Chapter 116

Chapter 116: Peace Star (Fake)

During the opening hours of the tavern at noon and evening, Sharkler once again attracted a small crowd, similar to when Tom was playing the piano at the beginning.

However, he couldn't perform his super transformation at the moment due to its slightly long cooldown time.

On this day, Adrian tried the lottery twice and got two interesting items.

The first item looked like a gas station nozzle with the hose removed, except that there was a hole punctured through it:
【Friendship Summoning Command Device (Damaged): Originally used to assist Kabutack in activating the super transformation form, it's now damaged. However, it can be used as a memento of Kabutack and Kuwagiro's friendship.】

The second item was quite impressive, a round plastic disc embedded with a metal hexagram:
【Peace Star (Fake): Although it can't grant wishes, sticking it onto ordinary objects will allow them to exhibit magical abilities. After its power is depleted, it turns into powder.】

Even though it was a fake Peace Star, it was still quite amazing. Sticking it onto sneakers could easily make perfect shots and save the national football team; attaching it to a shampoo bottle might add beauty effects to the shampoo; sticking it to a pot would turn even a simple instant noodle into a top-notch delicacy...

While the Friendship Summoning Command Device seemed useless, the fake Peace Star was quite strong. In case they encountered strong winds and waves on the sea, sticking it onto the ship might even turn it into an aircraft and fly out. Unfortunately, it was a one-time use item.

After collecting these two items, Adrian began researching himself with the help of his companions.

"After Tom came, I gained a strange body recovery ability. After Artoria arrived, I suddenly gained the ability to use magic..."

Rui Mengmeng asked, "And what about me? Boss, what changes did you experience after I arrived?"

Adrian said solemnly, "Hmm... I've become better at eating."

"What? Seriously... Is my superpower just being able to eat a lot?" Rui Mengmeng's mood was hit hard.

Always being the one delivering emotional blows, it was rare that she was the one hit this time. Adrian found this quite amusing:
"Your increased appetite is just an additional effect. The main enhancement is in physical attributes like strength, speed, and resilience. Those have improved quite a bit."

Rui Mengmeng thought the boss was consoling her, "Isn't that the result of your daily exercise?"

Artoria helped explain, "Exercise might be the trigger to awaken this power, and Adrian's magical abilities didn't appear all at once either."

Sharkler understood Adrian's special ability better now, "I see. So, Boss Adrian, what do you get from me?"

"I'm curious too. Will you learn the super transformation form from me?" When it came to Sharkler's ability, the first thing that came to mind was naturally this.

"Will Boss turn into a robot?"

Adrian shook his head, "No, that's a bit too strange, suddenly changing species. Actually, I'd be satisfied with some enhancement in strength or speed."

Tom, jumping around nearby, shared his opinion.

Adrian vetoed, "No, I don't want a fish tail."

Tom thought for a moment and continued gesturing.

"I don't want a fish head either!" Adrian playfully pinched Tom's cat head, "I can see through your intention. Do you want to grow a fish head and offer it for me to gnaw on?"

Tom was twisted around and about by the pinching, and he staggered for a couple of steps before falling onto a chair, losing his dream.

After much discussion without any substantial results, they could only conclude that exercise was an essential process, and it was important to be cautious during training to avoid straining themselves.

Comparatively, Sharkler was probably the busiest one. Apart from his physical training, he also needed to catch up on knowledge about this world through books and newspapers.

Seeing how eager Sharkler was to learn, Adrian handed him a stack of books on geography, biology, and various other subjects, all taller than Tom. He also provided all the newspapers from the past two years.

Indeed, two years' worth of newspapers. After finishing reading all the newspapers from the past year that he had bought earlier, Adrian went and bought newspapers from the year before. The bookstore owner had quite a hard time gathering them.

The owner said that if he wanted newspapers from an even earlier time, he would need to contact the newspaper company.

Adrian thought about it. Since it wasn't expensive and could potentially help him recall some important events, he might as well go all out. If possible, he'd even have newspapers from the time the newspaper company was founded. He'd pay for them.

Sharkler looked at the pile of materials in front of him, fell silent for a moment, and then said, "I think I'll just activate the sleep-learning function. I'll choose the most relevant materials and estimate about a day of sleep."

Adrian nodded and said, "Tomorrow is the first day of the month, and our tavern will be closed. We don't have plans to go out, so I'll keep an eye on things around here and prevent others from disturbing you."

"That's great. I'll start now." Sharkler put on a pair of glasses and moved the books and papers back to his room.

The way he put on the glasses was quite interesting. He pressed a protrusion on his abdomen, and his shark chin moved, spitting out the glasses.

In addition to its role as an additional weapon, after Adrian transformed, his shark head could store items. The known items inside were money, glasses, and his weapon, the Shark Axe.

"Why the hurry?" Adrian approached to help, finding that Sharkler's small hands made it quite inconvenient for him to carry things around before he transformed.

"Yes, I want to learn the necessary knowledge as soon as possible, and then help everyone."

...

That night, Adrian didn't sleep. Instead, he sat on the rooftop with a sword in his arms. Since Sharkler mentioned that the sleep-learning process might have side effects if interrupted, he wanted to help with vigilance.

"Adrian, go get some rest. I'll take over from here." As dawn broke, Artoria came to the rooftop to relieve Adrian. She had noticed his actions during the night.

She was thinking that this might be Adrian's gesture of goodwill towards Sharkler. She planned to relieve him when he got tired. Actually, she hadn't slept all night either, keeping an eye on the surroundings and Adrian's condition.

"I'm fine, ha~" Adrian yawned and a tear welled up at the corner of his eye—it was a natural reaction of the body, not him being moved to tears. Four or five in the morning was the time when drowsiness was most likely to set in.

However, Adrian knew that with his current physical condition, staying up the whole night occasionally wasn't a big deal. But he advised normal people to avoid doing so.

Artoria's reasons for asking him to rest were valid: "Not ensuring sufficient rest could seriously affect the effectiveness of your training and slow down your progress in becoming stronger. Is that okay? Or perhaps, does Adrian lack confidence in my strength and alertness?"

"Alright, alright, I get it. Then I'll leave

it to you here." Adrian yawned and left the rooftop.

But it didn't take more than a few minutes before he came back and forth a few times, setting up a small table, placing several plates of snacks, fruits, and a teapot with cups. Only then did he go back to rest with a cheerful smile.

Artoria tilted her head, watching him busying about, and smiled faintly. She sat down and quietly gazed at the dawn at four o'clock.

Originally, Adrian wanted to set up identity recognition through those glasses. However, after considering it, he realized that, apart from recognizing the Manju Dragon when it first appeared, the glasses weren't used to identify others. It seemed unnecessary to add that feature.