When Su Xiao got the old flintlock gun earlier, he received a lot of hints. But this dagger he got now didn’t come with any hints, no specific information, and it didn’t show if it could be sold.
This made Su Xiao think that getting the old flintlock gun was partly luck and maybe something that the ‘Reincarnation Paradise’ arranged on purpose. It meant he could get weapons but had to take on some risks. This seemed to be the rule of the ‘Reincarnation Paradise.’
The dagger in his hand clearly didn’t fall under that rule. It was sharp, he could use it, but he couldn’t take it out of the pirate world or exchange it for paradise coins. This made sense; if everything could be sold for paradise coins, then the currency system of the ‘Reincarnation Paradise’ would just be a joke.
As he urged the stubborn horse forward, Su Xiao gradually approached the city gate, and he could see several guards coming into view. The old horse didn’t seem to listen well to commands since it had suddenly changed owners, which made things a bit tricky for Su Xiao. He had never handled horses before, but the guards were right in front of him, leaving no room for him to back down.
He pulled on the reins, and the horse snorted, stopping in place. Su Xiao decided to stop and accept the inspection. He guessed that it would be more relaxed when leaving the city, but entering wouldn’t be that easy.
The guards came forward, appearing lazy, but their eyes were sharp like eagles.
“What’s going on? You’re back in the city so early today?”
The familiar tone of the guards made Su Xiao’s hair stand on end. They might know the identity of that black market merchant, and there could be some interests involved, making things a bit complicated.
“Sir, I just left the city today, and it was Toby’s gang that attacked me, ugh~.”
Su Xiao’s voice was very unclear, mixed with dry heaving. He sounded different from the coachman on purpose. With the awful stench from the dirty water on his clothes, the guards didn’t suspect anything and even stepped back a bit.
“What? Toby? Are they looking for death? They dare to rob you? Don’t they know who you are?”
The guard in front of Su Xiao seemed a bit angry, but another guard beside him said, “Boss, that guy Toby has been expanding his power quickly. According to my informant, Toby just wiped out Roger’s gang. Now, except for the Bulsam Pirate Group, no one at the junkyard station has more power than Toby.”
“Just let it go? What about the money?”
The guards exchanged glances. Though they were reluctant, they had no way to deal with Toby hiding in the junkyard station.
“You... forget it. If this happens again, you don’t have to come back. Just ‘live’ in the junkyard station.”
Su Xiao pretended to nod obediently, but his eyes were very calm. The more critical the moment, the calmer he needed to be. Many failures happen because people get too cocky just before success.
He urged the horse forward, and the old brown horse reluctantly moved ahead. Just before Su Xiao left, a guard bent down to check under the carriage to make sure no one was hiding there, which was a common trick for beggars trying to sneak into the city.
Su Xiao had never thought of hiding under the carriage. Instead, he took out the coachman directly and replaced him. This method was risky but took advantage of the guards’ blind spots.
The junk cart gradually passed through the city gate and moved steadily forward—three meters, five meters, ten meters.
“Carlos, wait.”
A guard called out from behind. Su Xiao’s pupils tightened for a moment but quickly returned to normal.
“I’ve arranged for your nephew. Bring enough ‘sincerity,’ and you can report to the guard team today.”
The guard raised one hand, rubbing his thumb and middle finger together, meaning money when he said ‘sincerity.’
Su Xiao quickly nodded, pretending to thank him, but he kept dry heaving.
“Get moving, it really stinks. I can smell it from this far away.”
Su Xiao wouldn’t miss this good opportunity. He picked up a whip from the side and gave the old horse a smack on the rear.
“Crack.”
A sharp sound echoed, and the old horse let out a cry, clearly speeding up its steps.
He had successfully sneaked in, and Su Xiao safely blended into the capital of the Goya Kingdom.
Although he had safer ways to enter the capital, those would take time, and he didn’t have much of that. Plus, he gathered a lot of useful information from the guards’ brief words.
First, the current time was before the main character Monkey D. Luffy set sail, meaning Luffy was still a child, or maybe he hadn’t even been born yet.
He figured this out based on the mention of the Bulsam Pirate Group by the guards. If Su Xiao remembered correctly, the Bulsam Pirate Group was the one that fought against young Luffy, Ace, and others during a fire in the original story.
In the original story, the Bulsam Pirate Group was used by the king of the Goya Kingdom to ignite the junkyard station, after which they were abandoned to fend for themselves in the flames.
The second piece of information was a surprising gain, which might be the key to Su Xiao’s success in his mission.
The guard’s earlier words made Su Xiao very happy: “I’ve arranged for your nephew. Bring enough ‘sincerity,’ and you can report to the guard team today.”
It seemed this was some sort of deal made by the dead black market merchant with the guards, using money to buy a position in the guard team.
If Su Xiao posed as the merchant’s nephew to enter the guard team, it would mean he was one step closer to his target for assassination.
Though this was risky, it was the best option available since the paradise hadn’t assigned him an identity; he was just an outsider without any status.
Su Xiao drove the cart through the streets of the capital of the Goya Kingdom. Since he had just entered the outer layer of the capital, this area was just a residential zone for commoners.
The streets in the commoner area were relatively clean, with vendors selling their goods lining both sides.
A large crowd of commoners strolled leisurely down the streets, making the city feel bustling, though some commoners wore worried expressions and hurried along.
The only difference between these commoners and the beggars outside the walls was that they wouldn’t starve, but they were still struggling to make ends meet.
The pirate world was in a chaotic time, filled with wars and roaming pirates, so the living conditions for commoners were quite poor.
As Su Xiao moved through the noisy streets, it felt like he was in a different world, as if this wasn’t a mission world but a real world, filled with real people and not just NPCs.
From the guards earlier, it was clear that their vigilance was high. If Su Xiao hadn’t been well-prepared and quick to adapt, he might have already been discovered.
In a mission world, you shouldn’t underestimate anyone, Su Xiao reminded himself.
But right now, the priority was to find a place to clean himself up. He also needed to open the treasure chest he got earlier, as he wanted to use every resource available to him.
With only LV.1, Su Xiao found it extremely difficult to navigate this LV.6, nightmare-level world.
The flying speed of the mosquitoes was fast; without a few thousand recommendation votes, it would be impossible to take them down.
(End of Chapter)