Chapter 284: The Second Grandpa?

"Supreme Blessing!!!"

Adrian's eyes couldn't keep up with the continuous refreshing of ability reward options on the panel, almost drooling in anticipation.

He had thought that completing this S-rank challenge would only yield five ability reward choices, even if he managed to defeat the Golden Lion. However, to his surprise, there were ten options presented directly!

Ten choices and he'd get to pick four!

Most importantly, nearly every single one was a gem!

"So, these are the special rewards after completing the hidden requirements of the S-rank challenge?"

"Loving it!"

"If I had defeated all those S-rank challengers in combat before, wouldn't I be a god by now?"

"But then again, I don't think I could take down those real top-tier powerhouses..."

"The Golden Lion I just took out wasn't even in his peak condition."

"And those other Grand Line powerhouses—each one took an excruciatingly long time to reach their peak!"

"Alright, alright, the rewards are what's important!"

Adrian pushed aside irrelevant thoughts and focused all his attention on the ten ability options on the panel.

The first one that caught his eye was the long-awaited "Conqueror's Haki"!

However.

Upon carefully examining the reward description, Adrian couldn't help but furrow his brow.

"I already knew that skills extracted from enemies couldn't be upgraded."

"Whether it's the 'Shadow Warrior' from Moria, the 'Dragon's Power' from Kaido, or the 'Mighty Nation' from Charlotte Linlin, they're all un-upgradable versions." (Patch note) {??}

"But getting 'Conqueror's Haki' from the panel seems a bit underwhelming, doesn't it?"

"And the Golden Lion's Conqueror's Haki..."

"Damn Shanks, why couldn't you have grown up faster!"

The second ability reward was named after the Golden Lion.

Adrian furrowed his brows slightly, pondering silently for a moment.

"So, this is somewhat similar to a personal exclusive growth-type Expertise?"

"But why didn't the previous 'Marine Iron Fist' have such exclusivity? Even though the real damage effect of that Expertise is still impressive... or maybe Garp's true exclusivity should be 'Marine Hero'?"

Without hesitation.

Adrian directly chose this Expertise as a reserve and continued to look down.

"Wave Slash... eliminated!"

"Although the Golden Lion's slashes are terrifying, in reality, Charlotte Linlin's Country Destroyer is already capable of achieving similar attack effects and objectives."

"Acquiring another slashing skill like this would be redundant."

"'Lion Heart', put it in the backup options for now..."

"'Extraordinary Physique'..."

After a long period of contemplation.

Adrian finally made his choice.

"You have gained Expertises - 'Flying Pirate', 'Lion Heart', 'Lion Slash', 'Peerless Swordsman'!"

Four Expertises, all of them!

Not a single skill!

Yes, after careful consideration, Adrian resolutely gave up the Conqueror's Haki skill obtained from the Golden Lion, Shiki.

It's not that he doubted Shiki's Conqueror's Haki proficiency.

Even though this guy hadn't demonstrated any advanced Conqueror's Haki techniques in battle...

The main reason...

Well.

Actually, Adrian just found Shiki's Conqueror's Haki a bit distasteful.

With 'Spirit Pressure', Conqueror's Haki wasn't really a must-have for him.

Instead of obtaining the Conqueror's Haki from this version of the Golden Lion, it would be better to wait and acquire it from Shanks later!

That would definitely make us stronger!

As for awakening on our own...

Let's talk about the other options.

Adrian carefully selected these four abilities, and just from their names, one can roughly see their origins.

Flying Pirate, Lion Cutter, Lion Heart, these three are all exclusive abilities of the Golden Lion.

Only by completing the task of killing the Golden Lion can we obtain such precious specialized abilities!

As for the last one, Adrian hesitated between the ninth and tenth options for a moment, but ultimately chose the ninth option.

And the reason Adrian didn't choose this ability.

The fluctuation of penetration damage limits for "Sword Qi Penetration" is just too exaggerated...

And considering there's only 1 point of luck.

Adrian feels it's better to choose the seemingly more reliable "Peerless Swordsman"!

As for those "Gale Step" and "Master Sculpture"...

Just as a famous shemale once said: Every ship has its flaws.

Although it does make sense to obtain these two abilities from the Golden Lion.

Especially the sculpting technique...

And the fifth ability option, "Extraordinary Physique".

Although it looks very tempting, Adrian's actual need for it is not very high.

If it were "Extraordinary Physique", "Sword Qi Penetration", "Wave Slashing", "Gale Step", "Master Sculpture", these five together, he might consider "Extraordinary Physique"...

The reward for the four specialized abilities has the most direct effect: agility attribute +150%, swordsmanship power +240%!

At this moment, Adrian's agility, under the dual bonuses of "Golden Physique" and "Flying Pirate", has successfully reached 1063, breaking through a thousand points!

In addition, there is the default 10% increase in power and agility attributes during battles from "Lion Heart".

"This is what a big harvest looks like!"

After sorting out all the gains, Adrian felt refreshed.

One day later.

Under Rumi's precise control, Abyss arrived at the Reverse Mountain smoothly and easily passed through the reverse currents connecting the West Blue and the Reverse Mountain, successfully arriving at the Twin Cape.

Under the lighthouse of the Twin Cape, the perpetually unchanged Grandpa with flowers on his head, Crocus, still lay on a beach chair, calmly reading a newspaper.

"Adrian-sama, this Grandpa's hairstyle looks a bit like Dr. Clover's!"

Just as Love returned from admiring the magnificent scenery of the Reverse Mountain, she immediately noticed the eye-catching Crocus and couldn't help but reach out, grabbing Adrian's shirt hem.

"If you didn't mention it; I wouldn't have noticed."

Adrian rubbed Love's head and looked at her with a strange expression.

This was indeed one of the blind spots he had never noticed before.

Crocus, the ship's doctor, and Doctor Clover, one with a hairstyle like a flower and the other like a leaf, indeed had a bit of a natural affinity...

Ahem!

Such a statement, for the two old men, is a bit too disrespectful!

Adrian shook his head gently, threw the inexplicable thoughts out of his mind, and then waved to the people on the deck.

"We've arrived at the Twin Cape, everyone can disembark."

The soul of the Golden Lion, Shiki, was suppressed by Adrian in Rumi's castle space and couldn't casually come out.

The only ones disembarking with Adrian at this time were Love, the pale-faced Shanks, and Doctor Moy.

"Adrian?" Crocus noticed Adrian, who was walking at the forefront, for the first time and couldn't help but raise his hand to greet him, "Why are you here at the Twin Cape again?"

Adrian smiled slightly, "Just passing by, there are some things I need to ask Mr. Crocus for help."

As he spoke, he moved aside, revealing Shanks behind him.

The Straw Hat boy forced out an awkward smile towards the former ship doctor.

At this moment, only one thought remained in his mind: 'My crew, my dream of becoming a captain, seems to be slipping away from me completely...'

"Straw Hat, Red Hair... You're Shanks?!"

Crocus jumped up from the beach chair, took three steps in two strides, and quickly walked over here.

"Shanks, what happened to you?!"

Shanks felt embarrassed to say he was injured by Adrian, so he just casually brushed it off.

Watching this scene of old acquaintances reuniting, Adrian couldn't help but have an inexplicable thought.

If you really want to delve into it...

Could Crocus be the second grandpa in the "Shanks Rescue" plan?