Free Web NovelChapter 1297: Chapter 8: Hello, Candy Seller
Speiro actually wasn’t that worried; he could use syrup to make a small boat, which was enough to keep himself from falling into the sea.
Small Boat Island was slowly sinking. When the sea water covered Speiro’s feet, he quickly rushed toward the edge of Small Boat Island. As he leaped into the air, he had already created a small boat out of syrup and hardened it.
With a splash, the small boat fell into the sea. Speiro stood steadily on it. Although the sea water would slowly melt the candy, he could thicken the Candy Ship at any time.
Speiro retreated on his side; Pika, on the other hand, had nowhere to go. Helpless, he could only sheath his Long Knife at his waist, thrust both hands into the deck beneath his feet, and forcibly rip off a huge piece of the hull, using it as a makeshift raft.
In the sea water, Su Xiao slashed upward again and again at the empty water above, accelerating the destruction of the small island-ship overhead.
Su Xiao wasn’t the only one destroying Small Boat Island. That diving girl from before was also secretly sabotaging the ships of the Donquixote Family and the Beast Pirates, busy to the point of delight.
The unluckiest ones were actually the Beast Pirates. They didn’t want to fight the Big Mom Pirate Group to the death and clearly intended to use the Donquixote Family members as cannon fodder.
Under the sabotage of Su Xiao and the diving girl, Small Boat Island completely sank into the sea. The Pirates who had been locked in combat all stopped and started looking for ways to survive. Sometimes a single large floating plank would trigger a bloody scramble between several Pirates.
An old Pirate floating on the sea showed a look of Despair. He was clinging to a plank. Although this sea area wasn’t too far from Dressrosa, it was impossible to distinguish direction while stranded at sea. Once you lost your ship, there was only one road left—death.
Gulu gulu gulu...
A string of bubbles appeared on the surface. Seeing this string of bubbles, the old Pirate almost instinctively took a deep breath, preparing to dive underwater.
"Oh～"
After a strange, miserable scream, the old Pirate vanished directly from the surface. A few seconds later, a small patch of sea was dyed red, and the old Pirate never resurfaced.
In the sea water, Su Xiao let go of the old Pirate’s corpse. Now was a prime opportunity to kill enemies, but compared to these Ordinary Pirates, he preferred to hunt Charlotte Perospero.
If he could kill Speiro, he would definitely gain a large amount of Pirate Reputation—but Speiro wasn’t that easy to kill.
Su Xiao looked toward where Speiro was. That guy had already used his Devil Fruit Ability to create a large ship, and many of his subordinates had climbed aboard this Candy Ship.
Compared to Speiro’s side, things looked very bad on Pika’s side. The Strong Pika was sitting on a section of deck about five meters in diameter, surrounded by a dozen of his subordinates. They were dragging that piece of deck, doing their utmost to keep it afloat on the sea.
With Contractors mixed into the battlefield, neither side’s ships could be kept intact, so Su Xiao struck first.
"Boys, speed up."
Speiro shouted, and dozens of Pirates on the Candy Ship all gripped paddles formed from syrup. The Candy Ship closed in on Pika and the others at a decent speed.
Pika, on the broken deck, tried to stand up. The moment he moved to rise, the deck started rocking from side to side.
Pika’s expression was very ugly. Once he fell into the sea, the fight would be over. Devil Fruit Ability Users were far too afraid of Sea Water.
Although Speiro held a considerable advantage, his brows were tightly furrowed. He hadn’t forgotten how Small Boat Island had sunk. There was very likely a Swordsman or even a Great Swordsman in the water. In truth, Su Xiao was not a Swordsman of the Pirate World at all; their Power Systems only looked similar on the surface but were fundamentally different.
Su Xiao kicked against the Sea Water, his figure darting through the ocean at high speed.
With a rush of bubbles, a large cloud of air surged up around Su Xiao. He took out an Alchemy Bomb, which rapidly transformed, finally forming a half-meter-long "White Snake."
Su Xiao controlled the Alchemy Bomb to approach the Candy Ship. If they were on land, taking down Speiro would require a hard fight—but here, this was the open sea.
If Su Xiao activated Demonic Hunt Time, Speiro wouldn’t even be able to run.
Su Xiao had absolutely no need to clash head-on with Speiro; he just had to drag the man into the sea, and the battle would be over.
The White Snake formed from the Alchemy Bomb quickly swam beneath the Candy Ship, and Su Xiao detonated the Bomb.
Thump.
Layer upon layer of shockwaves spread underwater. The Candy Ship sailing on the sea shuddered, and large cracks appeared on the underside of the hull.
"Not good."
Speiro pressed one hand against the hull; he could instantly repair the damage to the Candy Ship.
At the same time, in the sea, Su Xiao’s feet stepped on A Mu’s back. The moment the Alchemy Bomb exploded, he exerted force underfoot, and his whole Body shot toward the surface like a torpedo.
Speiro’s hand had just touched the Candy Ship when, with a crash, Sea Water splashed everywhere and a figure burst out of the ocean.
Speiro’s hand paused for an instant, but a smile appeared on his face. The moment Su Xiao broke out of the water, his Observation Haki had already sensed him.
Su Xiao, Long Knife in hand, was in midair, falling directly toward the Candy Ship.
Whoosh～
The sound of Breaking Void rushed straight at him. Speiro twisted his Body around, and the Candy Stick in his hand smashed toward Su Xiao.
Ding!
Candy fragments flew in all directions as Speiro took a step back. If one looked carefully at his feet, they would find his soles were covered in syrup, from which several finger-thick threads stretched out.
The syrup threads possessed extremely strong elasticity, and the knocked-back Speiro was yanked back to his original position.
"Your power, I’ll give it back to you."
Speiro’s figure was almost dragged into an afterimage as the Candy Stick whipped toward Su Xiao with a wailing sound of cleaving air.
With a bang, a shockwave spread out. The Candy Stick lashed Su Xiao’s lower abdomen; something could be heard faintly shattering as Su Xiao, who was in midair, was sent flying backward.
Speiro was slightly stunned. He hadn’t expected Su Xiao to be this weak. Seeing the long knife in Su Xiao’s hand, he had subconsciously assumed Su Xiao was the one who had unleashed that Blade Aura under the sea.
Thoughts raced through Speiro’s mind. That previous slash from Su Xiao had almost severed his Candy Stick. He knew exactly how hard the Candy Stick was; some random nobody simply couldn’t damage this thing, let alone knock him back a step.
Speiro immediately judged that Su Xiao’s strength was not weak. If they were fighting on land, this would absolutely be a troublesome enemy.
Yet this very troublesome enemy had actually been struck square in the vulnerable lower abdomen by his stick and sent flying.
The instant he hit Su Xiao, Speiro had heard a crisp crack. At first he thought the stick had shattered, but that wasn’t the case. The front end of the Candy Stick was merely covered in cracks; it hadn’t broken.
All these thoughts flashed through Speiro’s mind in a split second. As Charlotte Lingling’s eldest son, Speiro had extremely rich combat experience.
The more Speiro thought about it, the more wrong it felt, until two seconds later, when a stabbing pain and a sense of restraint came from his arm.
Speiro’s arm lifted uncontrollably. Fortunately, his feet were smeared with syrup, and both feet were glued to the Candy Ship, which kept him from being dragged off the ship.
A ghostly blue metal wire was wrapped around Speiro’s wrist. Su Xiao, who had been flying through the air, suddenly stopped; the metal wire linked him and Speiro together.
With a splash, Su Xiao fell into the sea and pulled the Boundary Line tight.
Speiro’s body staggered from the tug; luckily, the Candy Ship beneath him was large enough that Su Xiao didn’t manage to drag it into the sea.
With a bang, a figure burst out from the surface, throwing up great sheets of Sea Water, within which ice crystals could be vaguely seen.
The figure landed on the Candy Ship, cold air billowing out.
"Moo!"
After boarding, A Mu let out a Roar and raised the War Hammer, Ice Roar, in his hand high above his head. His muscles swelled all over, and the barrel-thick hammerhead smashed down onto the Candy Ship.
Rumble!
Cracks spread across the entire Candy Ship. At the same time, Su Xiao, beneath the Candy Ship, delivered a Side Kick to the hull.
Thud!
The massive Candy Ship was actually kicked two meters up into the air by brute Strength, almost lifting clear of the surface.
Under such a Heavy Strike, the entire Candy Ship shattered apart, but just then, Speiro pressed one hand to the hull, preparing to forcibly repair the ship.
Speiro’s hand had just touched the Candy Ship when a figure that came out of nowhere pounced on him and bit into his arm.
Bubu Wang bit down on Speiro’s arm. It looked at Speiro, its eyes seeming to say: "Hey there, candy seller, come play under the sea, yeah."
With a crisp crack, the entire Candy Ship broke apart. Speiro had no time to react before he was dragged into the sea by the Boundary Line.
"No!! Gulu gulu..."
In the Sea Water, Speiro raised his arm high, but in the next moment his arm was dragged under as well. The dozens of Pirates on the surrounding sea surface immediately tried to dive in and rescue him, when great swathes of Blade Aura slashed up from beneath the water, and Blood dyed the surrounding Sea Water.
Gulu gulu...
In the sea, Speiro spat out a large stream of bubbles, his eyes rolling white. A Devil Fruit Ability User in the sea was just this much of a waste.
The coordination between Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and A Mu could be called Perfect. They only took seven seconds in total to drag Speiro into the sea. Even in a land battle, Su Xiao would not fear Speiro, much less on the sea.
On the sail of a nearby deck-raft, the corner of Pika’s eye twitched as he watched Speiro get dragged into the sea. He swore to the heavens that he absolutely did not have such ferocious subordinates.
There was one thing Pika really wanted to know: would those three guys use the same method to drag him into the sea as well? He glanced at the dozen or so bedraggled-looking subordinates around him, and an ominous feeling that his days were numbered welled up unbidden.
With a whoosh, a black shadow swept past beneath the deck-raft, and Pika tightened his grip on his sword hilt.
"Lord Pika, that’s great, Speiro’s been taken out."
One of Pika’s subordinates shouted in joy, making Pika really want to cut him down. In that moment, Pika couldn’t help but lament in his heart: ’Why are my teammates this stupid?’
