Chapter 1775: Brigade Member

After Su Xiao glanced around at the dozens of ordinary civilians, he stopped paying attention to them. Clearly, he had been targeted by a contractor. As for the reason, there was a small chance it was for revenge, but a high probability that it was a contractor from the World Government faction.

"Sneaky."

Su Xiao only needed to do one thing now: stall the unknown contractor through conversation while Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang searched for them.

"Your dog is not bad, but there's no need to send him to find me."

It was still dozens of people speaking in unison. The next moment, all of them collapsed, leaving only one man wearing a white shirt, floral shorts, and a grey ponytail. The white shirt was fully unbuttoned, and on his chest, three characters could be seen: Chi, Xiong, Shi.

The grey-haired man was supporting a young girl in a swimsuit, his black-green pupils carrying a hint of a smile.

"Finding you really isn't easy."

The grey-haired man's movements were gentle, as if he didn't want to hurt the girl in his arms. He placed her lightly on the sand.

"..."

Su Xiao didn't speak, blood energy surging beside him. This grey-haired man gave him a very dangerous feeling; the level of threat was no lower than Kizaru.

"Guru mentioned you to me. Listening to her tone, it seems she was bullied quite badly by you, though she herself refuses to admit it. Aside from the fact that she skins people alive while interrogating enemies, Guru is actually quite cute, so don't bully her."

The grey-haired man stepped on the sand and walked toward Su Xiao. The sand he stepped on gradually changed color, turning emerald green.

"So, are you with the World Government now?"

Su Xiao didn't know the grey-haired man's name, but he vaguely guessed something: this was very likely a member of the Phantom Troupe.

"You could say that. You have a bounty mission on the World Government's side. By our standards, the reward is roughly between 1 and 2 Epic-grade pieces of equipment."

The grey-haired man stopped a few meters from Su Xiao, his gaze meeting Su Xiao's.

"Are you sure you don't want to join us?"

After the grey-haired man said this, Su Xiao was completely certain the other party was from the Phantom Troupe.

"Very sure."

"Is that so? Then pretend I never said anything."

The grey-haired man turned and walked toward the sea. After taking just a few steps, he suddenly stopped.

"What else was there... let me think... Oh, right! Don't use the Spirit Flower Guru sold you directly as a World Key. That will teleport you to the very bottom of the Abyss of Darkness. There's a terrifying thing there called the Blade Demon. You are indeed a Shadow of the Law Breaker, but the Blade Demon is no longer a pure Law Breaker. He acts entirely on instinct. One moment he might be protecting you, a fellow source, and the next he might kill you."

After the grey-haired man finished speaking, he continued walking into the distance, but stopped again after two steps, smiling with slight embarrassment.

"One more thing, our boss asked me to convey this to you: if there's a chance to meet, he hopes to reach an agreement with the Demon Race through you. You can charge a fee for it. Yeah, that's about it, probably."

The grey-haired man seemed to have severe forgetfulness. He would stop for a short while every few steps. When he had walked over ten meters away, he turned his back to Su Xiao and stepped back toward him.

"..."

Su Xiao's brows were tightly locked. This Phantom Troupe member gave him only two impressions: forgetfulness and inexplicable behavior. This guy seemed like he was here to be a comedian.

"Is the energy in your body for sale? I'm going to deal with Magellan recently, and I might not make it to the Summit War. What a pity. I heard from the boss that the energy in a Law Breaker's body can suppress deadly poison."

"Not for sale."

"Oh, what a pity. If you want to join us, go find Guru. As the only remaining Law Breaker, our boss is very interested in you."

This time, the grey-haired man finally walked far away and soon disappeared into the seawater.

Su Xiao's body gradually relaxed. If he were to fight this grey-haired man, his win rate might not be higher than 50%. The other party's aura was too special, intensely corrosive, and seemed capable of devouring specific substances.

"Woof."

Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang appeared and barked beside Su Xiao, which meant: "Is this guy here to be a comedian?"

"No, he's here to probe."

Su Xiao had encountered several Phantom Troupe members. Most of them shared one characteristic: their code of conduct could not be judged by common sense. They were a group of people who were rational, yet also insane.

"The guest has arrived."

As Su Xiao spoke, he shifted his gaze to a young boy wearing a gold necklace and sunglasses.

The boy looked less than ten years old. His gaze wandered over the girls in swimsuits, and soon, he sat on the sand near Su Xiao.

"Half an hour later, at the beach tavern."

The boy said this in a low voice and then lay down on the beach. He looked less than ten, but through his aura, Su Xiao sensed that the other party's age was definitely over twenty. This should be some kind of Devil Fruit ability.

"Let's go."

As Su Xiao spoke, he took out several Berries—the paper currency of the Pirate World—from his pocket and tossed them onto the beach chair.

Just as Su Xiao left, the boy came to the beach chair, grabbed the Berries, and muttered: "This should be the only benefit of dealing with people from the dark world."

Marco was cautious, but he was just a pirate after all. By asking passersby, Su Xiao easily found the beach tavern.

As soon as he pushed open the tavern door, Su Xiao smelled the mixture of cigarettes and alcohol. Washinoki Washinoki Jishi of eyes looked at him simultaneously, which made him involuntarily rub his chin; this feeling was familiar.

Marco was in the tavern, and beside him were two others. One was burly, sitting there almost at eye level with Su Xiao, with a height conservatively estimated at around five meters, belonging to the level of a small giant like Katakuri, though not as tall as Whitebeard. This burly man was the 3rd Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Diamond Jozu.

As for the other person, sitting next to Jozu, he looked quite short. At first glance, he was a woman, but in reality, he was a man wearing heavy makeup and dressed like a geisha. If an ordinary person were in this attire, it would definitely give a feeling of being neither man nor woman, but this guy didn't have that feeling. He was Izo, the 16th Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.

Marco, Jozu, and Izo were all there, and they had brought dozens of elite pirates. Any one of these pirates, if picked out, would be a captain-level figure from the second half of the Grand Line.

"Mr. Bai Ye, we don't have much time to dock on this island, so..."

"Fine, let's get straight to the point."

Su Xiao sat on the chair in front of Marco and tilted his head to look at Diamond Jozu. Out of 'politeness', Jozu nodded stiffly.

Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang sat beside Su Xiao, looking up at Jozu. That little look seemed to say: "Did this guy grow up eating fertilizer? His build is so sturdy, he must be at least five meters tall. It's a waste if he doesn't go shovel manure; he could carry at least two hundred buckets at once."

Su Xiao patted Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang, and only after calming his mood did his expression remain unchanged.

"Just as I said before, I have some confidence in suppressing, or even treating, Whitebeard's physical condition, and I can provide you with some intelligence. However, what are you willing to pay for this?"

"Some confidence?"

Marco caught the keyword.

"If I said I definitely could cure Whitebeard's injuries, would you believe me? That's simply impossible. I learned that Whitebeard's physical condition is poor through special channels. As for how severe his injuries or illness are, I need to judge that with my own eyes."

Hearing this, Marco nodded thoughtfully. If Su Xiao had made a bold claim that he could definitely cure Whitebeard's injuries, it would instead be unworthy of belief.

"Then what do we need to pay?"

As soon as Marco finished speaking, he found that both Su Xiao and Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang were looking at him.

. m.