Chapter 49
"But at least something good came out of it!"
[Armament Haki Trait: Black Jade]!
Adrian had returned early to the Flower Country in the West Blue instead of heading to the South Blue as planned. Besides wanting to raid the riches beneath the Jade Treasure Ice Bed, this had been part of the reason!
As a legendary Great Pirate who had once battled Garp, Roger, and others on the high seas, Chinjao was not someone to underestimate.
But by the time he appeared in the Dressrosa arc of the original story, he was already a white-haired old man. He put up a lively fight against Luffy, but it was impossible to tell how strong he had been in his prime.
Especially after Luffy punched his prized drillhead back into shape, only for his own grandson Sai to kick it crooked again...
That was just...
Hard to take seriously...
Still, there was no denying that Garp had specifically trained his fists by punching mountains to defeat Chinjao years earlier!
Considering every detail, the answer had to lie in Chinjao's drillhead and his Armament Haki!
His naturally formidable drillhead gave Chinjao extraordinary striking power with his head. If he had also mastered some advanced trait of Armament Haki, that would explain the famous Chinjao the Drill.
That had been Adrian's theory before coming to the Flower Country.
After all, basic Armament Haki had only two abilities: [Coating] and [Hardening].
Advanced Armament Haki was another matter.
[Ryuo] referred to Haki in motion, with something of the dynamic quality of [Coating].
Did that mean [Hardening] had a corresponding advanced trait too?
Willing to take a gamble, Adrian had rushed to the Flower Country after learning [Ryuo] from Koshiro. He had come looking for Chinjao the Drill, the only person he could currently reach who might possess an advanced Armament Haki trait.
Honestly, if Chinjao had not been so hostile, the deal might well have gone through, especially considering Adrian's previous Friendly standing with the Happo Navy!
Adrian's original plan had been to help the Happo Navy recover the wealth stored beneath the Jade Treasure Ice Bed in exchange for thirty percent of it and Chinjao's Armament Haki training manual.
But things rarely went as planned. Who could have guessed Chinjao would react like that...
After killing Chinjao, Adrian had briefly given up on advancing his Armament Haki.
To his surprise, the powerful panel had not only confirmed his theory but also listed the trait as a reward.
[Black Jade]!
What a distinctly Flower Country name!
Just as [Ryuo] belonged to Wano Country.
What was there to hesitate over?
He chose it!!
[You have acquired the skill: Armament Haki Trait: Black Jade!]
In an instant, a flood of Armament Haki training techniques surged up from the depths of Adrian's mind. The finer points of Armament Haki Hardening that had once eluded him, tricks he had wanted to develop but lacked the means to pursue, became clear and easy to understand. They settled deep in his mind as knowledge he had already mastered!
A long while later.
Adrian raised his right hand and willed the Haki forth.
Pitch-black Armament Haki covered his entire arm. But unlike the plain metallic black it had been before, the Haki now seemed to gleam with the soft luster of jade.
Adrian tapped his right hand lightly with his left index finger. It rang with the clear clang of metal striking metal.
This was far harder than before!
If he added Ryuo on top of it, the power would be beyond imagining!
Adrian dismissed the Armament Haki on his arm, delighted.
"According to the panel, my Armament Haki is still only LV3. But with both [Ryuo] and [Black Jade], its actual strength has to be above LV5! Now that's excellent!"
Just then, a new message appeared on the panel.
[You killed Chinjao the Drill, the Great Pirate with the highest Bounty in the West Blue, and eliminated every Happo Navy witness at the scene. You have gained 1 Legend Point!]
[West Blue Legend Points: Mysterious King of the West Blue!]
"And that's it? Nothing else?"
Adrian stared at the solitary panel message and grumbled.
"That Legend Point description is as mysterious as the title. It tells me nothing!"
"Whatever. It's still a Legend Point, and that means five percent more experience earned in the West Blue... Come to think of it, do I have to enter the Grand Line to earn higher-tier Legend Points?"
Adrian shook his head and set the question aside.
For now, the only way he knew to trigger Legend Points was to challenge enemies. From the Capone Gang at the beginning to the Happo Navy now, one formidable foe after another had given their lives to build his legend...
"Wait, have I stumbled onto the real secret to getting rich? Do I just keep challenging people?" Adrian rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "That is what I'm good at..."
If only every enemy I met came with a quest that let me draw a Specialty or skill... he thought greedily.
After a quick cleanup of the Battlefield, Adrian returned to the hole he had broken through the ice. Looking down at the vast hoard of gold, silver, and jewels, he was oddly reminded of Goldie's Gate of Babylon.
Adrian jumped into the hole and flew to the top of a towering mountain of gold coins. The sight of all that treasure left him troubled.
"How am I supposed to handle all this? Strictly speaking, it's my loot!"
"If I could use the Castle-Castle Fruit, this would be so much easier. I really miss having storage space. But I still haven't found the right person for it..."
"If I leave it here, who knows..."
"Huh? Leaving it here might actually be fine."
Adrian tilted his head as realization struck.
To him, the Jade Treasure Ice Bed was as easy to cross as an empty street at dawn. To ordinary pirates, it was an impassable wall!
Unless they were unusual Devil Fruit Users, they could not break through the Jade Treasure Ice Bed and reach the mountains of gold and seas of silver below without enough power.
And by "enough," he meant the kind of power a Great Pirate with a Bounty above five hundred million possessed!
Was there anyone like that in the West Blue?
Probably not anymore.
Adrian looked around, taking in the vast expanse of the Jade Treasure Ice Bed. "In other words, this place is practically a natural vault!"
Aside from the fact that too many people knew about it and the ice was completely transparent, the Jade Treasure Ice Bed seemed to have no other flaws.
"This setup... Could I use it as bait?"
Adrian blinked as one dark idea after another sprang to mind.
"But it'd be hard to draw the whole world's attention to the West Blue. Pulling it off would be tricky..."
Putting those thoughts aside, Adrian casually picked out a decent-looking short sword from the treasure. Once the ice had completely healed, he left the Flower Country.
Next came his final destination—the South Blue!
South Blue! South Blue! ### Nearly half a year had passed since the game entered open beta.
Converted at the usual ratio, that was a little over a month in the outside world.
The first players who had taken part in closed beta and entered the game early were already approaching level 20, the level cap for players in version 1.0.
According to unsubstantiated rumors on the forums, Pirate King would have six versions in total, with a final level cap of 120.
Each version update would unlock the corresponding increase to the player level cap.
But the forums were full of claims like that, and few people believed them. The game company never released any useful official information.
In any case.
Before Adrian had settled down to train at Isshin Dojo in the East Blue and formally become a Swordmaster, the first player had already reached level 20.
The news had caused quite a stir on the official game forums.
The first player to hit the level-20 cap used the ID Wanjia. (The second player cameo is taken.)
That ID was also well known in real-world gaming circles.
Unlike the "famous pants-dropping enthusiast" Golden Spirit, Wanjia was obsessed with grinding experience and racing up the levels.
In every game he played, his familiar ID appeared near the top of the level rankings, as though he had countless extra livers helping him grind.
Wanjia had not secured a coveted place in the closed beta, but he had been among the first players to enter when open beta began.
Wanjia's starting location was in the South Blue. Before he had settled on a main profession, he had been captivated by a line from Big Lethal that had spread across the forums: "The road is long, and only my sword keeps me company."
But Big Lethal had been most active in the West Blue at the time. Unable to cross the ocean, Wanjia had reluctantly abandoned his plan to learn skills from him and switch professions.
After untold effort to earn enough Beli, Wanjia had joined the Swordplay dojo on his beginner island and become the first player to obtain Apprentice Swordsman as a main profession.
Wanjia then kept grinding experience and completing quests until he became the first player in the game to reach level 20. He was generous enough to share what happened at the version's level cap on the forums.
That was how the wider player base learned that level 20 really was the cap in version 1.0 of Pirate King.
People were skeptical at first, but as more and more players reached level 20, they confirmed it was indeed the version cap.
That discovery did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm for the game.
Their levels had stopped rising, but their experience kept accumulating. They could still do quests and grind.
Besides, in a virtual game this lifelike, there was far more to enjoy than leveling up!
More importantly, the cap applied only to main professions. Players could still gain Secondary Professions and receive the corresponding boosts to their attributes and strength.
By then, over a million players had entered the game, and the number was still climbing. The official forums were buzzing.
"I finally got in! Ah, the sunlight! Ah, the water!"
"Whoa, check out this [image]! That's one weird-looking little thing!"
"Once, a simple starting profession was right in front of me, and I didn't cherish it. I only regretted it after I lost it. If the game company gave me another chance, I'd go back three months and tell myself four words: Don't become a pirate!
"And if you want to know why...
"The damn Marines threw me in jail again!
"Last time I escaped by killing myself. This time they got smart and chained me to the floor! Flat on my back, too! I can't believe how smart these NPCs are. I want to delete my character and start over!"
Players were posting eagerly in the South Blue section as well.
Then a new post caught the attention of South Blue players browsing the forum.
"Big Lethal finally came to the South Blue! [excited] [crying]"
A crowd piled into the replies.
"'What? Big Lethal's in the South Blue?' Is that what you thought I'd say?"
"Don't believe rumors. Don't spread rumors."
"No picture? Then what the hell are you talking about?"
But more and more posts appeared in the South Blue section. Several included pictures of huge crowds, with "Big Lethal" standing unmistakably at their center.
The South Blue players browsing the forum began to wonder if it was true.
While Adrian had traveled through the West Blue, South Blue players had assumed "Big Lethal" was a perk exclusive to West Blue players. After all, information from the closed beta had shown that he was especially active near the Flower Country.
But when Adrian headed to the North Blue, their feelings changed.
If Big Lethal could go to the North Blue, might he also come to the East Blue or the South Blue?
Players from those two seas had clashed on the forums again and again over which one Big Lethal would visit first.
In the end, South Blue players had been disappointed to learn that he had gone to the East Blue first...
Fine. East Blue first. Their turn would come sooner or later.
When Adrian finished visiting the last beginner village in the East Blue, South Blue players waited eagerly, certain they were finally next.
But the truth hit like a bolt from the blue.
After finishing his East Blue trip, Big Lethal vanished!
Day after day passed. He remained gone for nearly a month of game time!
Their hopes dashed, South Blue players took the disappointment hard. For a while, their forum section was a sea of lamentation.