Pirates: I Loaded the Game Panel

Half a year passed in the blink of an eye, and the Sea Circle Calendar had reached the end of 1495.

CP9's training was grueling and complicated: a minor test every week, an intermediate test every half month, and a major test every month. If the tests had not been about "fighting" rather than "answering questions," Adrian might have thought he had returned to his peaceful school days.

Compared with half a year ago, Adrian's strength had improved considerably once again.

To adapt to the increasingly difficult daily training—and to gradually display his personal "progress"—Adrian spent his accumulated experience to raise [Apprentice Swordsman] to LV10. His overall level reached LV10 as well, unlocking [Agent] and [Cook] as Secondary Professions once more, while his attributes also skyrocketed.

[You obtained a new profession—[Agent]. Your Stamina has increased by a certain amount, Strength +1, Agility +1, 2 Free Attribute Points obtained, and 1 Skill Point obtained!]

[You obtained a new profession—[Cook]. Your Stamina has increased by a certain amount, Strength +1, Endurance +1, 2 Free Attribute Points obtained, and 1 Skill Point obtained!]

Aside from the attribute growth brought by leveling up, Adrian also discovered that attributes and skills could improve through training and combat. Six months of brutal training had given him Strength +2, Agility +1, and Endurance +3.

The most surprising thing was that Adrian had grown taller!

He had shot up by more than twenty centimeters!

Well, he had evolved from a one-hundred-and-fifty-centimeter third-rate cripple into a one-hundred-and-seventy-centimeter second-rate cripple...

Adrian got angry whenever he thought about it. Who knew how the people in the Pirate King world grew so tall? Unless you were at least two meters tall, you practically felt embarrassed to go outside and meet people. Marine Admirals were all three meters tall on average, while certain strange species could even reach a hundred meters. It was ridiculous...

Back to the matter at hand.

It was a winter morning. The air was chilly, and a thin layer of snow covered every inch of the island. The training grounds at the base in the island's central region were filled with bustling activity.

"Combat Power, three stages—"

Sorry, wrong scene. Let's start over.

"Doriki, 30!"

Doriki was a unit used to measure the combat power of individuals in the Pirate King world. A properly trained armed soldier generally had a Doriki Value of 10. Anyone whose Doriki Value exceeded 500 could be called superhuman.

As a (discarded by the author) measure of combat power, Doriki Value was particularly valued by the agents of Cipher Pol. Positions within the organization were largely determined by comparing Doriki Values.

Of course, if someone refused to accept the result, they could always fight it out directly. In the end, everything still came down to whose fists were stronger.

As reserve members of CP9, anyone whose Doriki Value broke through 500 could be promoted to a full CP9 member by completing a Field Assignment. At present, there was no one like that in the training squad.

In the future, CP9 would welcome the "strongest in eight hundred years," Rob Lucci. At the age of only thirteen, his Doriki Value had already surpassed 500. He was a monster who had single-handedly crushed a group of Pirates attacking a kingdom and casually killed the five hundred kingdom soldiers they had taken hostage, suffering only minor injuries himself.

Adrian's Doriki of 30 was far beyond that of an ordinary Marine soldier, but within the entire training squad, he was merely in the lower-middle range. Considering his usual performance, however, that Doriki was perfectly in line with expectations, and no one around him found it strange.

"Next, Dawson!"

The staff member in charge of the test calmly called out the next name. The crowd stirred, and Adrian could not help glancing sideways.

Dawson was the name of the [Muscle Boy] who had once sparred with Adrian. Aside from the first few days after Adrian resumed training, Dawson had never again been Adrian's Hand-to-Hand Combat partner.

After all, the two were on completely different levels. For Dawson, it was not Hand-to-Hand Combat training. It was beating up a little kid.

"I wonder how strong the little Muscle Boy is now..."

Adrian lowered his eyes slightly and discreetly cast Detect toward Dawson.

[Based on your level and attributes, you obtained the following information.]

[Dawson] (Yellow Name)

[Level: LV25]

[Attributes: Strength 30, Agility 18, Endurance 30, Intelligence 4, Charisma 3, Luck 1]

[Abilities: [Intermediate Hand-to-Hand Combat], [Basic Marksmanship], ?]

[Danger Level: High]

Considering Adrian's current attributes, the information he obtained was much more comprehensive than before.

"Tsk, tsk. Those level and attributes are increasing pretty quickly. In the Four Blues, he already counts as a genuine young expert, right?"

Back among the crowd, Adrian muttered to himself.

"His Strength is nearly twice mine, while his Agility is only a little lower. As for Endurance, there's no need to mention it... His Danger Level is as high as ever. He's nearly four meters tall, isn't he? He's like a little giant. I hate people who are taller than me—and he's still just a child!"

Dawson stood before the Doriki testing machine and threw a punch, making the machine creak loudly from the impact.

"Doriki, 115!"

The testing staff member shouted in delight. When faced with children of different potential levels, he also displayed different degrees of enthusiasm.

"Doriki 115. That's top-notch among us..."

"No wonder it's Dawson. At this rate, he'll probably become a full CP9 member in three years at most, right?"

Listening to the envious and jealous voices from the crowd, Dawson remained cold and unapproachable.

As he left the Doriki testing machine, Dawson's gaze suddenly passed through the crowd and stopped on a figure who seemed completely out of place amid the lively surroundings.

"What a strange guy!" Dawson muttered. "How could he possibly have only 30 Doriki...?"

Adrian had no idea that the [Muscle Boy] in his eyes still remembered him so clearly. At present, he was thinking about his plans for the coming year.

Half a year had passed, and Adrian had accumulated a great deal of experience through Swordplay training. He could fill [Apprentice Swordsman]'s experience bar to the limit at any time, but he had still not found an opportunity to leave.

The [Safe Zone] outside the training base was already completely open to him. His main area of activity was currently the [Danger Zone], and when he occasionally wanted to challenge himself, he would also visit the [Deadly Zone].

Without a doubt, remaining at the training base would still allow him to continue growing. But who could blame a transmigrator for having a restless heart?

In short, Adrian wanted to leave the island as soon as possible and go make trouble outside!

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do. Without orders from the base, Adrian had no opportunity to leave. Even if he risked escaping from the base and successfully crossed the area where the beasts roamed, he still had no way to cross the sea that lay before him like a natural chasm.

It was not as if he could imitate Luffy by stuffing himself into a barrel and drifting along with the waves, right?

This was not the peaceful East Blue! Trying that in the Grand Line would really get him killed!

There was no need to rush. He still had time to wait.

But Adrian never expected that this wait would last another year and a half.

[Field Assignment]

In the blink of an eye, Adrian had spent two years on the training island.

The date had quietly reached the middle of 1497. If he remembered correctly, the Roger Pirates would complete their [Grand Line Adventure] this year. They would successfully reach [Laugh Tale] and achieve the earth-shaking title of [Pirate King]!

This made Adrian even more desperate to leave.

That day, at the base's training grounds.

"Finger Pistol: Fist Cannon!"

Dawson roared. His massive, platter-sized fist unleashed tremendous force and shot toward Adrian like a cannonball, bringing with it a series of explosive cracks.

"Kami-e."

Adrian calmly used Kami-e. Last year, Kumadori Yamamba had taught the Six Powers to the reserve members. At the time, he had also taken the opportunity to observe that Kumadori Yamamba was LV43.

The effects of Kami-e made Adrian's body as light and thin as paper. He easily controlled every part of his body, dodging all of Dawson's attacks by the narrowest of margins.

In reality, Adrian's level was still only 10, with roughly 50 Doriki.

Dawson, however, had broken through 450 Doriki in the test at the end of the previous year, and his current level had reached the lofty height of 33!

The battle clearly proved one of Adrian's long-held views: level did not represent everything. There were too many things in this world that could affect actual combat power.

Take the skill [Six Powers], for example!

[Six Powers: Kami-e LV5 (40,536/300,000): A defensive technique. By releasing the strength throughout the body and sensing changes in the airflow produced by an opponent's movements, the body can become as light and thin as paper. This allows the user to control their body with ease and dodge attacks aimed at them by the narrowest of margins.]

The Six Powers were an extremely sophisticated martial art that surpassed the limits of human physical ability. Normally, one had to undergo extremely rigorous training to learn them. But for Adrian, who possessed the progress panel, the Six Powers were merely simple skills that required some time to master. The only issue was that they demanded a great deal of experience.

Kami-e was the skill Adrian used most often during training. Aside from LV5 [Kami-e], he had also mastered LV2 [Soru] and [Geppo], as well as LV1 [Iron Body], [Finger Pistol], and [Rankyaku].

In addition, Adrian had spent two Skill Points to master an advanced Six Powers skill ahead of time: [Six Powers: Life Return].

[Six Powers: Life Return LV3 (1,024/200,000): Allows the user to freely control their body, hair, and internal organs. By infusing them with consciousness, the user can freely control any part of the body.]

In some ways, the effects of [Life Return] resembled those of [Kami-e]. Both involved precise control over parts of the body, but [Life Return] also involved the body's internal structure, while [Kami-e] only affected the body's surface.

With the insight gained from [Kami-e], [Life Return] had also risen several levels.

Adrian's [Kami-e] was considered quite outstanding among the reserve members. Very few people surpassed him.

After pummeling the air for quite some time, Dawson finally stopped throwing punches. Adrian was clearly not his match, but Dawson had no way to deal with Adrian's Kami-e. If he insisted on attacking, he could only wear down Adrian's stamina and see who gave up first. That would be pointless.

Seeing Dawson stop, Adrian asked curiously, "Dawson, why did you suddenly ask me to spar today?"

Dawson had always been unapproachable at the training base and rarely interacted with anyone. Adrian was one of the few people at the base who could actually talk to him.

Although Adrian did not know why Dawson treated him differently, he was happy to have someone who occasionally kept him company for a few words.

"Your strength is definitely not limited to this." Dawson glared at Adrian with his cowbell-sized eyes, his tone displeased.

Adrian said nothing, neither confirming nor denying it. He deliberately concealed his ability. Based on his performance, he was completely inconspicuous among the reserve members. But apart from Dawson, no one had ever confronted him about it directly.

Dawson did not expect a reply. He knew Adrian would never answer that question, just as he had not answered it the previous times.

After a moment of silence, Dawson said, "My Doriki Value has surpassed 500. To become a full CP9 member, I need to complete a test."

"Oh, congratulations." Adrian's reply was completely perfunctory.

"Officer Kumadori Yamamba assigned me a Field Assignment."

"Oh." This time, Adrian sounded a little envious and jealous.

"She also assigned me a logistics officer. It's you."

"Oh... Huh?"

Adrian's eyes suddenly widened as a notification popped up on his panel.

[You triggered the D-rank mission [Field Assignment]. Accept/Abandon?]

Adrian's eyes flickered. This was the first time he had triggered a mission in three years. He had always thought the system's mission template was broken!

There was nothing to hesitate about. This was a Field Assignment!

A Field Assignment he had longed for!

Accept!

[Mission Hint: Ask the target character.]

Damn!

What kind of trash mission template was this?

Adrian's breath caught.

"What is it?" Dawson asked, confused.

"N-Nothing." Adrian took a deep breath and composed himself. "Why did Officer Kumadori Yamamba assign me as your logistics officer?"

"I don't know," Dawson replied gruffly. "You could ask her directly."

Like hell I'm going to ask that old woman with the unbearably awful voice!

Adrian rolled his eyes.

Although Dawson looked every bit like a muscular, heavily built man, aside from his occasional excessive bluntness and unusually developed limbs, he was actually still only a fourteen-year-old child—one year younger than Adrian.

Even though the kid was nearly five meters tall...

Adrian, who dreamed of growing to two meters, swallowed his heartache and asked, "When is the mission?"

"Eight tomorrow morning," Dawson replied. "Officer Kumadori Yamamba will wait for us at the base entrance, and then we'll go to the seaside to board a ship."

"Will Officer Kumadori Yamamba be accompanying us?" Adrian asked casually.

Dawson replied, "She said she would travel with us by ship."

"Where is the mission destination?" Adrian asked. "Is it a country somewhere in the Paradise stage?"

"No. It's the [West Blue]." Dawson gave an answer far beyond Adrian's expectations. "The Ilusia Kingdom in the West Blue."

"The Ilusia Kingdom? It sounds like some small country I've never heard of... But why the West Blue?" Adrian was puzzled. "This island should be in the Grand Line, right? How are we supposed to return from the Grand Line to the Four Blues? An airship? A submarine? If we rely on a sailing ship, we can't even cross Reverse Mountain, can we? Are we supposed to pass through the Calm Belt? Do we already have that technology?"

Dawson's expression looked even more bewildered than Adrian's. He could not understand Adrian at all. He had failed every subject except combat, and he had not even mastered the most basic [Navigation] skills.

If not for his outstanding physical talent, Dawson would probably have been abandoned by the base commander long ago.

Looking at Dawson's utterly blank expression, Adrian felt he had more or less understood what that old woman Kumadori Yamamba was planning.

Adrian the Navigator, Cook, Strategist, Errand Boy... Anyway, definitely not a combatant!

Well!