Chapter 9

Once they had closed the distance enough, several lead pirates threw out grappling hooks and secured them firmly to the railings of the merchant ship opposite them. They then dashed across one after another along the thick hemp ropes attached to the hooks, engaging the battle crew that had already gathered on the deck head-on.

The pirates all looked like mad dogs.

"Kill them!"

"Take everything!"

"The treasure is ours!"

After a battle that was not particularly intense, the merchant ship's guards were hacked down one after another, collapsing into pools of blood. Their strength was utterly incomparable to that of the pirates who lived every day on the edge of a blade.

The tall, fierce-looking pirate captain pushed his way through his men and stood at the very front of the crowd. In a savage growl, he said, "I'm Johnson, captain of the Blade Pirates! We won't take your lives, as long as you obediently hand over all your treasure! Anyone who wants to resist can look forward to being thrown into the sea to feed the sharks!"

The desperate and powerless passengers could not fight back and unwillingly handed over their wealth.

Captain Johnson took a long drink of wine and shouted, "Men! Don't forget! The only valuable things on this ship aren't the contents of these people's pockets! There's also the cargo in the hold! Move all of it onto our ship!"

While the Blade Pirates frantically plundered the merchant ship's wealth, inside the Captain's Cabin on the top floor of the merchant ship—

"Penelope! Penelope!"

Captain Clivatt, who had just appeared calm and composed before the sailors, stumbled through the door of the Captain's Cabin, urgently calling his wife's name at the same time. To avoid being discovered, he deliberately kept his voice low.

"What happened, Clivatt? What was that noise downstairs just now? I think I heard something bad..."

A beautiful, mature woman in a black silk pleated nightdress walked out of the bedroom. She had a pair of alluring, round, peach-blossom eyes, while her thick, fluffy pink hair was tied into spiral twin ponytails that hung down behind her, with the ends barely reaching her waist.

"Pirates are here! They're robbing us downstairs! There's no time to waste!" Captain Clivatt said anxiously.

"What? Pirates?" Mrs. Penelope's face turned pale with shock, and her originally relaxed expression instantly became terrified.

Captain Clivatt asked again, "They haven't found their way up here yet! How is the child? Was Little Pepe frightened?"

"She's sleeping soundly. She didn't hear anything." At the thought of her sleeping daughter, Mrs. Penelope's tone softened for a moment, but it soon turned worried. "What should we do now, Clivatt?"

"You take the child and escape first! Take our treasures and run!" Captain Clivatt said firmly. "I absolutely can't let the pirates threaten my child's life!"

"What about you?" Mrs. Penelope asked.

Captain Clivatt's expression suddenly became complicated. After hesitating for a moment, he still answered resolutely, "I'm the captain of the Clearwater! I can't abandon my ship and sailors at a time like this!"

Mrs. Penelope still wanted to say something. "But—"

"There's no time to argue, Penelope!" Captain Clivatt interrupted his wife. He was somewhat afraid that the resolve he had finally managed to build would be softened by her tenderness.

"Hurry and pack your things! Leave through the secret door in the bedroom! There's a hidden passage in the Captain's Cabin that leads directly to the hold. No one knows about it except me, and there's an escape boat prepared down there!"

Captain Clivatt roughly pushed his wife into the bedroom.

"Oh, right, and this!"

Captain Clivatt ran straight to the safe beneath the captain's desk. After entering the combination, he took out a small treasure chest. He then drew a small brass key from a hidden pocket inside his suit, opened the chest, and handed everything inside to Mrs. Penelope.

"This is—"

"A Devil Fruit?!"

A strange, young voice suddenly rang out in the room. It was filled with intense disbelief and overwhelming delight.

"Who is it?! Who's speaking!"

Captain Clivatt spun around in shock and firmly shielded his wife behind him. At the same time, he slowly reached for the short gun at his waist, his final reliance.

"Are you a pirate?"

Captain Clivatt stared coldly at the young man who had suddenly appeared in the room.

The unfamiliar intruder's appearance did not seem to match that of a pirate at all. He wore a broad-brimmed hat, a black tweed overcoat, a dark-gray suit vest, and an external brass-chain pocket watch.

Compared to pirates who made their living on the sea, the newcomer looked more like a gang member commonly seen in the West Blue.

"No, no," the newcomer said, waving his hands repeatedly. "I'm not a pirate. I'm just a passerby who happened to be passing by."

"You happened to walk into the Captain's Cabin?"

Captain Clivatt drew his short gun with a swish and tried to raise it to aim, only to discover that the man before him had suddenly vanished. His pupils contracted sharply.

At the same time, Mrs. Penelope, standing behind Captain Clivatt, let out a shrill scream. She simultaneously felt the object in her hand disappear. The strange white fruit, its surface carved with peculiar arabesque spiral patterns, had somehow fallen into the newcomer's hands.

"Pointing a gun at someone is an extremely rude and impolite act, Captain Clivatt."

Adrian held up the white Devil Fruit in his hands and spoke casually.

Of all the strangers who could have appeared aboard the Clearwater at a time like this, who else could it have been but him?

"Put down that Devil Fruit, boy!"

Captain Clivatt's nerves were taut. He gripped his gun with both hands and pointed it unwaveringly at Adrian.

"That won't do. This Devil Fruit will be my reasonable payment." Adrian shook his head. "Now, are you interested in making a deal with me?"

"I said, put down that Devil Fruit! Bo—"

Clang!!

A white, crescent-shaped flash of blade light swept past.

Captain Clivatt suddenly felt that the gun in his hands had become much lighter. He looked down and saw the front half of its barrel slowly sliding onto the floor of the hold.

"Hiss..."

Captain Clivatt could not help drawing in a sharp breath.

"Are you interested in discussing things now? The deal I just mentioned?"

Adrian looked somewhat pained as he examined the slightly rolled edge of his long blade. His own strength was still far from reaching the Swordmaster realm of Cutting Steel. Severing the gun barrel had relied more on his astonishing speed and overwhelming strength.

In short, brute force solved the problem.

But doing so still damaged the blade far too much. If he tried it a few more times, the sword would probably be ruined.

"P-Please, go ahead." Captain Clivatt swallowed and lowered his head respectfully.

The strong on the sea possessed the authority to dictate everything. Although the excessively young man before him could not be considered particularly powerful, Captain Clivatt understood perfectly that he had no way to deal with him at all.

"I'll deal with the Blade Pirates causing trouble below." Adrian pointed at the floor, then weighed the white Devil Fruit in his hand. "After that, I'll reasonably collect this [payment]."

[Chapter Sixteen: Arriving at Ohara]

Hearing Adrian's words, Captain Clivatt's expression first brightened before becoming troubled. "But ownership of this Devil Fruit belongs to the Capone Gang."

If the Capone Gang found out that he had been the one to hand over the Devil Fruit, he probably would not be able to live in the West Blue for the rest of his life.

Adrian raised an eyebrow, unexpectedly hearing a familiar name.

The Capone Gang, also known as the Gang, belonged to the Supernova "Capone Bege," who would appear more than twenty years later...

Some basic information about the Capone Gang flashed through Adrian's mind. He gave a mocking smile and said, "Weren't you just preparing to have your wife escape with this Devil Fruit? Why didn't you consider the Capone Gang's reputation then?"

No matter what, Adrian was not going to give up the Devil Fruit in front of him!

Devil Fruits were genuine [treasures of the sea], possessing incomparable allure to anyone in the world.

Adrian had no psychological obsession with "hating Devil Fruits." Becoming a Devil Fruit User had always been one of his plans.

Two years ago, shortly after he transmigrated, he had already made certain plans regarding Devil Fruits.

If one had to name the relatively easiest Devil Fruit to obtain in the world of One Piece, it would have to be the Logia [Rumble-Rumble Fruit] on the Sky Island!

The Rumble-Rumble Fruit's power was beyond question!

Adrian had originally planned to travel to Birka, the Sky Island in the Grand Line, within the following year to seek out the [Rumble-Rumble Fruit]. He had not expected to encounter one here.

If this Devil Fruit really was the one he expected, then he absolutely could not let it go!

After all, it was one of those nearly invincible Devil Fruits!

Seeing Captain Clivatt fall silent, Adrian asked, "Well? Do you agree to this [deal]?"

"Clivatt..." Mrs. Penelope tugged at her husband's sleeve and nodded slightly.

Coming back to himself, Captain Clivatt could not help giving a bitter laugh. What exactly had he been hesitating over?

No matter what, he could never be a match for the young man before him. The fact that the other party was willing to make a deal in good faith was already an immense stroke of luck. If it had been the vicious pirates downstairs, they would probably have simply slashed him down and taken the item by force.

Rather than worry about the threat he might face from the Capone Gang in the future, he should focus on surviving this pirate attack first!

"I agree to the deal!"

Captain Clivatt nodded heavily.

"Excellent."

Adrian nodded in satisfaction. Unless it was necessary, he had no desire to commit the vile act of forcing someone.

"Now hand me the key and the treasure chest together!"

"You're not planning to eat this Devil Fruit right now?" Captain Clivatt asked in disbelief.

"You know the name of this Devil Fruit?" Adrian asked.

"I don't." Captain Clivatt shook his head.

"Neither do I." Adrian shrugged, put the fruit into the treasure chest, and hid it against his chest. "I don't like gambling on luck, nor do I want to become a landlubber unable to swim for the sake of an unknown ability."

Captain Clivatt actually believed this explanation.

Before leaving the Captain's Cabin, Adrian asked, "One last question. What is your daughter's name?"

"Perona! Clivatt Perona!"

Dealing with the Blade Pirates was not difficult for Adrian. Although his level was not particularly high, his attributes gave him a tremendous advantage. Facing a group of West Blue pirate underlings with an average level of no more than 30, it would have been difficult only if he had somehow failed.

After Captain Johnson, the highest-level pirate, was easily cut down by Adrian in two strokes, the remaining pirates immediately threw down their weapons and shouted that they surrendered, displaying no backbone whatsoever.

Captain Clivatt hurriedly called people over to bind the pirates, preparing to send them to the Marine Base later in exchange for their Bounties.

Although this pirate encounter had been resolved unexpectedly, it had undoubtedly still damaged the merchant ship's reputation to some extent. Captain Clivatt could only hope that the pirates' Bounties would somewhat make up for the losses.

Later, Adrian politely declined Captain Clivatt's invitation to a victory feast and left alone by boat, just as he had come.

In the captain's cabin on the top floor of the Clearwater, Mrs. Penelope held her daughter in her arms and gazed at the figure gradually shrinking into a black dot on the distant sea. She could not help recalling what the polite young man had said when they parted.

"Your daughter's name is truly lovely, Mrs. Penelope. If nothing unexpected happens, I'll be staying at the Tree of Knowledge of Ohara for most of the coming year. If anything happens and you need help, you can send someone there to find me. My name is Adrian. You don't need to be wary of me—just consider it an extra benefit of this deal!"

"Adrian?" Mrs. Penelope absentmindedly brushed aside a strand of hair from her forehead, then lowered her head to look at her still-sleeping daughter. "Little Pepe, we really were lucky to meet such a kind person..."

While one story unfolded here, another unfolded elsewhere.

At that moment, Adrian, carrying the unexpectedly acquired Devil Fruit, was sailing a small boat at full speed toward Ohara Island.

Without a doubt, he now had one more reason to go to Ohara Island: the "Devil Fruit Encyclopedia"!

Although he had already determined the name of the Devil Fruit in his hands to a great extent, without confirmation from the "Devil Fruit Encyclopedia," Adrian could not be one hundred percent certain of his guess.

Who knew whether Clivatt Perona might actually be the Ghost Princess Perona who would not appear until more than twenty years later?

Then could you be...the Hollow-Hollow Fruit?

Adrian patted the treasure chest containing the Devil Fruit against his chest and increased his speed once more.

By evening, Adrian, who had pushed his speed to the limit, successfully reached the scholar's island—Ohara—half a day ahead of schedule.

Unlike any of the islands he had seen in the West Blue before, the main feature of Ohara Island was the Tree of Knowledge, which was more than five thousand years old.

From a distance, its enormous, dense crown almost covered the entire island. The trunk of the Tree of Knowledge, standing at the very center of the island, resembled a jade pillar supporting the heavens, sheltering the diligent scholars below from wind and rain.

Quiet and peaceful, solemn and rigorous—these qualities together formed Ohara's unique atmosphere.

After landing on the island, Adrian was not subjected to any inspection. Toward any guest who yearned for and pursued knowledge, Ohara's scholars maintained a welcoming attitude.

Without needing directions, Adrian smoothly arrived at the brightly lit [Tree of Knowledge Library] in the very center of the island.

Following the rules, Adrian first applied for a library card at the front desk.

Flipping the small card between his fingers, Adrian declined the kind administrator's offer of a guided tour and walked alone through the tranquil library.

"Brief History of Ohara," "Basic Mechanical Maintenance of the Kingdom of the Future," "Detailed Map of the Entire Ilusia Kingdom," "Illustrated Anatomy of Longarm Tribe Bones," "Introduction to Basic Human Blood Types"...

The books densely filling the shelves covered almost everything, from geography and history to astronomy and calendars, then medicine and encyclopedias. Adrian was dazzled and overwhelmed by the sight.

It truly deserved to be called the [All-Knowledge] Library!

Soon, Adrian found the section he was looking for.

"An Overview of Devil Fruits," "Research on Devil Fruit Appearance and Characteristics," "Relationships Between Devil Fruits," "Analysis of Devil Fruit Types"...and most importantly, the "Devil Fruit Encyclopedia"!