Arrangements and Estimates

Walking through the streets of the Royal Capital, Su Xiao kept an eye on the shops lining the road until a store named 'Dulu Grocery Store' appeared in his line of sight, at which point he stopped.

This was exactly the place he was looking for, and Su Xiao stepped into the desolate, struggling shop.

"Eh, Officer, this little shop already paid the security fee three days ago, why are you...?"

The shopkeeper looked at him as if he were a plague god; it seemed he was frequently squeezed by the Guard Corps.

"I'm not here to collect the security fee. Do you have a certain type of plant here..."

Half an hour later, Su Xiao left the grocery store with a smile on his face, and the shopkeeper saw him out with great enthusiasm; it appeared Su Xiao had purchased quite a few things.

Killing the Master of Mt. Colubo would be no simple task.

According to Su Xiao's memory, that tiger's size was at least several times that of an ordinary tiger, standing about four or five meters tall—it was a monster in every sense of the word.

Su Xiao didn't head straight into the wilderness to search for the Master of Mt. Colubo; instead, he returned to the Guard Corps headquarters first.

After wandering around the headquarters for a while, Su Xiao made his way to the supply warehouse.

Because of Ogre's death, the Guard Corps was currently leaderless, and in just one morning, the guards had already begun to form cliques.

Hank and Oke's two confidants had each formed their own factions and were currently locked in a power struggle.

Tomorrow night was the scheduled burning of the Terminal Station, so the higher-ups would certainly select a new leader today, otherwise, it would affect the grand plan.

In such a chaotic situation, Su Xiao easily snuck into the warehouse. After staying inside for a while, he left the Guard Corps and headed toward Mt. Colubo.

Looking at the city gate in the distance, Su Xiao had snuck in through this very gate before, but now, leaving the city was simple—he just had to walk straight out in broad daylight.

When the members of the Gate Guard Corps saw Su Xiao, they nodded in acknowledgment and let him pass without asking a single question.

Passing through the gate and traveling past the Terminal Station, Su Xiao saw a vast forest; this was Mt. Colubo, the place where the original protagonist, Luffy, grew up.

Walking into the forest, Su Xiao clearly felt the air become fresher, carrying the scents of various plants. Some unknown birds chirped incessantly on the tree branches, and occasionally, docile herbivores wandered through the vegetation, showing little fear of humans.

Although Mt. Colubo was beautiful, it was equally dangerous, with wild beasts frequently appearing, so ordinary people dared not venture deep inside.

Walking through the uninhabited forest, Su Xiao kept his hand on the hilt of his blade. He appeared relaxed, but in reality, he was alert to every rustle of the wind and grass.

The dense forest surrounding him was not suitable to be Su Xiao's 'hunting ground'; he needed an open space.

The clearing didn't need to be large, but it had to satisfy two conditions.

First, it needed a water source. The Goa Kingdom was located on an island, and water scarcity was the most common issue on islands, so there weren't many water sources on Mt. Colubo. If he found a water source, the chances of finding that giant tiger would increase significantly.

Second, the clearing needed to be covered in vegetation, which would make it easier for him to set traps.

Of course, the trap Su Xiao was setting was definitely not just digging a hole and luring the Master of Mt. Colubo into it.

The soil layer of Mt. Colubo wasn't particularly firm. For a creature of that massive size, unless the walls of the pit were reinforced with concrete, a collapse would inevitably occur, leading to a dead end where there would be no way to escape.

The trap location Su Xiao wanted was not easy to find, but heaven rewards the diligent. After searching painstakingly for three hours, Su Xiao finally found a terrain he was satisfied with.

It was a clearing surrounded by trees, where the grass grew lush and green, dotted with wildflowers of various colors that emitted a faint fragrance.

Upon smelling the flowers, Su Xiao frowned. The scent might have some impact on his plan, but there were pros and cons; the fragrance could mask the scent of certain items he was setting up.

Taking a shovel out of his storage space, Su Xiao took off his coat and began digging a pit in the clearing.

Two hours later, Su Xiao was hiding in a large tree near the clearing. The area looked completely normal, save for a few dried fruits scattered casually on the ground.

Sweat dripped down Su Xiao's cheeks. With his upper body bare, his lean, toned muscles were revealed; they weren't overly bulky, appearing very smooth.

In fact, those hulking men with explosive muscles weren't well-suited for combat. Strong muscles did indeed increase power, but they also hindered speed and flexibility, which was very disadvantageous in a fight.

Su Xiao had once tested this; he found a famous boxing gym and sparred with the strongest fighting coach there.

According to Su Xiao's estimation, that muscle-bound coach had at least twice his strength and possessed very fast punch speed.

Yet, after only five minutes, that fighting coach, who was rumored to have won a city-level free-fighting championship, collapsed to the ground, his body twitching uncontrollably, his miserable groans drawing sympathy from some of the female students.

Su Xiao honed killing techniques, while that fighting coach practiced how to compete; there was a fundamental difference between the two.

If rules were set, Su Xiao might not be the opponent, but if the two were locked in a life-or-death struggle, Su Xiao could kill the other in under two minutes.

When that fighting coach saw Su Xiao's roughly 1.8-meter, not-so-muscular frame, he had said, 'No need for rules in a spar,' so his tragedy was destined...

Su Xiao sat on a thick tree branch, holding the [Worn Flintlock] in his hand; the gun still had three bullets left.

Su Xiao had previously tried to reload the gun, but Reincarnation Paradise warned that because the weapon was severely worn, reloading it might cause the entire gun to break and become unusable.

This was likely a restriction, as this gun was something Su Xiao had picked up, not obtained from a Treasure Chest.

After opening two white Treasure Chests, Su Xiao had gained a rough understanding of some of the rules of Reincarnation Paradise.

Items obtained through Treasure Chests were generally rule-based items that could be brought out of the One Piece World, while items picked up or obtained during missions had a certain probability of being brought out, such as the [Dragon Slayer Flash] at his waist.

Through preliminary exploration, Su Xiao reached a few conclusions.

The semi-digitization of living beings was merely a prompt; for example, the concept of his strength increasing from 6 points to 7 points was a very intuitive reflection that he was becoming stronger.

As for things like health points, they couldn't be quantified specifically at all; at most, they were calculated by percentage. It wouldn't be a case where he dealt a slash and the enemy lost a specific number of blood points.

The health bar appearing above an enemy's head was more for displaying the enemy's vital signs; the more the health bar depleted, the weaker the enemy was.

And after receiving a fatal wound, the enemy would die instantly; even if they had 100% health remaining, the health bar would be wiped clean, followed by death.

As for the digitization of equipment or items, that was even more interesting.

Take the Dragon Slayer Flash at his waist, for example; Su Xiao could understand its durability and bonus attributes, but the attack power of 5~16 referred to the weapon's sharpness and the intensity of its strikes.

The equipment rating was the most important data, as the value of an item could be intuitively gauged from its score.

After a few battles, Su Xiao understood that although it was semi-digitized, that was only for the convenience of estimating strength; everything was based on reality, and no game-like situations had occurred.

The semi-digitization was meant to reflect his strength and the value of items more intuitively.

This was the greatest assistance Reincarnation Paradise provided to Su Xiao.