Survival Through Desperation

Realizing that a head-on confrontation was a dead end.

Wang Chuan narrowed his eyes, beginning to tap into his super-intelligence, dredging up memories from his past life that he hadn't thought about in a long time.

But in the end, Wang Chuan could only sigh once more.

In his past life, as an orphan and a corporate slave, he had only developed a deep impression of One Piece because it was free to watch.

After growing up and gaining some means, Wang Chuan had even "freeloaded" all the theatrical films, making him quite the expert on the series.

The problem, however, was that Redfield was an exceptionally unique character, even among the many spin-off works of One Piece.

Because despite being a character dripping with charisma and status, he didn't even manage to get a theatrical film appearance, ending up as nothing more than a character in a video game.

And anyone who has worked a job knows.

Who has the spare time to play a game just for one character! Especially when the character modeling in that game wasn't even good!

Therefore, most of Wang Chuan's information about Redfield came from fan fiction and the occasional short video summary.

But that was exactly why Wang Chuan was sighing.

Because among all that information, aside from descriptions of Redfield's immense strength and overwhelming presence, there wasn't a single shred of detailed intel.

Even Shiki, a powerhouse from the same era, appeared in fan fiction dozens of times more often than him; he was like the background wallpaper of the One Piece franchise, with a terrifyingly thin sense of presence.

And in his recollections, Wang Chuan finally understood why the Observation Haki training from the Strongest Haki Inheritance had chosen this man.

Because unlike Armament Haki, which has a relatively linear path to growth.

Observation Haki has had two distinct branches of growth from the very beginning.

One is combat perception, which allows one to sense an enemy's aura and predict their movements, eventually advancing to the ability to foresee the future.

The other is expanding one's range of perception; while the ability itself doesn't fundamentally change, the range becomes absurd, a case of quantitative change leading to qualitative change.

Fujitora is the representative figure for this ability; he can use Observation Haki to lock onto meteors in outer space hundreds of kilometers away and then pull them down to use as weapons.

Therefore, in Wang Chuan's view, Observation Haki is less like "spirit" and more like a sensory-type superpower.

And the most formidable among them is undoubtedly Roger's Voice of All Things.

This is a bug-tier ability; not only can he understand the voices of Sea Kings, but he can even hear the will contained within inanimate objects.

It could be said that if Roger had trained this ability to its peak, he could likely have sensed the voices of the Poneglyphs to find Laugh Tale even without Oden.

Beyond that, there are innate abilities, such as those of Aisa, the possessor of the incomplete Mantra.

While possessing an ultra-wide range of perception, she could also read the surface thoughts of many people, making her essentially an upgraded version of the initial Redfield.

Furthermore, there are two other special types of Observation Haki that appeared in One Piece.

One can infect others with one's own emotions, even rewriting their personalities.

The other can read minds through Observation Haki, and can even browse through others' memories without the need for the Memory-Memory Fruit.

The former was the ability of the late Queen Otohime of the Fish-Man race.

She used her ability to bewitch her people with her naive ideals, nearly tricking the entire Fish-Man Island into moving to the surface.

Later, she even used this special ability to brainwash a Celestial Dragon into becoming a decent person, which, by a twist of fate, ended up saving her daughter Shirahoshi.

And the ability to read memories naturally belonged to Redfield.

At first, like Aisa, he could only read minds, but through training, he reached the level of reading memories; however, because there are so many filthy and vile people in the world.

Unless necessary, Redfield would not activate this ability, because it would only disgust him.

That was why Redfield had attacked without a word when he first met Wang Chuan, rather than reading his memories to understand his true situation.

At the same time, Wang Chuan analyzed.

It was precisely because of this ability that the other party could better perceive his state and provide precise guidance on how to cultivate Observation Haki.

Coupled with the other party's strength, he could also push his own Observation Haki to the level of foreseeing the future during their sparring.

But the thought that the other party could read his mind—that he might have his deepest secrets laid bare—made him feel a bit subtle. He really didn't want to cultivate this kind of Observation Haki.

Thinking of this, Wang Chuan sighed again.

Because he wasn't the master of this cheat; he could only passively accept it. Either get stronger in his sleep, or don't sleep and die—he was truly backed into a corner.

After thinking for the whole night, the sky gradually began to brighten.

Looking at the rising morning sun, Wang Chuan's gaze was dull, then he let out an angry, low growl and ruffled his already messy hair.

"Damn it, if I can't think of a solution, I'll just fight him head-on!

It's not like it's my first time dying anyway. Once I die enough times, that Redfield will surely figure out what's going on!"

With this resolution, after Zhao Wuji woke up, Wang Chuan began digging a hole in the rock wall right there, intending to lock himself away.

After all, Wang Chuan didn't want Zhao Wuji to see the pathetic sight of him constantly "doing sit-ups" from death.

After finally saying he was going into seclusion, Wang Chuan blocked the cave with a large rock and, embracing the determination to find life through death, drifted off to sleep.

In a daze of consciousness, Wang Chuan returned to that familiar coastline.

"Hmm? I used so much force, yet how are you still alive?

That's right, this space hasn't vanished, so naturally, you haven't died either."

Redfield's familiar, elegant voice rang out once more, and by the time Wang Chuan reacted, he had woken up again.

Wang Chuan touched his neck; this time, he had died by decapitation.

Gradually, Wang Chuan's eyes became bloodshot, and a ferocious grin hung from the corners of his mouth.

"It seems being hacked to death isn't much more painful than being bludgeoned to death.

Then let us continue, Redfield!"

Thinking this, Wang Chuan laid his head back down and fell asleep. The familiar scene emerged once more, and this time, Redfield didn't waste any words, decisively executing Wang Chuan again.

And so, the cycle repeated.

But to Wang Chuan's surprise, upon entering the inheritance space for the fifth time, Redfield did not make a move.

He saw Redfield looking at him with a thoughtful gaze.

There are very few fools among the powerhouses who can cultivate Observation Haki to a high level, because if one cannot maintain a calm heart, even the most formidable Observation Haki cannot be activated.

And at this moment, Redfield realized something.

"An immortal body?

No, every anomaly in this world is nothing more than a Devil Fruit ability.

And with the opponent reviving so consecutively, it seems my ordinary slashes have failed to interfere with his ability at all.

So, should I use Advanced Conqueror's Haki?

No, perhaps everything I attacked before was an illusion; the most urgent task is to break the ability he has cast upon me."