Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Reading the News

Tom tilted his head in confusion, not understanding why Adrian was surprised. It's normal for someone to become thin when hungry and gain weight when they're full, right?

Adrian wanted to knock some sense into Tom's cat head and tell him that it wasn't normal at all.

Considering he was Tom, Adrian let it go and decided to focus on exploring his "golden finger."

He pressed the circular mark on his left hand's back with his right hand, and the number "72%" in the center of the circle dimmed, turning into intricate patterns that formed a magical array.

At this moment, a screen lit up and hovered above Adrian's left hand, following its movements.

The screen displayed the time at the top and a magical array representing energy below.

Adrian attempted to interact with the magical array, and a message popped up on the screen: [Hint: Insufficient energy to activate summoning. Please charge to over 90%.]

He then tried swiping left and right. Swiping right revealed "Inventory" at the top, with a grid of empty squares underneath.

Adrian picked up a bar of soap, thinking to place it into the screen, but there was no response. He then tried placing it on his hand:

[Hint: Only summonable items can be stored.]

So, he could summon items from another world? It might not be an all-purpose personal space, but Adrian wasn't entirely disappointed. He closed the inventory, swiped left, and saw "Character" at the top, with only two avatars below.

One was Adrian, and the other was Tom. Clicking on them revealed basic information and introductions.

Looking at his own introduction, Adrian felt a bit dumbfounded. Did he really cross over because his roommate made a random wish on a shooting star?

Whoever that prankster was, they were really playing it up.

Wait until the day I see a shooting star, I'll send all you pranksters away!

Flipping through several pages back and forth, Adrian worried that he might have missed something, but it seemed quite straightforward.

During his exploration, Adrian found the transition effects of this thing and his vanished phone to be similar, and the patterns on the magical array seemed like a combination of his school emblem and key.

Who would have thought that putting together two unrelated things and abstracting them into lines would look so cool?

Once he confirmed there was nothing else to do, Adrian pressed his left hand to make the screen disappear.

Tom, who had just finished scrubbing his back, curiously watched Adrian's actions.

Adrian smiled, patted Tom's cat head, rinsed himself off, changed into clean clothes, and stepped out of the bathroom.

"Little brother Adrian, your room is all set. Rest for a while, and later I'll introduce you to Beir," Mrs. Molly called out.

"I appreciate your hospitality."

"Don't mention it. Bayer is the one who will cause you trouble later!"

...

Adrian entered the guest room with Tom. Inside, there was a single bed with neat sheets, and even a small blanket prepared for Tom.

On the bedside table were a water glass and some snacks, along with a stack of newspapers.

"They've thought of everything." Adrian sat on the bed. He needed to gather some information, so he might as well read the newspapers.

He picked up a newspaper and started flipping through it. There were five issues in total, covering the dates from May 5th to May 9th in the Sea Circle Calendar. It seemed like there were five issues prepared because he had been adrift at sea for five days?

Adrian decided to start with the May 7th issue, mainly because the front-page headline caught his attention.

The picture depicted a princess-like beauty with long hair and a snake-shaped earring, dressed boldly, with an air of arrogance. A snake was coiled behind her.

It seemed like anyone who saw her would be captivated in an instant, but unfortunately, the newspaper only had black-and-white images.

Adrian didn't bother looking for a bounty, since the headline read: "Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock, Invited to Join the Seven Warlords of the Sea!"

Becoming a Warlord meant the bounty would be rescinded, and no new bounties would be issued.

The article seemed to be written by someone who understood the desires of the readers. The majority of the article focused on praising the beauty and exceptional aura of the Pirate Empress.

After that, it briefly mentioned her initial bounty of 80 million berries when she set out to sea, followed by her invitation to become a Warlord.

Lastly, the article gave a basic introduction to Amazon Lily, the island where she came from, and mistakenly referred to it as "Man's Paradise."

Knowing the truth, Adrian thought that if he went there, he probably wouldn't even know how he died.

"If the Pirate Empress has just become a Warlord, that means the Seven Warlords are not fully assembled yet?"

Apart from this significant news, the rest of the newspaper seemed to contain little information. There was an article titled "Rear Admiral Kadaru Reassigned to the Sabaody Archipelago," but that was about it.

Since he was planning to stay here for a while, Adrian decided to familiarize himself with the local naval officers as well.

The article provided a brief overview of Rear Admiral Kadaru's background. He was previously under Vice Admiral Borsalino's command at G-2 Marine Base and had notable accomplishments.

Borsalino's name was familiar to Adrian. He later became one of the Three Admirals, Kizaru, and had the light-light fruit ability. He seemed quite ridiculous.

There were online parodies claiming he was Monkey D. Kizaru, Luffy's second uncle, a Revolutionary Army spy, and part-time kindergarten principal.

After reading through the newspapers, Adrian noticed that the remaining information consisted of recurring characters. He then saw a piece of serialized manga that caught his interest: "Brave Seafarer Sora vs. Evil Legion Germa."

The manga recounted Germa's repeated defeats, and the brave seafarer Sola bore a seagull emblem on her, while her comrades also had seagulls. No matter how Adrian looked at it, this manga seemed unrelated to strength.

"Huff~ Huff~" A soft breathing sound came from beside him.

Adrian turned his head to see Tom had fallen asleep. Wrapped in a small blanket, he resembled a fluffy caterpillar. His head rested on Adrian's leg, and a bubble of varying sizes formed and burst on his nose.

Adrian chuckled. Tom had been through a lot these past few days. He set aside the newspaper, gently picked up Tom, and placed him on the pillow.

Feeling a wave of drowsiness himself, Adrian lay down next to Tom. Sleeping so comfortably was a luxury he didn't have while drifting at sea.