Pirates: I Loaded the Game Panel

Seeing Koshiro finally lose his usual composure, Adrian couldn't help feeling amused.

Sorry, but with the panel helping me and my intelligence stat through the roof, I learn things this fast!

At that moment, the panel refreshed with new skill information.

[You have gained the Armament Haki trait: Ryuo!]

[[Ryuo]: Armament Haki in motion. While strengthening your offense and defense, it allows you to strike with your bare fists and project a force capable of injuring an opponent from a distance.]

Adrian frowned slightly as he read the panel's description of Ryuo.

"Ryuo can only produce a [Remote Strike]? That's not quite what I expected..."

Noticing his expression, Koshiro asked, "Is something wrong, Tao Ya?"

Adrian collected himself. "It's like this, Master Koshiro."

He grabbed an unused cushion and tossed it into the air, then activated the Ryuo he had just learned.

His Haki-coated fist shot toward the gray cushion. Without touching it, he punched a huge hole through its center, leaving fluffy white cotton exposed along the ragged edges.

Koshiro's eye twitched as he looked at his cushion with a pained expression.

Adrian withdrew his Haki. "Ryuo only seems capable of [Remote Strike]?"

"Yes," Koshiro replied. "Did I forget to mention that detail?"

Adrian hesitated. "I thought Ryuo would be more powerful... That it could do something like [Internal Destruction]..."

"[Ryuo] is simply another name for Armament Haki. The Shimotsuki Family has always called it that in keeping with Wano Country's tradition," Koshiro explained. "As for the [Internal Destruction] you mentioned, that's a more advanced form of Armament Haki. I'm afraid I can't help you with it."

"Because... I can't do it either."

Return to the West Blue

Adrian's face darkened. Koshiro's "I can't do it either" had nearly broken him.

He let out a long breath before asking, "Master Koshiro, do you know how to train the Armament Haki needed for [Internal Destruction]?"

Koshiro shook his head. "I don't. My father never shared anything about it, either."

Adrian was a little disappointed, but learning Ryuo from Koshiro had already been an unexpected gain. He had only asked on the off chance that Koshiro knew.

After chatting a little longer, Adrian formally bid Koshiro farewell.

He had originally planned to leave for the South Blue as soon as he finished harvesting experience from the players in the East Blue, but the sudden advancement quest had disrupted his plans.

Before he knew it, Adrian had spent nearly two months in the East Blue. That was far too long.

By his rough estimate, almost half a year had passed since the open beta began!

He didn't need to guess: the South Blue players would yield less experience than those in the other three Blues. Much less!

"Then I'll head back to the West Blue first! There's something I've been meaning to do there anyway!"

As for standing up the South Blue players again...

He had already kept them waiting over a month. A little longer probably wouldn't matter, right?

Adrian thought this without a shred of shame.

Several days later, in the West Blue.

Flower Country.

Stepping onto Flower Country soil for the third time, Adrian felt a strange mix of emotions.

His first visit to Flower Country had been to meet the closed-beta players. He had accidentally killed a pillar of the Second Treasure Navy.

His second visit to Flower Country had been to harvest experience from the open-beta players. He had accidentally killed another pillar of the Second Treasure Navy and taken out a great many of its underlings along the way.

Now he was visiting Flower Country for a third time...

Hopefully, no one from the Second Treasure Navy would show up again!

Adrian intended to slip in quietly and avoid a fight.

Meanwhile...

Flower Country.

Phoenix Mountain.

Golden sunlight washed over towering peaks that pierced the clouds, making their icy cliffs gleam.

At the summit, a strangely shaped boulder stood proudly like a golden phoenix giving its first cry. Below, the mist had lifted from an endless sea of forest, revealing lush green slopes and clusters of ornate old-fashioned buildings tucked among the trees.

This was the Happo Navy's stronghold—Phoenix Mountain!

At the summit of Phoenix Mountain, before the golden phoenix-shaped rock, stood a massive fortified residence.

A dark-skinned man in coarse cloth hurried across the broad square at its center, his expression tense.

Moments later, he entered a modest-looking manor and reached the main hall. "Report! I have urgent news for Lord Tsai Dou!"

One of the many guards stationed nearby looked him over, went inside to announce him, and soon returned to let him in.

Inside the hall, a plump man was eating. Without looking up, he asked, "What is it?"

"Lord Tsai Dou, it's White Ghost! One of our men saw him at the docks. He's back!"

The plump man looked up at once, revealing a large, round face with narrow eyes. When he smiled, those eyes narrowed to slits, and his full cheeks gave him the look of a kindly, smiling Buddha.

But this "Buddha" was not smiling now. His brows drew together.

"You're sure it was White Ghost? Why has that walking disaster come back to Flower Country? Is he here to make trouble for those idiots in the Second Treasure Navy again?" As the Happo Navy's acting pillar, Tsai Dou couldn't ignore the news.

"I... I don't know, sir."

Then Tsai Dou's expression shifted, and he grinned. "It would be entertaining if they fought! If another Second Treasure Navy pillar gets killed, they might lose their designation altogether!"

The dark-skinned man forced a smile. "Lord Tsai Dou, should we tell the Huo Family?"

"Why tell them? Can't we just enjoy the show? That Huo Family is a pack of ugly toads with expensive tastes. Every pillar they produce insists on keeping a harem! They've finally picked a fight they can't win. I've been sick of them for ages."

The dark-skinned man didn't dare say a word.

Tsai Dou muttered to himself for some time before asking, "Come to think of it, do you know why White Ghost clashed with Hog in the first place?"

"I asked a tavern owner about it," the dark-skinned man answered quickly. "It started with a Second Treasure Navy captain. He got drunk and harassed White Ghost's female companion, so White Ghost dropped him on the spot. Hog happened to pass by and see it. Then... well, that was the end of that."

"Hah!" Tsai Dou laughed, shaking his head. "I knew it. His lust got him killed!"

The dark-skinned man's expression flickered, but he said nothing.

There were things the pillar could say that he could not. He couldn't even agree with them.

Tsai Dou rose and paced around the room.

After a moment, he said, "Pass the word to our men. Whatever White Ghost does, the Happo Navy saw nothing. Even if he kills another Second Treasure Navy pillar, we act as if nothing happened.

"The old man's reputation should still count for something. White Ghost probably won't provoke the Happo Navy without reason. If he does... go straight to the Jade Treasure Ice Bed and drag that dispirited old ghost out here!"

The dark-skinned man wanted to speak, but didn't dare.

There wasn't a man in the Happo Navy who didn't respect Pillar Chinjao. He had been defeated, yes, but it mattered who had beaten him.

The man who had beaten Chinjao, the pillar, was Garp, Hero of the Marines!

Pirate King Roger's lifelong rival!

Even now, Chinjao's standing in the Happo Navy remained high.

But a son insulting his father...

The dark-skinned man kept his mouth shut.

"I can't shake the feeling that White Ghost, that harbinger of trouble, is up to no good this time in Flower Country. Last time, he went out of his way to meet those Drifters. What was that about? Why would someone as strong as him care about people who can barely lift a sword? Why do I feel so uneasy...?"

By then, Tsai Dou had reached the rear courtyard. When he saw the dark-skinned man still following him, he stared. "Why are you still here? Want to sleep with me? Get lost!"

Exhausted, the dark-skinned man felt as though he had been pardoned and turned to leave.

Just then, another member of the Happo Navy entered with a report.

"Lord Tsai Dou! There's a stranger outside asking for you! He calls himself—White Ghost!"

Tsai Dou, who had been about to go inside, exchanged a look with the dark-skinned man as he turned back. Speak of the devil.

The Happo Navy

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Steady footsteps echoed across the empty square, carrying far through the silence.

Dressed in a casual black suit, Adrian walked upright and unhurriedly behind a Happo Navy guard. From time to time, he surveyed the fortified buildings with interest, as calm as a windless lake.

After they crossed the square and reached the manor, the tall guard pointed toward its doors. "Lord Tsai Dou is waiting inside."

"Thank you."

Adrian gave the guard a slight nod and said no more.

He climbed the stone steps and entered the manor. At last, he saw the man he had heard so much about: the Happo Navy's acting pillar and Chinjao's son, Tsai Dou.

At first glance, the man lived up to his name.

Both his body and his head were remarkably round. He looked more like a shrewd merchant than a pirate leader, without the slightest hint of swagger.

Adrian smiled politely. "Good morning, acting pillar of the Happo Navy."

Tsai Dou invited Adrian to sit, then summoned an attendant to bring them tea and refreshments.

"What brings White Ghost back to Flower Country? You should know that many people here would love to teach you a lesson you won't forget, especially the Second Treasure Navy."

Adrian merely smiled at the question.

"Apart from the Happo Navy, I've never considered any of Flower Country's navies worth worrying about, least of all the Second Treasure Navy. They've gone through two pillars already. I wonder if they still have the nerve to come after me. If they do, I don't mind making them appoint a third."

Tsai Dou's eyes narrowed at White Ghost's casual words. He lowered his head and took a sip of tea, hiding his changing expression behind the cup.

So he has come looking for trouble...

I knew this guy was a walking disaster...

Adrian got straight to the point. "I came to Flower Country for one reason: I'd like to meet your navy's twelfth pillar, Chinjao the Drill!"

"You want to meet that rotten old— Ahem. My father?"

Tsai Dou froze and nearly choked on his tea before correcting himself.

"Yes," Adrian said.

Tsai Dou nodded slightly, not giving an answer yet, but said:

"May I ask why you want to see my father? Ever since Monkey D. Garp of the Marines defeated him, he's lived in seclusion at the Jade Treasure Ice Bed in the far north of Flower Country. Apart from members of the Happo Navy, he hasn't seen an outsider in years."

Adrian's eyes lit up. "As a matter of fact, that's precisely why I'm here."

On his first visit to Flower Country, Adrian had considered the power of the Armament Haki wielded here, particularly by the Happo Navy.

But he had been much weaker then. Even the Hollow-Hollow Fruit, the only thing he could rely on, had been nowhere near as developed as it was now. Approaching the Happo Navy back then would have been a terrible idea!

Now things were different.

He had reached Swordmaster level, mastered Observation Haki and Armament Haki, learned the more advanced Ryuo, and acquired two top-tier fruit skills...

He might not be able to beat the sea's true elites, but he could at least put up a fight against Chinjao the Drill, who had lost his spirit!

Besides, Adrian had no intention of forcing the issue.

"During my travels, I heard stories about Flower Country's Jade Treasure Ice Bed," Adrian said, slipping smoothly into his prepared pitch. "They say it holds more gold and silver than anyone could count..."

The Jade Treasure Ice Bed was one of Flower Country's unique sights.

The bitter cold had formed a natural frozen continent in the country's far north. Its ice was harder than ordinary steel.

Flames couldn't melt through it. Axes, hammers, and even cannonballs couldn't leave so much as a tiny chip.

To break it, one had to focus all one's strength on a single point and drive an immense force into the frozen continent. Only then might it crack open.

Thanks to Chinjao's distinctive drill-shaped head and his mastery of Armament Haki, which could rival even the experts of the New World, that once-useless frozen continent had become the [Jade Treasure Ice Bed], where the Happo Navy stored centuries of treasure!

For decades, only Chinjao's Drillhead had been able to pierce the thick ice and open it.

But ever since Garp had flattened his head with a single punch, the Dragon Without a Drill had been unable to reach the treasure beneath the Jade Treasure Ice Bed.