"You... how come you're not drunk!"
"The reason is the same as the one for the Moss Head above!" Xia Chen replied calmly.
"Don't you guys at Baroque Works think something's very wrong with this town?!"
!!!
Upon hearing Xia Chen reveal their origins in a single sentence, everyone's faces showed expressions of shock.
Mr. 8 went even further, asking, "How do you know our identities?"
"You don't need to know how I knew!" With that, Xia Chen looked at Zoro and said, "These guys are yours now!"
"You bastard!" Zoro scoffed, then turned to look at the two swords at his waist.
" Yubashiri, Sandai Kitetsu! This might be a good chance to test you out!"
After saying that, Zoro jumped down and charged straight into the crowd.
Mr. 8 turned to Miss Sunday and said, "You deal with that swordsman, I'll go rescue Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday!"
In his view, the princess's safety was the most important thing!
Mr. 8 ran towards Xia Chen, watching him get closer and closer to the princess, but the man was still drinking coffee without making a move. A smile involuntarily appeared on Mr. 8's face.
Success!
However...
"Bang!"
A sound of something hitting something was heard, and Mr. 8 was seen crashing into a golden dome. He then slowly slid to the ground and fell backward.
"Tsk tsk, it looks painful, I told you not to run so fast!" Xia Chen teased from inside the enclosure.
The golden shield in front of us covers the area marked by the circular scratches on the ground—yes, it's the same shield that Great Sage Sun used to protect his master.
Therefore, based on this story, he named this move " Master, Don't Be Afraid Shield!"
Moreover, the method of use is actually very simple; you can simply mobilize your own energy. There's no need to actually take out a stick and draw on the ground—that would be too silly, wouldn't it?
The circular marks on this spot are simply a nod to the original!
This skill is the first skill that Xia Chen truly developed on his own.
Otherwise, if he obtained all his skills from the system through daily check-ins, it would make him seem like a busybody!
Mr. 8 slowly got up from the ground, a warm stream flowing from his nose. He couldn't help but touch it with his hand. His nose, which wasn't very big to begin with, was now swollen to at least several times its original size, and blood was flowing continuously.
Then he tore two strips of cloth from his clothes, rolled them into a ball, and stuffed them into his nose. He then stared intently at Xia Chen: "What kind of sorcery is this?"
"Useful sorcery!"
"We'll have to try it to see if it works!" Mr. 8 said stubbornly.
"Would you be in this state now if you were useless?"
"You..."
Xia Chen's words infuriated Mr. 8, who retorted angrily, "I'll see if you're still so confident later!"
Mr. 8 circled around behind Xia Chen, his eyes fixed on him.
"What are you doing?" Xia Chen asked, puzzled.
"I'm going to crush you from behind, you despicable scoundrel! You actually used two of our men as shields! I'll attack you from behind now, and when I break through the defensive barrier, I'll hit you first, without harming them!"
"Be prepared to die! Mr. 8 Shotgun!" With that, several shotguns emerged from Mr. 8's hair and were aimed at Xia Chen's back.
"To be honest, you reminded me!" Xia Chen's calm voice rang out, giving Mr. 8 a bad feeling. To avoid further trouble, he needed to break through this barrier as soon as possible.
Xia Chen quickly pulled Vivi in front of him to shield her, then gave Mr. 8 a provocative smile.
Mr. 8 panicked the moment he saw Vivi appear in front of him; he had already pulled the trigger.
In that critical moment, Mr. 8 twisted his head with all his might, and just as the bullet left the barrel, he aimed the wound at... Zoro, who was fighting over there!
As the rattling sound came from the gun, Zoro's attention was involuntarily drawn to it.
However, as soon as he turned his head, he saw countless bullets flying towards him.
Σ(ŎдŎ|||)ﾉﾉ!
In a moment of desperation, Zoro instinctively grabbed someone nearby and used them as a shield in front of him.
A few breaths later, the commotion ceased.
"Phew~ That was close!" Zoro couldn't help but exhale a breath of relief. Then...
" Xia Chen, what are you doing? Isn't he your match?" Zoro yelled at Xia Chen, his neck stretched out.
"Who said he's my rival? Didn't I just say they were left for you?"
"Besides, he wanted to hit you, but I was sitting right in front of him and he didn't hit me. What could I do?"
Mr.8:...
Don't you have any idea why I'm not hitting you?
If you had just grabbed that man next to the princess and been standing in front of you, you would have been finished.
As time dragged on, Mr. 8 grew increasingly impatient. For every minute that Vivi remained in Xia Chen's hands, he would worry for another sixty seconds.
With this in mind, Mr. 8 began constantly changing positions, trying to reach the side without Vivi and break the defensive shield, but how could he possibly be faster than Xia Chen?
Every time he arrived at a spot, Xia Chen would already have Vivi waiting for him in front of him.
So what happened next was quite interesting. Mr.8 kept jumping back and forth outside the shield, but after a full ten minutes, he didn't fire a single bullet.
Zoro over there has almost finished off all those small fry.
"Phew~"
"Phew~"
Mr. 8, panting heavily, said to Xia Chen, "You... dare you... not... block her in front of you?"
Putting aside the fact that he was exhausted like a dog, Vivi over there was already Venus from constantly changing positions. The gag in her mouth had fallen out, and she was looking at Mr. 8 with a silly grin.
"Mr. 8, why are you standing upside down? Hey, look, there are stars on the ground!"
m9( `д´ )!!!!
Upon hearing this, Mr. 8's anger flared instantly. Those damned pirates! How dare they turn their princess into this state?!
"Alright, I'm not going to bother you anymore!"
"I'm sitting right here now. If you can break through this defensive barrier, I'll release them without hesitation," Xia Chen said slowly, taking a sip of coffee.
"Are you telling the truth?" Mr. 8's eyes lit up.
"Of course!" Xia Chen said with a faint smile.
He was just playing around; otherwise, how could Mr. 8 possibly break through his defensive barrier?
That's wishful thinking!
Even he himself would need to use more than 80% of his strength to break through this defensive barrier, so how could Mr. 8 possess such power?
Don't be ridiculous. If he had that kind of strength, he would have gone after Crocodile long ago. Why would he need to be an undercover agent here?