Chapter 17

Not to mention short! Pathetic!! And ugly!!!

Gion shook her head, pushing those irrelevant thoughts aside. She had come to the Flower Country on a secret mission from Tsuru: investigate a group of Undying Drifters acting strangely. She could not waste too much time on the stranger in front of her.

"Still haven't seen enough, Tao Ya?" Gion asked.

Adrian shook his head. "Not quite. I was just about to take a closer look."

Just then, a gruff male voice sounded behind him.

"Hey, brat! I've got my eye on your seat. Mind getting lost?" The speaker was a middle-aged drunk in a green cloak, his face flushed from drinking.

Gion said nothing more. She lifted her glass, sipped her wine, and watched with interest.

Could this setup for a face-slapping showdown be any more forced? Adrian sighed and turned around. "Judging by your outfit, which navy are you with?"

"I'm Sili, Second Division Commander of the Second Treasure Navy!" the scruffy drunk roared, pride ringing in his voice. "If you know what's good for you, get out of this tavern!"

Then the drunk looked at Gion and leered. "Woman, want to have a drink with me? What I've got for you is big and white..."

Gion frowned at once, her displeasure plain.

It bore repeating.

Whether dirty talk worked really did depend on your face!

"Certainly living up to the 'Second Treasure' name..."

Adrian pressed a hand to his forehead, then turned to the tavern owner. "Boss Cui Ze, if a fight breaks out, I'll try to keep it under control. But if—"

Cui Ze's brows drew together. He waved a hand. "Please don't trouble yourself, sir."

He looked at the middle-aged drunk and said grimly, "Sili! Are you sure you want to cause trouble in this bar? This is—"

Sili cut him off. "This is Happo Navy territory! That's what you were going to say, right, you little gambler? I'm not afraid of the Happo Navy!"

The mood in the tavern had taken a sharp turn. Several patrons who were still sober enough to know better rose to leave.

A clash between the Second Treasure Navy and the Happo Navy was not something tavern patrons who only knew how to run their mouths could get involved in.

"Looks like your name doesn't carry quite as much weight as you thought, Boss Cui Ze." Adrian's teasing held no trace of nerves.

Cui Ze's frown deepened.

"Si—"

Crash!

Sili smashed his bottle against the floor, spilling red wine everywhere.

"Shut up, you little gambler! Just because you won this tavern from Aunt Mia, don't think you can—"

Boom!

A violent explosion erupted right in front of Sili's face, cutting off the rest of his words.

Cui Ze caught only a faint flash of white. Then Sili collapsed onto his back, blood pouring from his nose and mouth.

Sharp-eyed Gion quietly turned her attention to Adrian. Until now, she had not realized that the young man beside her, with his endless suggestive remarks, was a Devil Fruit User hiding his abilities.

And he possessed the exceptionally rare Paramecia-type Hollow-Hollow Fruit!

The relevant information slowly surfaced in Gion's mind.

"There goes a perfectly good mood. I'm deeply wounded..." Adrian flicked his fingers and muttered in displeasure. "Hey, Boss Cui Ze, knocking out someone from the Second Treasure Navy won't cause too much trouble, will it?"

Adrian had, of course, been the one to strike. He had no interest in listening to a small fry's threats, nor did he want some random bit player showing up to hog the spotlight. So he had simply blown the drunk away with a Mini Hollow.

Before Cui Ze could answer, an even more vicious voice rang out.

"You little bastard. I can't pretend I didn't hear that!"

At the same moment, a hulking man strode straight into the tavern.

He stood nearly five meters tall, his head almost brushing the ceiling. Beneath stiff black hair that stood up like steel needles was an ugly, heavy-jowled face. His shoulders were broad, his arms as thick as tree trunks, and the long blade in his hand had a handle as thick as a goose egg.

"So you're the brat who hurt my man?"

The ugly giant glared at Adrian, who remained seated at the bar. His grip tightened until the steel hilt creaked faintly.

Adrian asked the visibly shaken tavern owner, "Who is he? He sounds like someone high up in the Second Treasure Navy."

"He..." Cui Ze went pale and abruptly corrected himself. "This gentleman isn't merely an officer of the Second Treasure Navy. He's Hog, the Pillar of the Second Treasure Navy!"

"The Pillar of the Second Treasure Navy?"

Adrian instantly took Hog more seriously, though he remained perfectly calm on the surface.

"I wonder how you compare to Pillar Chinjao of the Happo Navy, who dominated the West Blue a few years ago."

"Chinjao? You mean 'Chinjao the Drill,' the one whose head a Marine flattened with a single punch? That Dragon Without a Drill who spends his days wailing over the Jade Treasure Ice Bed?"

Hog burst out laughing. His coarse voice left everyone in the tavern's ears ringing.

"Don't make me laugh. I'm nothing like that has-been!"

"Oh? Does the Second Treasure Pillar have a bounty of five hundred million?" Adrian asked, feigning confusion.

"Bounty..." Hog's face reddened. When it came to bounties, even ten of him could not match Chinjao.

Hog waved a hand dismissively. "Only ordinary pirates care about that! I couldn't give a damn!"

"Oh, I see." Adrian nodded. "Then perhaps your bounty is over a hundred million? Surely it isn't less than a fifth of Chinjao's?"

Hog stopped talking. Verbal sparring had never been his strength.

He glared at Adrian, planted a foot, and lunged. His blade came down in a vertical slash, as though he meant to cut the brazen brat who had mocked him in two!

"Die, brat!!"

A fierce blade came slashing down, but Adrian shifted nearly half a meter to his unoccupied left in an instant. His sudden burst of speed startled everyone present, and an unusual light flickered in Gion's eyes.

After narrowly evading the blade with a burst of Soru, Adrian drew the Fine Longsword at his waist. Taking advantage of Hog's overextended swing, he slashed straight for the hand gripping the weapon!

His first strike missed, but Hog did not panic. He turned his blade and swept it across, easily intercepting Adrian's sword.

Clang!

The blades met with a dull ring.

At the same time, information about the enemy appeared on the panel.

—

[Based on your level and attributes, you have obtained the following information.]

[Pillar of the Second Treasure Navy—Hog] (Red Name)

[Level: LV54]

[Attributes: Strength 123, Agility 105, Stamina ?, Intelligence 16, Charm 3, Luck 9]

[Abilities: [Advanced Polearm Affinity], ?, ?]

[Danger Level: Medium]

—

The level gap was considerable, leaving much of the information hidden behind question marks. Still, Adrian's high Intelligence let him make out plenty.

Judging by Hog's performance so far, he was clearly the hard-hitting, hard-to-hurt type, like most towering, powerfully built pirates.

Hog surpassed him in all three main combat attributes—Strength, Agility, and Stamina. A head-on clash was out of the question.

But... I can't lose!

Adrian glanced at the danger rating of "Medium" and relaxed.

Any enemy without Haki was a pushover! Such was the disdain of someone with max-level [Ghost Body].

The instant Adrian's attention shifted to the panel, Hog closed in.

"What's wrong, brat? Felt my overwhelming strength and can't recover from the shock?"

His combat experience was far too shallow!

Hog's face twisted viciously as he brought his blade down on Adrian, as if to cleave him diagonally in two!

Adrian whipped his sword back to block. Gripping the hilt with both hands, he caught Hog's blade in the nick of time.

An irresistible force surged through the hilt. Against an enemy with half again his Strength, Adrian could not fully stop the blow. Hog's tremendous power made his arms shake violently, and his feet sank slightly into the floorboards.

But as long as the gap in strength was not enough to crush him outright, he could still fight!

Adrian gritted his teeth and held on with all his might.

Combat experience had always been one of his weaknesses. Even after two years of Agent training, he had seen too few life-or-death fights where blades drew blood!

With Ghost Body's invincible passive ability ensuring he could not lose, Adrian had no reason to let this walking bundle of experience that had come to him pass him by!

"Is that all the strength you've got, brat? Are you trying to tickle me?"

Hog grinned savagely and swung his blade even faster. He might have been nowhere near as strong as Chinjao of the Happo Navy, but he was still the mighty Pillar of the Second Treasure Navy—one of the Great Pirates near the top of the Flower Country's power hierarchy!

Adrian again used the burst of speed from his high-level [Soru], weaving through the narrow space and occasionally striking back!

"You insist on trading blows with me up close? Are you in that much of a hurry to die?"

Hog did not know what gave Adrian the nerve to pit his strength against Hog's, but he had no objection to claiming another life.

Clang, clang, clang, clang—

The blades crossed again, scattering tiny sparks.

Then Hog noticed something: the force transmitted through the blades was gradually weakening.

I don't know where this brat learned that strange Burst Technique. He's as nimble as a monkey, but he's far weaker than me. After clashing head-on so many times, his muscles are already aching!

Hog watched the sweat bead on Adrian's forehead and his arms tremble. A gleam flashed in Hog's eyes. His instincts in battle were far sharper than his appearance suggested!

Now!

Without hesitation, Hog put his strength into both arms and unleashed the secret technique he had been preparing.

"Two-Charge Fist: Ferocious Blade!"

A blade-shaped shock wave of immense power burst from the edge of Hog's enormous weapon, streaking toward Adrian's vital points at a vicious angle!

"Your life is mine, brat!"

With both arms weak and aching, Adrian could not react. The massive blade of energy swept through his body at the waist.

Certain the fight was over, Hog turned back confidently.

"Ah, I knew it. That really was asking too much..."

What?!

Hog's pupils shrank, and he spun around.

Adrian stood exactly where he had been. Though the strike should have cut him in two, he was completely unharmed!

"How is that possible?!"

Hog was stunned. He had absolute faith in the "Two-Charge Fist" passed down through generations of the Second Treasure Navy. Countless formidable fighters of the West Blue had fallen to that secret technique beneath his blade. How could it fail to hurt a mere brat?

"There's nothing impossible about it. The fight between Swordsmen is over." Adrian shook out his arms and sheathed his sword. "Now I'm going to use my new ability."

"You're... a Devil Fruit User?!" Beads of sweat appeared on Hog's forehead as a possibility flashed through his mind.

"Correct. No prize, though."

A Mini Hollow slowly emerged from Adrian's fingertip, a faintly dangerous smile on its pale face.

"Ready to meet my little cutie?"

Mini Hollow: Tempting Gift!

The small, adorable White Hollow flew toward Hog at high speed. Then came a violent explosion.

The spreading shock wave blasted dust across the tavern's wrecked floor.

A moment later, a hand as big as a fan swept the smoke aside, revealing Hog's demon-like face.

"Cough, cough. Brat, an explosion that weak won't do a thing to me!"

Hog swung his long blade and stepped forward, ready to press the attack.