Chapter 63: The Wisdom of Battle
Although the protagonist team was hard to recruit, Su Xiao had other methods. Nami had already swallowed the "Burst-Tire Yi-Jing Pill," which was far more reliable than killing her outright.
Continuing upward toward the rooftop, the only contractors left in the Judicial Tower were the Three Brothers of National Football. Those three idiots had no idea where they had wandered off to.
Checking the mission progress, there were still 40 minutes until completion. As long as Su Xiao's mission succeeded, the contractors who hadn't obtained the Pluton blueprints would fail theirs.
Taking out a cigarette, Su Xiao leaned leisurely against an iron railing. Now, all he had to do was wait.
*Clang.*
The sound of a blade clashing came from above. Su Xiao paused mid-motion as he was about to light his cigarette.
If he wanted to play it safe, it would be better not to go. But Su Xiao was tempted—crossing swords with a swordsman from the One Piece world would be very beneficial for his blade technique.
"Might as well take a look."
Putting away the cigarette, Su Xiao quickly ran up the stairs, with Bubuteni close behind.
Reaching the twelfth floor, heated arguing reached his ears. The scene before him made Su Xiao pause slightly.
A giraffe and a wolf were arguing, though both stood upright and had some human features.
These were two Animal Zoan fruit users—Kaku and Jabra.
Not far from them were two others, but they were handcuffed together: Usopp and Zoro.
Zoro's expression wasn't great. Usopp had just turned into a useless teammate. Fortunately, neither of them were Devil Fruit users, or touching the Seastone handcuffs would have left them completely weak.
Zoro raised his blade and struck the handcuffs.
*Ding.*
Sparks flew high, but the handcuffs remained unharmed.
"Cut off the hand. Rock, paper, scissors—whoever loses gets their hand cut off."
Zoro looked at Usopp.
"No way~."
Usopp wailed. Zoro sighed and lowered his head in thought.
"I've got an idea."
"What idea?"
"Take 'Yubashiri,' hold it with both hands in front of your chest."
"Like this?"
Usopp gripped the famous sword Yubashiri with both hands, holding it like a flagpole.
Zoro grabbed Usopp's belt. Usopp's face twitched. "You're not going to..."
"Listen up, Sniper King. Keep that pose. Right now, you are the sword."
Zoro held one sword in his left hand, another in his mouth, and grabbed Usopp's belt with his right hand, while Usopp held a sword.
"I'm going to find a lawyer. I'm going to sue you."
Usopp's voice trembled with fear, his body shaking.
"Whatever. I just need to test the blade first."
Zoro swung the famous sword: Usopp—a "legendary blade" with built-in sound effects.
"This must be a dream. A nightmare."
Usopp wailed again.
"Blade, don't talk."
Zoro charged forward a few steps, wielding Usopp.
"Demon..."
"Hey, wait. Are you serious? You're the demon here, aren't you?"
Usopp was shaking like a sieve. He felt completely off.
"Slash!"
Zoro shouted and leaped, swinging his blade at Kaku.
"Ahhh~." The famous sword Usopp came with built-in sound effects during the swing, leaving Zoro speechless.
This bizarre combination naturally couldn't hit Kaku. He dodged easily, raised a deer hoof, and aimed straight at Usopp's nose.
*Bang.* Blood splattered.
Usopp's long nose bent crookedly, blood streaming out.
*Bang.*
A gunshot suddenly rang out. Jabra sidestepped to dodge.
"This guy is..."
Jabra looked at Su Xiao and quickly recognized him.
"Jabra, kill him. I'll handle the enemy here."
Kaku shouted. If Zoro weren't holding him back, he would have charged at Su Xiao already.
"I'll hold off the enemy for you. Go."
Jabra rushed toward Zoro. He was naturally suspicious, afraid there might be a trap.
Kaku said nothing. Once Jabra engaged Zoro, he charged straight at Su Xiao.
Su Xiao dodged out of the room and ran into a nearby chamber.
The room was spacious, filled with exaggerated fitness equipment that normal humans couldn't use.
Su Xiao stood on an open patch of floor, a green carpet beneath his feet.
Sensing that a fight was about to begin, Bubuwang shook his head and trotted off, disappearing within a dozen seconds.
Kaku rushed into the room, holding two long blades. He was skilled with dual swords.
By now, Kaku had reverted to human form. He had just eaten a Devil Fruit and wasn't familiar with it yet.
In the original story, Kaku was defeated because he used his fruit ability. Eating a Devil Fruit didn't immediately translate into combat power—it needed time to develop and practice.
"I'll give you a chance. State your purpose, or you'll never speak again. Given your actions, CP9 has the authority to execute you."
Kaku pointed his blade at Su Xiao.
"Kaku, you're not cut out to be an agent."
Dragon-Slaying Flash appeared in his hand. Azure Steel Shadow activated instantly. Su Xiao compressed his perception range to five meters. Kaku was proficient in Soru and was very fast.
Kaku remained silent. He had made a fatal mistake on his previous mission—failing to kill Barry. If he weren't an agent, it wouldn't matter. But for an intelligence organization, that was absolutely unacceptable.
"If you won't talk, fine. Once you're dead, your purpose won't matter."
Kaku lowered his body.
"Soru."
*Whoosh.* Kaku turned into a blur and vanished from sight.
Left side!
Su Xiao raised Dragon-Slaying Flash. A pressure transferred from the hilt into his arm, through his torso to his feet, and finally into the ground.
*Clang!*
Blade met blade. Sparks flew, and the edges scraped with a grating sound.
"You saw through Soru? Right, you learned it too."
Kaku pressed with one blade while slashing sideways at Su Xiao's neck with the other.
Su Xiao raised his left arm and actually grabbed at the blade with his bare hand.
*Clang.* Another crisp sound. Su Xiao's left arm was covered by a bracer—the Bull Lord Arm Guard was Purple quality, extremely durable.
Grabbing Kaku's blade, Su Xiao tightened his left hand, intending to snap it.
Kaku's expression changed. His sword was good quality, but it couldn't withstand that kind of lateral force.
Kaku yanked his blade back. *Skkkrrr.* The sword slipped from Su Xiao's grip.
With the weapon free, Kaku seized the chance to slash at Su Xiao.
"Die."
The long blade swung straight for Su Xiao's head. Su Xiao didn't dodge or block. Instead, he pulled his left arm back.
*Pfft.*
A spray of blood erupted from Kaku's body. He let out a scream as the Realm Severing Thread sank deep into his flesh.
"Iron Body."
*Zzzz~.* The tightening of the Realm Severing Thread stopped. Su Xiao felt clear resistance.
Using Dragon-Slaying Flash to deflect Kaku's blade, Su Xiao leaped backward, grabbed the Realm Severing Thread with his left hand, and pulled with all his strength.
"Ah!"
The searing pain made Kaku's eyes redden. He slashed at the Realm Severing Thread.
But the Realm Severing Thread wasn't so easily cut. After one slash, Kaku's heart sank. Aside from the sharp pain from his wound, the thread was completely unharmed.
At that moment, a thought struck Su Xiao. Azure Steel Shadow energy could be channeled into Dragon-Slaying Flash. Why not try channeling it into the Realm Severing Thread?