Chapter 1788

Mangrove District 30, Fragrant Wave Archipelago.

Kerla, wearing light makeup, walked down the street without worrying about exposure; whether it was her special makeup technique or something else, her appearance always changed subtly after applying makeup, or rather, aside from infiltration missions, she rarely wore makeup.

Kerla, carrying a shopping bag, was in a good mood and even brought small gifts for Sabo, Long, and Su Xiao; thinking of Su Xiao, her mood noticeably worsened, as Su Xiao had always given her a dangerous feeling, both before and now.

When sharing a room with Su Xiao, although his gaze at her was normal and showed no lustful looks due to her appearance, Kerla still felt something was off—like being in a room with a bloodthirsty vicious beast; when the beast laughed, it was pleasant weather, but when it fell silent, she felt her hairs stand on end.

After wandering around the Fragrant Wave Archipelago for a few rounds, Kerla finally disappeared into an abandoned house; when she reappeared, she was already in front of the derelict ship in Zone 72.

Thud, thud, thud.

Kerla knocked on the wooden ship as usual, but this time she waited several minutes with no response, which made her unconsciously tense her body.

With a click, Kerla pried open the hidden door on the wooden ship; a puff of purple mist surged out, she immediately leapt back and pulled down a piece of her skirt to cover her mouth and nose.

"Andrew, Nehemiah, are you in there?"

Kerla shouted softly; the derelict ship was deathly silent, and now she was certain something had happened.

"As expected!"

Kerla took a deep breath, lowered her head, and rushed into the derelict ship; in the hazy purple mist, she saw Andrew and Nehemiah lying on the ground, drool flowing from their mouths; she checked their breathing—they were fine, just fallen into a deep sleep.

Holding her breath, Kerla rushed a few steps to the room where Su Xiao was; the wooden door was slightly ajar, the air inside was fresh, and she took a few steps into the room.

"Hah~ hah~ What is this gas? Just holding my breath for a few seconds and I'm almost suffocating."

Kerla surveyed the room's condition—no signs of a fight, dozens of potions were placed on the wooden table, and a den den mushi was also placed there.

Although she had roughly guessed what was going on, Kerla still picked up the den den mushi on the table and dialed; it connected quickly.

"Kukurin?"

Kerla tentatively spoke to inquire.

"It's me, what's up?"

From the den den mushi, Kerla heard the sound of waves, as if others were also talking about something.

"You… where are you?"

"On the Moby Dick."

"Hey, Bai Ye, don't expose our information."

"What does it matter? Our ship has left the New World, and the Revolutionary Army already got the news."

"Although that's what you say, I'm still unhappy about it."

Noisy sounds came from within the den den mushi, and Kerla's brows furrowed.

"Moby Dick? Moby Dick!"

Kerla's expression showed some surprise as she asked: "You're on… Whitebeard's ship?"

"Exactly, any problem?"

"This isn't a matter of whether there's a problem or not—wait, what am I saying? Why did you go to Whitebeard's ship? Whitebeard is supposed to be fighting the Navy..."

Kerla hadn't finished speaking when Su Xiao interrupted her.

"I know, so?"

"Click..."

Kerla didn't know how to respond for a moment, clearly at a loss for words.

"I'll send someone to pick you up now; we can talk face to face about anything."

"No need, I'll contact you in a few days."

Click-ga~

The den den mushi was hung up; Kerla tilted her head, pondered for a moment, and decided to contact Long.

"Hmm, I understand."

Click-ga~

Long hung up the den den mushi; Kerla seemed to have broken down, standing dazed in place with one hand holding the den den mushi.

"What kind of damn mission is this? Why do I feel like I'm constantly being schemed against? Can't the leader just tell me what's going on? And Kukurin Bai Ye—I hate research personnel!"

Perhaps from today onward, Kerla will be wary of all research personnel.

……

Grand Line sea zone, Moby Dick.

Su Xiao sat on the deck holding a bottle of alcohol, while across from him, Whitebeard was guzzling strong liquor with his head tilted back.

"Kukukuku, kid, you haven't been seen in days and you've already joined the Revolutionary Army."

Whitebeard still wore his original attire, but he no longer needed an oxygen tube inserted, nor did he have an IV needle in his arm; that oppressive presence was completely different from when they first met.

"I've recently been hunted by the World Government, so I had no choice but to join them."

Su Xiao glanced at the nearby pirates sitting in several circles, holding a banquet; although none were drunk, they teased each other and laughed loudly—pirates are like that, even if they're to die tomorrow, they want to indulge in wild revelry today.

Seeing that Su Xiao seemed uninterested in continuing to join the pirate banquet, Marco, who was eating pizza, stood up.

"Kukurin, the promise I made earlier can now be fulfilled."

"Then that's good."

Su Xiao also stood up and followed Marco toward the cabin; after entering the cabin, Su Xiao discovered this was Whitebeard's quarters—not luxurious, but spacious and clean.

Marco placed his hand on the inner wooden wall of the cabin; after a few crisp sounds, a wooden door protruded slightly from the wall, Marco gestured for Su Xiao to enter—this was the Whitebeard Pirates' treasure vault.

Su Xiao entered the treasure vault; this was a compartment of over ten square meters, with gold and jewelry ornaments piled on the ground like trash, revealing Whitebeard's attitude toward wealth.

Su Xiao stepped on the jewelry; on both sides of the wooden compartment, the walls each had over ten wooden racks, holding hundreds of items.

He casually picked up a wooden box about twenty centimeters long; this box was carved from adamant wood, its value even exceeding that of gold of the same volume.

Opening the wooden box, Su Xiao saw a photograph: it showed Whitebeard, ten or so years younger than now, half-squatting on the ground, one hand pressing on a boy's head; the boy seemed to be sulking, but due to the size difference, could only accept the photo with a displeased face, while Whitebeard smiled gently—this was a photo of Whitebeard and rebellious Marco, and to Whitebeard, this photo was a treasure.

There were over ten such wooden boxes in the treasure vault; jewelry was thrown on the ground, but the photos were cherished inside the adamant wood boxes—very fitting for Whitebeard's style.

Su Xiao put the wooden box back in its original place and began to continue searching. In his sight were nine Devil Fruits, three Paramecia and six Zoan. For the Four Emperors pirate crews, this was not many, let alone for someone like Whitebeard, a man from the previous era. The Devil Fruits he obtained were likely mostly given to his own sons.

After searching, Su Xiao found that most of the valuable items were legendary, with equipment being the majority, and epic items were also present.

Since Su Xiao came to obtain a reward, he could view the information of all items in the treasury, and it was not based on luck, so he quickly finished his selection.

【Moon's Radiance (Epic Gem): When embedded into attack-type equipment, it grants the equipment the Hasty property; when embedded into defense-type equipment, it grants the equipment the Moon's Armor property.】

【Unnamed Devil Fruit (Paramecia) x3.】

【Unnamed Devil Fruit (Zoan) x2.】

【Beloved Sea Snail (Legendary Item).】

【Mineshil Deep Sea Ore x2 (Legendary Material, Alchemy Exclusive).】

【Slaughter Instinct (Epic Equipment·Belt, made of shark skin).】

After selecting ten items, Su Xiao's favorite was not the Epic Gem Moon's Radiance, but the Epic Equipment Slaughter Instinct.