Chapter 316: Chapter 17: Trading
City of Seven Seas, an abandoned artificial dock.
"Shave."
A figure swiftly flashed by, the gust of wind it brought lifted a wisp of dust.
This figure moved at incredible speed, but wasn’t very good at steering, heading straight for a huge rock.
With a thud, the figure slapped against the rock like a big pancake, staggered a few steps, and then plopped down on the ground.
Su Xiao shook his head, the speed of Shave was too fast for him to control.
After two days of tireless practice, he finally had a preliminary mastery of Shave.
Preliminary mastery of Shave isn’t hard, but using Shave in actual combat is very difficult, requiring long-term adaptation, and a fine mastery of distance, speed, and angle.
With an initial grasp of Shave, Su Xiao had gained some understanding of it. This move essentially uses recoil to charge toward the enemy. Used well, it’s a divine skill for killing; used poorly, it’s a headlong charge to death.
The hardest part of using Shave is seeing anything in front, as the view flashes by too quickly to adapt.
Dusting himself off, Su Xiao checked his skill list and noticed a new skill had appeared.
Rokushiki: Shave: Lv.1 (Active Skill)
Skill Effect: Move forward 5~18 meters in an extremely short time, during which moving speed reaches the maximum agility value.
Note: Each use of Shave consumes 20 points of stamina, with a cooldown of 30 seconds (as the Hunter learned Shave on his own, he can forcibly use it continuously at the cost of certain damage to the lower limbs).
...
The main function of Shave is high-speed forward movement, but there’s one thing Su Xiao is puzzled about: what is stamina? He only has Life Value and Mana Value, and has never heard of Stamina Value.
Upon consulting with Reincarnation Paradise, he learned that Stamina Value is derived from physical attributes, an invisible value that he can sense.
Everyone has Stamina Value, consuming it unknowingly in daily life; when Stamina Value is low, a person feels fatigued. If Stamina Value falls below 2 points, the person collapses.
Su Xiao understood that Stamina Value is essentially his endurance and physical fatigue level.
It seems that overuse of Shave will lead to collapse, and, due to its low level, Shave cannot be used continuously.
Such concerns don’t bother Su Xiao. In the Pirate World, he won’t easily use Shave; its level is too low, and using it in actual combat now is akin to seeking death.
To integrate Shave into his combat system, he needs to return to Reincarnation Paradise and upgrade Shave to at least Level 5, or higher.
Having temporarily put Shave’s training aside, Su Xiao stretched his sore calves.
It’s been five days since entering the Derivative World. Tomorrow is the day the Straw Hat Pirates land on the island. If memory serves, the Straw Hat Pirates cause chaos upon arrival and head to Enies Lobby the next day.
Of course, that’s just the original story’s intel; no one knows what will really happen in the Derivative World, as the plot may unfold differently with Contractors’ interference.
But there’s one thing certain: Nico Robin will definitely be taken by CP9.
The CP9 members are very powerful. Su Xiao is confident he can handle one, can fight two, but against three, he would have to flee, and against more, escape might not be possible.
CP9’s members vary in strength—some are very strong, some are average, like Fukurou and Rob Lucci.
Su Xiao suspects Rob Lucci can kill Fukurou in two minutes. Thus, within CP9, Su Xiao fears Rob Lucci the most, as he’s very strong. If facing him, Su Xiao has a thirty percent chance of winning.
Though the odds aren’t in his favor, Su Xiao still hopes to kill Rob Lucci. His main fighting style is sword technique, and if he seizes the opportunity, the battle could be resolved in a few strikes. Rob Lucci’s Iron Block is strong, but Su Xiao easily cuts through steel.
While pondering, Su Xiao walked in front of civilian homes in the City of Seven Seas. Many civilians were returning from work; they looked tired but had happiness in their eyes. Being able to live a peaceful and content life in the Pirate World is a form of luck.
On the horizon, the sun met the sea, large fiery clouds appeared at the junction of sky and sea, and golden sunlight shone through the clouds, painting the entire City of Seven Seas in light gold.
This warm color was soothing to the body and mind. Su Xiao traversed the City of Seven Seas and entered an abandoned warehouse.
Inside, many empty wooden boxes were piled up, creating a complicated route between them.
Su Xiao jumped onto a pile of wooden boxes—there were more than a dozen stacked up, allowing him to overlook the surroundings, while Bubute Ni also jumped up, sitting behind Su Xiao.
Sitting on the boxes, Su Xiao lit a cigarette, seemingly waiting for something.
After about half an hour, footsteps echoed from outside the warehouse. A slender female secretary walked in.
Kalifa stopped as she entered the warehouse. The golden sunset poured in from the door, illuminating the stack of boxes opposite the entrance, where a man was smoking.
In the dim warehouse, it was hard to make out the man’s features, but Kalifa could clearly see his dark eyes.
"I’ve brought what you wanted."
Kalifa raised the sword bag in her hand, which obviously contained a long knife.
Sizzle~.
The sound of metal wire contracting came, a pulling force snatched the bag out of Kalifa’s hand, and it flew into the air.
Su Xiao caught the sword bag, opened it, and saw the long knife inside the scabbard. Confirming it was a Good Fast Blade, he put it away.
"I’ve done as agreed, now disable the bomb immediately."
Kalifa’s tone was urgent; she was extremely hungry, having survived on juice and fluids these days, unable to drink much for fear of triggering the bomb if full.
"No."
Su Xiao flatly refused, Kalifa’s jaw muscles tensed, her beautiful face showing a hint of fierceness.
"You untrustworthy scoundrel, I’ll fight you."
Kalifa’s figure flashed and reappeared at the base of the wooden box stack, using Shave.
"I’m the untrustworthy one? It’s you. I told you to come alone."
Su Xiao didn’t look at Kalifa; the alchemy bomb inside her was still active, ready to be triggered. His gaze remained fixed on the warehouse door.
"Kalifa, calm down."
A deep male voice came from outside the warehouse. A man at least two meters tall stood at the entrance—it was Rob Lucci.
Su Xiao slowly stood up from the pile of boxes, placing his hand on the hilt of Dragon Slash.
Clang.
The sound of metal scraping as the blade met the scabbard, Dragon Slash gleamed coldly in the dim warehouse.
Su Xiao glanced sideways at Kalifa. What did she mean by this? She’d brought the Good Fast Blade yet also brought others. With her intelligence, she shouldn’t make such a rookie mistake.
There could only be one possibility left.
"So... you come with ’sincerity,’ not to trade."
With the setting sun’s afterglow, a smile emerged on Su Xiao’s lips.