Chapter 29: Hatred Level Maxed Out
Su Xiao leaped down from the bow of the Moby Dick. He advanced a dozen meters, and a blinding golden ray shot toward him from a distance. With a tilt of his head, the golden ray whizzed past his ear, carrying intense heat as it blasted into a pirate ship.
Boom!
Wood splinters flew amid the explosion's flames. Su Xiao looked toward the right side of the battlefield. Amid the large group of Marines, Kizaru was also staring at Su Xiao.
"Kizaru, where are you looking?"
Marco, with an equally lazy expression, side-kicked toward Kizaru's head. He had already leaped off the ground. Perhaps no one but Marco would dare use such a reckless leaping side-kick.
Whoosh! A golden ray pierced through Marco's neck. Blue flames surged at the wound.
"That hurts~"
Marco looked at Kizaru with a half-smile. As a user of the Phoenix Fruit, even if his vitals were pierced, he could recover in a short time.
The lazy smile on Kizaru's face gradually faded. Suddenly, a weapon shaped like a hiltless rapier, seemingly forged from pale blue crystal, shot forward, stabbing straight toward the back of Kizaru's head.
Light particles flickered. Kizaru's head elementalized and dispersed, allowing the Exile to pass through harmlessly.
Ding!
The Exile split apart. Kizaru fully elementalized his entire body.
Marco rushed a few steps in front of Kizaru and kicked him, sending the mass of golden light flying away.
The Exile reassembled into its hiltless rapier form and flew past Su Xiao. Marco waved at Su Xiao, seemingly thanking him, but actually conveying another meaning—he would hold off Kizaru.
"Doctor White Night is on our side now?"
Flower Sword Vista cut down a Marine warrant officer with two slashes but didn't finish him off. He was here to rescue someone, not to slaughter Marines.
"Not necessarily, Vista. Don't trust him too much, and keep a safe distance."
Marco left these words as he walked toward Kizaru's direction.
Bang!
A Marine with a shattered skull flew to Vista's feet. He looked toward the direction the corpse came from—it was their ship's doctor, a short, stout pirate carrying a medical kit and wearing a round hat.
"Are all doctors... this temperamental?"
Vista glanced at the stout doctor, then at Su Xiao, and finally at Marco. Although Marco wasn't a true doctor in the strict sense, his 'Healing Flames' could accomplish what many doctors couldn't. The weakness was that he couldn't heal injuries quickly; patients needed to rest for a while, and repeated use on the same injured person would gradually weaken the effect.
Su Xiao ignored Marco and the others. He walked slowly across the ice, entering the chaotic battle zone.
"Ah!! My leg, someone help..."
Slash! Slash!
A large blade cut through flesh and bone. The fallen Marine screaming on the ground no longer needed a doctor; he needed a body bag.
The once-pristine white ice was now stained with blood and scattered with human remains. Su Xiao was used to such scenes. He had participated in even more brutal battlefields in war worlds, like the war between the Dragon Empire and the Tribal Alliance. After one campaign, over a hundred thousand corpses were piled up and burned on the battlefield, the soil dyed blood-red.
As Su Xiao approached the battle zone filled with shouts and clashing weapons, several Marines charged at him. To the Marine soldiers, most people not wearing white uniforms on the battlefield were enemies.
These Marines had blood on their standard-issue longswords, and their steps were coordinated. They were clearly part of a dozen-man squad, now reduced to just a few.
"Surround him..."
A Marine roared, but then felt a stabbing pain at his temple, followed by dizziness.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
The Exile flew in a semicircle, precisely piercing the heads of several Marines. The blade vibrated, shaking off the blood as a fine mist.
Su Xiao walked past the corpses, his hand resting on his sword hilt. Dealing with these Marine soldiers, drawing his blade would be a waste of time.
Bang! The Exile broke the sound barrier. A blue afterimage shuttled within a fifty-meter radius centered on Su Xiao, piercing the heads and hearts of Marine after Marine.
"Die!"
A pirate wielding a spiked club, his eyes bloodshot, was about to smash an enemy's skull when he noticed the light fading from his target's eyes.
Thud. At least a hundred Marines collapsed simultaneously. The pirates in this area looked at each other, unsure of what had just happened. After a moment of deathly silence in this small zone, the pirates scattered in all directions. Although these pirates were mere small fry in the Summit War, they were ruthless figures back in the Four Blues.
The pirates were far outnumbered by the Marines, but their individual combat strength surpassed most Marines. That was why both sides had been fighting until now.
Su Xiao walked through a field of corpses. Just as he was about to continue controlling the Exile, cold air spread from under his feet.
Several green vines sprouted from beneath Su Xiao, coiling around his lower body. The next moment, bone-chilling cold appeared behind him.
Crack, crack, crack...
Ice froze, and Su Xiao was encased in an ice sculpture.
Beneath the frozen block, Aokiji de-elementalized. He looked suspiciously at the vines inside the ice. These vines had not only grown within the ice but had even bloomed pink flowers.
"Mr. Kuzan, we'll help you deal with this troublesome enemy."
A man and a woman emerged from among the Marines. One had black eye shadow, the other purple. They walked with their arms around each other's waists.
This couple were both Fifth Rank contractors, members of the Marine faction, named Black Moon and Flower Shadow.
Aokiji, with white mist rising from his body, glanced at them. He recognized these two; they had done a lot for the Marines and had volunteered to fight.
"Be careful of that flying weapon. If it pierces you once, you're dead, unless you're a Logia user."
Aokiji, with his naturally curly black hair, spoke as cold air swirled around him.
"Don't worry, Admiral Aokiji. We've dealt with stranger abilities before."
Black Moon's eyes scanned the surroundings. The ice block Aokiji had frozen hadn't trapped Su Xiao. He had vanished as soon as the ice began to spread.
"Behind."
Flower Shadow, who had her arm around Black Moon's waist, spoke just as the Exile stabbed toward the back of Black Moon's head.
"I love you."
"Of course I know."
Flower Shadow chuckled softly. Black Moon's body turned semi-transparent, and the Exile passed through his head.
"Darling, I can't live without you."
Black Moon re-solidified. A red mark appeared on Flower Shadow's cheek.
"Yeah, without you, I can't live either."
Flower Shadow closed her eyes. She specialized in perception, control, and defense, while Black Moon excelled at charging in to kill enemies.
"Left."
As soon as Flower Shadow spoke, the two leaped sideways, hand in hand. Just as they jumped, several pale blue slashes came from their left.
Su Xiao, holding the Dragon-Slaying Flash, emerged from a shell crater. Cold air drifted from his clothes. The Marines hated him more than he had imagined. The moment he appeared, Aokiji came for him, along with a pair of Fifth Rank contractors.