Everything before his eyes blurred. By the time Wang Chuan came to his senses, he had arrived on an utterly unremarkable, unfamiliar shore.
Just then, an elegant male voice sounded by Wang Chuan's ear.
"Interesting. To think I would see such a nostalgic place. It is exactly as I remember it. Is this your ability?
My memories were actually read in reverse.
This is the first time in my life.
I almost want to thank you for letting me relive those memories.
But I truly do not wish for anyone to pry into my memories. Let us put an end to this farce, and use your life to atone for the crime you have committed."
As the newcomer finished speaking, Wang Chuan's expression changed. He quickly turned around, raised both hands, and covered them in Armament Haki.
Bang!
A tremendous force struck him. Wang Chuan was sent flying, skidding across the beach for hundreds of meters, and finally saw exactly who had attacked him.
The man was tall and slender, with wine-red hair braided at both temples. The ends of his eyebrows curled into distinctive spirals, while a golden chain pierced the left side of his lower lip and connected to his left ear.
He wore an exquisite red cape, and even his shirt and trousers came in varying shades of red.
Paired with polished black leather boots and a refined umbrella with a bat-shaped ornament on its handle, he looked like an elegant nobleman bathed in blood.
Every one of those striking traits proclaimed the identity of this legend.
Before Mihawk, he had been the renowned solitary supreme swordsman of the Pirate World, a top-tier powerhouse capable of standing on equal footing with the Roger Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates by himself.
The Red Count!!!
Patrick Redfield!!!
Seeing that his casual sword strike had failed to take Wang Chuan's life, Redfield's eyes flashed with surprise, though he soon became indifferent again.
After all, that had merely been a casual swing.
Since that strike had not killed him, he would just put a little more force into the next one.
With a thought, Redfield appeared before Wang Chuan. He then swung the cane-like umbrella in his hand and slashed at him.
That was right. As a top-tier supreme swordsman, Redfield's weapon was not a sword.
It was merely an umbrella!
Wang Chuan had no time to think.
He could truly feel an edge from that umbrella capable of cutting through everything. Instinctively, he condensed the Armament Haki wrapped around his hands to its utmost limit, then raised them above himself to catch the blade barehanded.
In an instant, Wang Chuan dropped to one knee. Veins bulged across his face as he clearly exerted every ounce of his strength.
Although Wang Chuan had known the other man was powerful the moment he recognized him, he had never expected him to be this powerful.
He was simply not on the same level as Zephyr!
Was this the standard of the sea's greatest powerhouses before the era of the Four Emperors?
A single casual slash had already left him in such a miserable state!
At that moment, Redfield finally developed a trace of interest in Wang Chuan.
"Interesting. If you can block two of my strikes, then you are not some nobody on the seas.
What a pity. Not only did you peek into my memories, but you also tried to use your ability to bewitch me into teaching you how to cultivate Observation Haki. That is truly foolish."
Redfield spoke carelessly.
The next instant, the force in his hand abruptly increased. The extreme sharpness condensed from Armament Haki instantly sliced through Wang Chuan's steel-like skin.
Wang Chuan's expression changed drastically. He wanted to speak, but his teeth were clenched so tightly that he was temporarily speechless. All he could do was roar inwardly.
What kind of joke is this?! How could I possibly die so casually right after my cheat upgraded?!
At least give me time to explain!
You psychologically twisted bastard!
In an instant, Wang Chuan's hair began growing wildly, turning into thousands of needles that shot straight at Redfield's face.
An ordinary person would likely have been turned into a pincushion in an instant by such an attack.
Yet a red glint flashed through Redfield's eyes. With a flick of his wrist, he raised his hand and severed every hair needle flying toward him.
Advanced Observation Haki: Future Sight!
After dealing with everything, Redfield's expression visibly darkened.
A technique like Life Return was not something ordinary people could learn. Even he could not use it; only the World Government's lackeys could.
Thus, Redfield had now branded Wang Chuan as one of the World Government.
And in the eyes of Redfield, who possessed innate Mind-Reading Observation Haki—
The hearts of World Government personnel were far uglier than those of ordinary people, and far more disgusting to him!
So the next instant, Redfield swung a strike that could barely be considered serious, splitting Wang Chuan before him cleanly in half from head to toe in the most brutal manner possible.
Even though Wang Chuan had gained plenty of experience dying at Zephyr's hands before, this was still a brand-new kind of death.
As his consciousness was about to fade away, Wang Chuan cursed furiously in his heart.
If you can read minds, then use it!
I really didn't use any ability to screw you over! I'm only the user of this cheat, not its creator!
And so, during his first meeting with Redfield, Wang Chuan suffered a complete defeat~
After waking up in reality, Wang Chuan was drenched in sweat as though he had just awoken from a nightmare. He panted heavily, with undisguised terror in his eyes.
Being cut into two equal halves with one strike was simply hellish.
Especially when the other party had done it with an umbrella!
This time, Wang Chuan decided to recover properly before entering the cheat again.
The flow of time inside the cheat differed from reality. Once he left, time inside stopped.
And Redfield was not someone mild-tempered like Zephyr.
If Wang Chuan could not come up with a way to withstand his attacks and make Redfield realize on his own that he had been forcibly summoned by the cheat, rather than affected by some Devil Fruit ability—
Then Wang Chuan was certain that every time he entered, he would die!
The final result would be that he would not only be tortured to death over and over, but his body in reality would also be unable to rest through sleep. Eventually, he would die of complete exhaustion.
At that moment, Zhao Wuji, who was keeping watch, noticed Wang Chuan's abnormal state and bluntly asked with concern.
"Boss, what's wrong? Why do you look like you got scared awake from a nightmare?"
Wang Chuan smiled and waved his hand, signaling that he was fine.
"It's nothing. I suddenly thought of something important and got startled awake. I won't be able to sleep for a while, so you should get some rest first."
Zhao Wuji did not suspect anything. Though a Spirit Master's physique allowed him to remain energetic for long periods, years of intense training had given him the ability to fall asleep the moment his head hit the ground.
Thus, accompanied by Zhao Wuji's snores, Wang Chuan's Super Intelligence began simulating in his mind how exactly he could overcome this hurdle.
At first, Wang Chuan considered many tactics for stalling time, hoping Redfield would use an excessive amount of Haki to try to break the Fruit ability himself and realize that world was not created by an ability.
But when he remembered that Redfield had not even used Advanced Conqueror's Haki before treating him like some roadside trash to be brushed aside—
Wang Chuan's mouth twitched helplessly, and he abandoned that unrealistic idea.
There was no other reason. The gap in strength between them was simply too great—so great that if Redfield became even slightly serious, Wang Chuan could not even dream of escaping.
Before you continue