Chapter 188: Top level Expertise from the World's Strongest Man!

Adrian remained composed, with a hint of amusement in his voice as he said, "Yes, Whitebeard, shall we continue?"

Whitebeard's eyes narrowed, and he unleashed an invisible wave of Conqueror's Haki, projecting an overwhelmingly powerful aura towards Adrian.

Despite the stark difference in elevation level, Whitebeard seemed even more imposing!

"Ghost kid, do you think your tricks can harm me?"

"Of course not," Adrian replied casually with a smile, "However, you won't be able to gain the upper hand against me so easily."

In fact, Adrian's maxed-out 'Ghost Body' was exceptionally effective against wide-range attacks like the 'Tremor-Tremor Fruit' and the 'Wind-Wind Fruit'.

Most ability users couldn't even coat their wide-range attacks with Armament Haki to this extent!

Whitebeard pondered for a moment. With the versatile Ghost Fruit aiding Adrian, defeating this brat quickly was indeed a challenging task.

"Moreover, we made an agreement before the battle."

Adrian took out a pocket watch from his pocket and lightly tapped the metal case a few times.

"This 'challenge' will only last for thirty-five minutes, right?"

Adrian had challenged Whitebeard to complete a mission and gain rewards. He was not stupid enough to challenge Whitebeard for the title of World Strongest, right now.

With his sharp mind, he naturally maximized his benefits.

Due to previously mentioning 'Miss Buckin' and 'Edward Weevil', and the special favor Whitebeard agreed to this time-limited special challenge match.

"Ghost kid, so you planned this before the battle even began!" Whitebeard said, "Now, you are the first rookie to successfully challenge Whitebeard!"

Adrian laughed heartily, "One day, I'll turn this 'challenge' into a 'duel'!"

"Gu ra ra ra…"

Whitebeard let out a hearty laugh.

"I'll be looking forward to that day, Ghost kid."

The battle between the two was declared officially over.

Whitebeard returned to the Moby Dick, and the massive whale ship slowly sailed away from Hand Island.

Due to strong demands from the Whitebeard Pirates' crew, Whitebeard stopped thinking about the originally unpleasant Zou trip and sailed towards the nearest underground intelligence exchange island.

They would seek out the whereabouts of the elusive 'Miss Buckin' and 'Edward Weevil' there.

The Whitebeard Pirates might soon welcome a true 'Captain's son'.

Adrian stood alone on the rocky cliff of Hand Island, glanced at Whitebeard's S-level challenge mission, and saw it marked as 'completed'.

He stretched out his hands, blew warm air into his palms, rubbed them together, and chose to settle the mission.

[S-level challenge mission [Whitebeard] completed!]

[You have gained 2.33 billion experience points!]

[You have been rewarded: Randomly extract one of the enemy's skills or Expertise]

[Note: Due to the host's significant size and ability differences from Edward Newgate, some extractable skills have been automatically adjusted]

[Randomizing... extraction complete]

[Please choose one of the following five abilities as a reward:]

[1. Be My Son - Skill: Extend your hand with a kindly expression and say 'Be my son, XX.' The target will immediately recognize you as their father. The skill's success rate is influenced by psychological state, level suppression, intelligence attribute, legend status, and other factors.]

[2. Unmatched Strength - Expertise: For each level up, strength attribute +5, endurance attribute +3.]

[3. Armament Haki - Skill: Briefly omitted]

[4. Legendary Naginata Mastery - Skill: Passive skill, when using a naginata, strength attribute increases by 10%, attack power increases by 20%, and the chance of triggering additional attack instances increases by 20%]

[5. Human Mutant - Expertise: For each level up, strength and endurance attributes +4, height fixed at 666 cm.]

{[5:[人类变异体]-专长:等级每提升一级,力量,耐力属性额外+4,身高恒定为666厘米.]-------- I am so doubting this.}

"Holy cow! Amazing! Two Expertise and three skills! The quality of these extractions is quite high!"

After a careful look, Adrian first ruled out [Armament Haki].

He already possessed and had maxed out his own Armament Haki, for his own Armament Haki was already top level.

Next to be ruled out was [Legendary Naginata Mastery].

Although Adrian was a swordsman, his abilities had nothing to do with the naginata.

Besides, he had no interest in the naginata at all.

This isn't ancient time… well the truth is I just don't like this. Long weapons are better left alone!

The two Expertise presented a clear choice.

[Unmatched Strength] leaned heavily towards enhancing strength.

Whitebeard's terrifying strength was well-known across the seas.

Even in his old and weakened state during the future Marineford War, Whitebeard could perform the terrifying feat of "stopping a ship single-handedly!"

This feat had even inspired a certain red-haired boy to attempt a similar stunt, only to be flattened by a tank's treads…

How can humans take on tanks?

[Human Mutant] offered a more balanced growth, focusing on both strength and endurance attributes.

It was like a three-stage upgraded version of Adrian's existing [Robust Physique] expertise.

One concern was that [Human Mutant] maintained a fixed height of 6.66 meters.

{令人有些顾虑的是,[人类变异体]还恒定着6.66米的身高限制.---------- knew it.}

If not for the existence of two powerful Expertise, Adrian might have considered choosing the [Be My Son] skill. {As if a loner like you would…}

Based on the skill description alone, it was undoubtedly an incredibly powerful skill.

Forcing others into a father-son relationship was indeed an impressive skill.

But the catch was that it depended on various factors.

If it were a guaranteed cause-and-effect ability, Adrian would have chosen it without hesitation!

Like the once peculiar setting of "100% success in catching blades barehanded," where anyone failing to catch the blade would be instantly killed!

Anyone not calling me 'Dad' would be doomed!

But unfortunately, this skill wasn't a cause-and-effect god-tier ability…

After contemplating for a moment, Adrian took a deep breath, prepared himself mentally, and made his choice.

[You have obtained the expertise: [Unmatched Strength]!]

Adrian's body suddenly stiffened as a mix of icy cold and fiery hot sensations exploded within him.

He gritted his teeth tightly, and every nerve ending in his body transmitted a feeling of tearing and reconnecting to his brain, nearly causing him to spasm from the pain.

The excruciating sensation seemed to last an eternity.

Adrian finally felt the pain diminishing gradually. He gasped heavily, drenched in sweat as if he had just been pulled out of water.

"Strength 817!"

"Endurance 469!"

"Give me another full set!"

"Bastards!"