Chapter 44: Another Pink-Haired Little Lolita

As he left the Marine base, it was already evening.

Adrian couldn't help but stiffen up when he recalled the expression on Flint Hill's face before they left – the one that seemed to suggest raising a cup together and engaging in a three to five-day-long heart-to-heart talk.

It seemed like he'd have to be more careful with his choice of words in the future.

A moderate amount of banter could attract the opposite sex.

But excessive showing off would only attract the same sex...

And Adrian was definitely not the "My heart and actions are as clear as mirror" type!

It was more like "I live my life according to my own rules." okay?!

"吾心吾行城如伊藤"

Carrying a suitcase filled with Beli, Adrian walked out of the Marine base, gazing at the fiery red sunset in the western sky. He abandoned his plan to leave the island, deciding instead to explore nearby and find an inn.

This island was a medium-sized one commonly found in the West Blue, with four or five towns scattered across it. It had no national rule, allowing the Marines to station here.

In the evening, the streets of the towns were bustling with people – elderly individuals taking a stroll after dinner, ladies beginning their night activities, and, most prominently, street vendors calling out to passersby.

Casually strolling down the street with his suitcase, Adrian thought leisurely about his short-term plans for the future.

The past three months had not been aimless drifting at sea for him.

Aside from gaining experience, he had acquired quite a few other things!

[You have obtained a new profession – [Formal Navigator], and your Stamina has received a small increase. Intelligence +2, Charm +2, gain 3 free attribute points, and obtain 1 skill point!]

Yes, just a few days ago, Adrian had just completed the navigator's professional upgrade task. The map of the West Blue he drew was also recognized by the system panel, officially unlocking the corresponding upgraded profession of Navigator, and incidentally unlocking the upgraded skill of basic navigation, [Intermediate Navigation]!

In addition to this, there was another pleasant surprise.

[After capturing five pirates with bounties exceeding 1 million Berries in total, you have obtained a new profession - [Bounty Hunter]!]

[You have obtained a new profession - [Bounty Hunter], and your Stamina has received a small increase. Strength +1, Stamina +1, gain 2 free attribute points, and obtain 1 skill point!]

As [Bounty Hunter] is the sixth secondary profession (the Navigator profession covers the Sailor profession, so it 'Sailor' is not counted), the cumulative experience cost for upgrading has increased significantly.

Spending accumulated experience to raise the two newly obtained secondary professions to the maximum level of LV10, Adrian's personal attributes received another wave of enhancement.

At this moment, his six-dimensional attributes are: Strength 104, Agility 84, Stamina 84, Intelligence 440, Charm 45, Luck 1. (By the way, the data was miscalculated before, surprisingly, no one noticed…) {Not by me too}

The power officially broke through the 100-point mark, and agility and endurance are also above average.

Most notably is the intelligence attribute, reaching 440 points under the expertise of the [Ghost Fruit]'s 'Intelligence x2'!

Of course, the most important thing is that Adrian's accumulated skill points have once again reached 71 points, allowing him to instantly max out a certain skill!

However, after hesitating for several days, Adrian ultimately decided to forgo immediately maxing out the skill of [Ghost Creation]. Apart from the fact that his current skills are already sufficient, the main reason is the max-level buff of [Ghost Body].

As mentioned earlier, reaching the max level of [Ghost Body] is like an "automatic experience buff" for the other two skills of the Ghost Fruit.

Under the continuous accumulation of the buff day and night, [Ghost Creation] is now at level 2, and the upgrade of [Spirit Projection] is not far away.

Adrian is ready to continue enjoying the buff for some time and then level up again, saving a few more skill points that way.

After all, you can never have too many skill points at any time.

Especially since he will learn Haki later!

Adrian does not expect to have the [Conqueror's Haki (Haoshoku Haki)], even though he is a another world traveler, he still adheres to the basic principles of another world traveler.

A person without enough 'ambition' and 'courage' in their heart is absolutely impossible to awaken the Conqueror's Haki!

This is also why, among the vast Navy, only Sengoku and Garp possesses the Conqueror's Haki. {The original Sengoku has, according to Fandom Wiki}

Because the justice truly followed by Sengoku's heart has always been the justice that allows the Navy to 'rule the world'! {'Reining Justice'?}

As for the other Navy?

Most of them are just puppets obeying orders from higher-ups.

Speaking of Adrian himself.

The Conqueror's Haki is completely impractical, I estimate that skill points are useless against it.

But Armament Haki and Observation Haki are definitely the big spending place when it comes to future skill point consumption!

Just thinking about the dazzling experience bar in the midst of upgrading the Ghost Fruit skill, Adrian couldn't help but feel his scalp tingling, wondering how much the upgrade experience for Conqueror's Haki would be...

"Never mind, let's not think about those sad things." Adrian shook his head, pushing those unpleasant thoughts out of his mind, and redirected his attention to the lively market.

"Hmm?" Adrian bent down, picking up a small woven bag from a nearby stall. "Such an exquisite little shoulder bag, Robin should like it when we return to Ohara later, right?"

The stall owner is a ten-year-old pink-haired girl. Most of the woven bags on her stall are very delicate, all made from tough rattan. Rattan {藤条} is one of the most common materials in the craft of weaving, but their texture is very easy to scratch hands.

Adrian had already seen the numerous scars on the little girl's fingers. A pair of slender and delicate hands wrapped in slightly yellowed bandages. Obviously, even these cheap bandages were expensive materials that had to be reused for this little girl.

Seeing Adrian pick up the small bag, the little girl showed a look of anticipation. Clear eyes shimmered with a light called "anticipation."

"Sir, do you like this?" The little girl gathered her courage. It was the first time someone had stopped to look at her goods. "Very cheap, these are all made by Hina herself, only 50 Beli."

"50 Beli?" Adrian was somewhat surprised.

"If you think it's too expensive, 40... 30 Beli is also acceptable," the little girl quickly lowered the price. It was evident that she was doing business for the first time. "Hina only needs 30 Beli..."

"No, I think 50 Beli is not worthy of this beautiful little bag," Adrian said. "And the cheapest thing on me costs 5000 Beli. The price of this bag is too cheap."

"5000 Beli..." The little girl felt dizzy for a moment. Being young, she couldn't fully grasp the concept of 5000 Beli as a significant amount of money.

"Your name is Hina, right?" Adrian picked up two woven bags from the stall. "I want these three little bags. Can you calculate how much it would cost in total?"

"150 Beli," Hina whispered.

"Hmm?"

"15000 Beli..." This time her voice was noticeably softer, almost inaudible.

"15000 Beli, that's a considerable sum of money," Adrian pretended to be amazed, then casually lied, "I don't have that much cash on me. I can offer you a job instead. Would Hina be interested?"

"What kind of job?"

"Well, it seems the nearby Marine base is recruiting. I happen to have some connections with Captain Hill, the commanding officer there."

Adrian saw Hina's eyes instantly light up; he deliberately paused.

"Can Hina join the Marines?"

Adrian grinned and said, "Of course, I believe Hina will become an excellent and beautiful Marine officer in the future."

Undoubtedly, this catchphrase-loving little pink-haired girl was none other than the future Marine officer 'Kurokabe Hina'!

Adrian personally escorted the pink-haired little girl to the Marine branch base.

Although he didn't know why the White Ghost inexplicably brought a little girl, Captain Hill still accepted Hina and appointed her on the spot as the...

Kitchen assistant cook...

There was no other choice; Hina was too young for anything else. Captain Hill didn't want to offend the White Ghost, so he had to rack his brains to come up with a less critical position as a kitchen assistant.

Before saying goodbye, Adrian patted the tearful Hina's head with a strange idea popping into his mind.

"By the way, am I some kind of 'encounter pink hair' phenomenon? How many pink-haired female characters have appeared by now?"

{First one is Perona BTW}