Chapter 42: Wrath of the Sun
After five hours of production, there were already over 500 alchemy bombs around Su Xiao. If he detonated them all, the consequences would be unimaginable. The Navy had repeatedly tried to transport the bombs away, but Su Xiao refused each time, as it would distract him.
Crack, crack.
A strange sound came. Su Xiao stopped his work and looked toward the source, the corner of his mouth twitching. Bubu Wang had gnawed on the experimental equipment.
If Su Xiao remembered correctly, that precision experimental device was worth over 30 million Berries. This was the most expensive thing Bubu Wang had ever chewed on.
"Bubu, don't chew on anything with electricity."
"Woof."
Bubu Wang happily agreed and continued gnawing on the equipment.
He felt no pain over these devices being chewed; the Navy could provide more, and besides, he had no use for them anyway.
The door was pushed open, and Kizaru and Tashigi entered the laboratory.
Tashigi paused at the sight of the mountain of explosives. Though she knew those bombs couldn't be detonated, she still felt a chill.
Not just Tashigi; Kizaru was ready to elementalize at any moment. He wasn't sure if Su Xiao would suddenly go mad and trigger the bombs. Without elementalization, he might be blown to pieces. Armament Haki would be useless; there were simply too many bombs.
Each alchemy bomb dealt nearly 100 points of damage. With over 500 accumulated, the total damage would be counted in the tens of thousands, and the dense explosions would amplify the power.
A dozen Navy soldiers hurried into the room, pushing three carts. They carefully loaded the alchemy bombs onto them.
Su Xiao could produce at least 1,500 alchemy bombs per day. If he continued for a month, he could make 45,000 bombs—a massive profit that both the Navy and the World Government coveted.
Unfortunately for the World Government, Su Xiao wouldn't help them produce bombs for a month. In three days, he would head to Enies Lobby for the decisive battle.
The dozen Navy soldiers carefully wheeled the bombs away, moving with extreme caution.
Su Xiao didn't watch them. He continued manufacturing, glancing at the proficiency for alchemy bomb creation. It was already astonishing.
Alchemy Bomb Creation: Lv.3 (Proficiency 567/50)
He didn't know how many levels this skill could reach; he just needed to keep making them.
"Mr. White Night, your dog..."
Tashigi looked troubled. The losses in the lab were "exceptionally severe," yet they dared not scold Bubuteni. She had clearly seen this dog sit right next to Su Xiao during meals.
"I don't need these experimental devices. Take them all away."
Tashigi sighed in relief and immediately had people move the equipment out. Bubuteni yawned, its gaze seeming to say: 'Foolish humans, this dog doesn't just chew on lab equipment.'
Bubu Wang looked at the lab table in the room. It felt that thing was worth a try.
Bubu Wang took a bite.
Crack.
Tears streamed from Bubu Wang's eyes. The lab table was too hard; it had suffered a crushing defeat.
"Oww~."
Blood appeared between Bubu Wang's teeth. It looked at Su Xiao with a pitiful expression. Su Xiao chuckled softly. Finally, something this fool couldn't chew through. The revenge for his sofa and twelve dumbbells was complete.
Seeing that Su Xiao ignored it, Bubu Wang was a bit unhappy. Five minutes later, Bubu Wang "fought" with the lab table, and no one could pull it away. In Bubu Wang's view, the lab table had started it.
After leaving a small row of teeth marks on the table, Bubu Wang walked away with its head held high, tears in its eyes. Its mouth hurt badly.
Production continued. After 15 straight hours, the test tubes at Su Xiao's feet had piled up like a mountain.
Su Xiao reached for materials but grabbed empty air. One type of material had been used up.
He looked at the alchemy bombs on the table. The count had reached over 1,200. He had made more than 1,700 bombs today, faster than expected.
Su Xiao now took between 27 and 30 seconds to make one alchemy bomb. On a good day, he had even set a record of 26 seconds.
He had lost track of how much mana he had used. Now, the mana in his body was active to the extreme, and the unfamiliarity with his Spirit Shadow Constitution had vanished.
Su Xiao tried to channel the mana within him. The pure mana surged immediately.
This was a significant gain. His mana channeling speed had increased, and activating Azure Steel Shadow was now instantaneous.
The lab door opened, and Tashigi entered with a dozen Navy soldiers.
"This... there must be at least a thousand."
Tashigi had changed into a pure black suit with a white shirt underneath. She wore black gloves, and the black suit accentuated her fair face and pink hair.
"A total of 1,700 were made. I need 300 more. Prepare the materials."
Tashigi hesitated for a moment.
"Maybe... continue tomorrow?"
"No, today is fine. Don't treat me like a frail researcher."
Su Xiao looked at Tashigi, and her body tensed.
"Alright, I'll have the materials prepared."
The dozen Navy soldiers left with the alchemy bombs and soon returned with a large batch of materials. Su Xiao continued his work.
Over two hours later, Su Xiao finished the 300 alchemy bombs.
In total, it took 18 hours to produce 2,000 alchemy bombs. Practice made perfect.
When Tashigi had the bombs taken away, Su Xiao leaned back in his chair. All he wanted now was to sleep.
"Mr. White Night, please rest."
Tashigi turned to leave.
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
Su Xiao's voice wasn't loud, but Tashigi was very embarrassed.
"Ah... the sword is ready."
"Oh?"
"But... it's still in transit. Please rest assured, we won't break our word. The good-quality blade will arrive tomorrow morning."
Su Xiao said nothing more. Given the current situation, the Navy couldn't afford to go back on their word.
He stood up and walked into the bedroom, locked the door, and had Bubuteni keep watch. He was going to upgrade [Alchemy Bomb Creation].
He checked the proficiency: [Alchemy Bomb Creation: Lv.3 (Proficiency 2073/50)]
With so much proficiency, he wasn't sure how many levels he could raise [Alchemy Bomb Creation].
[Yes/No to upgrade Alchemy Bomb Creation. Each upgrade consumes 500 Paradise Coins and the corresponding proficiency for the level.]
Su Xiao chose to upgrade. Knowledge about alchemy bomb creation began to connect in his mind.
[Alchemy Bomb Creation upgraded to Lv.4.]
[Alchemy Bomb Creation upgraded to Lv.5.]
[Alchemy Bomb Creation upgraded to Lv.6.]
...
[Alchemy Bomb Creation upgraded to Lv.20!]
[Note: Alchemy Bomb Creation has reached max level. To unlock Alchemy Pharmaceutics, you must return to Reincarnation Paradise.]
[Unlocked: Advanced Psychic Bomb Formula.]
[Unlocked: Special-Grade Psychic Bomb Formula.]
[Unlocked: Sun God Apollo Formula.]
Seeing the last formula, Su Xiao was overjoyed. He might have seen this bomb before. When he killed the troglodyte Sherlock, the latter had detonated it.
The blast radius was half a kilometer. The scene was like a miniature sun falling to the ground. After the Sun God exploded, nothing grew within half a kilometer. It was the wrath of the Sun God.
One thing puzzled Su Xiao: [Special-Grade Psychic Bomb] was listed alongside [Sun God Apollo], as if they were on par.
Perhaps [Special-Grade Psychic Bomb] was unexpectedly practical?
Raising [Alchemy Bomb Creation] to max level seemed simple, but if Su Xiao had accumulated proficiency slowly on his own, it would have taken who knows how long to reach this point. He couldn't afford the mana recovery potions, and natural recovery was too slow.
The World Government was generous, providing everything. So Su Xiao was naturally willing to make alchemy bombs.