Chapter 19: The Ghost Fruit

After leaving the Tree of Knowledge Library, Adrian noticed that night had fallen, so he went to a nearby inn.

Earlier, he had acquired a significant amount of Beli from Cirian Island, and the Razor Pirates had also added to his wealth with valuable treasures. Adrian now had more than enough money to sustain himself.

After a satisfying dinner, Adrian returned to his room and took out the Ghost Fruit from his pocket, placing it on the coffee table.

Having already learned the Devil Fruit's name, Adrian's initial hesitation disappeared.

The only thing Adrian was currently hesitant about was whether or not to eat the Ghost Fruit.

After a brief moment of thought, he decided: it's time to eat!

While the Thunder Fruit was undoubtedly powerful, it was distant, and finding it was uncertain.

The Ghost Fruit was also an incredibly powerful fruit. If developed properly, it could even reach the level of being Invincible.

Most importantly, the Ghost Fruit was right in front of him now!

Adrian took a deep breath and bit into the Devil Fruit.

"Ugh, it's awful—-"

Nausea swept through him, confirming the legends about the awful taste of the Devil Fruit!

Adrian, determined, fought the urge to vomit and finished eating the rest of the fruit.

After a while, he closed his eyes, sensing new power surging within him.

A moment later.

Adrian lifted a finger, feeling no trace of discomfort. Instead, it was as if breathing felt more comfortable, and a cute little white ghost about the size of a fingertip slowly emerged from his fingertip.

The tiny ghost fluttered around his arm and floated into the air.

At the same time, the system panel began to crazily refresh.

[Host detected to have consumed the Devil Fruit!]

[Detected Devil Fruit ability as Ghost; host's intelligence attribute has been enhanced!]

[You've gained a new proficiency - Ghost Fruit!]

[You've gained a new proficiency - Sea Curse!]

[You've mastered a new skill - Ghost Creation!]

[You've mastered a new skill - Spirit Projection!]

[You've mastered a new skill - Ghostly Body!]

Generally speaking, the Devil Fruits in One Piece granted the consumer special abilities corresponding to the fruit, but they can be broadly categorized into three types: Nature System, Animal System, and Superhuman System.

Superhuman System, Bara Bara no Mi (Chop-Chop Fruit) allows the user to split their body into separate pieces, which they can manipulate and levitate through the air. Fuwa Fuwa no Mi (Float-Float Fruit) allows the user to fly, as well as giving them the power to make any non-living things they've touched levitate.

Ryu Ryu no Mi, Model: Allosaurus (Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Model: Allosaurus) allows the user to become a full Allosaurus or a half-Allosaurus hybrid. Neko Neko no Mi, Model: Leopard (Cat-Cat Fruit, Model: Leopard) allows the user to become a full leopard or a half-leopard hybrid.

Nature System, Moku Moku no Mi (Smoke-Smoke Fruit) allows the user to create, control, and transform into smoke. Gasu Gasu no Mi (Gas-Gas Fruit) allows the user to create, control, and transform into gas.

Beyond these three categories, there exists an exceptionally unique type of Paramecia Devil Fruit known as "Special Paramecia." An example is Charlotte Katakuri's Mochi Mochi no Mi, which combines superhuman transformation and material creation abilities.

Adrian initially thought that the Ghost Fruit only involved supernatural powers, specifically the creation of ghosts. However, he was surprised to discover that it also grants corresponding superhuman transformations.

After consuming the Ghost Fruit, Adrian gained two specialties and three skills.

The 'Ghost Fruit' is Adrian's second specialty, with a straightforward and brutal effect: "Intellect x2."

It's incredibly powerful, leaving people awestruck!

Every Devil Fruit user faces the [Curse of the Great Sea], a lifelong inability to swim and a fear of Sea-Prism Stone.

[Ghost Creation] and [Spirit Projection] are the Ghost Fruit's fundamental abilities. The former lets the user generate ghosts at will, bypassing physical attacks and obstacles. The latter allows the user to project their soul for unrestricted movement.

The power, size of the ghosts, and the distance the spirit can travel all hinge on the character's intelligence stat.

Among the three new skills obtained by consuming the Ghost Fruit, the one that surprised Adrian the most is the last one.

[Ghostly Body]: Influenced by the Ghost Fruit, your body shows a certain degree of ghostly tendency, gaining partial ghostly abilities and immunity to a certain degree of physical attacks.

Partial ghostly abilities...

Adrian narrowed his eyes.

In his recollection, Perona, more than twenty years later, had only shallowly developed abilities. During her initial appearance in the Thriller Bark arc, aside from the almost certain kill negative ghosts, her other abilities were almost negligible, with her true form being a fatal weakness.

After the two-year war at the Summit, Perona effortlessly made her real body float in the air, resembling a ghost.

Does this mean that if my "Ghostly Body" level is high, I can transform my entire body into a ghost?

Like an illusory ghost, immune to all physical attacks?

The thought of this terrifying possibility instantly intensified Adrian's excitement.

Looking at the experience required for the upgrade of the "Ghostly Body," he almost popped his eyes out.

"100 million???"

"This is just the first level of the 'Ghostly Body,' and it requires a whole 100 million for the upgrade. How much experience will be needed for the subsequent upgrades? Come to think of it, did I accumulate thirty million experiences in the two years before?"

Taking a deep breath, Adrian earnestly warned himself: This is a Devil Fruit!

This is a Devil Fruit!

This is a Devil Fruit!!

After saying it three times, he finally calmed down.

Glancing at the experience points on the panel, Adrian realized that even if he invested all of them in the "Ghost Body," the experience bar would likely not even reach 1% (Not mathematically). Sensibly, he abandoned the idea of using experience points to upgrade his Devil Fruit ability.

"Well then, it's time to use those accumulated free attribute points and skill points!"

Both skill points and free attribute points are valuable resources, especially the former.

You can acquire skill points in three main ways: leveling up, completing specific tasks, and maxing out a skill.

Adrian knew that as his strength increased, getting skill points would get harder. Each skill point held immense value.

Adrian deeply understood the importance of skill points that could instantly enhance his abilities. Not only could they allow one to instantly learn a certain skill, but they could also boost skill levels without regard for bottlenecks.

Since acquiring the system panel, Adrian had only used skill points once, prematurely selecting "Six Styles: Life Return."

Until now, Adrian has accumulated a whopping 83 skill points, including 20 from the two new secondary professions.

Now is the time for it to come into play!

For each level-up in a skill, you need skill points corresponding to the level number, 1 point for level 1, 2 points for level 2, and so on.

With 83 skill points, Adrian can instantly max out a certain skill!

Adrian briefly studied the three skills brought by the Ghost Fruit.

[Spirit Projection] doesn't seem to have any immediate use, so he passes on it!

[Ghost Creation] can be improved through continuous training and creating ghosts in the future, so he also passes on it!

The only one, [Ghost Body], seems to require constant beatings to improve proficiency, not only being lengthy and painful but also offering no clear hope of leveling up...

So be it!

Adrian instantly invests 55 skill points into [Ghost Body]!