Chapter 23: Before the Battle
A string of bubbles rose within the seawater. The world beneath the sea was colorful and vibrant. A submarine boat slowly ascended, eventually reaching the surface.
"If something unexpected happens, don't approach me within five hours. We'll rendezvous in five hours."
Su Xiao opened the hatch of the submarine. Bubu Wang and Amu both nodded to indicate they understood what to do next.
Su Xiao prepared to equip [Killing Instinct]. This sea area was still some distance from the Navy Headquarters. Even if the judgment failed after equipping [Killing Instinct], the surroundings were nothing but seawater and fish, so the risk was minimal.
The submarine gradually submerged into the sea. Su Xiao stood on a layer of ice frozen by Amu and attempted to equip Killing Instinct.
[Yes/No equip Killing Instinct. This is a special equipment. Equipping it carries certain risks.]
Su Xiao ignored the prompt and equipped Killing Instinct.
With a bang, blood aura spread outward with Su Xiao at the center. Fine cracks appeared on the ice beneath his feet, and various marine life floated up on the surrounding sea surface.
Su Xiao's vision turned blood-red. This feeling was unpleasant, as if the entire world had been stained with blood, and everything his eyes fell upon seemed hostile toward him.
'Kill them all. You are the strongest. Only cowards restrain their killing urge.'
'Don't stop. Hope is carved out through slaughter.'
Voices, sometimes distant, sometimes near, echoed in Su Xiao's ears. He hadn't lost his reason yet, which meant the willpower judgment hadn't failed.
The voices beside his ears gradually faded, but the world in Su Xiao's sight remained blood-red. He could sense that if he continued in this state, he would lose his mind.
Sitting on the ice layer, Su Xiao began to attempt meditation. If he could enter a meditative state, he would completely calm down.
However, given Su Xiao's current situation, entering a meditative state was not easy. The voices that came from nowhere kept interrupting his attempts to enter meditation.
As Su Xiao tried to meditate, the blood aura around him gradually dissipated. The ice block shattered with a crash, and he fell into the sea.
The cold touch of the seawater made Su Xiao suddenly open his eyes. He suddenly realized that entering meditation during the willpower judgment was unwise. The instinctive killing state had been influencing him just now.
The blood-red color in Su Xiao's vision quickly faded. A completely different feeling emerged. Something in his mind seemed to have been unlocked, and the world around him became different.
[You have successfully equipped Killing Instinct. You are now in the 'Instinct Activation' state. This state has no consumption and no time limit. This ability will be disabled when the corresponding equipment is removed.]
[Instinct has been upgraded to Lv.42.]
[Detected that the compatibility between Instinct Activation (Passive) and the Instinct ability exceeds 80%. The upgrade speed of the Instinct ability is increased by 2 to 25 times (25 times during combat, 12 times in dangerous environments, 2 times in safe environments).]
...
Su Xiao swam to the surface. [Killing Instinct] had been successfully equipped. Its effect was very powerful. When not in combat, his Instinct ability's upgrade speed was twice the original. Once combat began, it reached 25 times. If he engaged in a battle lasting more than a day, it might directly increase the Instinct ability by one level. Of course, such day-long battles were mostly on large-scale battlefields.
Su Xiao checked the time. There were only 17 hours left until the Paramount War began, meaning tomorrow morning. Obviously, arriving at Marineford before the start of the Paramount War was the best choice.
Through the adventure group channel, Su Xiao contacted Bubu Wang inside the submarine.
'Lock onto my position.'
As soon as Su Xiao sent the message, Bubu Wang replied.
'Password.'
Su Xiao was stunned. He hadn't set a password with Bubu Wang before.
'What password?'
'Wrong password. Your follower, Bubuteni, has gone offline.'
'...'
After Su Xiao's 'persuasion', Bubu Wang quickly drove the submarine to rendezvous with Su Xiao. Clearly, Bubu Wang was very happy to have pulled a prank.
After entering the submarine, Su Xiao headed toward the Navy Headquarters from underwater. In the original story, the Whitebeard Pirates had tested it, and the underwater security around Marineford was not very strict.
Around 8 PM that night, Su Xiao arrived in the waters near Marineford. He didn't go ashore but had Bubu Wang scout the island.
Marineford was brightly lit at night. Tomorrow was Ace's execution day. Barring any surprises, Ace was now imprisoned inside the Navy Headquarters, awaiting execution.
The entire Marineford was under martial law. The families of the navy personnel on the island had been evacuated half a month ago. Marines summoned from all over the world were stationed in the residential area behind the Navy Headquarters building. They wouldn't participate in the battle but were responsible for defending the area. As for the area around the headquarters, there were 100,000 elite marines.
Whether at the port or along the island's coastline, marines were stationed everywhere. Sneaking into Marineford was very difficult. However...
Bubu Wang, blending into the environment, came ashore from the U-shaped port in front of the Navy Headquarters. The marines standing in several rows were as blind as could be, completely unable to see Bubu Wang, who was strolling toward the Navy Headquarters with measured steps.
Bubu Wang shook off the seawater from his body. He first entered the first floor of the Navy Headquarters. Officers and soldiers walked past him one after another.
Inside the submarine, Su Xiao was observing the Navy Headquarters through the surveillance device on Bubu Wang.
Bubu Wang used his dog paw to adjust the surveillance probe on his head and began searching room by room. He didn't need to go through doors; he could directly penetrate walls to enter rooms, which made his chances of being discovered even lower.
Inside a slightly dim room.
"It's about to begin. Tomorrow morning."
"Yes, it's about to begin. Fighting that legendary pirate... Maybe we should run."
"Are you crazy? How can we run? Deserters are sentenced to death."
Several marines with gloomy expressions whispered in the room. None of them wanted to fight the Whitebeard Pirates, but their Marshal had already made the decision, and they could only obey.
Bubu Wang turned around and penetrated the wall behind him. He had just thought he had collected important intelligence.
More than ten minutes later, Bubu Wang had inspected the entire first floor of the Navy Headquarters. There was nothing worth noting.
The second, third, and fourth floors had no particularly suspicious people. Most were worried soldiers, though they appeared very motivated in the eyes of outsiders.
When Bubu Wang entered a spacious and bright room, he paused. There were five people in this room, the Seven Warlords of the Sea gathered here before the battle.
The Sea Scum, Donquixote Doflamingo; Hawkeye, Dracule Mihawk; Tyrant, Bartholomew Kuma; Gecko Moria; and the Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock.
These five were gathered together. The atmosphere in the room was predictable.
Tyrant Kuma and Hawkeye remained silent, the cool and aloof type. Moria, on the other hand, was picking his teeth, seemingly wanting to tease someone, but given that the others present were not easy to mess with, he could only snort coldly.
Doflamingo was much more relaxed. He sat with his legs crossed, occasionally glancing out the window.
Pirate Empress Boa Hancock was the most interesting. She tilted her chin up slightly, with an expression that said, "I am the most beautiful. You smelly men, stay far away from me."
"Bubu, I'm not interested in that woman's chest. Don't get so close. Switch the angle to Doflamingo's side. That thing can be handed over to him."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, the soul photographer Bubu Wang adjusted the lens and slowly walked toward Doflamingo. After arriving in front of Doflamingo, he stuffed a piece of paper into Doflamingo's trouser leg.
Doflamingo's expression changed. He looked down at his calf. Something... had just touched him.