Chapter 18

"Really? What about now?"

Adrian spread his arms. Specks of glowing ghostfire appeared around him, transforming in the blink of an eye into dozens of Mini Hollows. Their numbers continued to rise as time passed.

Hog's mouth fell slightly open, and his pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints.

Mini Hollow: Nova Fire!

A rain of ghosts blotted out the sky as it lunged toward Hog, launching a saturated suicide assault. Brilliant successive explosions erupted with a thunderous roar. The already battered [The Abundant Hostess] tavern was almost instantly reduced to rubble.

The explosions continued for several full minutes before finally stopping. Adrian waved his arm and halted the attack.

A few seconds later, the smoke dispersed.

Hog stood leaning on his saber, looking utterly wretched. Blood spilled from his mouth and nose, and his entire body was covered in burn marks. His injuries were clearly severe.

"Hahaha—cough, cough! I'm still alive. Didn't expect that, did you?" Hog laughed crazily through his pain. "And thanks, brat. After this battle, I've already touched the threshold! Prepare to die! The power of Armament Haki is the natural enemy of Devil Fruit abilities!"

"Is that so?"

Adrian narrowed his eyes. He had assumed Hog did not know Armament Haki, but he had never expected his own attacks to inadvertently help Hog find the key to awakening it.

"Now—" Hog roared, just as he was about to activate his newly acquired Armament Haki.

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

A new type of ghost flew from Adrian's fingertip. It resembled a White Ghost: Fair-Weather Doll, but its cream-colored body flickered like a candle guttering in the wind, flashing between solidity and illusion.

Hog went mad. "A mere Ghost Bomb can't hurt me anymore!"

"Don't make careless boasts, Second Treasure Pillar!"

The semitransparent ghost automatically locked onto its target and shot toward Hog's chest.

Hog swung his saber to block it. He had thought he could stop the Ghost Bomb in advance, but this new type of ghost completely ignored the physical obstacle before it. It passed straight through his saber and burrowed into his chest.

"Goodbye, Pillar of the Second Treasure Navy."

Adrian clenched his right fist. The Ghost Bomb, already buried inside Hog's body, exploded, blasting his heart into pieces!

Mini Hollow: Withering Heart-Piercer!

[31. Chapter Thirty-One: Recruiting and Farewell]

Hog felt a ripping pain surge from his heart. He opened and closed his mouth uselessly, and a torrent of blood flowed from it, staining the words he had not yet managed to speak red.

"How could I die here..."

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

Hog's pupils widened blankly. His enormous body slowly toppled to the ground, and his breathing finally stopped.

[You killed Hog, Pillar of the Second Treasure Navy of the Flower Country (LV54). You gained 2.7 million experience]

[You killed an enemy 25 levels above you, gaining an additional 500% experience bonus]

[You have gained a total of 16.2 million experience!]

Before Adrian could relax, the panel began refreshing frantically once again.

[You have unlocked faction relations in the Flower Country!]

[You killed Hog, Pillar of the Second Treasure Navy. The Second Treasure Navy's favorability toward you has decreased. Current relationship: Deadly Enemy!]

[The Three Treasures Navy's favorability toward you has decreased. Current relationship: Hostile!]

[The ... Treasures Navy's favorability toward you has decreased. Current relationship: Hostile!]

[The Happo Navy's favorability toward you has increased. Current relationship: Neutral!]

[The Flower Country's favorability toward you has decreased. Current relationship: Cold!]

"Faction relations?"

A glint flashed through Adrian's eyes as he silently examined them.

New faction relations represented a faction's specific attitude toward a person, while also representing the quests and events related to that faction.

Faction relations were divided into nine levels, from lowest to highest: Deadly Enemy, Hostility, Hostile, Cold, Neutral, Friendly, Respect, Reverence, and Worship!

New factions generally began with [Neutral] favorability. Once favorability rose or fell to a certain level, related faction quests would automatically be triggered.

If his favorability was high enough, he could even obtain help and exchange resources through that faction.

Conversely, if his favorability was too low, he would face the faction's hostility, or even attacks and pursuit!

The two most basic factions in the world of "Pirate King" were the [Navy] and the [Pirates]. Joining either side immediately established a [Hostile] relationship with the other, and the two sides would attack one another.

When Adrian left the World Government, he should originally have unlocked his faction relationship with [Cipher Pol]. However, because too few people knew about his defection, he had not fulfilled the hidden condition, so it had not been unlocked. (Actually, I'd simply overlooked this earlier...)

This time, he had publicly killed the highest leader—the Pillar Hog—of one of the Flower Country's eight major powers. The incident had become known to everyone, instantly unlocking faction relations with every power within the Flower Country.

Amid all the notifications that his favorability had fallen, the Happo Navy's lone increase stood out like a crane among chickens.

The Happo Navy's increased favorability most likely came from Hog's contemptuous insult toward Chinjao before the battle.

By killing Hog, Adrian had naturally earned the Happo Navy's goodwill.

It was just that...

"If you're going to increase my favorability, increase it by more. Isn't [Neutral] the starting favorability? Just how much did you actually raise it by?" Adrian silently complained.

At the same time, the entire scene fell completely silent.

Everyone had expected a battle without suspense, but they had not expected it to truly be without suspense.

It was only that the sides standing and lying down had been switched from what everyone had imagined.

"Hog was the Pillar of the Second Treasure Navy. I can't believe he was killed so easily..."

"The difference in their sizes is so huge. It's like a cat killing a tiger!"

"I remember Pillar Hog's latest bounty was over fifty million, wasn't it? The strength of this unfamiliar face is terrifying..."

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

Adrian glanced at the crowd, and the entire area immediately fell silent.

Everyone's eyes converged on him, filled with curiosity, awe, and shock. Mixed into those gazes were hostility and coldness as well.

The tavern owner, Cui Ze, limped out from the crowd and walked toward Adrian with a complicated expression.

"Brother Tao Ya, you... sigh..."

"I'm sorry, Boss Cui." Adrian glanced at the tavern, now reduced to ruins, and rubbed his nose awkwardly. "The battle got too intense, and I didn't notice your tavern for a moment."

"None of that matters." Boss Cui's mouth twitched as he waved his hand. "Brother Tao Ya, you've caused an earth-shaking disaster this time! The Second Treasure Navy won't let you off! You'd better leave quickly..."

That last sentence is your true concern, isn't it?

Adrian nodded helplessly. He had not expected to cause such a huge disturbance so soon after arriving in the Flower Country. It seemed he would have to be more careful about concealing his movements over the next few days.

As for leaving?

Adrian had no such intention yet. He would at least wait until the game's closed beta officially ended before leaving the Flower Country.

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

Adrian swept his gaze around and was just about to leave.

However, at that moment—

"Brother Tao Ya, may I ask where you plan to go now?"

A charming voice suddenly rang out. The speaker was Gion, who had disappeared somewhere as soon as the battle began.

"What? Miss Tao Zhi, would you like to travel with me?"

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

To be honest, Gion's heart had been stirred.

But not by Adrian himself. She was stirred by Adrian's strength.

She had watched the battle clearly from the shadows.

Without a doubt, Hog was a top-tier Great Pirate capable of running rampant across the West Blue. Even in Paradise, the first half of the Grand Line, he would have been an outstanding fighter.

Yet such a notorious Great Pirate had not been able to last more than a moment in Adrian's hands once Adrian fully revealed his strength.

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

In other words, Hog, the dignified Pillar of the Second Treasure Navy, would have been killed in a single moment!

With the basic strength of a commissioned officer and a Hollow-Hollow Fruit developed to an astonishing degree, he was undoubtedly a self-taught civilian expert!

If the Navy could recruit a young expert of this caliber, then the Navy would surely gain another figure at least at the level of a veteran Vice Admiral in the future!

How could Gion not be tempted?

The only thing she was uncertain about was that the Burst Technique Adrian had used at the beginning of the battle had given her a strangely familiar feeling. It somewhat resembled the Six Powers.

However, there were quite a few Burst Techniques similar to Soru on the sea, and Gion had no time to ponder the matter deeply at that moment.

Yet her confident invitation was rejected by Adrian.

"Although I'm very grateful for your invitation, Miss Tao Zhi, just look around us." Adrian spread his hands. "A beautiful and romantic nuisance like you would be more than I could handle. Even if I didn't mind, everyone else would."

Although he did not know the exact reason Gion had suddenly invited him, it was undoubtedly related to the Navy. Surely she had not genuinely taken a fancy to his flirtatious remarks and body?

For the time being, Adrian still planned to continue contacting the closed-beta players. Having a Navy officer at his side might not be a good thing. Even if she was a fair-skinned, beautiful, long-legged beauty, it still would not do!

Women will only affect the speed at which I gain experience!

After all, Adrian was not some genuine brainless pervert!

[32. Chapter Thirty-Two: Creating a Skill]

After a brief farewell, Adrian had no intention of staying in the small town any longer.

As the Pillar of the Second Treasure Navy, Hog naturally had no shortage of lackeys. It was highly likely that people from the Second Treasure Navy had already received the news and were heading toward the town.

Adrian was not afraid of the Second Treasure Navy, but he did not want them slowing him down either.

Besides, if he truly wiped out the Second Treasure Navy's main force, he would have no way to remain in the Flower Country!

Killing a Pillar in a one-on-one leader battle could still be classified as a pirate conflict. But destroying one of a country's eight standing armies would be an outright declaration of war!

The Flower Country was one of the few player gathering places in the West Blue. It was also an indispensable base for cultivating leeks in the future, so it was better not to provoke it too severely.

After quickly looting the spoils, Adrian reached the outskirts of the town. He entered his Ghostification state and shot into the sky in the direction he had come from.

Soaring through the air with white clouds beneath his feet, Adrian silently enjoyed this peaceful moment while easing the tension in his mind from the battle.

Several minutes later, he began inspecting his losses.

"My health only dropped a little, but I lost more than a quarter of my stamina. As expected, stamina is still a relative weakness..."

"My Fine Longsword was chipped in several places, and its durability has fallen sharply. It's basically ruined. Damn it, I really want a good sword!"

"It's a pity I didn't trigger any quests from Hog. With a body that huge, he clearly had a Specialty similar to [Robust Life]..."

"Right, I also earned quite a lot of experience just now!"

Adrian glanced at the panel. His experience had already accumulated to nearly 17 million.

Two years of base training had only yielded 12 million, while killing enemies above his level had given him more than 16 million.

"As the saying goes, murder and arson are the fastest way to get rich. It really lives up to its reputation!"

After thinking for a moment, Adrian did not use all his experience to level up. Instead, he selectively raised several skills to their maximum levels.

The Agent's [Basic Marksmanship] and [Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat]; the Cook's [Basic Heat Control]; the Shipwright's [Basic Shipbuilding and Repair]; the Doctor's [Simple Disease Treatment]; the Professional Swordsman's [Advanced Swordsmanship Training] and [Intermediate Swordsmanship Affinity]; as well as [Six Powers: Soru]!

All eight skills were raised to MAX level, and he simultaneously gained 16 Skill Points.

The remaining experience happened to fill the experience bar for the level-nine [Professional Swordsman], raising it to level ten.

His total level reached level 30!

As he felt the skill knowledge continuously surge through his mind, a satisfied smile appeared on Adrian's face.

"I didn't expect a max-level [Soru] to have so many applications. [Advanced Swordsmanship Training] also offered quite a few insights. They're just right for my research into Dashing Slash and Spirit-Sundering Slash..."

A quarter of an hour later, Adrian descended onto a deserted clearing in the mountains and found a wooden stake to begin practicing.

Slash, slash—