Pirates: I Loaded the Game Panel

Adrian had not realized it before. But as he kept accelerating without ever reaching a limit, he understood what a terrifying ability he had stumbled upon!

The ability to ignore physical obstacles meant that Ghost's flight encountered no resistance whatsoever.

As the scenery streaked past him, Adrian suddenly understood something.

A Ghost's flight speed depended only on his speed of thought!

Of course, that did not mean Adrian could approach the speed of light, much less exceed it.

Human thought had its limits. The highest flight speed Adrian could control was roughly 500 kilometers per hour.

Flying at such speed, Adrian soon followed the sea chart Dr. Clover had given him to the infamous Gangster Island, Oatfee Island.

It was an island town. Hills stretched nearly a hundred meters along its northern and eastern sides, while buildings crowded the densely populated southern coast.

High in the sky, Adrian looked down at the picturesque island, his expression unreadable.

The next moment, specks of Ghost light appeared. Countless Mini Hollows waved their arms and gathered around him.

"Little cuties, go take a look around the island for me..."

Mini Hollow: Astral Cruise!

A vast flood of Ghosts rushed toward Oatfee Island below. Silent and insubstantial, they suddenly scattered dozens of meters above the ground, spreading evenly through every street, around every corner, and anywhere people could be found.

Astral Cruise was a detection skill Adrian had developed using the Hollow-Hollow Fruit. The tiny Mini Hollows made excellent scouts, quietly gathering intelligence for him.

To ordinary people, the little white Ghosts dozens of meters overhead were barely noticeable by day. At night, people would merely mistake them for unusually shaped, twinkling stars and pay them little attention.

Adrian closed his eyes and connected with the Mini Hollows below. Looking through their eyes, he carefully surveyed every corner of Oatfee Island and gathered information in secret.

Before long, he discovered something startling.

"That bright pink hair... What is Mrs. Penelope doing here?"

Adrian's eyes flew open, a hint of confusion in his gaze.

"I'll go take a look!"

As soon as he spoke, Adrian shrank his Ghost form to the size of a Mini Hollow and flew down.

Near the center of Oatfee Island stood a detached two-story house. Inside, the imprisoned Mrs. Penelope gazed sadly out the window.

She did not believe she had done anything wrong, whether in persuading her husband to trade the Hollow-Hollow Fruit to someone else or in writing to Ohara for help.

So how had things come to this?

Her husband had been missing for nearly a month. Given the Capone Gang's reputation for brutality, even someone as naturally optimistic as Mrs. Penelope could not imagine they were treating him as an honored guest.

All she hoped now was that he was still alive.

"Mrs. Penelope, Mrs. Penelope..."

A thin voice suddenly brought Mrs. Penelope back to her senses. She looked around the room in confusion, then gave a bitter smile.

Has all this worry finally made me hear things? If I'd known, I never would have written to Ohara... Looking around the empty room, Mrs. Penelope smiled bitterly to herself.

"Sorry, I forgot to change back..."

A voice that was strange yet faintly familiar sounded, and Adrian appeared out of thin air inside the room.

"It's—" Mrs. Penelope's eyes widened. She glanced around and swiftly lowered her voice. "It's you, Adrian!"

"That's right, it's me, ma'am." Adrian looked apologetic and lowered his voice as well. "Mrs. Penelope, I'm terribly sorry about what happened to you."

"There's no use saying that now..." Mrs. Penelope said sadly. "Mr. Adrian, how did you get here?"

Adrian did not answer. Instead, he asked, "Ma'am, I have a question for you too. If I remember correctly, your letter said you were still at the Clearwater Trading Company..."

"I was." Mrs. Penelope smiled bitterly and explained. "But the Capone Gang found out about the letter as soon as I entrusted someone to send it. They may have deliberately let the message go through so you'd walk straight into their trap!"

She continued, "As soon as the letter was sent, the Capone Gang brought me to Oatfee Island and cut off all my contact with the outside world."

"Your family..."

"I still haven't heard anything about Clivatt. I'm afraid..." Mrs. Penelope's eyes reddened, and her voice caught. "But the Capone Gang hasn't gone so far as to hurt a child. Little Pepe is still with me. She's asleep in the bedroom right now... If it weren't for Little Pepe, I think I would have..."

Adrian fell silent for a moment.

Mrs. Penelope wiped her eyes. "Mr. Adrian, I'm grateful you came to Oatfee Island, but you can't take on the Capone Gang alone. They're nothing like those third-rate Pirates at sea. You'd better..."

Adrian gently interrupted Mrs. Penelope. "Ma'am, you needn't worry about the Capone Gang. I'll handle them. For now, I have two options."

"Please tell me."

"First, I can take you and Perona to Ohara Island. Once you arrive, you and your daughter will be safe."

"And the second?"

"You stay on Oatfee Island. Of course, I'll find a safe place for you and your daughter. Then you wait until I've dealt with the Capone Gang."

"I choose the second," Mrs. Penelope said without hesitation.

"Why?" Adrian asked, puzzled. "The first option is safer."

"Until I know for certain what happened to Clivatt, I'm not leaving!" she said firmly.

"I see..." Adrian murmured. "Then come with me. The Ghosts have found a well-hidden place where no one will find you."

"After that, all you need to do is wait."

The Capone Gang

On a sea where the ability to fly was exceptionally rare, people tended to overlook anything happening in the sky.

With the Hollow-Hollow Fruit's help, Adrian spirited Mrs. Penelope and her daughter out of the two-story house deep in the island's center without anyone noticing. He did not even alert the gang members guarding the door.

After settling them in the safe spot the Mini Hollows had found, Adrian discreetly stationed more Mini Hollows nearby to keep watch and protect them. Only then did he leave.

Just then, a panel message appeared.

[You have triggered the B-rank random quest [Capone Gang]!]

[Quest description: Capone Bell controls Oatfee Island with ease, and through it, one-fifth of West Blue's underworld. The current boss of the Capone Gang favors silk shirts, expensive tailored suits, and diamond belt buckles. He also likes to build his fearsome reputation with human blood.

Recently, Capone Bell set his sights on a nobody who stole his precious Devil Fruit. It's time to make your choice!]

[Quest hint: If history has taught us anything, if the sea has taught us anything, it's that anyone can be killed.]

[Quest requirements: Unknown]

[Quest rewards: Unknown]

Adrian accepted the quest and murmured to himself, "B-rank difficulty? Strength in numbers, all right. That's the West Blue gangs for you...

"But unknown requirements and rewards? That's a first.

"The hint is clear enough, though. The Capone Gang has its sights on me. Little do they know, I was planning to use their reputation as my stepping stone!

"Even if annoying little bugs buzzing around my ears can't cause much trouble, they're still enough to ruin my mood!"

Adrian entered his Ghost form and rose into the air, vanishing in an instant.

About fifteen minutes later.

South Street, Oatfee Island. Hard Shell Bar.

It was a bar built of rough black brick. Through its hazy windows, the clamor inside was faintly audible.

Even though it was still morning, plenty of drinkers were already reveling inside Hard Shell Bar.

After all, this was the Capone Gang's headquarters—the true heart of Oatfee Island.

Adrian calmly ignored the two addicts smoking beside the door and pushed his way inside.

A lively scene greeted him: smokers puffing away, gamblers playing cards, drunks swigging straight from bottles...

On a raised platform suspended in the center of the bar stood a massive black sofa. A tall, imposing man with a cigar between his lips and a short, bristly black beard smiled down at the room like a king surveying his realm.

Beside the well-dressed man sat an unremarkable short, fat man. His black pinstripe suit, matching the other man's, stretched so tightly across him that its buttons looked ready to pop.

They were Capone Bell, the Capone Gang's current boss, and his son Capone Bege!

Adrian's mouth curved slightly. "Well, that saves me some trouble. No need to search the whole island for them!"

The bartender behind the counter was a tall, thin, balding man. He wore a mild smile. "First time here, sir? House rules say every newcomer gets a free glass of rum."

The bartender pulled a bottle from beneath the counter and uncorked it.

Glug, glug—

Amber liquor slowly filled a glass, its faint aroma spreading through the air.

Adrian accepted the glass and turned it in his hand, his expression unreadable. "I once heard that nothing costs more than something free. I wonder what price I'd have to pay for this free rum?"

The bartender's expression changed. "You must be joking, sir. It's a house rule—"

"Your gang's rule, not the sea's."

"Sir, you—"

The bartender's eyes darted. At some point, he had drawn a flintlock pistol. With a vicious grin, he raised it, released the safety, and pulled the trigger. The brass bullet struck Adrian squarely between the eyes.

"Die!"

The bartender finished the word only after the gunshot rang out.

But the next instant, his triumphant expression froze.

He watched the bullet pass through Adrian's head. There was no red blood, no pale brain matter. It was as though the bullet had passed through empty air. Nothing happened.

"Father! He's a Devil Fruit User!"

The bartender shouted and immediately ducked beneath the counter.

Adrian leisurely took out a handkerchief and wiped the left hand that had held the glass, as if it had disgusted him.

"‘Scarface’ Capone Bell. ‘Bandit’ Capone Bege. A pleasure to meet you. I must say, your Capone Gang makes a terrible first impression."

Names could be misleading, but nicknames were usually earned.

'‘Scarface’' Capone Bell was tall and powerfully built. According to reports, he excelled at close combat. An opponent had scarred his face in a fight when he was young, earning him his nickname.

'‘Bandit’' Capone Bege was unpredictable and ruthless toward both people and problems. Even a loyal subordinate who disobeyed the smallest order would be killed without hesitation.

Of course, Adrian knew considerably more about the latter.

Capone 'Gang' Bege would, more than twenty years from now, become one of the eleven Supernovas of the Worst Generation in an era thrown into chaos. His bounty would exceed 300 million Beli, and he would be a user of the Castle-Castle Fruit!

No one answered Adrian.

From the suspended platform at the center of the room, a furious barrage of gunfire and cannonballs engulfed his position, blasting everything near the counter to pieces.

The tall, thin bartender who had attacked Adrian first was blown into a spray of blood and killed on the spot.

Adrian frowned. "He was my enemy, but that was cold. You don't even care about your own men?"

"Cut the act, brat!" Seeing Adrian still completely unharmed, Capone Bell took a hard pull on his cigar, his face darkening. "You came to Oatfee Island alone today. You'd better be ready to die! I'll carve your name into your skull, then feed it to the sharks in Back Bay!"

"Men! Open fire!"

Capone Bege reacted just as quickly. He spread his right palm, and a miniature doorway slowly appeared in its center.

Several black-clad men, shrunk in perfect proportion, stood in the doorway. Most had cannons braced on their shoulders.

At Bege's command, the gang members pulled their triggers with vicious expressions, sending a mass of cannonballs toward Adrian.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Blazing cannon fire covered every inch of Hard Shell Bar.

No Match

"A planned ambush. So it really was a trap set for me..."

Adrian's calm voice came through the smoke and cannon fire. Unscathed, he walked out of the barrage step by step, his cold gaze fixed on Capone Bege as he fired wildly from the platform.

Capone Bege's Devil Fruit ability was fascinating. The Castle-Castle Fruit was an exceptionally rare spatial ability that let him store both living beings and objects inside himself.

He could even transform parts of his body into objects stored within his castle, turning his legs into tank treads, for example, to move at high speed.

Once he developed the fruit's power far enough, Capone Bege could transform himself into a massive castle. Its defenses would be so strong that even Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors, would struggle to breach them quickly!

But the Capone Bege of today was not yet the Pirate Supernova with a bounty exceeding 300 million Beli whom he would become more than twenty years later. Though he had begun taking control of the Capone Gang from his father, Capone Bell, his own strength was nowhere near that level.

Cold sweat broke out on Capone Bege's forehead when he saw his usually unstoppable barrage had done nothing. Beside him, Capone Bell, who had been watching calmly, looked equally astonished.

Captain Clivatt had not known the name of the Devil Fruit his ship was transporting. But the Capone father and son, its owners, knew exactly what it was.