Free Web NovelChapter 1306: Chapter 17: Seizing Control (4th Update)
The explosion had just sounded when Bubu Wang, who was lazily sleeping on the bed, jolted awake and immediately jumped up from the bed. Delinjie, clutching an alchemy bomb, quickly rushed out of the room.
As a researcher, Su Xiao naturally didn’t need to risk his life on the battlefield. Although killing ordinary pirates could potentially yield treasure chests, the probability was too low. Even if he participated in the battle, Su Xiao would choose to engage with strong opponents.
Right now, Su Xiao had no such intention. The third ring of his advancement/main task would activate in five hours, and besides, he needed to wait for the Donquixote Family to use the alchemy bombs on the battlefield.
There are seven landing points in Dressrosa, all located on the south side of Dressrosa. Positioned on King’s Highland, Su Xiao could oversee the entire battlefield situation.
At least dozens of large ships were approaching Dressrosa. These belonged to the Big Mom Pirate Group. Instead of immediately approaching Dressrosa, they were bombarding the coastline with bow guns.
The pirates of the Donquixote Family seemed muted by the bombardment. They all hid behind the giant rocks on both sides of the landing point, waiting for the Big Mom Pirate Group to land.
Boom, boom, boom...
Gunfire filled the port, sand flew in the air, and hundreds of pirates hid behind the rocks a hundred meters from the explosion area. They held old matchlock guns, curiously managing to fire them continuously.
The Big Mom Pirate Group bombarded for a good half hour before their fleet started to approach Dressrosa.
The unexpected happened at the shallow sea area; no lead bullets flew as imagined when the Big Mom faction landed.
Though unsure of what was happening, the pirates from the Big Mom faction still charged towards the port.
"Everyone, kill them all. Mama ordered us to conquer Dressrosa. We can have fun on this island for three days."
A pirate leader with a gap-toothed grin shouted, and his underlings laughed loudly. If they could conquer Dressrosa, they would have free reign to plunder for three days. The beauties of the island were famous far and wide.
Thinking of that scene, the pirates in the shallow sea area felt a surge of heat in their abdomens, their laughter growing more lewd.
"Attack!"
The pirates drew their sailors’ knives from their belts and charged towards the port in droves. Never assume that the ordinary pirates under the Four Emperors are lofty; pirates will always be pirates, never as disciplined as the Navy.
When a group of pirates reached the beach area, the Donquixote Family’s pirates still hid in the distance, not even firing at them.
"Stop!"
The pirate leader realized something was wrong, but it was too late.
Boom, boom...
The sound of dense explosions echoed, and the beach area instantly transformed into a sea of fire.
Terrible screams emanated from the fiery wasteland. Alchemy bombs alone couldn’t cause such devastation, but with Doflamingo’s intelligence, he certainly didn’t rely solely on alchemy bombs.
Doflamingo first had people bury a large number of bombs in the beach area, utilizing the remote detonation capability of the alchemy bombs to trigger those bombs.
In an instant, the beach area became human hell, a scene mirrored at five other landing points. The only ones who didn’t step into a trap were the pirate unit led by Charlotte Katakuri, as he couldn’t possibly be ambushed by traps.
Although Charlotte Katakuri’s Observation Haki was powerful enough to foresee the future, he could only foresee the near future.
On the fourth floor of the villa area, Su Xiao watched the explosions at the port through a telescope, simultaneously receiving numerous notifications.
[You gained 1 point of pirate reputation.]
[You gained 4 points of pirate reputation.]
...
[You gained 1 point of pirate reputation.]
[You gained 1 point of pirate reputation.]
...
Su Xiao’s plan succeeded. Although the pirate reputation wasn’t as high as he anticipated, it was still a success.
Su Xiao’s plan wasn’t about exploiting loopholes but entirely relying on his own abilities to achieve results.
Firstly, Su Xiao needed the strength to negotiate with Doflamingo. Secondly, he had to possess the skills to create alchemy bombs and establish a reputation in the Pirate World, thereby convincing Doflamingo of his capability to produce alchemy bombs.
Numerous conditions were indispensable, and although Su Xiao and Doflamingo might turn against each other at any time, the current outcome was exactly what Su Xiao wanted.
If he could gain benefits without taking risks, why would Su Xiao carry a knife to slaughter bloodily among the pirates?
As his pirate reputation gradually increased, Su Xiao came to the stone platform to continue producing alchemy bombs and, during his leisure time, checked the current pirate reputation rankings.
[First: Kudu (Fifth Tier), Pirate Reputation 4500 points.]
[Second: Shallow Dream (Fifth Tier), Pirate Reputation 2780 points.]
[Third: Performer (Fifth Tier), Pirate Reputation 2176 points.]
[Fourth: Forest (Fifth Tier), Pirate Reputation 1902 points.]
[Fifth: Man Shi (Fifth Tier), Pirate Reputation 1877 points.]
...
The top five in pirate reputation had already been monopolized by Fifth Tier contractors. Su Xiao was currently ranked seventh, with a total of 1463 points in pirate reputation.
The first-place Kudu was an absolute monster, boasting a whopping 4500 points of pirate reputation. However, Su Xiao didn’t care; his current pirate reputation was steadily growing.
Su Xiao indeed aided the Donquixote Family in fully producing alchemy bombs. As for Apollo, such weapons capable of determining the direction of a war, would be provided only in limited quantities. If supplied excessively, and the Donquixote Family successfully repelled the Big Mom Pirate Group, then Su Xiao would suffer a major loss.
What Su Xiao wanted was a sustainably developing war, preferably lasting for ten days to half a month. Even if he abandoned the income of Paradise coins and treasure chests from this world, he aimed to vie for the top two rewards in pirate reputation ranking, which all Fifth Tier contractors coveted. Such rewards would definitely compensate for the losses in Paradise coins and treasure chests.
Judging by Kudu’s stance, he clearly intended to secure the top position with overwhelming superiority. This also indicated another fact: the reward for the top position was something that even a formidable Fifth Tier contractor like Kudu desired greatly.
While vying with Kudu for the top position, Su Xiao also had to prevent the other from coming to attack him. It’s obvious that with his current strength, there’s no way he could confront Fifth Tier contractors head-on.
After manufacturing alchemy bombs for a while, Bubu Wang barked from the window. It meant, "Master, come quickly, the beach has turned into a slaughterhouse."
Su Xiao dropped the alchemy bomb he was holding. Indeed, Dressrosa’s beach was now a sea of red, some spots still ablaze with raging fire.
Su Xiao took out a set of metal stands from the storage space and assembled them in front of the window. The enhanced +13 Duke of Extinction was semi-fixed on the stand.
Su Xiao was about four kilometers from the beach, while the Duke of Extinction’s maximum range was 4,762 meters, making it the perfect sniping point.
The Duke’s Domain Ability activated, and the adaptive scope popped out from the gun body of Duke of Extinction. From this distance, it was clearly more reliable to select enemy targets for locking.
As the war progressed to this extent, ordinary pirates were certainly not worth Su Xiao’s bullets. He only needed to snipe elite units.
With the division of enemy kills from alchemy bombs, coupled with sniping elite units, Su Xiao was confident he could surpass Kudu.
Su Xiao quickly pinpointed a figure on the battlefield, a guy named Charlotte Cracker.
"Bu Bu, go get ready."
Upon hearing this, Bubu Wang rushed downstairs from the villa. Su Xiao handled sniping the enemies while Bubu collected treasure chests, a perfect coordination.
