Growing popularity!

"Is weather scientific?" Olivia nodded thoughtfully.

John then took out two bracelets, each adorned with a transparent glass cover and containing a silver-white pointer hanging inside.

"This is an eternal poser for Visalia and Amazon lily," John explained. "If you want to go back to Nine Snake Island after studying weather science, just follow this pointer."

"Eternal poser?" Olivia quickly grabbed one, examining it curiously.

"The Eternal poser is the guidepost for this world. Without it, finding a place like Visalia again would be nearly impossible."

"Alright, you don't have much work to do now, so focus on developing your abilities. Try to create an example for other players." John smiled. Giving them such natural abilities was a special privilege, since they were part of his inner circle.

As a game administrator, John's involvement in the game was like playing a cracked version, making things too easy for him. That's why he had appointed the Edge Horizon team as his representatives in this world. They were legitimate, as their Devil Fruits had been earned as rewards from the "Minecraft" game mod design contest, not just gifted by John. Well, maybe he did give them a slight advantage, but only to reduce their development time without altering the outcome.

John believed that players would soon unravel more details about the game world and possibly even write guides. His original intent was to stir up excitement for One Piece, and they just happened to stumble upon it.

John had faith in the appeal of the One Piece world, but he knew many players wouldn't last long enough to fully explore it. One Piece wasn't easy for casual players, and even "pay-to-win" players wouldn't breeze through it.

The sudden introduction of players with powerful natural abilities was sure to inspire others. With the two-way exchange mechanism John had set up, player enthusiasm would only grow.

"Got it, boss! I'll work hard!" Olivia nodded firmly, fully understanding John's intent as a fellow game designer. She transformed into her elemental form and floated toward Visalia, fully immersed in her role.

The plot she had envisioned seemed perfect—a person with the Cloud Cloud Fruit discovering the weather science research island by accident. Flawless!

Meanwhile, the number of players in One Piece was skyrocketing. It had only been a few hours since its release, and though the early players were those keeping a close eye on John's WebNet, news had quickly spread.

John checked the game's backend—player numbers had already surpassed three million! While this was small compared to the total number of players in the Dragon Kingdom, One Piece had been launched without much announcement, and many were still unaware of the game. This meant enormous potential for future growth.

Olivia successfully entered Visalia to study weather science, while Sarah and the others trained their physical abilities on Amazon lily. Other players also began figuring out how to play the game, each in their own way.

On the Dragon Kingdom's live-streaming platform, inspired by Minecraft, dozens of One Piece live streams popped up with titles like:

• [Explore John's new game One Piece!]

• [This is an adventure game, join me on the journey!]

• [Hunting for a treasure worth ten million!]

John couldn't help but smile at the popularity. He casually clicked on one stream titled [Strategy for One Piece!].

The screen showed a young man with short black hair sprinting through a jungle, glancing nervously over his shoulder. Behind him, a four-to-five-meter-tall leopard was in hot pursuit. When the player looked back again, the leopard's eyes gleamed with a predatory sort of affection, its tongue hanging out.

Bark~

The screen went black, and the outcome was clear. The feed switched to the game's start menu, and an excited voice came through.

"Brothers! We've just discovered that large beasts roam this island. Don't choose this island as your spawn point!"

As he spoke, the number in the upper left corner of the screen changed from "Currently dead: 39" to 40. Yes, this was his 40th death.

By quick calculation, even if he started playing as soon as the game launched, this player had died roughly every few minutes—a testament to his persistence.

This was the unreasonable nature of players. While John could reset their characters in the game, the players' memories remained intact. Through sheer trial and error, they were figuring out how to play the game.

"Send me some gifts, folks, and I'll show you more!" the streamer called out, shamelessly promoting his "death run" live.

John couldn't help but marvel at the ingenuity—streaming death runs to capitalize on players' early confusion about the game. Smart.

Gifts began to flood in, and the streamer's popularity soared, most of his viewers being One Piece players who had just died in-game.

"My dude! You died 40 times already?!"

"Man, this game is tough. I found the execution platform from the Promotion, but then got captured by a bunch of guys in white uniforms. They called themselves the Navy…"

"Same here! Bro, were you at Loguetown?"

"Ugh, I got locked up as soon as I entered the game. Was that because of you guys?!"

"Hahaha, didn't you guys check the game details before rushing to the execution platform?"

"The execution platform is where Pirate King Gol D. Roger was executed! Of course, the Navy would be all over you if you went there."

"But how are we supposed to play?"

The conversation reflected the general confusion and growing excitement among players. The game was becoming a sensation, and John's One Piece universe was unfolding exactly as he'd hoped.

A/N: Thanks for reading, keep donating some stones If you want extra chapters!

Also check out my Patreon for advanced chapters: patreon.com/AncestorX

Enjoy ✌️!