"

"Do you like swimming, little miss?"

"Don't call me little miss." Little Robin suddenly blushed. She had just realized she had never introduced herself to the big brother in front of her. "I have a name. I'm Robin. Nico Robin."

"I'm Adrian." He smiled. "So, Little Robin, do you like swimming?"

"I love it. I used to take a bath every night, but my aunt would scold me for using too much water." Little Robin stuck out her tongue. "So I have to wait until after ten. Then no one bothers me."

"But it's nearly eight already." Adrian took out his Pocket Watch and waved it in front of her. "If you have family at home, is it all right for you to be out this late?"

"What?" Little Robin's expression changed, and she hurried toward the exit. She had been so overwhelmed by everything that had happened today that she had lost track of time.

"Big brother, I have to go home!"

With only that hurried farewell, Little Robin broke into a run toward the library doors.

A Conversation at the Library

"What a sweet little girl..."

Adrian watched Little Robin leave and sighed.

No matter the time or place, cuteness was justice!

"Indeed. Robin-chan is a very likable child, and a very clever one."

An elderly voice came from beside a bookshelf. At the same time, an old man with thick hair and a full beard stepped out of the shadows.

He looked rather peculiar. His pale-green hair on either side of his head and his bushy pale-green beard formed the shape of leaves, while a stiff tuft of hair rose high from the back of his head like a stem.

From a distance, it looked as if someone had put a clover-shaped head on a human body.

The newcomer was Dr. Clover, the current director of the Ohara library and a leading authority in archaeology.

"Young man, I don't believe we've met. May I ask what brought you to Ohara?"

Dr. Clover regarded Adrian with a hint of wariness.

This young man had arrived in Ohara at dusk, and something about him felt different from the other visitors. There was even an unsettling familiarity to him, as though he were... one of those Agents who worked for the World Government from the shadows.

As for what Ohara was doing at present, they still had no idea how the World Government would react!

At that thought, Dr. Clover's expression grew sterner.

Adrian saw the wariness in the old man's eyes and waved a hand. "Rest assured, sir. I came to Ohara for one thing only: [knowledge]."

Dr. Clover became even more wary. "What kind of knowledge?"

"The kind that will let a person live alone at sea and stay safe."

Adrian spread his hands and began counting on his fingers.

"As things stand, I'm a decent Navigator and Cook, but making a life at sea isn't that simple;

"Besides the essential knowledge of navigation and meteorology, I need to learn something about shipbuilding. The little boat that brought me to Ohara is almost falling apart. I need to repair it or build another;

"I can't neglect medicine, either. What if I get sick while sailing and there's no Doctor around? It would be terrible if my only option were bloodletting;

"And it would be best to learn a little music, too. Drifting alone across the endless sea can get lonely..."

Adrian's nonstop chatter made Dr. Clover's head spin.

"Enough! Enough!"

The director had to shout, breaking the library's unspoken rule against making noise.

"Navigator, Cook, Shipwright, Doctor, Musician..." Dr. Clover listed them one by one. "Are you planning to go it alone?"

"Of course. Isn't that obvious?" Adrian nodded without hesitation.

"Companions sound like far too much trouble. I could handle keeping a pet, though. Hmm. In that case, should I pick up Veterinarian as another Secondary Profession?"

The existence of the game panel meant Adrian would never gather companions and form a pirate crew. He might need friends, enemies, or even subordinates, but he had no need for companions to share his adventures.

For people who could only find their own way forward, Adrian's rate of growth was far beyond anything they could keep up with.

"You do not need to take up veterinary medicine as well!" A vein bulged on Dr. Clover's forehead. He no longer thought Adrian was a World Government Agent. Now he thought the young man was simply too greedy for knowledge.

"Young man, don't imagine you can learn all that in a short time. Many professions take years of study and practice. There are no shortcuts!" Dr. Clover took on the role of an elder and tried earnestly to talk some sense into Adrian.

"But the first time I read Basic Navigation, it took me less than half an hour to master it." Adrian blinked with feigned calm, making sure to sound utterly casual.

What a humblebrag!

Dr. Clover froze. His breathing grew heavier. "So what... Reading quickly is nothing special... Who can say you truly mastered any of it? Besides, back in my day..."

What followed was a string of remarks about how he had been quite a talent in his youth and had once been young himself. The mood around them suddenly lightened.

Adrian shook his head and stopped provoking the clover-headed old man, who had yet to introduce himself.

He went straight to the section on shipbuilding, pulled out Basic Shipbuilding and Repair, and began reading it with care.

Time passed slowly.

[Through reading, you have completed a session of self-study in basic shipbuilding. Given your Intelligence, your progress in learning Basic Shipbuilding and Repair is 60%.]

[...]

[You have gained a new profession: Shipwright. Your Stamina has increased. Strength +1, Stamina +1, Free Attribute Points +2, Skill Points +1!]

Adrian closed his eyes and sorted through the shipbuilding knowledge pouring into his mind. Then he nodded in satisfaction.

He returned Basic Shipbuilding and Repair to the shelf and moved to another section.

Several dozen minutes later...

[You have gained a new skill: Simple Disease Treatment. You have gained a new profession: Doctor. Your Stamina has increased. Intelligence +1, Charm +1, Free Attribute Points +2, Skill Points +1!]

Adrian now had five Secondary Professions—the Commoner profession had automatically disappeared when his total level reached 20: Navigator, Cook, Agent, Shipwright, and Doctor.

Just then, a notification appeared on the panel.

[Five Secondary Professions detected. The shortcut of acquiring Secondary Professions by reading books has been disabled. Discover other methods of acquiring Secondary Professions on your own.]

[As you gain more Secondary Professions, the difficulty of unlocking them and the experience required to level them up will increase cumulatively.]

Adrian nodded to himself as he read the panel.

He had expected this. If there were no limit on how easily Secondary Professions could be acquired, a low-level character could keep collecting them until their stats matched those of a high-level character. The game would lose its balance!

The five Secondary Professions he had were not the ideal combination, but they were enough for Adrian.

He checked his experience. Before the cost of leveling Secondary Professions rose, he spent 400,000 experience to raise both Shipwright and Doctor to the maximum level of LV10, gaining Strength +10, Stamina +10, Intelligence +10, Charm +10, Free Attribute Points +40, and Skill Points +20.

Feeling his strength grow, Adrian smiled with satisfaction. Ohara really is my lucky place!

The Hollow-Hollow Fruit

After leaving the Tree of Knowledge Library, Adrian saw how late it was and found a nearby inn.

He still had plenty of the Beli he had "borrowed" from Xilian Island, and the Blade Pirates had contributed a fair amount of treasure that day. His personal funds would last him quite a while.

After a hearty dinner, Adrian returned to his room, took out the Hollow-Hollow Fruit, and set it quietly on the tea table.

Now that he had confirmed the Devil Fruit's name, his earlier doubts had vanished.

The only question left was whether he should eat the Hollow-Hollow Fruit.

After thinking it over, he made his decision: he would eat it!

The Rumble-Rumble Fruit was powerful, but it was far away, and he had no idea whether he could find it.

The Hollow-Hollow Fruit was also incredibly powerful. Developed well enough, it could even become nearly impossible to counter.

Most importantly, the Hollow-Hollow Fruit was right in front of him!

Adrian took a deep breath, picked up the Devil Fruit, and bit into it hard.