A Pirate's Odyssey: I Loaded the Game Panel

Especially that bastard who clearly possessed Admiral-level strength, yet insisted on shamelessly squatting in the Vice Admiral's position and refused to budge!!

"Damn you, Garp!!!"

Whenever he thought of that lazy good-for-nothing, Fleet Admiral Kong could not help cursing him under his breath.

Come to think of it, eating, sleeping, and cursing Garp seemed to be the traditional routine of every Fleet Admiral.

Just then, there was a knock at the door, and Fleet Admiral Kong's expression quickly returned to its usual calm.

"Come in."

After receiving permission, a messenger entered from outside the office.

The young soldier first glanced fervently at the utterly unruffled Fleet Admiral, then gave a respectful military salute.

Fleet Admiral Kong put down his pen and asked indifferently, "What is it?"

"Yes!" the messenger answered loudly. "Reporting to Your Excellency, Fleet Admiral, something extremely strange has been happening with surprising frequency throughout the Four Blues. There have also been quite a few similar cases in the Grand Line."

Fleet Admiral Kong rubbed his brow and said gravely, "Is this about pirates again?"

"No," the messenger replied. "It concerns a group of Drifters."

"Drifters?" Fleet Admiral Kong raised his brows curiously. "What could possibly be so strange about a group of Drifters? Wait, did you say this is happening throughout the Four Blues, even in the Grand Line, with similar cases occurring at the same time?"

"Yes!" The messenger nodded vigorously. "Drifter-related matters do not normally fall under Marine jurisdiction, but the intelligence was simply too bizarre, so the branch Marines had no choice but to report it."

After a brief pause, the messenger continued, "Over the past five days, groups of Drifters displaying strange behavior have suddenly appeared simultaneously in various parts of the world. Most Marine Bases have reported similar incidents."

"The Drifters behave suspiciously all day long, and they especially like asking the local residents for information. Most of them vanish into thin air during a specific period of time, only reappearing before people after a while."

If Adrian had been present, he would have understood the messenger's meaning perfectly.

As players, their movements were naturally suspicious and their behavior strange. Their habit of asking local residents for information was merely to trigger quests and earn experience. Vanishing into thin air during a specific period was simply logging off to rest.

However, to the other people in the world of the Pirate King, all these things the players did truly seemed extremely bizarre.

The conversation in the office continued.

"A large group of people suddenly vanishing into thin air?" Fleet Admiral Kong's expression grew noticeably more solemn.

"That is exactly what happened!" The messenger nodded forcefully. "We received a report before that, when a pirate crew in the North Blue attacked a town, they also captured a large group of Drifters. Yet by nightfall, every one of them had vanished. The most astonishing part was that all those Drifters had been locked inside iron cages! And..."

At this point, the messenger's throat bobbed as he swallowed. "The most important intelligence reported from that incident was that every one of those Drifters was undying!"

"What?! Undying people?!"

Fleet Admiral Kong was stunned. If he could barely accept the earlier intelligence, this revelation was truly earth-shattering!

"Yes, Your Excellency!" the messenger answered seriously. "And the North Blue is not the only place where this has happened. There have been cases elsewhere as well. After that incident, whenever someone killed one of those Drifters, their corpse would turn into a streak of white light and disappear. Then, after some time, they would revive at a particular location."

"Is this some special phenomenon caused by a Devil Fruit User?" Fleet Admiral Kong frowned deeply. "But I have never heard of a Devil Fruit capable of affecting such a vast area..."

After silently pondering for a while without reaching a conclusion, Fleet Admiral Kong asked several more questions in succession.

"Approximately how many Drifters are there? What is their exact distribution? And finally, how strong are they?"

"The total number of Undying Drifters has not yet been precisely calculated, but there should be at least a thousand. They are distributed from the Four Blues to the first half of the Grand Line, though there have not been any discoveries in the New World for the time being," the messenger replied point by point.

"As for their strength, they are weak—extremely weak. Those Undying Drifters generally are not even as strong as ordinary human children! A well-trained Marine soldier could take on at least twenty of them!"

Fleet Admiral Kong's expression froze, and he scratched his head. He had nearly prepared himself for an even greater shock, but if those Undying Drifters were merely this weak, they would not cause any serious trouble. The local Marines could suppress them with ease.

"Have the Marine Branches that first noticed these incidents discovered anything else?"

"Nothing for the moment!" the messenger replied. "However, Vice Admiral Tsuru from the Intelligence Department has already dispatched professionals to investigate."

"Oh? Whom did Tsuru send? And where are they going?"

"Vice Admiral Tsuru did not reveal the specific personnel, but she said the mission location was the West Blue, the Flower Country."

The Flower Country.

After leaving the docks, Adrian had roughly worked out his plan for harvesting experience from players during the future open beta.

He looked up at the sky. Seeing the sun hanging high overhead, he decided to find a place nearby to gather some information and, incidentally, see what the Flower Country's internal-beta players had been doing over the past few days.

It was common knowledge that the two best places to gather information in another world were taverns and brothels.

Adrian did not smoke, and he only sampled alcohol in moderation. When Doctor had examined his body at the Agent Base, she had said that he was in outstanding health.

Therefore, to maintain his excellent physical condition, Adrian decided not to go to a tavern.

Besides, what fun was drinking compared with looking at pretty girls?

Every country had its own special characteristics.

In this land, brothels were not called brothels. They were called pleasure houses and courtesan quarters.

Speaking of the traditional culture of pleasure houses, they actually contained an extremely rich variety of techniques—cough, knowledge.

Especially since the Pirate King world itself was a melting pot of races, the pleasure industry contained not only ordinary humans but also many exotic-race courtesans, such as Merfolk, the Snakeneck Tribe, and the Three-Eye Tribe...

Hiss—

Perhaps I could write an Appreciation Guide?

A flash of inspiration struck Adrian, as if the adventurer Stark had possessed him.

The next second, reason reclaimed the high ground in his mind.

Forget it, forget it. The book would get banned...

Returning to the special characteristics of the Flower Country...

The pleasure district, the pleasure houses, and the courtesan quarters all served the same function. They offered both wholesome and unwholesome entertainment, and the choice depended on one's personal needs.

Relatively speaking, pleasure houses catered to more distinguished clients and charged higher prices. Courtesan quarters, on the other hand, served the broader population of commoners—yes, the poor kind of poor—and were livelier and more convenient for gathering information.

Adrian touched his wallet. It contained a total of 100,300 Beli.

Restricted Skill: Hundred-Thousand Beli Hand. Current uses remaining: 1.

"Since it's my first time going out for fun—er, gathering information—it would be more appropriate to keep things wholesome. Yes, my current identity is that of a down-and-out novelist seeking spiritual solace. I need to exchange artistic insights with accomplished professionals while drawing literary inspiration from them..."

The youth who carried a dream took his brave first step into the adult world!

However, Adrian, whose emotions were running far too high, had evidently overlooked one matter.

Who would come out to sell their charms in broad daylight?

As the saying went, working day and night—the literary professionals generally worked at night, all right?

Carrying regret and resentment, Adrian entered a tavern called The Abundant Hostess.

"Ah, handsome stranger, I'm Cui Ze, the owner of this tavern. What can I get you?"

Behind the tavern counter, the young owner, dressed in a black tailcoat and wearing a blue bow tie, greeted him with a beaming smile.

Adrian naturally took a seat at an empty spot by the counter and began chatting with the owner. "Boss Cui Ze, you gave the tavern such an impressive name. Are you actually deceiving customers into spending money?"

"Not at all, not at all." The tavern owner hurriedly waved his hands. "The previous owner of the tavern really was a woman with an extremely 'abundant' figure."

"How abundant?" Adrian raised a brow. "One rum, please."

"Skin like milk, lips like honey, chestnut hair like silk..." Boss Cui Ze poured the drink while adopting a nostalgic expression.

"Hey! Gambler, don't forget that Aunt Mia celebrated her fifty-fifth birthday five years ago!" a drunkard suddenly shouted while drinking.

The corner of Adrian's mouth twitched, and he instantly looked at the tavern owner in a new light.

Good grief. A real-life sixtieth birthday celebration for the female owner?

"So what? Mind your own drink!" Boss Cui Ze laughed as he cursed him. "Besides, didn't Boss Mia say so herself? She's from the Giants! Even a sixty-year-old Giant is still quite a young woman!"

Unexpectedly, Boss Cui Ze's words provoked even louder laughter.

"Hahaha..."

"A Giant who's only 1.8 meters tall?"

"I've never seen such a petite and adorable Giant woman!"

"But to be honest, only the straightforward Giants would take things so seriously and actually gamble away their own tavern to an old gambling addict, right?"

Casually accepting the glass of rum, Adrian placed it on the counter, propped his chin up with one hand, and watched the tavern's patrons chat and joke around in boredom.

It sounded as though a very interesting story was hidden behind this tavern.

Just as the lively atmosphere in the tavern grew even more heated, a new guest suddenly entered through the main door.

With his back to the entrance, Adrian merely felt the tavern's atmosphere abruptly fall silent.

The next moment, the men's whistles and catcalls rang out without end.

"One glass of red wine, please!"

A fragrant breeze swept past, and a magnetic voice sounded beside Adrian's ear.

He turned his head and his eyes lit up instantly.

The unfamiliar guest was a stunning woman with an elegant bearing, seemingly in her early twenties. She was tall and slender, wearing a pink dress. Her smooth, fair thighs were exposed to the air, while a large expanse of soft, delicate, snow-white skin was revealed above her chest.

What captivated Adrian most was her breathtakingly beautiful face, along with the beauty mark beneath the right corner of her mouth that seemed to ensnare the soul.

"Ah, ah, yes, all right. The wine will be right out!" Boss Cui Ze suddenly began to stammer.

"Handsome, staring at me so intently is rather rude, you know~"

The beauty turned toward Adrian and smiled faintly. Every movement she made carried an indescribable charm, along with a hint of lazy nonchalance.

Adrian's gaze burned brightly.

"Sorry, but I truly can't take my eyes off your face, miss."

"Handsome..." The woman leaned forward, a strand of black hair sliding down her cheek as her beautiful eyes stared straight into Adrian's. "You aren't thinking about anything improper right now, are you?"

"Sorry again." Adrian's nostrils flared slightly as he carefully savored the fragrance that had suddenly grown stronger, putting him in an even better mood. "What I'm thinking about right now is probably a hundred times worse than what you imagined."

"Giggle!" The beauty laughed coquettishly, completely unconcerned by the teasing implication in his words. "Handsome, you really are a very interesting person."

"No one has ever described me that way before. I wonder if I might have the honor of learning your name, miss?"

"Hmm, my name is Gion—" The beauty's eyes shifted. "My name is Tao Zhi."

"Is that so? It seems we really are fated to meet, Miss Tao Zhi." Adrian smiled shamelessly. "My name is Tao Ya."

What a liar!

The same thought flashed through the minds of both smiling conversationalists.

It was obvious that Adrian had recognized her identity the moment he saw her.

Momousagi Gion!

A future candidate for the position of Marine Admiral!

Although he had no idea why he had encountered Momousagi in the Flower Country, that did not stop Adrian from continuing to flirt with her.

"Meeting you today, Miss Tao Zhi, is a blessing from heaven. I wonder, Miss Tao Zhi, would you be willing to share a bed with me tonight?"

Hearing this, a strange glint suddenly flashed through Gion's eyes, but there was no disgust in them.

When it came to making lewd remarks, looks mattered!

When some people imitated Boss Cao, it was sexual harassment.

When Adrian imitated Cao Cao, it was humorous flirting.

Gion reached out, hooked a strand of hair from her forehead around her finger, and asked softly, "Young man Tao Ya, don't you think your way of speaking is a little too open and direct?"

"Is it?" Adrian accepted the red wine from Boss Cui Ze and handed it to Gion, while revealing a frank, clean smile.

"Because this is a rare opportunity to approach an incomparable beauty, I had to be especially enthusiastic. Besides, whether man or woman, doesn't everyone come to a tavern to seek pleasure? Speaking in such a coy manner only exposes one's lecherous nature."

Boss Cui Ze, brimming with resentment, was completely ignored.

Gion was left speechless. Still inexperienced, this was the first time she had encountered a man with such an aggressive approach.

For some inexplicable reason, Gion recalled Tokikake, also known as Chaton, who had joined the Marines at the same time as her. He was one of her most fervent admirers, yet his way of speaking had always been exceedingly direct.

Back when they had trained at the Marine Headquarters' elite camp, Tokikake had already confessed to her thirteen times in total. Yet he always used the exact same line:

"Miss Gion, I like you. Please be my girlfriend!"

What woman could possibly accept such a painfully awkward confession???