Chapter 34: Beta Testing Ends

Adrian smiled faintly, then turned to a dark-skinned man nearby wearing rough clothes. He nodded slightly and said, "Mister, I apologize for keeping you waiting."

The dark-skinned man's heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly approached and humbly said, "I really can't bear the responsibility of Mr. Momoya's words. I'm just here to convey a message for the higher-ups."

Adrian narrowed his eyes slightly, knowing that the title "Momoya" indicated that the visitor had at least seen either Gion or Boss Cui.

"It seems I underestimated your intelligence gathering abilities... But that's understandable. After all, Kano Country is your headquarters, and it wouldn't be acceptable if you didn't have enough informants. I wonder which number of the Happo army you're working for?"

As he spoke, Adrian's expression became more serious.

The dark-skinned man raised his thumb and index finger, quietly forming the shape of the number "eight."

Adrian's face showed a hint of frustration. What's with this cryptic communication? Couldn't they speak normally? Why does it feel like a secret agent rendezvous?

However, having the Happosai come was at least better than the Nipposai.

Considering the increased goodwill with the Happosai earlier, they probably wouldn't come to blows.

After a moment of contemplation, Adrian asked, "I wonder what business the Happosai has with me?"

"I'm not sure about that," the dark-skinned man said with a forced smile. "When the order came from above, it just mentioned inviting Mr. Momoya for tea and music."

Does the Kano Country's black market have such peculiar tastes?

Perhaps it's fitting to call it a Kano Country's specialty.

Adrian neither confirmed nor denied, saying, "I don't know if the person in charge of the Happosai is still Chinjao?"

"No, ever since the incident five years ago, Chinjao has secluded himself near the Ice continent and is no longer managing internal affairs of the water army. Now, the person in charge of the Happosai is Chinjao's son, Lord Cai Dou."

"Cai Dou?" Adrian asked in confusion.

"Mr. Momoya may not be aware, but the original name of Chinjao was Cai Qing. However, few people outside the Kano Country know this."

Also...

Adrian suddenly realized that the 13th generation leader of the Happo Navy, "Old Cai," was actually Chinjao's grandson, indicating that Chinjao's original surname was indeed "Cai."

It's just that Cai Dou...

This name seems a bit too casual, doesn't it? 

In Adrian's mind, the image of a round and short man involuntarily appeared.

"Wait, I remember Chinjao is the 12th generation leader of the Happo Navy, and Cai Dou is the 13th generation leader?"

The dark-skinned man explained, "No, Master Dou considers himself weak and unable to bear the heavy responsibility of being the leader. Currently, he is only the temporary leader of the navy."

This explains why the grandson of Chinjao, not the son, took on the role of the 13th generation leader in the original.

Adrian's curiosity was dispelled, and he calmly said, "I don't have a hobby of drinking tea and listening to music with strangers, and I am not acquainted with the Happo Navy. Plus, considering what just happened, I'll pass on this invitation."

The dark-skinned man sighed.

It's precisely because of what this man did that Master Dou invited him to drink tea and listen to music! At the very least, he needs to figure out what this man is up to.

Not even half a day since arriving in the Kano Country, he publicly took down the backbone of the Nipposai. If this "Momoya" continues to stay in the Kano Country, who knows what might happen!

"Well..." the dark-skinned man hesitated in his tone, "Sir..."

After thinking for a moment, Adrian said, "Rest assured, I understand the intentions of the Happo Navy. Don't worry, if others don't provoke me, I'm usually easy to talk to."

The dark-skinned man continued to smile bitterly. Before coming, he had already figured out all the ins and outs of the matter. Naturally, he understood that the gentleman in front of him was "forced to counterattack," and the real culprit of the matter was that drunkard named Celi.

However, the problem is, your counterattack was a bit too strong, directly overturning the Nipposai's backbone.

It's said that things have turned upside down on the side of the Hog's family, and from top to bottom, they're all clamoring to come here to avenge Hog!

Without waiting for the dark-skinned man to continue speaking, Adrian waved his hand. He had already said so much here, giving face to the Happosai Navy.

Watching Adrian's retreating figure, the dark-skinned man took out a Den Den Mushi from his pocket. "Master Cai Dou, Mr. Momoya did not agree to the invitation, but he said that if no one provokes him, he won't go looking for trouble either."

A middle-aged male voice came from the Den Den Mushi, slightly sharp, "He didn't agree? Well, withdraw all our people. It's not easy to deal with such a daring guy... Momoya, a name I've never heard of, obviously a code name. When did such a character emerge from the West Blue? The Ghost Fruit is also..."

The Den Den Mushi was hung up, and the dark-skinned man did not hear the rest of the words. He only knew that it was related to the legendary Devil Fruit, showing a touch of envy in his eyes. He soon disappeared into the crowd at the dock.

...

Time passed.

Although the closed beta was beyond Adrian's expectations, it currently had little impact on the overall situation.

For players to grow to the level of influencing the world, it would take at least two or three versions of time. The closed beta lasted only a short half-month, and not much could be done.

Apart from Cao Renqi, Adrian did not try to actively contact other closed beta players.

At this stage, players are mostly poor, with not much profit to be gained. In the future public beta period, players would become qualified vegetables with stable consumption capacity.

In addition to daily sword practice and researching new skills, during leisure time, Adrian would allocate some time to browse player forums.

"The girls on the sea are so beautiful! But the old ladies are all ugly... I just don't get it!"

"On the eighth day of fishing, look at what I've harvested!"

"I'm desperate for this game. The starting point is called [New World], but damn, I spawned in the sea, and I died with just one wave coming over! I haven't seen land for days in the game! No! I haven't even entered the game in days! Every time I go in, I die! This is ********!"

"In the East Blue, it was another calm and peaceful day."

As the internal testing of the game continued, the player forums gradually became more organized, with the most obvious change being a significant reduction in invalid information.

At present, the posts in the player forums are generally requests for help and information sharing. There are also some soft advertisements for player guilds, professional workshops, and the like.

Nine days passed in the blink of an eye, and today is the last day of the internal testing.

[Internal testing ends, countdown to open beta: 350 days]

Adrian, who was practicing swordsmanship, snapped back to reality and checked the player forum, only to find it turned gray, indicating that he couldn't access it.

"The interval between internal testing and open beta is about a year. However, based on the information previously seen on the forum, the open beta in the real world will start in one or two months, indicating that the flow of real-time and game time is not consistent."

"The name of the game's version 1.0 is [The Opening of the Great Age of Navigation]. I wonder how long it will last both in and out of the game..."

"Anyway, I can finally put aside the players' matters, focus on leveling up, and incidentally complete the [Navigator] mission!"