Chapter 30

"Even if a one-percent attack bonus counted as a Specialty, it would still be a disgrace among Specialties..."

Adrian felt refreshed as he checked his status panel.

Name: Adrian

Race: Human

Template: NPC

Level: 41

Main Profession: [Apprentice Swordsman] LV20 (max), [Professional Swordsman] LV20 (max), [Sword Master] LV1 (0/10,000,000)

Secondary Profession: [Navigator] LV10 (max), [Agent] LV10 (max), [Cook] LV10 (max), [Shipwright] LV10 (max), [Doctor] LV10 (max), [Navigator] LV10 (max), [Bounty Hunter] LV10 (max)

Attributes: Strength 156, Agility 95, Stamina 125, Intelligence 510, Charm 45, Luck 1

Free Attribute Points: 0

Skill Points: 78

Health: 100%

Energy: 100%

Stamina: 100%

Specialties: [Low-Level Toughness], [Hollow-Hollow Fruit], [Sea Curse], [Well-Built], [Three Thousand Styles]

Skills: [Ghost Body] (max), [Ghost Creation] LV2, [Spirit Projection] LV2

[Basic Swordsmanship Training] LV10 (max), [Basic Swordsmanship Affinity] LV10 (max)

[Advanced Swordsmanship Training] LV10 (max), [Intermediate Swordsmanship Affinity] LV10 (max)

[Advanced Swordsmanship Training] LV1 (0/1,000,000), [Advanced Swordsmanship Affinity] LV1 (0/2,000,000), [Sword Aura] LV1 (0/1,000,000)

[Basic Navigation] LV10 (max), [Advanced Navigation] LV10 (max)

[Basic Marksmanship] LV10 (max), [Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat] LV10 (max)

[Basic Heat Control] LV10 (max), [Basic Shipbuilding and Repair] LV10 (max), [Simple Disease Treatment] LV10 (max)

[Soru] LV10 (max), [Kami-e] LV6, [Geppo] LV2, [Tekkai] LV1, [Shigan] LV1, [Rankyaku] LV1, [Life Return] LV3

[Dashing Slash] LV1, [Demon Swordsman] LV1

Legend Points: [West Blue: White Ghost], [West Blue: Evil Swordsman]

Equipment: Fine Longsword, Flintlock Pistol, Ordinary Log Pose, Nautical Chart, Den Den Mushi, Castle-Castle Fruit

In Sea Circle Calendar 1498, with the curtain of the era about to rise, the completely renewed Adrian was ready to face every challenge!

[53. Chapter Fifty-Three: The Curtain Rises]

During the transition from spring to summer, Ohara Island was lush with flourishing vegetation, and the entire island was a sea of verdant green.

At the highest point of the Tree of Knowledge, tender green leaves glazed with a hint of mist glittered beneath the sunlight. A gentle breeze brushed past, carrying fresh, damp air.

Adrian, dressed in white robes and black clothes, sat cross-legged atop the canopy. His eyes were closed, his consciousness empty, and his mind immersed in swordsmanship meditation.

Aside from training the basic physique, the Sword Master profession placed great emphasis on cultivating the mind and will. The accompanying [Advanced Swordsmanship Training] also contained considerable knowledge regarding swordsmanship meditation.

"Coo-coo!"

A burst of noisy and distinctive seabird cries roused Adrian from his meditation.

"Hm? Have the News Coo arrived this early today?"

Adrian came back to himself and looked in surprise at the large flock of News Coo flying toward the treetop, newspaper bags hanging around their necks.

As one of the most famous islands in the West Blue, Ohara was no uninhabited island. Naturally, the News Coo would not miss the chance to do business there.

But Adrian had never seen a flock of this size before.

Before Adrian could take the Beli from his pocket, several News Coo eagerly pulled newspapers from their bags and scattered them down in a flurry.

Even more News Coo shook all the newspapers from their bags over the entire island of Ohara below.

"What a familiar sight..."

Adrian stood where he was, casually caught one of the falling newspapers, and spread it open.

The newspaper's front-page headline was printed in large, bold black characters: The Navy Has Captured Pirate King Gol D. Roger!

There was no other text.

The cover showed only a color photograph of Roger, still smiling, sitting in a dim prison with shackles on his hands!

In Sea Circle Calendar 1498, the World Economy News Paper issued an emergency edition and dispatched every News Coo under its command, once again spreading news of that man free to every corner of the sea.

Pirate King Gol D. Roger had been captured and imprisoned!

The news caused an uproar that shook the world!

No one believed that the Pirate King, who had endured countless hardships and defeated one legendary enemy after another, could actually have been captured by the Navy.

No one believed that the Pirate King, who had completed his adventure only last year and reached the final island of the Grand Line, could actually have been captured by the Navy.

No one believed that Gol D. Roger, the Pirate King who had escaped the joint pursuit of the Hero of the Marines and Marine Admirals countless times, would one day truly be captured by the Navy!

But the World News Paper had spread the news on such a vast scale, and the photograph of him imprisoned was conclusive proof. It could not be faked.

For a time, the Great Pirate Era—which had only just begun to show signs of flourishing after the Pirate King successfully reached the summit—suddenly stalled, as though someone had poured an entire basin of ice water over it.

The next day, the News Coo once again carried an announcement from Marine Headquarters, Marineford, delivering the Pirate King's sentence to the entire sea.

One month later, the Navy and the World Government would publicly execute Pirate King Gol D. Roger in Loguetown, East Blue—the place of his birth—under the "unforgivable charge"!

"The curtain of the era is finally about to rise..."

One week after the Pirate King's capture, another piece of [Big News] capable of shaking the world erupted at Marine Headquarters, Marineford, and instantly spread to every corner of the globe.

"Another legendary Great Pirate has been defeated by the Navy!"

Unable to believe that Gol D. Roger, whom he regarded as his destined enemy, had been captured by the Navy, the legendary Great Pirate [Golden Lion Shiki] abandoned the Flying Pirates and charged alone into Marineford.

After destroying nearly half of Marineford's town, Golden Lion Shiki was defeated through the combined efforts of Hero of the Marines Monkey D. Garp and Marine Admiral Sengoku the Buddha. He was imprisoned on Level Six of the World's Largest Prison, [Impel Down].

The Navy's morale soared, and the common people cheered. Only the usually arrogant pirates began to panic.

The Grand Line, Marine Headquarters, Marineford.

"I believe you all know the purpose of this meeting, since I called everyone here."

In the spacious, brightly lit conference room, Fleet Admiral Kong sat at the head of the conference table with his arms crossed. His Mohawk spikes stood on end as he regarded the elite Marines in the room with a stern gaze.

"Execution at Loguetown. Who goes, and who stays?"

What appeared to be an ordinary matter allowed the Navy no room for carelessness at this critical juncture.

They had originally thought that publicly executing Roger would suppress the pirates' momentum and stabilize the situation across the sea.

Unexpectedly, they had achieved their goal—but not completely.

If anyone had carefully compiled the statistics, they would have discovered that the frequency of pirates setting sail recently was the lowest it had been in decades.

Ordinary pirates had been frightened by the Navy's soaring prestige, but the Great Pirates had reacted in the exact opposite manner.

Golden Lion's assault on Marineford one week ago was an extremely severe lesson!

They had assumed that Golden Lion Shiki, Roger's archrival and the enemy of the Roger Pirates, would be delighted by the news of his old foe's execution by the Navy. Who could have imagined that something had suddenly gone wrong in his head, and he would actually try to destroy Marineford?

Was he seriously saying, [Roger! I'll create a world with you in it!]?

As a legendary Pirate King of his generation, Roger's charisma was naturally immense.

If even his archrival, Golden Lion, could attack Marine Headquarters so boldly over this news, it was difficult to predict whether another legendary Great Pirate would make the same choice.

The threat of the Float-Float Fruit went without saying. However, because of the Battle of Edd War several years earlier, Golden Lion Shiki had suffered lasting internal injuries. His strength had not declined, but his ability to sustain himself in battle had taken a serious hit, and he also had to remain constantly wary of his old wounds flaring up during intense combat.

But Whitebeard and the Tremor-Tremor Fruit were completely different!

Whitebeard, who was not troubled by any old injuries at this time, could absolutely be called to be at his "peak"!

During the nearly year-long period when the Roger Pirates had vanished and Pirate King Gol D. Roger's whereabouts were unknown, Whitebeard had led his sons to establish a formidable reputation in the New World. He had already faintly earned the title of [World's Strongest]!

If Whitebeard led his crew to attack Marineford during Roger's execution, how would Marine Headquarters respond?

And in the worst-case scenario, what if Whitebeard took in the Flying Pirates, now leaderless, and led them here as well...

No matter what, Marine Headquarters had to leave behind enough forces to respond!

"Sengoku! Zephyr! You two will stay here with me to defend Headquarters!" Fleet Admiral Kong ordered the two Admirals first.

"Yes, Fleet Admiral Kong!"

Sengoku and Zephyr stood simultaneously and saluted with a nod.

Fleet Admiral Kong nodded in satisfaction, then turned toward the other "Admiral."

"Garp, take the brat—Garp!!"

"Huh?" The bubble of snot on the tip of Monkey D. Garp's nose suddenly burst. He lifted his head, rubbed his bleary eyes, and said, "I thought I heard someone call me. Is the meeting over? Is anyone going to eat senbei?"

"Damn it, Garp!" Fleet Admiral Kong said with an ashen expression. "Take Tsuru with you to Loguetown and carry out the mission! Not a single thing can go wrong! If even the tiniest problem occurs, you can forget about receiving a single penny of salary from Headquarters for the rest of your life!"

"Oh."

Garp idly picked his nose and flicked out a small black lump. It landed in Sengoku's cup beside him.

"Garp, get out of here!!!"

[54. Chapter Fifty-Four: Loguetown]

Loguetown, which would later be known as the [Town of the Beginning and the End], lay in the East Blue near the entrance to the Grand Line. It was the mandatory passage for East Blue pirates entering the Grand Line.

For people from outside the East Blue, unless they possessed enough strength to cross the Calm Belt, they had only one way to reach Loguetown: crossing through the Red Line.

Crossing the Red Line that ran across the planet to avoid the Calm Belt, a sea filled with dangerous beasts, was also the most common and safest [transoceanic route] in the pirate world.

But for Adrian, traveling to Loguetown was not troublesome at all.

In only a few days, relying on the Hollow-Hollow Fruit's ability to fly, Adrian successfully reached this island town that was about to witness the end of a legend.

While the entire sea had been drawn to the news of the Pirate King's impending execution, Loguetown, the place of Roger's birth and execution, was undoubtedly the center of attention.

This previously obscure town in the East Blue had welcomed a massive number of spectators in recent days.

It was easy to predict that as the day of the execution drew closer, even more people would head to Loguetown.

The World Government and Marine Headquarters, having prepared long in advance, had also laid an inescapable net throughout the waters around Loguetown.

The World Government and Marine Headquarters absolutely would not allow Loguetown to fall into pirate hands at this moment. Besides dispatching Hero of the Marines Garp, Headquarters Vice Admiral and Staff Officer Tsuru, and several monstrous rookie Marines, they had also arranged for numerous CP Agents to come to Loguetown as a precaution.

At this moment, on this overcrowded island town in the East Blue, the number of Marines and Agents was probably even greater than the number of pirates, aside from the commoners there to watch the spectacle.

As he flew over, Adrian saw dozens of enormous warship fleets far out on the sea. Those gray-white steel beasts patrolled the waters around Loguetown, using fierce cannon fire to sweep away every pirate ship that appeared within their sights.

"The Navy and the World Government's preparations are much tighter than I expected..." Adrian thought to himself. "I clearly remember that in the original story, not a single powerful Marine appeared in Loguetown during Roger's execution... Damn you, Oda!"

With Loguetown's current level of defense, probably not many pirates could successfully set foot in the town, let alone watch the Pirate King's execution.

Adrian was currently dressed in a restrained, gentlemanly black tailcoat, with a bright blood-red boutonniere pinned to his chest. Compared with his outfit in Ohara, it was less casual and carefree, and more solemn and dignified.

This time, Adrian had come only to quietly witness the end of a legendary Pirate King.

As for secretly taking the identity of an execution soldier and killing Pirate King Roger...

Adrian had never seriously considered it!

All right...

Actually, he had secretly thought about it a few times...

After all, no matter what game it was, nearly every player had entertained a similar fantasy.

"Killing the max-level final boss guarding the gate during the newbie phase" was an enduring topic in every game series.

Adrian was no exception.