Bubbles formed from resin slowly floated upward, then burst after reaching a certain height.
At that moment, the situation in Grove 12 was somewhat strange. Navy Admiral Kizaru was confronting Rayleigh, while the members of the Straw Hat Pirates nearby had either collapsed on the ground or were gasping heavily, their faces covered in sweat and resin.
More than thirty meters from Kizaru and Rayleigh, Su Xiao held an apple in the hand wrapped in a metal armguard. Sweet juice trickled down from the bite mark in the apple.
Crunch.
Su Xiao took a large bite of the apple and continued walking forward. He had obviously not come here by chance. Instead, he wanted to test whether there were any other Tier Five contractors nearby.
After all, Su Xiao had only just advanced to Tier Five and still knew little about the other Tier Five contractors. But there was no doubt that the Tier Five contractors who had entered the One Piece World this time were absolutely formidable.
Moreover, this was such a good opportunity. Su Xiao wanted to test the Navy's attitude and try out his newly acquired ability, Slaughter's Shadow. He still did not know whether Exile could inflict a fatal threat on a Logia Devil Fruit user.
Seeing Su Xiao advance slowly, Rayleigh turned his gaze toward Kizaru. Kizaru was the biggest headache now.
Kizaru's eyes narrowed beneath his sunglasses, while his face still wore that same lazy expression.
"What an extraordinary fellow has arrived."
Kizaru's tone was unique, sounding as if he were deliberately drawing out his words. He understood Su Xiao better than Rayleigh did because, when Su Xiao had helped the World Government manufacture explosives, Kizaru had been responsible for protecting—or rather, keeping watch over—him.
"Kizaru, how are you going to choose?"
Rayleigh's voice