Chapter 251: The Scholar

Adrian logged into the official forum account and checked the panel.

After some browsing, he didn't find any valuable information about the upcoming version update.

Strangely enough, not many players seemed to notice the impending update either.

Even a forum search only brought up a newbie player's post about entering the game, dated a week ago.

"This doesn't make sense. Even if the players didn't react, the official—"

"I almost forgot, this game doesn't seem to have a reliable company!"

"Even the previous promotional materials seemed to be pieced together from player-made videos."

"What kind of company is this?"

"Can this game even be played?"

Adrian vented his frustration but eventually gave up on finding help from the forum.

Facing the upcoming game version update, there was another thing worth noting: the version name.

When the open beta officially launched, the panel clearly indicated: "Welcome to One Piece Version 1.0 - The Dawn of the Great Pirate Era!"

Where there's a 1.0, there will naturally be a 2.0.

Just like there's 1024, there will be 2048.

Even after exhausting the nine hundred ninety-nine codes of SSNI, there will still be new SSIS codes, opening new avenues.

{Ahem! Mature tag here}

"According to the game's usual style or habits, a version update will definitely come with a new version name."

"The Dawn of the Great Pirate Era perfectly fits the state of the sea after the Pirate King's execution, with countless people setting sail in pursuit of fame, wealth, and status."

"But what comes next?"

"From Sea Calendar 1500 to Sea Calendar 1522, there are only a few significant events worth noting."

"To be precise, the only things that can be considered 'era-defining' are the appearance of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and the Four Emperors ruling the New World. After that, it's Luffy setting sail."

Adrian racked his memory, silently recalling the timeline from the original work, frowning slightly.

"But the establishment of the Seven Warlords system was entirely the World Government and the Marine Headquarters' response to balance the Four Emperors and suppress the ever-increasing pirates."

"So, the Seven Warlords and the Four Emperors can almost be considered to have appeared on the sea simultaneously, or maybe one after another."

"Though the members of the Seven Warlords varied greatly and became increasingly diluted later on, they are not something the current players can get involved with!"

"As for the Four Emperors, that's even more out of the question. Besides, the Four Emperors' crews are almost always in the New World, and there's still no player news from the New World yet!"

"There are even some dumb posts on the forum saying that landing in the New World will make you fall into the sea, and the waves will instantly kill you..."

"As for Luffy setting sail, it's quite fitting."

"But can players, even with cheats, compete with the protagonist's plot armor?"

{Are you talking about yourself!?}

"Players can't keep up with the protagonist's crew's growth speed!"

"I really can't figure out how the panel will arrange this."

"Considering the players' level progression, there should be at least four to five more versions, right?"

Adrian pondered for a long time but couldn't come up with any clues.

After asking the panel with no response, he had to temporarily give up.

"It looks like I'll have to wait for the official forum to announce the version update news and see if there are any important information hints."

...

To complete the "Archaeologist" career upgrade quest, Adrian followed his plan and approached Dr. Clover to request access to the ancient historical text preserved by the Archaeologists of Ohara.

Dr. Clover had no intention of refusing Adrian's request. Instead, he enthusiastically led Adrian to the well-preserved ancient stone tablet.

The historical text of Ohara did not contain any significant historical information. It merely mentioned a "Great Kingdom" in a few words, without even stating its name.

While Adrian was studying the ancient text, Dr. Clover kept recounting how Ohara discovered the stone tablet, embarked on the path of historical research, deciphered the ancient script, and other details...

Dr. Clover's continuous lecture, combined with his low, elderly voice, almost put Adrian to sleep.

Barely enduring Dr. Clover's teachings, Adrian quickly found an excuse to leave the small sky island of Weatheria and flew towards the golden city of Shandora, also located in the White-White Sea.

In the deepest part of the golden city lies a priceless golden bell, with a stone tablet engraved with mysterious ancient script at its base.

Adrian ascended the steps, slowly approaching. The edges of the stone tablet were covered in thick moss, showing the passage of time.

"The ancient weapon named Poseidon, the Sea King… lies dormant somewhere in the world, ruling the sea and commanding sea creatures…"

Adrian was already familiar with the information on this ancient text from the original work.

Among the three ancient weapons, shrouded in the legends of the sea, the details of Poseidon were the most clear.

Poseidon is the mermaid princess who appears once every few centuries on Fish-Man Island, capable of communicating with Sea Kings, currently the unborn Princess Shirahoshi.

Pluton, the ancient warship, was built by shipwrights in Water 7, its main cannon rumored to easily destroy an island with one shot.

Its current whereabouts are unknown.

The only one without any leaked information is Uranus.

Adrian didn't know its form or its capabilities.

With only some vague speculations, there was no need to elaborate.

Leaving the sky island, Adrian's next stop was Fish-Man Island below the Sabaody Archipelago.

Focusing on the career upgrade quest, Adrian had no intention of provoking the World Government or the Celestial Dragons, and directly headed to Fish-Man Island, ten thousand meters under the sea.

Politely declining the banquet invitation from King Neptune and Queen Otohime, Adrian went straight to the Sea Forest on Fish-Man Island to find the ordinary historical text hidden there.

This historical text recorded an apology letter from someone named "Joy Boy."

Adrian remembered that years ago, when the Roger Pirates sailed to Fish-Man Island, there was a "Red Historical Text" in the Sea Forest that indicated the final location of Laugh Tale.

However, that red historical text was no longer there, and its whereabouts were unknown.

Adrian speculated that Whitebeard might know the location of the red historical text. {Saw this in the latest episode of one piece, the kingdom of giants have one.}

After all, the last person Roger saw before disbanding his crew and leaving the Grand Line was Whitebeard, to whom he disclosed many secrets, including the existence of the "D."

It was quite possible that Roger entrusted Whitebeard to take care of the red historical text from Fish-Man Island.

"Could it be that the reason the Whitebeard Pirates protected Fish-Man Island in the original work was related to the red historical text?"

Adrian frowned.

"But that doesn't make sense. If that were the case, Whitebeard would have planted his flag on Fish-Man Island long ago. Why would it be my turn to protect Fish-Man Island?"

"Forget it, why should I guess the plot holes left by Oda?"

Leaving the Sea Forest, Adrian opened the panel, and the secondary profession section now had a new entry.

'Appraiser'!

He invested experience points to raise it to level 10, reaching the secondary profession Garp.

[Appraiser has been upgraded to LV10 (MAX), gaining an increase in vitality and 60 intelligence points, along with 40 free attribute points and 10 skill points!]

[You have acquired the skill – Divination!]

[Appraiser secondary profession has reached max level!]

[You have triggered the career upgrade quest: Archaeologist!]

[Quest requirements: 1. Study meteorology and pass the Weatheria standard difficulty meteorology exam; 2. Study marine knowledge and pass the Oceanography exam; 3. Read a red historical text and read the information on it 0/1]

[Skill reward: Upgrade the Archaeologist profession to Scholar, gaining the expertise: Rational Analysis!]

[Rational Analysis – expertise: Analyze the opponent's Devil Fruit abilities and understand their strengths and weaknesses.]