Chapter 24: Get Down, There's a Bomb
Robin often mingled among various pirate crews, a tactic that helped her avoid torture or humiliation. However, Robin clearly hadn't heard the saying about striking while the iron is hot.
"It seems there's a reason you've managed to hide for so long. State your terms."
Su Xiao had actually already guessed what Robin was about to say.
"Pfft~." Robin spat out the poison. The other poison capsule in her mouth had become her lifeline.
"I want you to spare the Straw Hat Pirates. I'll trade my life for theirs. As long as you promise not to harm them, I'll willingly go with you."
Su Xiao pondered for a moment, then a smile spread across his face.
"You... what are you going to do?"
Seeing Su Xiao's smile, Robin felt a chill run down her spine and instinctively took two steps back.
"Bruno, I'm leaving this to you. A few 'guests' have arrived, so I'll go 'greet' them."
Su Xiao slowly drew the Dragon-Slaying Flash from his waist. Several contractors had arrived outside the abandoned factory.
Bruno looked at Su Xiao in confusion. A few seconds later, he heard footsteps approaching from outside the abandoned factory.
"Bai Ye, wait. I'll handle the enemies..."
Before Bruno could finish his sentence, Su Xiao had already walked out of the abandoned factory, leaving Bruno in a difficult position.
Su Xiao was now an important researcher and absolutely could not have any mishaps. Meanwhile, Nico Robin was the CP9 mission target, so neither side could afford any mistakes.
"Nico Robin, CP9 accepts your terms. However, during the escort to Enies Lobby, you must not attempt to escape or resist. Otherwise, we will annihilate the entire Straw Hat Pirates."
Robin nodded. This was exactly the outcome she had hoped for.
"Fine, I won't run. But... that man is a researcher?"
Robin looked at Su Xiao's retreating figure in surprise, thinking to herself, Are all World Government researchers this terrifying?
"You don't need to know that. For now, you stay here."
As Bruno spoke, his body tensed, and he let out a low shout: "Shave."
Boom!
Bruno's forward charge suddenly stopped as he slammed into an invisible wall. He stumbled a few steps before regaining his balance, his nose crooked from the impact.
"What... is this?"
A transparent film of light appeared around the abandoned factory, trapping Bruno and Robin inside.
On the roof of a three-story building a few hundred meters from the factory, a boy around ten years old sat at the edge, his legs swinging back and forth as he munched on a bag of "Little Raccoon Crispy Noodles," crunching away.
"Hit a wall, huh, you idiot. CP9 agents are surprisingly clueless."
The boy grinned smugly. If not for his voice leaning masculine, most people would have thought he was a girl, because his features were simply too beautiful. Though describing a boy as beautiful was a bit odd, it was the truth.
This ten-year-old pseudo-female wore androgynous clothing, with short silver-white hair falling to his ears.
"Little sissy, are all the enemies trapped?"
A lazy female voice came from behind. Hearing it, the boy's face darkened. Last night, he had almost been ambushed by this woman in the night.
"Don't call me a sissy. I have a name. It's Li."
Li turned his head irritably to look at the woman behind him. A pair of boneless, soft hands wrapped around his neck.
"Don't get so worked up, little girly boy."
A woman with 36D breasts crouched behind Li, her voice seductive and lazy.
The woman had crimson eyes, an unnaturally pale complexion, and very sharp nails.
"Hey... don't touch me, you bitch."
Li was already in the woman's embrace, but at the word "bitch," her expression suddenly turned cold.
"What did you just call me?"
The woman's hand slid into Li's clothes. Li's body stiffened as her sharp nails scraped against his skin, causing a dull pain.
"N-nothing, Sister Lilith."
"Oh, really? But your blood is just too tempting."
Lilith's crimson eyes grew even redder. She leaned her head close to Li's ear, revealing four sharp fangs.
"Haa~."
A puff of cold air hit Li's face, and his cheeks flushed unnaturally.
"We're still in a fight. Enemies are coming."
Though Li's face was flushed, perhaps due to his young age, his body didn't react much.
Lilith extended her tongue and licked Li's neck. Li let out a trembling gasp, his eyes suddenly showing panic as Lilith's hand reached his lower abdomen.
Li was alarmed. If this continued, "he" would be exposed.
"The enemy is here!" Li shouted in a low voice.
Lilith's movements abruptly stopped, and the crimson light in her eyes faded slightly.
"This damn gene. I almost did something stupid again."
Lilith let out a long breath. Her state just now had indeed been abnormal. After calming down, Lilith asked, "How many people?"
Li pressed his finger to his forehead, as if scanning something.
"One person. Primary weapon is a blade. Strength attribute: unreadable. Agility attribute: unreadable. Stamina: 25 points. Intelligence attribute... unreadable."
Hearing Li's report, Lilith was shocked.
"I can understand not being able to read Strength and Agility, but how can you not read Intelligence? And what kind of development path is this? All-rounder?"
Lilith instinctively felt something was wrong.
"Contact those fodder. Have them hold off the enemy. It doesn't matter if they die—just use them to test the waters."
As soon as Lilith finished speaking, she noticed Li's face had turned pale.
"Those fodder... were killed instantly. A total of... five slashes."
"What?"
Lilith was horrified. She and Li had formed a temporary adventure group, with the two of them as the main force. Before entering each derivative world, they would recruit some scattered contractors. This time, they had recruited five.
"Not good. We've run into a tough one. Prepare to flee."
Bang, bang, bang, bang...
Six consecutive gunshots rang out from below the building. Blood sprayed from multiple spots on Lilith's abdomen and chest as she stumbled and fell from the impact.
"There's a sniper!"
Lilith lay on the ground, grabbing Li and pulling him in front of her as a human shield.
All six shots had hit, and the damage was high, leading Lilith to mistakenly believe there was a sniper on high ground.
Li was grabbed by Lilith, and though his eyes were full of anger, he said nothing. If he spoke now, it could easily lead to internal conflict, and internal conflict meant doom.
"Shining Shield."
A transparent hexagonal shield formed, like a crystal shield. It was light enough for even the slender Li to hold steadily.
"Get up. It's not a sniper. We've run into a lone wolf. That guy is an all-rounder."
Li forcefully broke free from Lilith's grip. With a tearing sound, his clothes ripped, revealing a large expanse of pale white back.
"A lone wolf? That's worse than a sniper. Where is he?"
Lilith couldn't sense Su Xiao's position. She lay on the rooftop, scanning the surroundings.
"He's..." Just as Li was about to reveal Su Xiao's location, a white object was suddenly thrown by the enemy.
Li sensed the white object. It felt like a piece of gum.
"Get down! There's a bomb!"
Li quickly threw himself to the ground, covering himself with the crystal shield and curling up like a little turtle retreating into its shell.
The gum-like object hit the ground, its surface rapidly turning red like a branding iron.
Boom!
The shockwave of the explosion hit. Lilith was blasted, her hair disheveled, rolling far across the rooftop.
At that moment, a chill spread through Lilith's heart. She hadn't even seen the enemy yet, and she was already half-dead.