Chapter 12: Chapter Twelve: Planning and Estimation

Walking through the capital’s streets, Su Xiao observed the shops on either side until a store named “Dulu General Store” came into view, and he stopped.

This was exactly the place he was looking for; Su Xiao stepped into the dilapidated general store.

“Huh? Guard officer, we paid the peace fee three days ago—what now~?”

The store owner’s gaze looked at him as if he were a plague-bringer; clearly, he’d been exploited often by the guard squad.

“I’m not here for the peace fee. Do you have this kind of plant…?”

Half an hour later, Su Xiao left the store with a smile; the shopkeeper warmly saw him off, clearly because Su Xiao had bought a lot.

Killing the master of Ke'erbo Mountain is by no means simple.

According to Su Xiao’s memory, that tiger’s size was at least several times that of an ordinary tiger, standing four to five meters tall—a true monster.

Su Xiao did not head straight into the wilderness to find the master of Ke'erbo Mountain; instead, he returned to the Guard Headquarters first.

After wandering idly around the Guard Headquarters for a while, Su Xiao entered the storage warehouse.

Due to Oka’s death, the guard squad was now leaderless; within just a morning, factions had begun forming.

Hanke and Oke’s two trusted aides each led a faction, openly and covertly vying against each other.

Tomorrow night is the time to burn the Waste Terminal, so today, the higher-ups must appoint a new guard leader—or it will jeopardize the mission.

Amid the chaos, Su Xiao easily infiltrated the warehouse; after lingering inside for a while, he left the guard squad and headed toward Ke'erbo Mountain.

Looking at the distant city gate, Su Xiao had once sneaked in through this gate; now, leaving the city was simple—he simply needed to walk forward openly.

The gate guards spotted Su Xiao, nodded to him, and let him pass without a single question.

After passing through the gate and traveling past the Waste Terminal, Su Xiao saw a vast forest—this was Ke'erbo Mountain, the place where the original protagonist Luffy grew up.

Entering the forest, Su Xiao immediately felt the air was fresher, filled with the scents of various plants; unknown birds chirped incessantly on tree branches, and occasionally, gentle herbivores moved through the undergrowth, unafraid of humans.

Though Ke'erbo Mountain was beautiful, it was equally dangerous; fierce beasts frequently appeared, and ordinary people dared not venture deep inside.

Walking through the empty forest, Su Xiao’s hand rested on his sword hilt—appearing relaxed, yet alert to every rustle around him.

The dense surrounding woods were unsuitable for Su Xiao’s “hunting ground”; he needed an open space.

The open space didn’t need to be large, but it had to satisfy two conditions.

First, it needed a water source. The Goya Kingdom was an island, and water scarcity was common; thus, Ke'erbo Mountain had few water sources. Finding one would greatly increase his chances of locating the giant tiger.

Second, the open space needed vegetation cover—this would make setting traps easier.

Of course, the trap Su Xiao planned was not a simple pit dug to lure the master of Ke'erbo Mountain in.

The soil of Ke'erbo Mountain wasn’t particularly hard; for a creature of that massive size, unless the pit walls were poured with cement, collapse was inevitable—and once it collapsed, escape would be impossible.

The ideal spot for Su Xiao’s trap was hard to find, but fortune favors the diligent; after three hours of relentless searching, he finally found a suitable terrain.

It was an open space surrounded by trees, covered in lush green grass and dotted with wildflowers of various colors, emitting a faint floral fragrance.

Smelling the flowers, Su Xiao frowned; the scent might interfere with his plan, but it also had advantages—it could mask the odor of certain items he would place.

Pulling a shovel from his storage space, Su Xiao took off his shirt and began digging a pit in the open ground.

Two hours later, Su Xiao hid in a large tree near the open space; the area looked perfectly normal, save for a few randomly placed dried fruits on the ground.

Sweat dripped down Su Xiao’s cheeks; bare-chested, his muscles were lean and toned—not exaggerated, but smooth and defined.

In truth, men with bulging, explosive muscles were ill-suited for combat; while strength increased, speed and flexibility suffered—disastrous in battle.

Su Xiao had once tried this: he visited a famous boxing gym and sparred with their strongest combat coach.

Based on Su Xiao’s estimate, that coach, with his entire body packed with muscle, possessed at least double Su Xiao’s strength, and his punches were extremely fast.

Yet after only five minutes, the coach—who supposedly held a city-level free-fighting championship—collapsed on the ground, convulsing uncontrollably, his groans drawing sympathy from female students.

Su Xiao honed killing techniques; the coach trained for competition—fundamentally different.

If rules were set, Su Xiao might lose; but in a life-or-death struggle, he could kill the coach within two minutes.

After seeing Su Xiao’s lean, 1.8-meter frame—not particularly muscular—the coach said, “No rules needed for sparring,” and thus, his fate was sealed…

Su Xiao sat on a thick tree branch, gripping the [Old Flintlock Pistol], which still had three bullets.

Su Xiao had once tried reloading it, but the Lunhuileyuan warned that due to severe wear, reloading might destroy the entire weapon, rendering it unusable.

This was likely a restriction, since the pistol was found by Su Xiao, not obtained from a treasure chest.

After opening two white treasure chests, Su Xiao began to understand some rules of the Lunhuileyuan .

Items obtained from treasure chests were generally rule-bound items, capable of being taken out of the Pirate World; items picked up or acquired during missions had a chance to be taken out—like the [Dragon-Slaying Flash] at his waist.

Through preliminary exploration, Su Xiao reached several conclusions.

The semi-digitalization of living beings served only as a reference—for example, his strength rising from 6 to 7 clearly indicated he was growing stronger.

Things like HP could not be quantified precisely; at best, they were calculated as percentages—no “enemy loses 50 HP from one slash” scenario.

The health bar above an enemy’s head primarily indicated its vitality; the more it depleted, the weaker the enemy became.

Upon receiving a fatal wound, an enemy died instantly—even if their health bar still showed 100%, it would vanish completely, followed by death.

The digitalization of equipment or items was even more interesting.

For instance, the [Dragon-Slaying Flash] at his waist: its durability and bonus attributes were understandable; the attack stat of 5~16 referred to its sharpness and striking power.

The item’s rating was the most crucial data—it directly revealed the item’s value.

After several battles, Su Xiao realized that although semi-digitalized, this was merely a tool for estimating strength; everything remained grounded in reality, with no game-like mechanics.

The semi-digitalization existed solely to make his strength and item values more intuitively apparent.

This was the greatest help the Lunhuileyuan gave Su Xiao.