Chapter 23: Suicide Squad
"A third-rank contractor has this kind of firepower?"
A bald middle-aged man spoke, his face round, originally appearing kind but now showing numbness and cruelty.
"Bai Ye... I remember now, during the sea battle, this guy was on the reputation list, but it didn't take long before a fifth-rank contractor pushed him down."
The lean man, after confirming there was no danger here, leaned against the wall.
"No, this guy is still on the list now."
The long-legged girl took a deep breath, as if she had seen something shocking.
"What?"
"Check the current rankings, there's a 'surprise.'"
Hearing this, the other four all checked the overall reputation ranking list.
[Third Place: Bai Ye (Third Rank), Pirate Reputation 2860 Points.]
...
The five exchanged glances.
"What do we do? Go for it or not? Even if we can't make it into the top five, when this world ends, the pirate reputation will convert into World Source or Paradise Coins. 1430 points of pirate reputation, based on the bald guy's intel, can at least turn into 30% World Source. With that, our team can at least get an A+ rating."
The long-legged girl swallowed her saliva. The benefits brought by 1430 points of pirate reputation made her heartbeat quicken.
"Go for it? Hell no, retreat. A third-rank entering a fourth-rank war zone and still getting this much pirate reputation—this isn't something you can do just with long-range sniping. This kind of lone wolf, if you charge at him now, he'll pull out a melee weapon and teach you a lesson in no time. So, retreat!"
The lean man turned and left. The others struggled internally for a few seconds before also retreating toward the battlefield.
These five retreated, but there were still seven fourth-rank contractors moving toward the King's Heights.
Su Xiao was at a high vantage point, naturally noticing enemies approaching. The two fastest had already closed to within 2000 meters.
A black shadow flashed through the scope, but Su Xiao didn't fire. At this distance, hitting a moving target had a low hit rate. He waited for the enemy contractors to close to within 800 meters. At 800 meters, even with high-speed moving targets, he had a 60% chance of hitting—that was how he had sniped the Ant King.
Seven men in black clothes moved quickly through the buildings, their outfits uniform, even their steps synchronized.
These seven were fast and preferred to stay in the shadows of buildings. They weren't clones of the same person but genuine seven contractors.
These seven had some fame among fourth-ranks. They all had assassin-type abilities. Outsiders called them Black Rats, but they called themselves the Shadow Group.
They had met back at first rank, originally nine of them. Because they all shared assassin abilities, they had common ground. Someone among the nine suggested forming a small adventure group.
From first to fourth rank, the Shadow Group had at most 30 members. Through the trials, only these seven survived to fourth rank.
Seven assassins—it was easy to imagine their targets were mostly lone plot characters or solo contractors.
The burst damage from seven assassins at once could instantly kill a tank of the same rank. Though their reputation wasn't great, these seven were doing well. Two derivative worlds ago, they had successfully advanced to fourth rank.
Whoosh, a black shadow flashed across the street, hiding in an alley.
"Shadow Two, the target has stopped reacting."
A figure in black pressed against the wall, communicating remotely with someone.
"He's still in the Don Quixote family villa area? If so, then he's not good at hitting moving targets. If he specialized in ranged abilities, he wouldn't have such a weakness. The target seems to be an all-rounder lone wolf."
The man in black sneered. He was best at dealing with this kind of lone wolf.
"Mm, mm, got it. I'll use shadow clones to draw fire."
The man in black quickly formed hand seals. With a bang, white smoke rose, and over a dozen shadow clones appeared.
"Three seconds later, charge together. Distance is still 1600 meters. Don't take more than 10 seconds. Alright, let's do it."
The man in black ended the call and took a deep breath.
Meanwhile, inside the fourth floor of the villa area.
Su Xiao observed several tall buildings in the distance through his scope. Based on his observations, four people were moving toward the King's Heights. Whether there were more was unknown for now—there were too many buildings below.
Just as Su Xiao was about to fire and take out one, a large number of figures in black burst out from behind buildings. Conservatively, there were dozens. Su Xiao raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected this.
It was like two sides about to fight, one pulling up in a van, and from that unremarkable van, over a hundred people swarming out.
Shadow clones, mirror images, light refraction, shadow clones—the seven displayed various clone abilities, charging at the King's Heights from all directions.
Su Xiao put away the Duke of Annihilation and the hydraulic buffer mount. Trying to distinguish the real from the fake with the naked eye was impossible.
Ten seconds later, those dozens of figures in black reached the base of the King's Heights, entering a shooting dead zone. They began climbing the Heights with their bare hands.
In a short time, these dozens of figures reached the villa area. The villa area was quiet, with not a single pirate stationed there. Dressrosa only needed to guard two places: the underground port and the SMILE factory (artificial Devil Fruit factory).
Right now, the SMILE factory was lively. That was the enemy contractors' main focus, and most of the Don Quixote family's contractors were guarding there.
The seven of the Shadow Group gathered together, exchanging glances with confusion. Why hadn't the enemy taken a shot, even just to try?
What they didn't know was that each shot Su Xiao fired cost 1000 Paradise Coins. Su Xiao had observed their speed—decent, but clearly not among the elite of fourth-rank.
The seven disappeared almost simultaneously, activating various stealth abilities. Two even activated anti-detection abilities.
They approached the villa area, all noticing the specially reinforced fourth floor.
A few seconds later, the seven reached the base of the villa. At that moment, a tall figure jumped down from the villa's roof.
Boom! The ground cracked extensively, and chilling cold spread.
The seven immediately communicated in their team channel, debating whether to gang up and take down this Minotaur that had dropped from the sky.
After landing, Amu raised his warhammer and slammed it straight into the ground.
A loud crash echoed, and biting cold spread. The seven scattered to avoid the cold.
With a crack, the villa's main door shattered. A pale red aura spread, and the seven nearly simultaneously grunted, their skin tingling—this was Su Xiao's Aura Release ability.
A thick smell of blood came from inside the villa, followed by footsteps.
Su Xiao walked out of the villa, holding the Dragon-Slaying Flash. His gaze locked onto a contractor in stealth. Though the enemy was invisible, under the detection of his Instinct ability, the enemy was as clear as if standing right before him.
Their eyes met. The Shadow Group member immediately knew he was exposed. A dark light flickered on his body, as if he had activated some speed-enhancing ability.
Clang!
The long blade rang sharply. Blood splattered on the stone floor. Su Xiao had already appeared behind that Shadow Group member. No matter how fast the enemy was, could he be faster than Space Penetration?
Thud. The Shadow Group member fell face-first, a deep slash across his spine. Fourth-rank contractors were indeed much stronger than third-rank. A squishy assassin hadn't been instantly killed by Su Xiao.
Though not instantly killed, Su Xiao had severed his spine with one slash.
The Dragon-Slaying Flash flipped in Su Xiao's hand. He thrust downward. With a squelch, the blade pierced the contractor's head. The body twitched, and the pupils quickly dilated.
The contractor, killed in two strikes, materialized. The other six stepped back, clearly startled by the terrifying two slashes.
PS: (Cough, although the update time has been a bit late recently, it's still pretty stable... Ah man, I was wrong, don't hit my face.)