Chapter 76: CP0 (Fifth Update)
From killing the Celestial Dragons to leaving the Sabaody Archipelago, Su Xiao spent no more than five minutes in total. This was the result of ten days of preparation.
From start to finish, Su Xiao never intended to appear inside the slave auction house. Three shots to kill the target, then a swift departure from the Sabaody Archipelago—this plan seemed simple, but in reality, Su Xiao had been orchestrating it for a long time.
First, Su Xiao had to wait for the Straw Hat Pirates to land on the island. Next, he needed to ensure that Camie was kidnapped and sent to the slave auction house.
Based on Su Xiao’s speculation, the Celestial Dragons appearing at the slave auction was not a certainty. Those three Celestial Dragons had likely heard that a mermaid was up for sale, and since they happened to be on the Sabaody Archipelago, they decided to go to the auction.
If the mermaid Camie hadn’t been put up for auction, whether those three would have shown up at the slave auction was unknown.
To ensure this, Su Xiao spent four days preparing. First, he found an experienced member of a slave-catching crew. Then, he lured Camie out alone, creating an opportunity for that slave-catching crew member.
What seemed like a coincidence inside the auction house was actually a series of inevitable events. If that slave-catching crew member had failed, Su Xiao would have personally captured Camie. The mermaid Camie was a crucial link in the chain.
There were many more steps after that. Su Xiao had exhausted countless brain cells over these past few days.
Hum~
The motor at the rear of the ship roared at high speed, the entire fishing boat creaking and groaning as it pushed to a speed it was never meant to achieve.
Su Xiao was sailing away from the waters near the Sabaody Archipelago. He chose a direction opposite to Marine Headquarters, Marineford, making it significantly harder for the Marines to pursue him.
The promotion/main quest was actually quite interesting. The difficulty of the quest was rated as such, indicating that if handled properly, the difficulty was only [Difficulty: ★★★★★]. If he had charged in head-on, the difficulty would have risen to Lv.40 or above.
Five minutes after the Celestial Dragons died, high-ranking officials of the World Government received the news. Seven minutes later, the Five Elders learned of it. Twelve minutes later, Marine Headquarters was placed on high alert, and seven warships departed from the port.
Inside the Marshal’s office at Marine Headquarters.
“Damn it!”
With a bang, Sengoku smashed the desk in front of him. His face was grim beyond measure. Just this morning, he had applied to the World Government to announce the impending execution of Fire Fist Ace.
Once this news was made public, it was equivalent to declaring war on the Whitebeard Pirates. The Marines were responsible for executing Ace, and the location was Marineford.
He had declared war on the Whitebeard Pirates this morning, and by noon, news arrived that Celestial Dragons had been killed—three of them, no less. To make matters worse, these three Celestial Dragons were direct descendants.
All three Celestial Dragons were direct members of the same family. This family was already not very prosperous. With the father, son, and daughter dying simultaneously, Sengoku was shocked to discover that this Celestial Dragon family’s bloodline had been cut off.
Although the two male Celestial Dragons had spread their seed far and wide, the children born from slaves and servants were not considered direct descendants. Other Celestial Dragon families would never acknowledge them.
In other words, Su Xiao’s three shots had directly severed one of the bloodlines descended from the Twenty Kings.
Su Xiao was also aware of this news, because when he fired the last shot, Reincarnation Paradise gave him a prompt.
At sea, the motor roared. Su Xiao watched the Sabaody Archipelago disappear from his sight and let out a long sigh of relief. Only then did he have time to check the kill notifications.
[You have killed Roswald Saint. You gain 8.8% World Source.]
[You have killed Charloss Saint. You gain 6.9% World Source.]
[You have killed Shalulia Saint. You gain 6.2% World Source.]
[Prompt: Your actions have caused the direct bloodline of the Ignaz family, descendants of the Twenty Kings, to be severed. You gain 15% World Source.]
[Your relationship with the World Government has been locked to Mortal Enemy.]
[Your relationship with the Marines has been locked to Bitter Enemy.]
……
The rewards for killing the three Celestial Dragons were generous, but with great rewards came high risks.
His relationship with the World Government and the Marines had reached an irreconcilable point. Due to Su Xiao’s identity as a researcher, the World Government had previously chosen to capture him alive and transport him to Enies Lobby, intending to torture him for the method of manufacturing Apollo.
If Su Xiao fell into the hands of the Marines or the World Government now, they wouldn’t bother imprisoning him. There was a 90% or higher chance they would execute him on the spot, without even a trial.
Sabaody Archipelago, Grove 1.
A few minutes after the incident, the pirates and bidders there had scattered like birds and beasts. The smarter pirate crews directly set sail from the Sabaody Archipelago. As for coating their ships with resin and heading to Fish-Man Island—don’t be ridiculous. With Celestial Dragons dead here, who had the leisure to coat their ships?
But nothing is absolute. Some more stubborn pirate crews didn’t leave the Sabaody Archipelago. Instead, they planned to wait until their ships were coated, then dive underwater and head for Fish-Man Island.
“Straw Hat, it’s better to leave here first. Drift at sea for a few days, then think about coating the ship.”
Hachi the fish-man was frantic with worry. Although they had successfully rescued Camie, Monkey D. Luffy didn’t seem to realize the gravity of the situation.
“Relax. I don’t know what happened, but those people weren’t killed by us.”
“But…”
“I’m hungry.”
“Straw Hat! Do you understand what the death of a Celestial Dragon means?”
Hachi was panicked. Seeing Hachi’s anxious expression, Luffy finally sensed that something was wrong.
“For the sake of your crewmates, it’s best to leave here first. We’ll come back to the Sabaody Archipelago in half a month—no, ten days.”
“…”
Luffy fell silent. After a moment, he nodded, which surprised Zoro and Sanji.
“We’re leaving the Sabaody.”
“That’s best, Straw Hat. You really…”
Hachi rubbed his hands excitedly. He didn’t know that if he had only urged Luffy to leave, Luffy, being as stubborn as a rock, wouldn’t have left. That would have felt like running away.
One of Hachi’s words struck a chord with Luffy: “For the sake of your crewmates.”
Was Luffy stupid? Not at all. He was just straightforward and single-minded. He could see the anxiety in Hachi’s expression.
“We’re setting sail immediately. Right now.”
If Hachi could fly, he would have dragged the entire Straw Hat Pirates off the Sabaody Archipelago.
“Let’s go.”
Zoro stepped forward. Luffy was his captain, and when it came to critical decisions, he only listened to Monkey D. Luffy.
“Zoro, wrong way.”
“Huh.”
Zoro awkwardly changed direction and walked the other way.
“This way, this way. Where are you even trying to go?”
Nami held her forehead. Sanji smirked at Zoro, his expression dripping with mockery.
“Damn cook.”
Zoro nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood.
“Great escape, hahaha.”
Luffy charged toward the Thousand Sunny. No matter the situation, he was always this cheerful.
Whoosh~
A sound of breaking wind came, and three figures appeared in front of the Straw Hat Pirates. These three wore white robes and masks. One was about five meters tall, another three meters, and the shortest around one meter six. These people were CP0!
Don’t confuse CP0 with CP1 through CP9. CP0 commanded the entire CP department. They were both the fangs and the shields of the Celestial Dragons. According to rumors, some of the strong members of CP0 were no weaker than Marine Admirals.
“Flower, confirm it.”
The tallest CP0 member spoke.
“It’s not them. But… they witnessed it.”
The shortest figure spoke. It was a woman.
“The location is…”
The woman staggered a few steps, as if she had used some ability that heavily drained her stamina.
“At… sea!”
“Pursue.”
The tall figure glanced at the Straw Hat Pirates, then turned and left with his two subordinates.