Su Xiao slowly advanced toward the bushes, the Flintlock in his left hand aimed at them. There was still one last bullet in the gun.
"Wait, I'm not a bad person." A clear child's voice came from within the bushes.
A child? Su Xiao looked at the bushes in confusion.
In the dangerous Mt. Colubo, how could there be a child? This made him wary.
"Come out within three seconds. Otherwise, you won't need to come out."
The Flintlock's trigger was gradually pulled back. If the other party did not come out within three seconds, he would fire.
"Is that so? Then I won't come out."
Perhaps the child in the bushes had misunderstood Su Xiao.
The corner of Su Xiao's eye twitched. He could now confirm that there really was a child in the bushes—and that the child's intelligence was rather low.
He put away the Flintlock. The last bullet inside might be useful elsewhere and should not be wasted here.
"Come out."
Su Xiao rushed to the bushes in a few steps and kicked them.
He did not feel the sensation of kicking a human body. Instead, he felt a powerful rebound.
"Boing~"
The sound of kicking a ball rang out, and a small figure was sent flying far away.
"Boing, boing~"
After landing, the figure actually bounced several more times before finally lying face-down on the ground.
"Wah, waa~"
The child Su Xiao had kicked away might have been hurt, because he sat on the ground and began wailing.
That strange rebound made Su Xiao narrow his eyes. He focused on the child.
Yellow skin, black hair, and pitch-black eyes, combined with that bizarre elasticity—Su Xiao guessed the child's identity.
Wasn't this the protagonist of the original story, Monkey D. Luffy? He had wondered earlier why there was a child in Mt. Colubo.
If it was Luffy, everything made sense. He had lived in Mt. Colubo since childhood.
Su Xiao walked up to Luffy and studied him. Luffy was sitting on the ground and crying bitterly, with snot hanging from his nose. He seemed to have been hurt by Su Xiao's kick. Luffy's Devil Fruit ability had barely been developed in his childhood, so his immunity to attacks was weak.
The Luffy before him was completely just a little brat, with none of the bearing he had in the original story.
"Kid, stop crying, or I'll kill you."
Su Xiao was covered in Giant Tiger blood and looked extremely ferocious, so the crying stopped abruptly.
"Don't kill me. I don't want to die."
Su Xiao shook his head with a bitter smile. What a straightforward answer.
He was not paying attention to Luffy because he was the protagonist of the One Piece World. He merely wanted to observe a Devil Fruit ability user.
Grabbing Luffy by the cheek, Su Xiao lifted him up. Luffy's face was stretched long.
Luffy sniffed and looked at Su Xiao in confusion, his appearance especially comical.
Just then, Reincarnation Paradise suddenly issued a string of notifications.
Warning! Warning! Hunter is currently in contact with the Son of the Plane. Hunter, please move away from the target! Warning! Warning! Hunter is currently in contact with the Son of the Plane. Hunter, please move away from the target! Warning! Warning! Hunter is currently in contact with the Son of the Plane. Hunter, please move away from the target!
The notifications this time were not their usual pale blue. They were blood-red, giving off a dangerous feeling.
Warning: An extremely powerful creature is approaching. Upon detection, the extremely powerful creature has been identified as Monkey D. Garp. Hunter, evacuate immediately. Quest triggered: Strangling the Legend. Strangling the Legend Difficulty Level: LV.79.
When Su Xiao saw Difficulty Level: LV.79, he immediately threw Luffy aside and then walked toward the water source. He did not even look at the quest's rewards, much less accept this so-called Strangling the Legend.
There was no need to think about it. A quest with a difficulty of LV.79 would certainly have astonishing rewards.
But to Su Xiao, a quest of this level was far too early. Even completing an LV.3 quest was difficult for him now.
When he entered the One Piece World, its displayed difficulty had been LV.6. However, this was not the true difficulty of the One Piece World. The so-called LV.6 referred to the difficulty of the Goa Royal Capital region.
Su Xiao did not pay much attention to Monkey D. Garp. The other party should still be far away; otherwise, he would not have had any chance to leave.
When he reached a small river, Su Xiao began washing his body.
The blood was washed away by the clear river water. After Su Xiao cleaned himself, part of the river had turned bright red, and the smell of blood attracted a large school of fish.
A large fish leaped from the water. Su Xiao instinctively drew his blade and pierced the fish, which was more than two meters long. With a burst of strength from his arm, he hoisted it onto the bank.
The angle of that strike had been extremely tricky, and the force had been perfectly controlled. Even Su Xiao himself was somewhat surprised.
His blade technique had actually improved so much. He had only experienced one battle, after all.
The reason for this sudden leap in his blade technique was related to his training in the real world.
In the real world, Su Xiao had rarely had the chance to fight with all his strength. His desperate battle with the Giant Tiger had awakened the results of his three years of painstaking blade training.
The real world was like a 'cage'. Apart from revenge, the killing techniques he had painstakingly trained had no use at all.
Moreover, when carrying out revenge, he usually killed his targets with a single slash, leaving him with few opportunities to fight.
But Reincarnation Paradise was different. It was filled with all kinds of dangers. Even if someone was richer than a nation or held immense power in the real world, if they were not strong enough themselves, they could only await death in Reincarnation Paradise.
After breaking free from the 'cage', Su Xiao felt relaxed.
Reincarnation Paradise was indeed dangerous. The strong preyed on the weak here like in a primeval forest. But compared with the real world, he preferred this place.
Perhaps he had been born suited for Reincarnation Paradise. Only here could he fully display his talents.
Adventuring in another world while gaining strength was perhaps a pleasant experience.
Su Xiao took a deep breath. He decided to make a name for himself in Reincarnation Paradise, becoming stronger, stronger, and constantly stronger, until he surpassed everyone—because only then could he break free from his shackles.
However, before accomplishing this grand ambition, he first had to fill his stomach. The large fish struggling on the grass was undoubtedly the best lunch.
Bleed it, remove the scales, gut it, start a fire...
A dozen minutes later, the fish, more than two meters long, was already roasting over the flames.
Without any seasoning, the fish might not taste very good. He also noticed one thing: killing the fish had not granted him any Mana.
The fish must have been too weak to meet the requirements of his talent, Spirit Eater.
That was reasonable. If killing any creature granted Mana, Su Xiao would only need to step on a nest of ants to gain 100 Mana—the maximum amount he could obtain in each world.
As for what Mana did, Su Xiao did not know yet. But it might have a crucial use in the future.
The burning branches crackled several times. The fish soon finished roasting, oil seeping from its crisp skin and dripping into the fire with a sizzling sound.
Su Xiao cut off a piece of fish and stuffed it directly into his mouth. It looked good, but it should not taste very good. After all, he had not added any seasoning.
But after chewing a few times, Su Xiao froze slightly.
The fish in his mouth was tender, fresh, and smooth, with a primitive fragrance—the rich flavor of the fish itself. Any seasoning would only have been superfluous.
Delicious. Extremely delicious. This was probably the most delicious food he had ever eaten.
After swallowing the fish, Su Xiao looked at the large fish and gulped. Perhaps he could not only gain strength in the Derivative Plane, but also taste all kinds of delicious food.
After enjoying an exceptionally delicious lunch, Su Xiao finally left, reluctant to part with it, only after he could not eat another bite.
The side quest had been completed, and he should also be able to obtain the identity of Guard Captain if nothing went wrong. It was time to prepare for the assassination of the king.
That was his ultimate mission. Everything he had done so far was merely preparation.
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