Chapter 439: Laipishe: I'm the Champion, Why Won't You Choose Me?

"Extremely weak. Are these the players of the Samsara Game?"

Shengzhu hunched over, his fingers hovering in front of Aizen, who wore glasses and looked easy to bully; his sharp nails were almost touching the man's forehead.

His tone was disdainful.

To be honest, at the very beginning, he had indeed been shocked—a mysterious game world, game items capable of undoing the seal on Lü Dongbin.

However, it wasn't until the New Player trial ended that he vaguely began to grasp the situation.

The so-called game merchants were simply using them as hired thugs to confront enemies.

The monster 【Luotesi】, which could make even him, a demon sorcerer who ruled the world, feel a sense of oppression, was the most terrifying existence.

"The power of Holy Light, frost, fire?"

Shengzhu's gaze swept over the top-tier players in the Moonlight Tavern, sensing auras from them that were on par with his own.

As expected, his judgment had been correct.

They were just a bunch of fools bewitched by the so-called game. If the game merchants had the ability to deal with 【Luotesi】, would they still need these players? They were just cowards relying on schemes and tricks.

This reminded Shengzhu of Cheng Long, whom he hated most.

If the other players knew Shengzhu's thoughts, they would only find it ridiculous and laugh their heads off.

【Luotesi】? It was just a Pollution Monster thrown into the New Player trial by the game merchants. Although monsters like Luotesi had terrifying strength, it wasn't as if such monsters hadn't appeared before.

Especially Tsunade; after hearing about Jiraiya, who had been resurrected from Huangquan Lu, and experiencing the open-ended conclusion of saving and destroying the world, she had a deeper experience of the great power of the Samsara Game.

Aizen's smile remained unchanged as he said, "Although I don't mind, being this close to a stranger is a very dangerous thing."

He had no intention of fighting Shengzhu.

The plan had reached its final step, and the passage between Hueco Mundo and Konoha was almost complete; there was no need to expose his strength and invite unnecessary trouble.

After all, he was currently just Konoha Moonlight, who had just become a player and whose strength was barely hovering at the 【Tier 2】 Commander Level.

"No matter what, as long as I can transform into a true dragon, even if the price is sacrificing the Shuizu Shijie, I will do it!"

Laipishe flicked his tongue, slapping his snake tail—which had grown Dragon Scale—feeling very excited.

Looking around,

he felt something was wrong. Clearly, he was the number one on the leaderboard, so why were the gazes of these veteran players all fixed on the black-haired human boy?

Terumi Mei glanced at the violent-looking Shengzhu and ignored him, instead looking at the boy Ying Zheng and asking, "I am your bettor. Although the game does not stipulate that a betted-on new player must accept a veteran player's recruitment, Kirigakure is willing to show the greatest sincerity in inviting you to join."

The demon Shengzhu, who had revealed his dragon-man form, was powerful, comparable to a 【Tier 2】 Lord-level player.

But he was not someone easy to get along with; he wasn't even human, but a special kind of demon lifeform. Just listening to his tone, one knew he was very difficult to recruit and held extreme contempt for humans.

The boy Ying Zheng, with his super-high potential, was the target everyone was fighting over.

"Recruitment, betting?"

In the boy Ying Zheng's clear black-and-white eyes, no emotional fluctuations could be seen; he was simply ruminating on these two words.

It was just like how Lv Buwei had tried every possible means to bring him back to Qinguo—a bet.

Lv Buwei's bet was because he wanted to hoard a rare commodity, valuing the Qinguo behind him.

Why was Terumi Mei willing to bet on him? The boy Ying Zheng pondered internally without responding immediately. His calmness far exceeded that of people his age, and even far exceeded most people in the 【Warring States World】.

"I am an Admiral of the Navy Alliance, Akainu."

Akainu interrupted Terumi Mei's recruitment process and said decisively, "Having just become a player, you are unaware of the weight of the Navy Alliance. The Navy Alliance is the most powerful force in the entire Samsara Game, far exceeding Kirigakure. Become my disciple, and you will be cultivated by the Navy Alliance with all its resources."

Such a good seedling must absolutely not be snatched away by other forces.

Shanks and Aokiji, on the other hand, appeared relatively calm; they simply stated the philosophy of the Adventurer Guild and then quietly waited for the black-haired boy to make his choice.

After all, adventurers were not a military group in the traditional sense, but a joint organization.

They needed like-minded partners; a forced melon is not sweet.

"That righteous Knight, was he not teleported to the Moonlight Tavern?"

After exchanging greetings with Shanks, Aokiji left the tavern, preparing to go to the New Player Plaza to look for him.

Although he possessed extraordinary justice and courage, Wuzheng Qishi's abilities truly could not compare to freaks like Shengzhu, the boy Ying Zheng, or Levi.

New players teleported to the Moonlight Tavern might seem to be picked by major forces, but in reality, it was also an opportunity.

A two-way choice.

For new players, being cultivated by a mature major force was definitely much better than struggling on their own. Therefore, not every new player was qualified to be teleported to the Moonlight Tavern to bargain with forces like Kirigakure and the Navy Alliance.

"What about me?"

Laipishe felt a sense of grievance at being ignored.

He was supposedly number one on the leaderboard; was he just going to be ignored like this?

"Pops, should we recruit Laipishe?"

Marco, who had watched the whole process, asked for Whitebeard's opinion.

But he saw Whitebeard shake his head gently and whisper, "Although Laipishe is very strong, I don't like him."

Like Shanks, Whitebeard's philosophy for recruiting players was actually more like finding new family members; they had to be compatible with the Whitebeard Pirates.

For example, Kyojuro Rengoku from the 【Demon Slayer World】—Whitebeard found him pleasing to the eye, so even though Rengoku was very weak at the time, he had wanted to take him as a son.

As for Laipishe, the evil scent he exuded gave Whitebeard no desire to recruit him at all.

On the other hand, Bingzhang Liweier, who had dead fish eyes and remained silent, seemingly uninterested in the recruitment opportunities from major forces, was very much to Whitebeard's liking.

Tsunade also decisively rejected Laipishe, saying, "Sorry, the Konoha Mobile Unit is not suitable for you."

The game merchant had said that power does not distinguish between justice and evil, but the will of life does.

Konoha also had players with 【Poison】 game abilities.

But Laipishe was clearly completely polluted by poison from head to toe, and even his soul exuded an evil scent.

It was easy to make one think of Konoha's arch-enemy, Orochimaru.

Therefore, Tsunade had no desire to recruit someone like Laipishe; Konoha was a place illuminated and burned by the Wave of Fire and could not be defiled.

"You lot... are you not afraid of death?"

Spurned by the crowd, Laipishe had all its snake scales flare up, and lethal Venom continuously flowed out from the gaps between its scales.

It was a future True Dragon, yet it was being humiliated like this.

"Want to fight?"

Whitebeard lifted his eyelids, completely unafraid of the furious Laipishe, as Murakumogiri—inlaid with the 【Golden Gem (Power)】 and Forging and Reinforcement pushed to the limit of the current version—appeared in his hand.

Thud.

The sheer weight alone, landing on the floor of the Moonlight Tavern, produced a heavy sound like a meteorite striking the ground.

Accompanied by the swaying of Murakumogiri, a layer of Blue Afterimage emerged.

"Blue Afterimage?"

Aizen revealed a look of surprise and praised, "Only when a weapon is forged to level fifteen will it emit a Blue Afterimage; Mr. Whitebeard is truly a man who cherishes his weapon."

Forging and Reinforcement consume a great deal, as could be seen from the increasingly haggard face of the worried Leader of Iwagakure.

According to the intelligence he had gathered,

those capable of Forging and Reinforcing a weapon to the level of 【Blue Afterimage】 in the entire Samsara Game were only those few Sword Masters who were obsessed with blades.

"Gurarararara, that is only natural. Murakumogiri has accompanied me all the way to this day; to me, it is like family. Even if there were a better weapon, I would never discard it."

Whitebeard laughed loudly and swung Murakumogiri, the blade wind he whipped up directly suppressing Laipishe's flared snake scales, even causing the flowing Venom to become sluggish, as if frozen.

"Family, is it?"

Aizen, who had always worn a polite smile on his face, rarely revealed a genuine smile.

He was very willing to explore the will of life and the inner world, especially of lives that interested him, such as the Whitebeard before him.

Moreover,

the words he spoke that seemed to compliment Whitebeard would actually cause Laipishe, upon hearing them, to have its competitive spirit ignited.

Therefore... Aizen turned his head, looking at the furious Laipishe with great interest.

Laipishe said with a cold gaze, "Fight? This dragon is going to eat you!"

"Good! Then let us have a Pirate-style slaughter!"

【Whitebeard has initiated a competitive duel request against Laipishe. Laipishe has accepted. The battle begins!】

(End of this chapter)