Chapter 6: This Is, the Real World
When he had obtained the [Rusty Flintlock] earlier, Su Xiao received many prompts.
But the dagger he now held gave no prompts at all—no specific information, and no indication of whether it could be sold.
This led Su Xiao to speculate that obtaining the [Rusty Flintlock] earlier was partly luck, but also possibly a deliberate arrangement by "Reincarnation Paradise."
The implication was that he could obtain weapons, but he would have to bear certain risks. This seemed to be the law of "Reincarnation Paradise."
The dagger in his hand clearly fell outside this category. It was sharp, and he could use it, but he could not take it out of the Pirate World, nor could he exchange it for Paradise Coins.
This was only natural. If anything could be sold for Paradise Coins, the currency mechanism of "Reincarnation Paradise" would be nothing but a joke.
Urging the somewhat unruly horse forward, Su Xiao gradually approached the city gate. The several guards had already come into his view.
Having suddenly changed owners, the old horse was clearly not obeying commands, which put Su Xiao in a difficult spot. He had never handled a horse before, but the guards were right in front of him, leaving no room to retreat.
He tugged on the reins, and the horse snorted, stopping in place.
Su Xiao voluntarily stopped to be inspected. Based on his guess, leaving the city was relatively lax, but entering would be far from simple.
Several guards approached, their demeanor seemingly lazy, but their eyes were as sharp as eagles' cries.
"What's going on? Back in the city so early today?"
The guards' familiar attitude made Su Xiao's hair stand on end.
These guards might know the identity of that black market merchant, and there could even be a mutual interest between them. Things were getting tricky.
"Sir, I just left the city, and Toby's gang robbed me, ugh~."
Su Xiao's voice was very muffled, punctuated by dry heaves. His voice was different from the coachman's, so he deliberately spoke this way.
Combined with the stench of sewage on his clothes, the guards didn't suspect anything and even moved a distance away from him.
"What? Toby? Are they asking for death? They dare to rob even you? Don't they know who you are?"
The guard in front of Su Xiao was clearly angry, but another guard beside him said:
"Boss, that Toby guy has been expanding his influence fast. According to my informants, Toby just wiped out Rogier's faction. Right now, aside from the Bursam Pirates, no force in the Terminal surpasses Toby."
"So we just let it go? What about the money?"
The guards exchanged glances. Though unwilling, they had no way to deal with Toby, who was hiding in the Terminal.
"You... forget it. If this happens again, don't bother coming back. Just 'live' in the Terminal."
Su Xiao pretended to nod timidly, but his eyes were very calm.
The more critical the moment, the calmer he had to be. Many failures happen just before success, when one becomes complacent.
Su Xiao urged the horse, and the old brown horse reluctantly moved forward.
Just before Su Xiao left, one guard bent down to check under the cart, in case someone was hiding there—a common method for refugees to sneak into the city.
Su Xiao had never considered hiding under the cart. Instead, he had directly killed the coachman and taken his place. Though risky, this method exploited the guards' blind spot.
The garbage cart slowly passed through the city gate and moved forward steadily. Three meters, five meters, ten meters.
"Carlos, wait."
A guard's shout came from behind. Su Xiao's pupils contracted sharply but immediately returned to normal.
"Your nephew's matter is already arranged. Bring enough 'sincerity,' and he can report to the guard squad today."
The guard raised one hand, rubbing his thumb and middle finger together. The so-called "sincerity" meant money.
Su Xiao quickly nodded, pretending to thank him, but let out another series of dry heaves.
"Hurry up and go. You stink to high heaven. I can smell you from this far away."
Su Xiao naturally wouldn't miss this good opportunity. He picked up the whip beside him and cracked it against the old horse's rump.
"Crack~."
A sharp sound rang out. The old horse whinnied in pain and noticeably quickened its pace.
The infiltration was successful. Su Xiao had safely blended into the royal capital of the Goa Kingdom.
Though he had safer methods to infiltrate the capital, they would take time, and time was not on his side.
Moreover, from the guards' fragmented words, he had gathered a lot of useful intelligence.
First, the current timeline was before the original protagonist Monkey D. Luffy set sail, meaning Luffy was either a child or not yet born.
The basis for this conclusion was the guard's mention of the Bursam Pirates.
If Su Xiao remembered correctly, the Bursam Pirates were the ones who fought young Luffy, Ace, and others in a great fire in the original story.
In the original, the Bursam Pirates were used by the king of the Goa Kingdom to set fire to the Terminal, then abandoned to burn alive.
Second, there was an unexpected gain—one that might be the key to Su Xiao's mission success.
A guard's earlier words filled Su Xiao with joy: "Your nephew's matter is already arranged. Bring enough 'sincerity,' and he can report to the guard squad today."
It seemed this was some kind of deal between the dead black market merchant and the guards—using money to buy a position in the guard squad.
If Su Xiao impersonated the merchant's nephew and joined the guard squad, he would be one step closer to his assassination target.
Though risky, it was the best option at hand.
Reincarnation Paradise had not given him an identity; he was just an outsider with no records.
Su Xiao drove the cart along the streets of the Goa Kingdom's royal capital. Since he had just entered the outer layer, this was only the commoner residential area.
The streets of the commoner district were fairly clean, lined with vendors hawking their wares.
Large crowds of civilians leisurely walked the streets, making the city bustling and lively. But some civilians wore worried expressions, hurrying along.
The only difference between these civilians and the refugees outside the walls was that they wouldn't starve, but they still struggled on the edge of subsistence.
The Pirate World was in an era of turmoil, filled with war and roving pirates, so the living conditions of civilians were relatively poor.
Moving through the noisy streets, Su Xiao felt as if he were in another world. This didn't seem like a mission world but a real one. These were flesh-and-blood humans, not so-called NPCs.
As seen from the guards earlier, their vigilance was not low. If Su Xiao hadn't prepared thoroughly and reacted quickly, he might have been exposed.
In mission worlds, never underestimate anyone, Su Xiao silently warned himself.
But the priority now was to find a place to clean up. He also needed to open the [Treasure Chest (White)] he had obtained earlier. He had to use every resource available.
At only LV.1, Su Xiao was struggling in this LV.6, Nightmare Difficulty world.