Chapter 1771

Bubbles formed from resin slowly rose, bursting when they reached a certain height.

At this moment, the situation in the 12th Redwood Zone was somewhat strange; Admiral Huang Yuan was facing off against Rayleigh, and the Straw Hat crew nearby were either lying on the ground or panting heavily, their faces smeared with sweat and resin.

More than thirty meters away from Huang Yuan and Rayleigh, Su Xiao held an apple in his hand wrapped in a metal arm guard, sweet juice flowing from the bite taken out of the apple.

Crack.

Su Xiao took a big bite of the apple, stepped forward, and continued walking; he certainly wasn't just passing by, but wanted to probe whether there were any other fifth-tier contractors nearby.

After all, Su Xiao had just been promoted to fifth tier and didn't yet understand other fifth-tier contractors, but there was no doubt that the fifth-tier contractors who had entered this pirate world were absolutely not weak.

Moreover, with such a good opportunity now, Su Xiao wanted to test the Navy's attitude and also test his newly mastered ability, Shadow of Slaughter; he was still unclear whether exile could pose a lethal threat to Logia Devil Fruit users.

Seeing Su Xiao walking slowly forward, Rayleigh's gaze turned to Huang Yuan; the most troublesome thing now was Huang Yuan.

Huang Yuan's eyes narrowed beneath his toad sunglasses, his face still wearing that lazy expression.

"Here comes someone formidable."

Huang Yuan's tone was unique, sounding as if he were deliberately drawing out his voice; he understood Su Xiao better than Rayleigh did, because during the time Su Xiao helped the World Government manufacture explosives, Huang Yuan was responsible for protecting—or rather, supervising—him.

"Huang Yuan, how will you choose?"

Rayleigh's voice, carrying a slight smile, came through; if it weren't for the special nature of the Straw Hat Pirates, or rather, Monkey D. Luffy and that straw hat, Rayleigh wouldn't have acted so readily; he had retired to the Sabaody Archipelago, and it was already good that the Navy hadn't come looking for trouble—actively provoking the Navy would entail considerable risk.

"How to choose?"

Huang Yuan drew out his voice, glanced around at the Straw Hat Pirates nearby; these pirates had kidnapped Celestial Dragons and once caused many major incidents, but compared to the passing researcher, they were mere small fry; the other party was mad enough to dare kill Celestial Dragons, and more importantly, the weapon technology they possessed was too dangerous—if absorbed by the Revolutionary Army, it would be disastrous news for the Navy; they would use the explosives Su Xiao made to blow pirates to pieces, and in the future, the Revolutionary Army would use the same method against them.

Huang Yuan slowly raised his arm, fingers pointing at Su Xiao; a yellow laser beam shot from his fingertips, straight toward Su Xiao's head.

Boom!

A loud explosion came from beside Su Xiao; he slightly tilted his head, and the apple in his hand emitted green smoke.

Throwing down the apple in his hand, Su Xiao glanced sideways at Huang Yuan; long unseen, Huang Yuan still wore that lazy expression.

"Borsalino, has Vegapunk already perfected that technology?"

Su Xiao pointed to a few pacifists near the battlefield, one of whom was Tyrant Bartholomew Kuma; Su Xiao still held some admiration for Tyrant Kuma; back in the testing facility, he had idly chatted with Kuma when bored—those were Kuma's final moments, and he showed not the slightest fear or worry, but faced everything calmly; if the Revolutionary Army could overthrow this world, Kuma would be the very foundation at the bottom.

"You no longer need to know these things."

Huang Yuan ceased his standoff with Rayleigh and instead walked toward Su Xiao; Rayleigh certainly wouldn't act rashly, preparing first to repel Kuma, then to cover the Straw Hat Pirates' retreat.

"Is that so? Meaning, Vegapunk has solved the rejection reaction? No matter how strong Kuma's body is, machinery and flesh are not the same substance; even if over seventy percent of his body is mechanical, the remaining thirty percent is still his original bodily structure."

"..."

Huang Yuan remained silent, merely walking slowly toward Su Xiao.

"Oh? It seems this issue hasn't been resolved yet; the Pacifista project is no longer under Vegapunk's control? That 'obsessive-compulsive' type wouldn't allow defective Pacifistas to be deployed—killing the donkey after grinding the mill certainly fits the World Government's style; you Navy, caught between Vegapunk and the World Government, must be having a rough time, huh."

Su Xiao's words caused Huang Yuan to continue his silence—not because he didn't want to speak, but because he truly had nothing to say; this was also why he had temporarily given up on capturing the Straw Hat Pirates; Su Xiao's understanding of the World Government far surpassed that of the New World pirates.

"Bai Ye, if you resist, I might kill you."

Huang Yuan stopped ten or so meters in front of Su Xiao; to him, this distance was merely an instant.

"..."

After probing the pacifists' condition, Su Xiao fell silent, instead gripping his sword hilt with one hand.

Whoosh~

Huang Yuan transformed into a beam of strong light; in the next instant, he appeared before Su Xiao—a Huang Yuan three meters tall, now in a side-kick stance, his leg flashing with blinding light, only a few centimeters from Su Xiao's head; yet Su Xiao had not yet drawn his sword—this was the gap in speed.

Just as Huang Yuan was about to kick Su Xiao in the head, he suddenly elementalized, flashing and vanishing from the spot.

With a bang, the first-stage exile from the lingering light elements in midair pierced through, the surrounding air violently stabbed, producing a sonic boom.

Blue light flickered in Su Xiao's eyes; over sixty centimeters long, like a handleless crystal piercing sword, the exile flew back to hover above him, blue electric arcs dancing on the exile—this was the energy of Azure Qing Qing Gang Ying; the exile itself was composed of Azure Qing Qing Gang Ying energy; previously, Su Xiao had discovered that as long as he wrapped a layer of Azure Qing Qing Gang Ying energy around the exile, unless it struck an enemy, this layer would take at least several hours to dissipate.

The blinding light flickered; Huang Yuan reappeared, his eyes filled with doubt—doubtful why Su Xiao had become so strong; back in Dressrosa, Su Xiao had given him the impression of strong escape ability, and if they fought head-on, he could kill Su Xiao in at most a few minutes; but now, he felt a threat from Su Xiao, a possible killer, more dangerous than Rayleigh, who was already entering old age not far away.

The long sword was drawn, the blade ringing; Su Xiao's gaze swept around; so far, he had not sensed any overly strong contractors, and Bububu Wang, blended into the environment, was also searching.

Confirming there were no fifth-tier contractors nearby, Su Xiao felt somewhat surprised, but this was good; through fighting Huang Yuan, he could clearly judge his own strength, and once confirmed, subsequent plans would be much easier.

Blood energy surged around Su Xiao; his left foot stepped on the ground, and a faint red aura spread outward.

Crack crack crack...

Cracks appeared on the glass windows of nearby buildings; Rayleigh looked at Su Xiao in astonishment, unable to judge how many lives had been slain to produce such blood energy—this blood energy was already enough to affect enemies.

Compared to Rayleigh and Huang Yuan, the Straw Hat crew felt worse; the blood energy enveloped them, seemingly slowly draining their strength; Nami, her face stained with some dirt, involuntarily stepped back a few steps, her hand shaking uncontrollably.

Somewhat unexpectedly, Monkey D. Luffy showed no abnormality; this guy, though single-minded, had the benefits of being single-minded; although his current strength compared to Huang Yuan, Rayleigh, and Su Xiao could only be considered that of a weak chick, his willpower was extremely strong.