Chapter 62: Breaking Free
When Su Xiao mentioned the contract, Xiao Mantou shrank her neck, looking pitiful. Her gaze secretly glanced toward Su Xiao, only to find that he didn’t care at all about her pitiful expression.
Su Xiao spent 100 Paradise Coins to draft a contract. The main content was that, before the end of the Pirate World, Xiao Mantou needed to assist Su Xiao without compensation, while their gains would be mutually non-interfering.
In other words, the rewards Su Xiao obtained had nothing to do with Xiao Mantou, and Su Xiao wouldn’t interfere with Xiao Mantou’s gains either.
To prevent Xiao Mantou from stabbing him in the back, Su Xiao set 17 mandatory clauses. The penalty for violation was a 30% reduction in all attributes, random removal of three equipped items, or forced stripping of three abilities above Lv.30.
Such a penalty was an unbearable consequence for Xiao Mantou, which greatly reduced the possibility of her betraying him.
After hesitating for a moment, Xiao Mantou decided to sign the contract. First, she was currently on the opposing side to Su Xiao. Not signing would simply lead to the same outcome as her previous temporary teammates—becoming a corpse.
Moreover, Xiao Mantou sensed that although Su Xiao was covered in bloodlust, giving off an extremely terrifying vibe, he wasn’t trying to exploit her. This was evident from the independent gains clause.
Xiao Mantou had accepted three side missions. Her previous team had demanded 70% of her mission rewards, though they would provide some help—provided it didn’t risk their lives.
As the weaker party, no, as someone who could be killed at any moment, Xiao Mantou felt this contract was very reliable.
“Um…”
After signing the contract, Xiao Mantou raised her pale hand, looking like a primary school student wanting to ask a question in class.
“Something wrong?”
Su Xiao placed the Duke of Annihilation on the bar counter, pulled the bolt, and a spent shell flew out.
“What do I need to do later? Heal you? Perceive?”
“Not needed for now.”
Su Xiao had captured Xiao Mantou simply to randomly grab a “lucky” healer. After his battle with the Ant King in the Hunter World, he realized the power of support-type contractors, especially healers.
When Su Xiao first arrived at District 21, he saw a few people besieging a lone contractor. That contractor quickly lost, but the attackers didn’t kill him immediately. Instead, they slit his throat, keeping his vital signs in a severely injured state.
Su Xiao initially planned to ignore this group, but Xiao Mantou appeared in his sight. After a preliminary observation, she was clearly a support-type contractor.
How could such a small team have a healer like Xiao Mantou? Su Xiao often interacted with various adventure groups, so he quickly realized she was a team healer.
Su Xiao originally intended to use the range advantage of the Duke of Annihilation to wipe out a small or medium adventure group. But after following them, he found no adventure group at all—Xiao Mantou was a homeless “wild healer.”
“So… I just follow you like this?”
Xiao Mantou’s eyes were full of confusion. She didn’t understand why Su Xiao spared her life. He didn’t pin her down and rough her up, nor did he need her healing. That was terrifying.
Thinking this, Xiao Mantou slowly stepped back a few paces.
“Just assist me in battle.”
Su Xiao reloaded the Duke of Annihilation and put it away.
“Oh, I see.”
This time, Xiao Mantou felt relieved. But since she and Su Xiao were strangers in a derivative world with no laws for contractors, she naturally kept some guard against him.
“Are you here to grab that thing too?”
Xiao Mantou’s gaze showed a hint of excitement.
“No.”
Su Xiao had no idea what Xiao Mantou was talking about, but he knew one thing: this little healer, after sitting up and putting on her clothes, was starting to develop a tendency to chatter.
Xiao Mantou looked expectant, waiting for Su Xiao to ask what “that thing” was.
One minute, five minutes, ten minutes passed. Su Xiao still sat on the wooden chair by the bar, resting.
This frustrated Xiao Mantou to no end. She had planned to use this information to negotiate a few things with Su Xiao, but judging by the current situation, he didn’t seem curious about what she knew.
“10,000 Pirate Reputation Points—don’t you really want to get them?”
Xiao Mantou threw out her trump card. Hearing 10,000 Pirate Reputation Points, Su Xiao’s eyes opened.
“I knew it~”
Two small dimples appeared on Xiao Mantou’s face as she smiled happily. But the next moment, her smile froze.
“Go on. I’m very interested.”
The long blade hummed, its edge reflecting a bright, snowy light.
“Uh~”
After a moment of inner struggle, Xiao Mantou finally let out a long sigh, as if she had given up.
“Three days ago, a contractor sneaked into the home of Silvers Rayleigh. He stole a flintlock pistol from Rayleigh’s house.”
Although Xiao Mantou was talkative, her language skills weren’t the best. She stopped there, seeming to consider how to continue.
“A flintlock pistol worth 10,000 Pirate Reputation Points?”
Su Xiao found this unlikely. He had only been rewarded a few thousand Pirate Reputation Points for killing Cracker earlier.
“It’s true. That was the personal pistol of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger. When that contractor got Roger’s pistol, he also triggered a hidden mission. He secretly completed the first two stages, and the third stage’s location was in District 21…”
Through Xiao Mantou’s explanation, Su Xiao learned the details.
When that contractor arrived at District 21 to complete the third stage of the hidden mission, other contractors weren’t fighting each other here. The original battlefield was the lawless zone of District 16.
That contractor was unlucky. Upon reaching District 21, he encountered two teams simultaneously. These two teams were cooperating to kill lone contractors, so that contractor met his end.
[Roger’s Pistol] was the key item for the hidden mission. Completing this mission would grant ownership of the pistol, which could then be exchanged for 10,000 Pirate Reputation Points.
In despair, that contractor publicly revealed this information on the communication platform. Over ten hours later, the contractors’ battlefield shifted from District 16 to District 21, leading to the current situation where District 21 became a chaotic free-for-all.
Earlier, Su Xiao had wondered why the contractors chose District 21 as their battlefield instead of spreading across the entire Sabaody Archipelago. Fixing the battle in one location at least multiplied the risks of participating.
Now he understood. The cause of the chaos was a hidden mission plus its key item.
“Do you know where that gun is?”
“Of course. Everyone knows. You didn’t know about this? Haven’t you been on Sabaody Archipelago these past few days?”
Xiao Mantou had only asked casually, but to her surprise, Su Xiao was unaware of this.
Su Xiao certainly didn’t know. Over the past few days, he had been busy dealing with Vice Admiral Tsuru, Kizaru, Garp, and others. He had no time to check the communication platform. His smooth escape was thanks to his preparations during those days.
“Were you… teleported here?”
Su Xiao asked the question that puzzled him. Xiao Mantou had a contract, so he wasn’t worried about her noticing anything.
“Aren’t you? All fourth-rank contractors were…”
Xiao Mantou was even more surprised. Then, thinking of something, she looked at Su Xiao in disbelief, as if discovering a new species.
“Could it be… you’re that super invincible third-rank big shot?!”