Chapter 45: What Kind of Move Is This?
Big Mom halted, and behind her, Katakuri murmured something to her. After hearing Katakuri’s words, Big Mom looked slightly surprised, then turned to Kukulin Bai Ye with keen interest.
“Kid…”
For some reason, a smile actually appeared on Big Mom’s face, though it sent chills down one’s spine.
“So now you’re interested in talking with me?”
A blue light flickered in Su Xiao’s left hand. After being removed from the low-temperature container, this Apollo was highly unstable, and could even explode if it slipped from his grasp.
Would Su Xiao dare to detonate the Apollo on Red Hair’s ship? The answer was, of course, yes.
First, he and Big Mom were already mortal enemies. Even without this incident, their conflict was irreconcilable. With old grudges already in place, adding some new ones didn’t matter.
As for Red Hair, since he had already offended Big Mom, offending Red Hair as well made no difference. Su Xiao wouldn’t be living in the One Piece world for long anyway.
If Big Mom charged at him recklessly, Su Xiao would decisively detonate the Apollo. The moment it exploded, he would do two things: activate a secondary invincibility shield plus Demon Hunting Hour.
Although the secondary invincibility shield wasn’t truly invincible, it could block the Apollo’s temperature for a short time. After that, Su Xiao would continuously use the Dragon Shadow Flash ability to penetrate space and escape the blast radius as quickly as possible.
Su Xiao could escape unscathed, but the same couldn’t be said for Big Mom and her crew. At that moment, the ships of all three factions were anchored nearby. If the Apollo exploded, not a single ship would survive.
Red Hair and Big Mom might be able to withstand the Apollo’s explosion, but in the vast sea, could they truly survive? Even if they both made it, at least 90% of their subordinates would die.
That was why, after pulling out the Apollo, Su Xiao had been pondering one question: whether to just detonate it directly. If he got lucky and killed Katakuri, that would be a massive haul of pirate prestige.
But considering the aftermath of detonating the Apollo, Su Xiao dismissed the idea. If he actually set it off, most of the pirates in the New World would come hunting him.
Unless absolutely necessary, Su Xiao wouldn’t detonate the Apollo. Besides, Charlotte Linlin, this big goldmine, had already shown interest in negotiating.
“So, you want to sell me something that already belongs to me?”
Charlotte Linlin’s gaze drifted toward Red Hair. This was Red Hair’s ship, and he wouldn’t sit idly by while Su Xiao detonated the Apollo.
Although Red Hair seemed easygoing, the current situation had ignited a flame of anger within him.
It was no wonder Red Hair felt this way. He had come as a mediator to resolve the conflict between Donquixote Doflamingo and Charlotte Linlin, but as things were developing, he might very well lose his beloved ship.
The Red Force had accompanied the Red Hair Pirates through many years of storms. Including Red Hair himself, all the core members of the crew had a special attachment to that ship.
“You two, your private dealings seem to fall outside the scope of this negotiation.”
Red Hair’s gaze fixed directly on Su Xiao. This remark was clearly directed at him.
“So?”
Su Xiao tossed the Apollo in his hand, with over a dozen faint blue threads connected to it.
His action of tossing the Apollo made Benn Beckman and Lucky Roux both step forward two paces.
“So, the transaction between you two has nothing to do with the Red Hair Pirates.”
Red Hair had stepped in to stabilize the New World’s situation. As for the conflict between Su Xiao and Big Mom, he clearly didn’t want to interfere.
As one of the Four Emperors, Red Hair was no saint. The fact that he hadn’t shown anger yet already demonstrated his broad-mindedness.
“Red Hair is right. If you want to talk to me, come to my ship and talk.”
Big Mom turned and walked toward the railing. Moments later, she leaped onto Katakuri’s ship. That ship, which she had used when she was young, held special significance for her as well.
Big Mom had put Su Xiao in a tight spot. This situation was exactly what Red Hair wanted to see. The members of the Red Hair Pirates all looked at Su Xiao, their meaning clear: time to leave.
If Su Xiao had hoped to use Red Hair to block Big Mom earlier, he was now surrounded by the Big Mom Pirates. Red Hair wouldn’t lift a finger. Su Xiao was neither Red Hair’s crewmate nor his friend, so Red Hair had no reason to intervene.
Su Xiao hadn’t placed his hopes on Red Hair, nor had he relied on his ally Doflamingo’s power. That was precisely why his position wasn’t passive.
Big Mom’s meaning was obvious: they could talk, but on her ship. Was this Big Mom showing Red Hair face to avoid damaging his ship? No. Big Mom didn’t want outsiders to realize how important the Biscuit-Biscuit Fruit was to the Big Mom Pirates.
Red Hair appeared to be protecting himself, but he had actually noticed the strangeness in Big Mom and Katakuri. Now that the Donquixote Family and the Big Mom Pirates had ceased hostilities, he had no reason to stay involved in this matter.
“Red Hair, the one locked up in Impel Down seems to have a close connection with you, doesn’t he?”
Su Xiao spoke as he walked toward Big Mom’s ship, his voice not loud.
“Impel Down…”
Red Hair’s brow furrowed.
“Portgas D. Ace should be executed soon. The World Government is planning to make a big deal out of this.”
“You…”
This time, Red Hair was certain that Su Xiao was talking about the very thing he had been thinking about.
“How do I know? I worked as a laborer for the World Government for so long. Is it strange that I used my resources to bribe World Government officials? After meeting Charlotte Linlin in person, I’m more inclined toward your side. Unfortunately, our ways of doing things are completely opposite.”
Su Xiao stepped onto the railing with one foot.
“Wait, what do you know?”
Red Hair’s eyes gleamed. Regarding Portgas D. Ace, he had only obtained partial intelligence—that Fire Fist Ace had been captured.
“I know…”
Su Xiao’s voice grew softer and softer. Even with Red Hair’s keen hearing, he couldn’t make out what Su Xiao was saying.
“That’s basically it. If you want to know what happens next, hope I don’t die on Charlotte Linlin’s ship.”
Su Xiao leaped, jumping onto Big Mom’s ship.
Red Hair raised his hand to stop Su Xiao, but he hadn’t even clearly heard the last few sentences.
“Beckman, do you think this guy is trustworthy?”
At times like this, Red Hair wanted to hear his first mate’s opinion. In terms of strategy, Benn Beckman was far superior to him.
“A guy crazier than pirates? How could he be trustworthy? But… he did work for the World Government. According to the intelligence I have, on one of his trips, Kizaru was his escort.”
“Such a high status?”
Red Hair was somewhat surprised.
“Of course. Bai Ye: former World Government researcher, weapons expert, involved in multiple secret World Government projects. The White Whale Bombs the Navy now uses were made by him. That was just speculation before, but recently, the Donquixote Family has also started using these bombs, confirming the information.”
The White Whale Bombs Benn Beckman mentioned were actually special-grade alchemy bombs. Originally, pirates called them White Glue Bombs, but later a certain pirate crew renamed them White Whale Bombs. When an alchemy bomb was attached to a ship’s bottom and detonated, it felt like the entire ship had been rammed by a whale, hence the name.
“So, he might know about Ace?”
“Highly likely. Half a month before Ace was captured, Bai Ye defected from the World Government. He caused a ruckus at Enies Lobby. The official records say Bai Ye went to Enies Lobby as a tourist, then attacked CP9 members for unknown reasons, and ultimately defected from the World Government.”
Hearing Benn Beckman’s words, Red Hair was even more astonished. He knew exactly what Enies Lobby was. To think someone could go there under the guise of tourism? What kind of move was that?