Chapter 37: Returning the Original Words
But there was one issue at hand—the bullets for this sniper rifle were very special, being 13.77 caliber rounds. Su Xiao had never heard of such a caliber, and on top of that, they were exclusive ammunition.
By inquiring with Reincarnation Paradise, Su Xiao learned that these bullets could be replenished there, costing 50 Paradise Coins each. Twenty rounds would be 1,000 Paradise Coins!
At the moment, the magazine held 20 rounds. Su Xiao had an idea—what if he used the high ground at Enies Lobby to snipe those Contractors or Plot Characters?
The answer was that it would be extremely satisfying. And when those people finally struggled their way close to him, Su Xiao would already have drawn Dragon-Slashing Flash. Close combat was his forte.
The Spider Empress's "Optical Infrared Detection Scope 8x (Active)" could auto-correct, so Su Xiao didn't need to master much sniper rifle technique. The more high-tech the weapon, the simpler it was to use.
Su Xiao's combat system was becoming complete, with no risk of being kited to death.
Close combat was his main fighting method. If an enemy managed to keep their distance, he would pull out Shattered Elf and start aiming shots. If the enemy kept running farther away, Su Xiao would directly bring out the Spider Empress and set up. Under this combination, enemies simply couldn't escape.
The Spider Empress had very high attack power, several times that of Shattered Elf. One shot could pierce even Su Xiao, and a headshot meant instant kill.
Putting away the Spider Empress, Su Xiao couldn't help but look forward to the final battle at Enies Lobby.
With a bountiful harvest and thirty seconds of Fortune Force remaining, Su Xiao casually opened that blue treasure chest. A faint blue light shimmered.
Su Xiao's heart tightened—it had flashed! But the flash was very faint, somewhat different from before.
[You have received 3,000 Paradise Coins.]
[You have received 1,000 Paradise Coins.]
[You have received 500 Paradise Coins.]
[You have received 2,100 Paradise Coins.]
[You have received 860 Paradise Coins.]
[You have received 5,100 Paradise Coins.]
A long list of Paradise Coin acquisition prompts appeared, with no equipment at all. This surprised Su Xiao.
Perhaps this somewhat dim flash represented a massive Paradise Coin explosion? Very possible.
Su Xiao added up the Paradise Coins obtained from the chest and discovered something astonishing—this chest had yielded 12,560 Paradise Coins.
This amount was incredible for opening a single chest. Su Xiao tossed the lighter in his hand—its name was very fitting: Destiny Redemption.
After opening all the chests and Scarlet Cards, Su Xiao realized one thing: open-world environments were very dangerous.
He had gained this much from opening three Scarlet Cards. After opening the last one, he even had the urge to hunt down a few more Contractors.
Su Xiao suppressed this thought. He had his own plans. If Contractors didn't actively provoke him, he wouldn't hunt them—Violators were the exception.
After the great harvest of chests and Scarlet Cards, Su Xiao lay comfortably on the bed. The Sea Train sped along, very smoothly.
Because the bed was a bit short, lying together with Bubuteni was a little cramped. Bubuteni was currently resting its head on Su Xiao's lower abdomen.
Su Xiao, who could sometimes be murderous, only had Bubuteni willing to get close to him. Others would give him a wide berth, let alone rest their head on his stomach.
Su Xiao began to doze off. Things would soon get chaotic outside, and he just needed to keep sleeping.
Even if Lucci and the others suspected he was behind that incident, where was the evidence? Su Xiao was currently a member of CP0. Though his position was awkward, without evidence, Lucci and the others couldn't arrest him or even openly suspect him—only secretly.
Before long, the rear carriages became noisy, with running footsteps growing more urgent.
Su Xiao lay calmly on the bed, Bubuteni not moving either.
Bang.
The compartment door was slammed open. Lucci and the others rushed in, standing guard around Su Xiao with their backs to him, as if protecting his safety. In reality, the four were scanning the compartment for anything unusual. After a long while, they found nothing.
"White Night, an 'enemy' is hiding on the Sea Train, so we barged into your room to protect your safety. Please don't misunderstand."
Kalifa spoke to explain.
"Is that so? Then I thank you."
Su Xiao still lay on the bed, hands behind his head.
"Ah!"
A sudden scream rang out. Bubuteni bit down on Kaku's lower back. Caught off guard, Kaku's lower back was torn bloody and mangled.
Not only that, but Bubuteni was shaking its head left and right, as if trying to tear a piece of flesh from Kaku's body. Bubuteni revealed its wolf nature, its ferocious side.
Once Bubuteni bit an enemy, even if its head were cut off, it wouldn't let go. The only one who could make Bubuteni release its bite was Su Xiao.
"Iron Body."
Kaku growled, raising a fist to strike Bubuteni.
But at that moment, Kaku saw a pair of eyes, cold to the extreme, staring at him.
"Are you trying to... harm my partner?"
Su Xiao sat up on the bed, staring intently at Kaku.
"Kaku, stop." Lucci barked.
"Bubu."
Hearing Su Xiao's words, Bubuteni let go, blood still dripping from its mouth.
"Kaku, someone suddenly barged into my room. My partner was just protecting my safety. Please forgive us."
This was almost Lucci's original words from earlier. Now Su Xiao returned those original words to the four CP9 members.
"It's... fine."
Kaku gritted his teeth in response. They had chosen to slam the door open instead of knocking, which was an indirect act of hostility toward Su Xiao.
Franky had been attacked, and CP9 immediately thought of Su Xiao, so they barged into his room to search for clues as quickly as possible.
"So, CP9, have you found the enemy?"
Su Xiao yawned, as if just waking up.
"We're still investigating."
Lucci blocked Su Xiao's line of sight, while Kalifa and the other two took the opportunity to check the compartment's window.
The compartment door had been guarded the whole time, so the only way out was this window—though other possibilities existed.
"We were indeed a bit reckless earlier. Consider this a small apology."
Lucci took out a pendant, strung on a cord. The main body was a finger-sized stone with blessings written on it.
Lucci grabbed the cord. If Su Xiao wanted to take the pendant, he would have to touch the small stone.
"Forget it, I don't mind."
Su Xiao didn't touch the pendant. Lucci's eyes flickered.
"Please, accept it."
Su Xiao's heart tightened. Something was off about this—was there poison on the surface? Unlikely. He had already pretended to swallow a slow-acting poison.
He raised his hand and took the pendant. Kalifa and the other two were all subtly watching Su Xiao.
Su Xiao's hand touched the pendant, his expression unchanged. He even played with the pendant in his hand for a moment.
"This thing is too crude. A pendant should at least be carved."
He put the pendant into his coat pocket. Seeing no abnormality in Su Xiao, Lucci said, "We're about to arrive at Enies Lobby, so prepare to disembark. Head to Carriage Three."
All four CP9 members left the compartment. After they closed the door, a smile appeared on Su Xiao's lips.
He took the pendant from his pocket and stored it in his inventory.
[Sea Stone Pendant (No Rank, Special Item)]
After CP9 found no traces in the compartment, Lucci had immediately handed him the Sea Stone—this was to test if he was a Devil Fruit user.
Enies Lobby was about to arrive, and then Su Xiao's "opponent" would no longer be CP9 agents, but the even more cunning officials of the World Government.