Chapter 31: Alliances and Farewells

Hog felt a tearing pain emanating from his heart. He futilely opened his mouth, and a gush of fresh blood flowed out, staining the words he hadn't had yet to utter.

"How could I die here..."

A gust of wind swept by, carrying away his last breath.

Hog's pupils dilated in a vacant stare as his massive body slowly toppled, eventually ceasing to breathe.

[You have killed 'Hog'(Level 54) of Nipposai, of the Happo Navy and gained 2.7 million experience points.]

[Crossing 25 levels to kill the enemy, you will receive an additional 500% experience bonus.]

[You have accumulated a total of 16.2 million experience points!] (13.5 million her and the rest from before)

Before Adrian could relax, the interface crazily refreshed once again.

[You have initiated the alliance with the Kano Country!]

[You have killed the Backbone of Nipposai, Hog, causing a decrease in the Nipposai's favor towards you. Current relationship: Mortal Enemy!]

---

[The Sapposai's goodwill towards you has decreased, current relationship: Hostile!]

[...Treasures Navy's goodwill towards you has decreased, current relationship: Hostile!]

[The Happosai's goodwill towards you has increased, current relationship: Neutral!]

[Kano Country's goodwill towards you has decreased, current relationship: Indifferent!]

"Camp Relationships?"

Adrian's gaze flashed, silently examining.

The new camp relationship represents a specific attitude of a certain force towards someone, and at the same time, it represents tasks and events related to that force.

Camp relationships are divided into nine levels from low to high: Mortal Enemy, Hatred, Hostile, Indifferent, Neutral, Friendly, Respectful, Admiring, Worshiping!

Basically, the initial goodwill of a new camp is[Neutral], and when goodwill rises (or falls) to a certain degree, it can automatically trigger tasks related to the corresponding camp.

If the goodwill is high enough, you can also use this to obtain help from the faction, exchanging resources.

On the contrary, if the goodwill is too low, it will lead to hostility from the faction, even to the point of attack and pursuit!

In the world of 'One Piece,' the two basic factions are the [Marines] and [Pirates]. As long as you join either side, you will immediately form a [hostile] relationship with the other, attacking each other.

Originally, when Adrian left the World Government, he should have opened the relationship with the [Cipher Pol] faction, but due to too few people knowing about the defection, the hidden conditions were not met, so it was not activated. (Actually, I ignored this before...)

This time, he directly killed the highest leader of one of the eight forces of the Kano Country—The Pillar, Hog. It can be said that he made a big scene, instantly opening the faction relationship with all the forces within the Kano Country.

In the midst of a prompt of declining goodwill, the Happosai (Eight Treasures Navy), as the only rising star, appeared so outstanding.

The goodwill increase of the Happosai (Eight Treasures Navy) may come from Hog's contempt and insult towards Chinjao before the battle.

By getting rid of Hog, Adrian naturally gained the goodwill of the Eight Treasures Navy.

However…

"To raise your favorability, just increase it a bit more. Isn't [Neutral] the initial favorability? How much did you actually increase it?" Adrian silently complained in his heart.

At the same time, the entire venue fell into a hushed silence.

They thought it would be a battle without any suspense, but it turned out to be exactly that—without any suspense.

The only difference from what everyone expected was the position of the standing and lying sides.

"Hog is the backbone of the Nipposai (Second Treasure Navy). I didn't expect him to be easily killed like this…"

"With such a huge difference in size, it's like a kitten killing a tiger!"

"I remember that Hog's latest bounty exceeded fifty million. The strength of this unfamiliar face is too terrifying..."

"It seems like he's also a Devil Fruit user. He's really too strong..."

Adrian looked at the onlookers, and the entire venue fell into a dead silence.

All eyes converged on him, carrying curiosity, awe, shock, and mixed with looks of hostility and coldness.

The owner of the tavern, Mr. Cui Ze, limped out of the crowd, walking to Adrian with a complex expression.

"Brother Momoya, you... sigh…"

"Sorry, Boss Cui," Adrian scanned the devastated pub and rubbed his nose, saying somewhat awkwardly, "The battle was too intense, and I didn't notice your pub in the heat of it."

"That's not important," Boss Cui's mouth twitched, waving his hand, "Momoya, my friend, you've really stirred up a huge mess! The Nipposai (Second Treasure Navy) won't let you off! You better leave here quickly…"

The last sentence is your sincere advice, right!?

Adrian nodded helplessly. He hadn't expected to cause such a big commotion shortly after arriving in the Kano Country. It seemed he needed to be more careful about covering his tracks in the coming days.

As for leaving?

Adrian hadn't thought about that yet. Leaving the Kano Country would have to wait until the official end of the game's closed beta, at least.

"But I can't stay in this town any longer…"

Adrian looked around, about to take a step away from here.

However, at that moment.

"Momoya, my friend, do you happen to know where you want to go now?"

A charming voice suddenly sounded, and the speaker was none other than Gion, who had disappeared as soon as the battle erupted.

"What's the matter, Miss Momochi, do you wish to ask me to travel with you?"

"What's wrong with that?" Gion's beautiful eyes were full of ripples as she answered with a smile.

To be honest, Gion's heart was moved.

But it wasn't Adrian that moved her; it was Adrian's strength that impressed her.

She had watched the recent battle from the shadows very clearly.

Undoubtedly, Hog was a top-notch pirate who could dominate the West Blue. Even in the first half of the Grand Line, he was considered a formidable opponent.

However, even such a renowned pirate was unable to last more than a moment against Adrian, who had fully displayed his strength.

Gion was well aware that if Adrian had released the final ghost at the beginning of the battle, it would have ended in an instant!

In other words, the wicked pirate Hog would have been taken down in the blink of an eye!

With the basic strength of a Marine officer, coupled with the terrifying development of the Devil Fruit, there was no doubt that Adrian was a wild and formidable expert!

'If a young talent of this caliber can be recruited into the Marines, then the future of the Marines will surely gain at least one more senior rear admiral-level presence!'

How could Gion not be moved by this?

The only thing that made her somewhat uncertain was that at the beginning of the battle, when Adrian used his burst techniques, it gave her a sense of familiarity, somewhat like the Rokushiki techniques.

However, there were quite a few burst techniques on the open sea similar to the Rokushiki techniques, and at this moment, Gion couldn't afford to think deeply about it.

However, Adrian rejected her confident invitation.

"Although I appreciate Miss Momochi's invitation very much, please look around." Adrian spread his hands, "Troubles that are as beautiful and romantic as Miss Momochi would be unbearable not only for me, but also for others."

Although it wasn't clear what the exact reason for Gion's sudden invitation was, it was undoubtedly related to the Marines. It couldn't be that she was really attracted to his flashy words and physique, right?

In the next period of time, Adrian planned to continue interacting with the beta players. At this time, having a Marine by his side might not be a good thing. Even if it's a beautiful woman with fair skin, a beautiful face, and long legs!

Women only affect the speed at which I earn experience!

After all, Adrian wasn't someone with a brain full of just legs!