Chapter 34
"Konichiwa (translation: hello), Gion. What are you doing here?"
"Keeping watch," Gion said coldly.
"Oh, omedetou (translation: congratulations)... Wait. Don't tell me I'm the one you're watching?"
"Congratulations. Correct answer."
"The Hero of the Marines is handling Dark King Rayleigh. Golden Flash and Frozen Boy are handling Gaban. That magma man is handling the Hurricane Fruit... And when it comes to me, Gion, you're the one responsible?"
"Yes! That's my only assignment today!"
Adrian feigned delight. "Really? That's wonderful! You'll actually take responsibility for me? How far does that responsibility go?"
"..." Gion simply stared at Adrian without a word.
"I liked the old you better, Gion," Adrian said, disappointed. "I like girls who respond to me, but you're not giving me anything now. That's no good. I might fall for someone else."
"...All the better!"
"How heartless." Adrian shook his head. "Anyway, I just spotted a familiar-looking figure, so—"
He broke off awkwardly. Gion's expression had visibly darkened.
Adrian's words had clearly stirred up some unpleasant memories. After all, that same flimsy-sounding excuse was why this bastard had abandoned her in broad daylight on a busy street!
"I swear, this time is just like last time—it's true!" Adrian raised three fingers. "Gecko Moria, the legendary Zombie King of the West Blue. Heard of him?"
"You've clashed with him before?"
"Even Marine Headquarters didn't get the report?" Adrian rubbed his chin. "I ran into the Moonlight Pirates at sea and wiped them out. None of the crew survived except their captain, Gecko Moria.
"I thought Gecko Moria would die at sea that time, but he somehow escaped. I only spotted him again just now."
Adrian wasn't lying.
He really had seen Gecko Moria's silhouette. It had flashed past for only an instant, but there was no mistaking that enormous build or distinctive face.
And there was something he had overlooked: when he completed the [Moonlight Pirates] mission, the panel had never shown a [Gecko Moria Killed] notification.
Adrian had assumed that knocking Moria into the sea simply didn't count as killing him personally. Now it was clear Moria hadn't died at all.
Gion silently filed away the intelligence that White Ghost had destroyed the Moonlight Pirates. "I'll go with you."
"I really wouldn't recommend it. There's a reason people in the West Blue call Gecko Moria the [Zombie King]," Adrian said. "Those zombies..."
He saw the resolve on Gion's face and shrugged. "If you insist."
He casually accepted the mission to assist the Marines in intercepting Pirates. Gecko Moria had picked the worst possible moment to show up; Adrian had originally planned to remain a neutral spectator.
[Negative Hollow! Enter the Stage!]
Loguetown's harbor.
In the mere dozen or so minutes since the execution, every ship flying a black pirate flag had either been smashed to wreckage or engulfed in flames.
Now, apart from merchant ships and passenger vessels with clean records, the harbor held nothing but a vast number of Marine warships.
Marine Headquarters had come prepared. Its forces arrived by sea while everyone in Loguetown was focused on the Pirate King's execution, sweeping up the pirates near the harbor and cutting off their escape route!
After a quick cleanup of the battlefield, large numbers of well-trained Marine elites began entering Loguetown in orderly ranks. They planned to join their comrades inside the town, attack from both sides, and end the battle as soon as possible.
"Hee-shi-shi-shi-shi! Now this is trouble. Should I seize a warship and escape?"
Hidden in the shadows, Gecko Moria watched the Marines swarming across the docks and burst into wild laughter.
"That would really put me in the spotlight... But I can't do that yet! I haven't collected enough shadows! Not enough to crush [White Ghost] completely!"
His voice suddenly turned venomous.
"White Ghost! I'll kill you! I swear I'll kill you! Hee-shi-shi-shi!"
"Ugh..."
Gecko Moria froze. A cool voice had sounded behind him.
"How ugly. Is this the legendary [Zombie King] of the West Blue?"
Gecko Moria spun around. Not far away stood a beautiful female Marine in a senior officer's uniform, though he had no idea when she had appeared.
But the man beside her drew far more of Gecko Moria's attention.
"White Ghost!!"
Gecko Moria spat the man's name with hatred.
"He is pretty ugly. What happened back then must have hit him hard." Adrian grinned at Gion before turning to Gecko Moria. "I heard you call my name, Gecko Moria. Are those your last words?"
"Don't get cocky, White Ghost!"
The madness and hatred in Gecko Moria's eyes gave way to a deepening darkness. His body began expanding, growing larger with every passing moment.
"I crawled back out of hell to take my revenge on you!
"Shadow Revolution!"
The short white horns on either side of his forehead grew into huge, winding devil horns. An eerie black glow poured from his narrow eyes, his interlocking fangs grew more savage, and a pair of enormous black bat wings emerged from his back once more. His height shot up to nearly fifteen meters!
Facing the enemy he wanted dead more than anyone, Gecko Moria had unleashed his strongest move without hesitation.
He had clearly grown far more proficient with Shadow Revolution over the past few months.
In barely a breath or two, Gecko Moria nearly doubled in height!
Adrian and Gion, neither particularly tall to begin with, looked like two Tontatta standing before Gecko Moria in his Shadow Revolution form.
Wariness flashed through Gion's eyes. She gripped her sword hilt tightly with her right hand, ready to fight at any moment.
She could clearly feel the terrifying pressure coming from the enemy before her. Someone like him could not possibly have a bounty of only a few tens of millions of Beli, even in the West Blue!
Just how had the West Blue Marine branches gathered their pirate intelligence?
Yet Adrian remained as relaxed as ever before the now even more terrifying Gecko Moria.
Moria wasn't the only one who had grown stronger over the past few months!
Besides, before Adrian had even set out for Loguetown, his [Ghost Creation] skill had reached LV3 with the max-level buff from [Ghost Body].
[Ghost Creation] LV3 (0/400 million): Freely creates and controls spirit bodies without independent consciousness. This ability can touch the deepest reaches of a living being's soul and the roots of their consciousness.
[Ghost Creation] at LV3 alone was enough to create the ability everyone had long been waiting for.
Adrian had kept pouring in Skill Points, however, raising [Ghost Creation] all the way to its maximum level.
Upon reaching LV6, the skill's name quietly changed.
[Ghost Domination] LV6 (0/3.2 billion): In addition to creating spirit bodies, the user can awaken spirit bodies with simple consciousness within range and gain the power to control them.
[Ghost Domination] LV9 (0/25.6 billion): Freely controls spirit bodies without independent consciousness. The ability can be developed into other powers related to the mind, psyche, and will.
[Ghost Domination] LV10 (MAX): Freely dominates spirit bodies. The ability can be developed into broader conceptual dimensions.
Although [Ghost Domination] sounded more complicated than [Ghost Body] in its skill description, it was every bit as powerful!
Ghost Body was merely an ability that came with the Hollow-Hollow Fruit.
Ghost Domination was the Hollow-Hollow Fruit's true core skill!
Even after reaching its maximum level, it was a skill a Devil Fruit User would need to develop further!
The change from [Ghost Creation] to [Ghost Domination] also lent weight to one of Adrian's theories.
He had entertained the idea ever since he first raised [Ghost Body] to its maximum level.
LV6 was probably the [Awakening threshold] for a Devil Fruit!
When Ghost Body reached LV6, it had already allowed him to become a ghost for short periods.
Now that Ghost Creation had reached LV6, more than the skill's name had changed. The crucial difference was its effect: ghosts no longer had to be created by the user; he could awaken ones within range.
LV9, meanwhile, corresponded to a Devil Fruit's [true Awakening]!
At LV9, [Ghost Body] already allowed him to remain Ghostified for long periods.
And at LV9, [Ghost Domination] could even be developed into other abilities derived from the Hollow-Hollow Fruit!
The user still had to develop those powers himself, but there was no doubt that LV9 [Ghost Domination] was an [Awakening-level] ability!
Gecko Moria, now in his Shadow Revolution form, roared at the sky. He charged forward at tremendous speed, swinging a fist with all his strength at the two enemies before him.
"Now, Gecko Moria, have a taste of the ability I've been looking forward to."
Adrian chuckled. An enemy that huge was the perfect test subject for his new skill.
A half-illusory ghost, identical to an ordinary White Hollow, emerged from his palm and flew toward Gecko Moria's massive fist.
"Negative Hollow: Cannot Rise Again."
The Negative Hollow slipped into Gecko Moria's arm without a trace of force or fanfare.
"Hee-shi-shi-shi! I'm gonna...
"In my next life, I just want to be a lazy shut-in with no dreams..."
Gecko Moria stumbled. All strength suddenly drained from his body, and he dropped to his knees, bracing himself against the ground with both hands. His short, dark-purple hair, which had been standing straight up, now looked like a wilted tuft of scallions.
One Sword Style: Iai: Maple Leaf Cutter!
One clean stroke severed the towering Gecko Moria's head.
This time, the panel finally displayed a kill notification.
"I warned you, Gecko Moria. Those last words of yours were far too careless!"
Adrian flicked his wrist, shaking the blood from Yubashiri's blade, then sheathed it.
"Th-that's it?" Gion stared in disbelief. She glanced at Gecko Moria's corpse, then turned to Adrian. "What did you just unleash?"
"Want to try it, Gion? I'll be a little careful."
"Positive Hollow: Universal Panacea!"
"Mmm~ Ah—"
[Public Launch Approaches]
In the real world, on a familiar little player-run forum.
With an hour left before the public launch, Cao Renqi sat at his computer and hammered away at the keyboard.
"The public launch of Pirate King version 1.0 is finally almost here!"
"Big Lethal, I've missed him a billion times over."
"I'll offer up my one remaining kidney! And I'll throw in a treasured string of mysterious numbers, guaranteed to be this month's finest: MVSD—"
The first day of the public launch.
Players who had waited impatiently flooded into the game at once.
Across dozens of beginner islands scattered over the vast sea, batch after batch of "Drifters" appeared in an instant.
A newbie player who had just finished creating his character looked around curiously. "Wow, it really feels real. Honestly, I always thought this game's hype was just paid shills."
Meanwhile, Cao Renqi, who had just shared half a code on the forum, successfully entered the game too. He had no idea that people on the game forum were warmly extending their regards to eight generations of his ancestors.
As the old saying went: post a pic without the source, _____.
The moment Cao Renqi entered the game, he heard a familiar voice.
"Tsk, tsk! You still can't take your pants off even at public launch! Bad review!"
Cao Renqi jumped and turned. Sure enough, it was the familiar guy he had met during the closed beta, the one with the exceptionally strange tastes.
If he remembered correctly, that guy had even asked an old fisherman during the closed beta whether he could help him take his pants off...
People were free to have whatever tastes they liked, but Cao Renqi still wanted to suggest that this guy see a doctor.
Just then, the man noticed Cao Renqi looking at him. He turned, and his eyes lit up.
"I remember you!"
The flesh on Cao Renqi's cheeks quivered. He took a small step back and waved his hands frantically. "I only thought it! I haven't said a word, man!"
"What are you talking about?" the man asked, puzzled. "Aren't you One-Step Quick Man, the guy who was all over the forum a while back?"