One Piece: I Loaded the Game Panel

Adrian brought his blade down hard on Kumadori Yamamba's. A sickly flush flashed across her face, and she could not hold back a muffled grunt.

In raw strength, she was still no match for Adrian.

Kumadori Yamamba shoved his blade away, furious and alarmed. "Adrian, when did you get this strong?"

As Kumadori Yamamba remembered him, Adrian had been nothing more than a slightly clever brat. Apart from learning things at an absurd pace, he had almost nothing that stood out. His ability in a straight fight, especially, had only climbed to somewhere near the middle of the reserve squad after two years.

Watching Adrian defeat Dawson head-on had already surprised her. She had never imagined that even she would fail to bring him down—and end up on the losing side of the fight!

"Has anyone ever told you how awful your voice sounds, Instructor Kumadori Yamamba?"

After holding that in for two years, Adrian had finally said it. He felt as refreshed as if he had taken a huge bite of ice cream on a sweltering summer day.

"Dawson! Attack with me!"

Kumadori Yamamba finally ordered Dawson, who had been watching from the sidelines, to join her. She had seen clearly that only his usual punching hand, his right, was injured. He had not lost much of his fighting ability.

If she brought Dawson into the fight, they might be able to take down the traitor Adrian quickly!

So it's finally come to this?

Adrian's eyes shifted.

His original plan had been to get a map of the nearby waters and some basic supplies from the local gang, then slip away alone by boat.

He figured the World Government would not make a grand spectacle of issuing a wanted poster for him if he did that.

Being a pirate really was not as wonderful as people imagined, okay?

But before Adrian could even put his plan into action, Dawson had followed him here.

And Kumadori Yamamba had come after Dawson.

This is probably the worst-case scenario, isn't it?

Adrian found a little humor in his predicament.

Fortunately, he had a backup plan for a situation like this.

During the month before they reached Xilian Island, Adrian had not spent his days aboard ship doing nothing.

After advancing to [Professional Swordsman], he had gained more than the basic boost to his attributes. He had also acquired an advanced form of Basic Swordsmanship Training.

[Advanced Swordsmanship Training] yielded more experience, too: eighty to one hundred points per session, depending on how well he completed it.

Over the past month of relentless training, Adrian had accumulated 2.6 million experience points.

It was not enough to raise his profession level, but right now, it was perfect for leveling up his skills!

After a split second's thought, Adrian gave a silent command. Put experience into [Soru] and [Kami-e]! Add seven points to Strength and fourteen to Agility!

At the same moment, the panel responded.

[Six Powers: Soru] LV8 (0/1,000,000)!!

[Six Powers: Kami-e] LV6 (240,000/500,000)!!

Strength: 70. Agility: 70. Free Attribute Points remaining: 59!!

Kumadori Yamamba and Dawson had taken positions on either side of Adrian, trapping him between them.

"If you want to run with Geppo, go ahead and try," Kumadori Yamamba taunted.

Dawson said nothing. He just watched Adrian and blocked his way out.

Adrian replied with something neither of them understood. "Run? I don't have a log-off-and-escape skill. Besides..."

[You have triggered the C-rank emergency quest [Freedom]!!]

[Quest hint: Freedom guides the people!]

[Quest requirement: Escape successfully]

[Quest reward: Draw one skill or specialty from an enemy]

I really, really want to see what a specialty looks like!

I've never even seen one before!

Adrian took a deep breath and focused on the fight.

"Rankyaku: Lotus Blossom!"

Unable to hold back any longer, Kumadori Yamamba attacked first. Rather than clash with him head-on again, she lashed out with several kicks. Visible waves of compressed air split into hundreds of tiny wind blades that swept toward Adrian from every direction, with Dawson behind him caught in their path as well.

"Finger Pistol: Fist Cannon!"

At the same time, Dawson charged straight in, ignoring the wind blades as he attacked Adrian's back.

They had him from both sides!

"Soru!"

Adrian moved like a ghost, appearing behind Kumadori Yamamba. With his sharply leveled-up [Soru] and an Agility boost of nearly a quarter, he slipped effortlessly out of what had seemed an inescapable pincer attack.

"How is that possible? That speed!"

A bone-deep chill at her back sent a shiver across Kumadori Yamamba's scalp. She could never have imagined Adrian's speed would soar so dramatically in just a few minutes. She could barely react!

"Watch this! Life Return: Hair Bind—"

"Surging Stream Slash!"

A flash of cold steel burst into view at the edge of Kumadori Yamamba's vision. The scene from moments ago seemed to repeat itself.

With no time to think, Kumadori Yamamba followed her instincts and bent sharply at the waist.

Slash!

Her magnificent mass of pink hair, floating in the air, was not so lucky. Adrian's merciless blade sheared off a great swath of it, sending loose strands drifting down into the dirt.

Kumadori Yamamba had no time to mourn her precious hair. Gritting her teeth, she sprang forward. If she had dodged a moment later, her head might have come off with it.

Adrian slid his blade back into its sheath. "If you don't take this seriously, you really will die, Kumadori Yamamba."

Damn brat!

Kumadori Yamamba said nothing. She could feel cold sweat soaking her back.

Dawson stepped up beside her, ready to face Adrian together. He now understood that he was no match for Adrian alone. He would have to fight alongside his instructor.

Just then, Adrian drew his left foot back, bent his right knee slightly, and leaned forward. His left hand held the sheath; his right rested on the hilt.

"One Sword Style..."

"Iai..."

"Maple Leaf Cutter!"

His strength erupted. A faint trace of icy blade-light lingered in the air.

Kumadori Yamamba felt a chill against her neck.

She turned her head. Adrian stood behind her, sword in hand, its edge resting against her throat.

"How? How could you be that fast?" Kumadori Yamamba murmured, unable to believe what had happened. "I couldn't even see you..."

Dawson froze. He could not keep up with Adrian's speed at all. His vision had blurred for an instant, and then Adrian's blade was at his instructor's neck.

"Well? Do you want to keep going?"

Adrian had no interest in dragging the fight out.

Iai was a swordsmanship technique for drawing a blade and cutting down an enemy in an instant. His level-eight [Soru] had pushed its speed to a level they could not hope to match. Combined, the two would have left Kumadori Yamamba headless if he had not stopped in time.

Still, it was his first time trying the move on a real person, and his control had not been perfect. The keen edge had left a shallow red line across Kumadori Yamamba's long, fair neck. Beads of blood slowly welled from it, giving her a tragic beauty.

"Stop, Dawson. We're standing down." Kumadori Yamamba waved a hand, unwilling to accept it. "What do you want, Adrian?"

"I don't want anything. I just want to leave. If you two hadn't shown up to block my way, I'd already be off this island." Adrian sheathed his sword and turned away. "You can pretend none of this happened, or report the bad news that [reserve trainee Adrian was killed during his mission]. I'd rather not see my face on some stupid pirate wanted poster. That's why I'm letting you live. Remember what I said."

"Adrian!" Dawson growled, furious without knowing quite why.

"Congratulations in advance on becoming a full member of CP9. Try not to die on one of your later missions." Adrian waved as he left the alley. "Goodbye, Dawson. Goodbye, Instructor Kumadori Yamamba."

Five minutes later.

After "borrowing" a map of the surrounding waters and some pocket money in Beli from the local Mafia, Adrian reappeared at the docks of Xilian Island. He picked an unattended fishing boat that looked to be in decent shape and sailed straight off the island.

When he was about thirty nautical miles from Xilian Island, the system panel finally responded.

[D-rank quest [Field Assignment] failed!]

[No reward]

??

Meow?

When did I accept that quest?

Adrian blinked. Hadn't he accepted it so he could leave the island in the first place?

Whatever. A failure's a failure. It was only D-rank.

The other quest was what mattered!

[[Freedom] complete]

[You have earned a reward: Draw one skill or specialty from an enemy]

[Drawing at random... Draw complete]

[Choose one of the following five abilities as your reward:]

[1: [Concealing Presence]—Skill: Suppress your presence, evade enemy notice, and improve your ability to hide]

[2: [Six Powers: Iron Body]—Skill: Iron Body! Ha! Ah!]

[3: [Low-Level Toughness]—Specialty: Additionally convert Stamina into health and physical energy at a ratio of 1:10]

[4: [Basic Marksmanship]—Skill: Pew pew pew]

[5: [Life Return: Hair Binding Technique]—Skill: Ninja Art: Wild Lion's Mane Technique]

"Is the system letting loose now that I'm finally free?" Adrian scratched his head. "What kind of skill descriptions are these? And two—no, three of them overlap with skills I already have!"

Iron Body, Basic Marksmanship, and Life Return were all skills Adrian had already learned. He had no need for another copy.

Concealing Presence was a good skill.

So I'm choosing [Low-Level Toughness].

It's a specialty!

[You have acquired [Low-Level Toughness]!]

A tingling sensation ran through his body like an electric current. It grew stronger and stronger until it became pain, as though thousands of needles were stabbing into every part of him.

After what felt like ages, the agony slowly receded like a falling tide. Adrian's eyes were bloodshot. He felt as though the system had savagely battered this tender young flower.

"Nobody said getting a specialty would hurt like that! What a rip-off!" Adrian exhaled heavily. "Wait. This specialty came from Dawson. I'm not going to turn into a muscle monster too, am I?"

Alarmed, Adrian immediately sat up in the boat and checked his reflection in the sea. Thank goodness—his body had not changed. He was still his familiar handsome self.

"My first specialty really packs a punch!"

Relaxing, Adrian clenched his fist. He could not see the exact numbers for his [Health] or [Physical Energy], but his sixty-four Stamina points would convert into 640 points at that ratio. That was no small amount.

Adrian activated Life Return and felt that his vitality had grown considerably. He nodded in satisfaction.

The effect of this specialty would grow alongside his Stamina, continually granting him extra health and physical energy.

Come to think of it, those monsters roaming the seas in the future must each have specialties like this, Adrian mused. They're all ridiculously hard to kill...

Today's sudden quest had also given Adrian an idea.

If he could get such a valuable specialty from Dawson, who had not even appeared in the original story, then the monsters who had appeared in it might have far more valuable abilities to draw from!

If [Low-Level Toughness] existed, there were bound to be mid- and high-level versions. As for Kaido, who bore the title of "Strongest Creature," his health and physical energy were probably off the charts...

"Getting stronger by taking power from one enemy after another? This thing's practically forcing me to challenge the whole world!"

Adrian felt no fear. If anything, his confidence surged.

If I don't stir up trouble, make enemies, and focus on growing stronger, what kind of transmigrator am I?!