Pirates: I Loaded the Game Panel

"Is that so? How about now?"

Adrian spread his arms. Specks of ghostly light appeared around him, turning into dozens of Mini Hollows in an instant. Their numbers kept climbing.

Hog's mouth fell open, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints.

Mini Hollow: Nova Fire!

A deluge of ghosts hurtled toward Hog in a saturation attack, each one bent on self-destruction. Brilliant explosions erupted one after another. The already battered Abundant Hostess was reduced to ruins almost instantly.

The explosions thundered on for several minutes before Adrian waved an arm and stopped the assault.

A few seconds later, the smoke cleared.

Hog stood leaning on his blade, blood spilling from his mouth and nose. Burns covered his body, and his injuries were clearly severe.

"Hahaha—cough, cough! I'm not dead yet! Didn't expect that, did you?" Hog laughed wildly through the pain. "And thanks, brat. This fight helped me grasp it! Prepare to die! Armament Haki is a Devil Fruit's natural enemy!"

"Is that so?"

Adrian narrowed his eyes. He had thought Hog couldn't use Armament Haki, only for his own attacks to inadvertently help Hog unlock it.

"Now—" Hog roared, about to unleash his newly awakened Armament Haki.

Adrian cut him off. "Let's end this."

A new kind of ghost flew from Adrian's fingertip. It resembled a White Ghost: Fair-Weather Doll, but its off-white body flickered like a candle guttering in the wind, wavering between solid and insubstantial.

"Your Ghost Bomb can't hurt me anymore!" Hog shouted wildly.

"Don't be so quick to boast, Second Treasure Pillar."

The translucent ghost locked onto its target and sped toward Hog's chest.

Hog swung his blade to block it. He expected to stop the Ghost Bomb before it reached him, but the new ghost ignored the physical barrier entirely, passing straight through his blade and into his chest.

"Goodbye, Pillar of the Second Treasure Navy."

Adrian clenched his right fist. The Ghost Bomb inside Hog detonated, blasting his heart to pieces!

Mini Hollow: Withering Heart-Piercer!

A tearing pain ripped through Hog's chest. He opened his mouth in vain, and blood poured out, drowning the words he never got to say.

"How could I die here...?"

A gust of wind swept up the dust and carried away his last breath.

Hog's pupils widened and went blank. His massive body slowly toppled, and he breathed no more.

[You killed Hog (Lv. 54), Pillar of the Second Treasure Navy of the Flower Country. You gained 2.7 million EXP.]

[You killed an enemy 25 levels above you. Bonus EXP: 500%.]

[Total EXP gained: 16.2 million!]

[You have unlocked Flower Country faction relations!]

[You killed Hog, Pillar of the Second Treasure Navy. Your standing with the Second Treasure Navy has fallen. Current relationship: Deadly Enemy!]

[Your standing with the Three Treasures Navy has fallen. Current relationship: Hostile!]

[Your standing with the ... Treasures Navy has fallen. Current relationship: Hostile!]

[Your standing with the Happo Navy has risen. Current relationship: Neutral!]

[Your standing with the Flower Country has fallen. Current relationship: Cold!]

"Faction relations?"

Adrian's eyes sharpened as he examined the new information.

Faction relations represented a faction's attitude toward an individual, as well as the missions and events connected to that faction.

From lowest to highest, the nine relationship levels were Deadly Enemy, Hostility, Hostile, Cold, Neutral, Friendly, Respect, Reverence, and Worship.

A new faction generally started at Neutral. Once one's standing rose—or fell—far enough, faction-related missions would trigger automatically.

With sufficiently high standing, one could also get help and resources from that faction.

If standing fell too low, however, that faction would turn hostile. It might even attack or pursue you.

The two fundamental factions in the world of Pirate King were the Marines and the Pirates. Joining either side immediately made the other Hostile, and the two fought each other.

Adrian should have unlocked his relationship with Cipher Pol when he left the World Government. But too few people knew about his defection, so he hadn't met the hidden requirement. (Actually, I overlooked this earlier...)

This time, he had killed Hog, the leader of one of the Flower Country's eight major forces, in front of everyone. The news would spread far and wide, instantly unlocking his relationships with every faction in the country.

Amid all the notices of declining standing, the lone increase from the Happo Navy stood out.

That increase probably stemmed from Hog's contemptuous insults toward Chinjao before the fight.

By killing Hog, Adrian had naturally won some favor with the Happo Navy.

Still...

If you're going to raise it, raise it properly. Isn't Neutral the starting point? How much did it even go up? Adrian grumbled inwardly.

Meanwhile, the crowd had fallen utterly silent.

They had expected a one-sided fight, and a one-sided fight was exactly what they got.

The only surprise was that the people standing and lying on the ground were the reverse of what everyone had imagined.

"Hog was the Pillar of the Second Treasure Navy. I can't believe he was killed just like that..."

"With that size difference, it's like a cat killing a tiger!"

"Wasn't Pillar Hog's latest bounty over fifty million? That stranger is terrifyingly strong..."

"He seems to be a Devil Fruit User, too. He's unbelievably powerful..."

Adrian looked toward the onlookers, and silence fell over them at once.

Their eyes gathered on him, full of curiosity, awe, and shock, with hostility and coldness mixed in.

Cui Ze, the tavern owner, limped out of the crowd and approached Adrian with a conflicted expression.

"Tao Ya, you... ah..."

"Sorry, Boss Cui." Adrian glanced at the ruins of the tavern and rubbed his nose awkwardly. "The fight got so intense that I lost track of your place."

"That doesn't matter." Cui Ze's mouth twitched, and he waved a hand. "Tao Ya, you've gotten yourself into enormous trouble! The Second Treasure Navy won't let you go. You'd better leave right away..."

That last part is what you really wanted to say, isn't it?

Adrian nodded helplessly. He hadn't expected to cause such a huge incident so soon after arriving in the Flower Country. He would have to keep a low profile over the next few days.

As for leaving?

Adrian had no plans to do that. At the very least, he would stay until the game's closed beta ended.

But I can't stay in this town...

Adrian glanced around and was about to leave.

Just then—

"Tao Ya, where are you headed now?"

A sweet, alluring voice rang out. It belonged to Gion, who had vanished as soon as the fighting began.

"Why, Miss Tao Zhi? Would you like to travel with me?"

"Why not?" Gion replied with a smile, her beautiful eyes glimmering.

To be honest, Gion was tempted.

Not by Adrian himself, but by his strength.

She had watched the entire fight clearly from the shadows.

Hog was undoubtedly a top-tier pirate who could run rampant through the West Blue. Even in Paradise, the first half of the Grand Line, he would have been a formidable fighter.

Yet a notorious pirate like him had lasted only moments once Adrian showed his full strength.

Gion knew perfectly well that if Adrian had released that final ghost at the start, the fight would have ended in an instant!

In other words, Hog, the mighty Pillar of the Second Treasure Navy, would have died in a single moment!

He had the raw strength of a Marine officer, paired with terrifying mastery of the Hollow-Hollow Fruit. He was a self-taught powerhouse from outside the established ranks!

If the Marines could recruit a young fighter of his caliber, they would gain someone capable of reaching at least the level of a seasoned Vice Admiral!

How could Gion not be tempted?

Her only uncertainty was Adrian's burst of speed at the start of the fight. It felt familiar, rather like one of the Six Powers.

But the seas had plenty of techniques similar to Soru, and Gion had no time to dwell on it now.

Adrian, however, turned down her confident invitation.

"I appreciate the invitation, Miss Tao Zhi, but take a look around." Adrian spread his hands. "Trouble as beautiful and romantic as you might not bother me, but everyone else would find it too much to bear."

Adrian wasn't sure exactly why Gion had invited him, but it had to be related to the Marines. Surely she hadn't actually fallen for his flirting or his body?

He planned to keep interacting with the closed-beta players for a while. Having a Marine at his side would hardly help, even if she was a beautiful, fair-skinned woman with long legs!

Women would only slow down my EXP farming!

After all, Adrian wasn't some dirty old pervert whose brain lived between his legs!

After a brief farewell, Adrian had no intention of staying in town.

As Pillar of the Second Treasure Navy, Hog had plenty of underlings. Some of them had probably already heard the news and were on their way.

Adrian wasn't afraid of them, but he didn't want them holding him up.

Besides, if he wiped out the main force of the Second Treasure Navy, he really wouldn't be able to stay in the Flower Country!

Killing its leader in a one-on-one fight could be called a clash between pirates. Destroying one of a nation's eight standing armies would be a declaration of war!

The Flower Country was one of the West Blue's few player hubs, an indispensable place to cultivate his future crop of EXP. Best not to push things too far.

After quickly gathering what spoils he could, Adrian left town. He entered his ghostly form and soared skyward, heading back the way he had come.

He flew above the clouds.

Adrian quietly enjoyed the peaceful moment, letting the tension of battle drain from his mind.

A few minutes later, he checked what the fight had cost him.

I barely lost any health, but I used more than a quarter of my stamina. Stamina really is a weak point...

My Fine Longsword has several notches, and its durability has plummeted. It's done for. Damn it, I really want a good sword!

Too bad Hog didn't trigger any missions. At his size, he must have had a specialty like Robust Life...

Right, I earned a lot of EXP too!

Adrian glanced at the panel. His accumulated EXP was approaching seventeen million.

Two years of training at the base had netted him only twelve million, while defeating one higher-level enemy had earned him over sixteen million.

Crime really does pay!

After some thought, Adrian chose not to spend all his EXP on leveling up. Instead, he raised several skills to their maximum level.

From Agent, Basic Marksmanship and Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat; from Cook, Basic Heat Control; from Shipwright, Basic Shipbuilding and Repair; from Doctor, Simple Disease Treatment; from Professional Swordsman, Advanced Swordsmanship Training and Intermediate Swordsmanship Affinity; and finally, Six Powers: Soru!

All eight skills reached MAX, earning him sixteen Skill Points.

The remaining EXP was just enough to fill the level-nine Professional Swordsman experience bar and bring it to level ten.

His overall level reached thirty!

A steady stream of skill knowledge flooded Adrian's mind, and he smiled in satisfaction.

I didn't realize maxing out Soru would reveal so many ways to use it. Advanced Swordsmanship Training gave me plenty of ideas, too. I can put them toward developing Dashing Slash and Spirit-Sundering Slash...

Fifteen minutes later, Adrian landed in a deserted clearing in the mountains. He found a wooden stump and began to practice.

Hiss, hiss—