Chapter 37
This wouldn't do.
Adrian clearly remembered that after killing Hog, a leader of the Second Treasure Navy, in public, his faction relationship with the Flower Country had turned cold.
And apart from the temporarily Neutral Happo Navy, he was Hostile to nearly every other navy. The Second Treasure Navy was even listed as an unchangeable Deadly Enemy!
If the navies found out he was doing business with players in the Flower Country, they would almost certainly interfere. That would seriously cut into his experience-farming efficiency...
At the thought, Adrian gave a soft cough.
As soon as one player finished shopping, he closed the shop panel and addressed the crowd. "Remember what I said earlier? I've got something to take care of. I'll meet you in a little while at that deserted mudflat on the map."
With that, Adrian entered Ghostification and vanished from the players' sight in a flash.
With their attributes, the players couldn't even tell what had happened.
A player who had just arrived stood at the back of the crowd, unable to see what was going on. Noticing the sudden silence, he called out, "Where's Big Lethal? Why'd he run off? I came to learn skills!"
"Big Lethal left! He went to... Ahem! I don't know where he went!"
"Yeah, just the usual thing where someone disappears in the blink of an eye."
"I just remembered I've got a quest I can't finish at the docks. Gotta go..."
"Oh, a classmate's waiting for me at coordinates XX. I'd better get going too..."
The players who knew what was happening quietly set off, while those who hadn't caught on still looked baffled.
Players' attributes weren't impressive compared with the locals, especially their Charm of just 1. That made earning NPCs' favor all the harder.
And without enough favor, why would an NPC volunteer to teach them skills?
At that moment, players who had learned any skills were few and far between.
Now that they had finally found a Career Mentor and Mysterious Merchant, they weren't about to let the chance slip away.
For Adrian, leaving the players for a little while would also give the news time to spread. It would weed out some spectators who had only come to watch and had no intention of buying anything.
After leaving the docks, Adrian found a deserted corner, transformed into a Free Ghost, and flew into the air. There, he leisurely browsed the West Blue section of the forum.
The public launch was at its peak, and new players from around the world were eagerly sharing the information they had gathered.
Flower Country players were excitedly announcing Big Lethal's arrival in the West Blue section. He was the first high-level figure on any starting island to show a friendly attitude toward players.
With the added allure of his Mysterious Merchant and Career Mentor roles, his popularity was through the roof. Posts about Big Lethal kept appearing, drawing discussion and getting pinned.
"I knew that guy was something special!"
"Quit talking like that! We all know Big Lethal is awesome! I just want to know why he only showed up in the West Blue."
"He sells weapons, and if you raise his favor enough, he'll teach you skills. Not fishing, slacking off, or spearfishing, either—actual general skills!"
"More importantly, he teaches the fundamentals for several professions. Learn those and you can switch professions right away!"
"Damn! I want to go to the West Blue so bad! But I'm in the North Blue, and there's no way to get there!"
About half an hour later.
A large crowd of Flower Country beginners finally made the long trek to the deserted mudflat Adrian had mentioned. There, they saw the Big Lethal they had been longing to find.
Their pent-up desire to shop burst forth at once.
In no time, dozens of players bought guns and ammunition from Adrian and learned general skills and professional knowledge. Several hundred thousand experience points fell into his lap.
And as time passed, both his experience and Beli totals kept climbing.
Business was booming!
Time for the next step.
Adrian watched the experience total on his panel tick upward, a glint in his eyes.
Trading with players was a must. There was no question about that. After all, it was the easiest known way to gain vast amounts of experience.
But a must didn't mean Adrian had to trade with the players personally, face-to-face.
When flirting and joking with a pretty young woman, all it took was a mouth on his end and an ear on hers.
But doing business—especially with hundreds of players at once—was more than one person could handle.
Clap! Clap!
Adrian closed the shop panel and clapped his hands, drawing the attention of the players caught up in their shopping frenzy.
"There are simply too many of you... Clear some space for me. I'll bring in a few little helpers."
The players complied, whispering among themselves.
"What's Big Lethal talking about?"
"Sounds like he's bringing some friends over to help?"
Adrian watched the players clear a space and smiled calmly. Time to show off—
No, this was called making a grand appearance!
Mimic Ghost: Imitation Game!
The players' vision blurred. A dozen or so men identical to Big Lethal appeared out of thin air.
The only difference was that the newcomers gave off a faint white glow, and their bodies looked almost unreal.
"Holy shit! What kind of ability is that?"
"Isn't this supposed to be a realistic seafaring game? Am I hallucinating?"
"When did you get the idea this game was realistic? Can't you see those beefy guys who are five or six meters tall?"
"But this is straight-up supernatural, isn't it? Is it a superpower or magic?"
"How much else is Big Lethal hiding from us?"
"Think players will be able to learn that skill?"
One player worked up his courage. Encouraged by everyone's looks, he asked Big Lethal, "Excuse me, what ability is that? Could you teach it to us?"
Adrian glanced at him. "The limits of being human suit you."
The players immediately began whispering again.
"What did Big Lethal mean by that? I feel like he just looked down on me..."
"Be confident. Drop the 'feel like'!"
"Damn it, he pulled off that line!"
Undercurrents
Maxing out Ghost Domination had helped Adrian turn one wild idea after another into reality.
Mimic Ghost had been born from one of those ideas.
As its name suggested, it was a Ghost that could freely change shape!
It could even become transparent!
Adrian had once considered developing a skill like that—
Mimic Ghost: Invisible Man.
But that idea was headed somewhere inappropriate, so he had to drop it.
With a large staff of "Mimic Adrian ghost attendants" helping out, the players spent money much faster. In less than half a day, Adrian made a fortune.
Beli aside, he had amassed several million experience points in that short time.
Hundreds of players had bought items and learned skills from him. The rate of return was astonishing.
And the best part was that it barely took any effort!
It was certainly far more comfortable than drifting across the sea in search of Pirates!
The game has only been live for a few days, and the players are still beginners. Once they grow stronger, I'll be able to earn even more experience from them, Adrian thought. Things are going well now, but I haven't reached the limit yet.
About a third of the Flower Country's players had been drawn in to shop. Most were still watching from the sidelines or simply hadn't heard the news.
Is there a good way to catch the players' attention?
Just then, he spotted a post on the official forum.
"Big Lethal? Even more lethal than Extremely Lethal? Any brave souls want to find out how strong he really is?"
The replies were all over the place.
First reply: "What are you, Aristotle's sister, Jenny Ima Genius?"
Second reply: A warm greeting involving someone's mother, almost entirely blocked by the system.
Third reply: "The last guy who tried that, [Extremely Lethal], has stopped thinking."
"..."
An idea struck Adrian. How could I forget? Players are fascinated by how strong high-level characters are!
Adrian himself had once been a fervent fan of debating power levels.
And how did you get people arguing about who was stronger? Easy. All it took was one bait post.
Akainu is absolutely the World's Strongest. Change my mind!
Enthusiastic netizens would line up to argue without anyone even needing to tag them.
Or, for instance: The Hollow-Hollow Fruit has tons of untapped potential!
Another crowd would show up uninvited to say things like, "Trash fruit, quit hyping it up," "Why don't you eat a Logia instead?" "Flame-Flame Fruit is number one!" "What potential? The user's body is a fatal weak point!" and "It only works on small fry who can't use Haki. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit is still the strongest!"...
Ahem. Back to the point.
No matter the game, the pursuit of overwhelming combat power was written into players' chromosomes.
If Adrian showed them a level of strength worthy of "Extremely Lethal," wouldn't that draw even more players in to shop?
And if he caught the attention of most players in the Flower Country, wouldn't his experience gains multiply?
The publicity on the official forum could also set off a lasting chain reaction, helping his future plans to farm experience across the other three seas.
Adrian grew excited. But how could he get the players' attention?
Before he knew it, two days had passed.
Throughout his stay in the Flower Country, players kept arriving after hearing about him, while new players continued to enter the game.
Thanks to recommendations on the game forum and encouragement from veteran players, many newcomers who spawned in the Flower Country of the West Blue ran straight to the mudflat to find Adrian. They took quests from him, completed them, then spent all the experience and Beli they earned on weapons and skills.
But the huge number of players gathered on the once-deserted mudflat finally caught the attention of the Flower Country's local powers.
Flower Country, Dog Fang Mountain.
Mountains wound through the area, with nine unevenly arranged peaks that interlocked like a dog's teeth. That was how Dog Fang Mountain got its name.
The Flower Country's common folk sometimes called it by another name in private: Mad Dog Mountain.
The tallest peak at the center of the range bore the nickname Dog-Biting Thunder—a way of saying it rose high enough to reach the lightning in the sky.
In a rugged, old-fashioned hall among the mountains, the members of the Second Treasure Navy had gathered.
A huge plaque bearing the black characters "Second Treasure" hung on the wall. In the center of the hall, an enormous red armchair sat atop a patterned animal hide.
An ugly, heavily muscled woman in a black qipao patterned with sunflowers sat in the chair. She held a barrel of wine in one hand and propped up the left side of her face with the other, every inch the picture of arrogance.
She was Holisa, daughter of Hog, the former leader of the Second Treasure Navy.
At the lower right of the red chair knelt a handsome blond man with a white bandage around his forehead. His eyes were shut tight, and he held flowers in both hands while reciting cheesy lines of affection. The tears glinting at the corners of his eyes made his reluctance plain.
"Holisa! This is the headquarters of the Second Treasure Navy! It's not your personal harem!"
Off to one side of the hall, a burly man in a dark green cloak glared resentfully at the blond man and shouted.
Holisa sneered, showing a mouthful of crooked, protruding teeth. "When my old man was still alive, he practically turned this place into his private palace. Why can't I? I've only married six husbands!"
The cloaked man opened his mouth to respond, but Holisa cut him off.
"Or do you think you're stronger than me and deserve to lead the Second Treasure Navy?"
As she spoke, coarse black-and-yellow fur sprouted from Holisa's skin. Her ears sharpened into an animal's pointed ears, and her murky yellow eyes fixed on the cloaked man. Her upper and lower fangs jutted past her lips, and foul-smelling saliva dripped from her mouth.
She looked like a jackal crouched on the sofa!