When Su Xiao obtained the [Worn Out Flintlock Gun], he received numerous notifications. However, when he acquired the dagger, there were no notifications, no detailed information, and no indication of whether it could be sold.
This made Su Xiao suspect that getting the [Worn Out Flintlock Gun] involved some luck but might also have been orchestrated by Reincarnation Paradise. The implication was clear: he could obtain weapons, but only by taking certain risks. This, he guessed, was the law of Reincarnation Paradise.
The dagger in his hand clearly didn't fall under the same category. Although it was sharp and he could use it, he couldn't take it out of the One Piece world or exchange it for Paradise currency. That made sense—if anything could be traded for Paradise coins, the entire currency system of Reincarnation Paradise would become a joke.
As Su Xiao struggled to control the disobedient horse, he steadily approached the city gate, and the guards came into view.
The old horse, unfamiliar with its new rider, was difficult to manage, which made Su Xiao feel troubled. He had never handled a horse before, but with the guards right in front of him, retreating wasn't an option.
With a yank on the reins, the horse snorted and halted.
Su Xiao stopped voluntarily for inspection, guessing that while the guards might be lax when people left the city, entering was an entirely different matter.
Several guards approached him, their postures relaxed, but their eyes as sharp as hawks.
"Why are you back so early today?" one of them asked.
Their familiar attitude caused every hair on Su Xiao's body to stand on end.
These guards likely knew the identity of the black-market merchant he had replaced, and they might even be in some kind of deal together. This situation was getting tricky.
"Sir... I just left the city today... and... then Toby's men robbed me... ugh..." Su Xiao mumbled and groaned, deliberately making his voice unclear. He also acted nauseated, masking his voice, which differed from the original carter's.
The smell of sewage on his clothes was so overwhelming that the guards instinctively stepped back, their suspicion fading.
"What? Toby? Are they asking to die, robbing you? Don't they know who you are?" The guard in front of Su Xiao was clearly enraged, but another guard interjected.
"Boss, Toby's power has been growing quickly lately. According to my informants, he just wiped out Rogir's gang. Except for the Bursam Pirates, no one in the Gray Terminal can surpass Toby's group now."
"And we're just going to let it slide? What about our money?"
The guards exchanged glances, their eyes filled with resentment, but they didn't seem to have any way to deal with Toby's growing influence outside the city walls.
"You... Ugh, forget it. If this happens again, don't bother coming back. Just live in the Gray Terminal." the guard said ominously.
Su Xiao nodded submissively, but his eyes remained calm and focused.
The more critical the moment, the more important it was to stay composed. Many failures come from people getting cocky right before success.
Urging the horse onward, Su Xiao slowly passed through the gate. The old brown horse, though reluctant, moved forward.
Just before he left, one of the guards bent down to check beneath the cart, in case someone was hiding there— a common method for scavengers to sneak into the city.
Su Xiao had never intended to hide under the cart. Instead, he had eliminated the carter and taken his place, exploiting the guards' blind spots.
The cart passed through the gate, rolling smoothly forward. Three meters... five meters... ten meters...
"Carlos, wait a minute."
A shout came from behind. Su Xiao's pupils contracted, but his expression remained calm.
"About your nephew, everything's been arranged. As long as you bring enough 'sincerity,' he can report to the guard squad today." the guard said, rubbing his fingers together, a universal gesture for money.
Su Xiao quickly nodded in response, pretending to thank them, but then retched again.
"Hurry up and go. You stink. I can smell you from here." the guard said, waving him away.
Su Xiao took advantage of the moment, grabbing the whip and lashing the old horse on the rear.
"Crack!"
The sharp sound of the whip made the horse cry out and quicken its pace.
The infiltration was a success. Su Xiao had safely entered the capital of the Goa Kingdom.
Although there were safer ways to sneak in, those methods took time—and Su Xiao didn't have much of that.
Besides, he had gleaned some valuable information from the guards' casual remarks.
First, the current timeline was before the original protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, set sail—likely during Luffy's childhood or possibly even before he was born.
He deduced this based on the mention of the Bursam Pirates. If Su Xiao remembered correctly, the Bursam Pirates were the ones involved in a conflict with the young Luffy and Ace in the original story, which led to a massive fire in the Gray Terminal.
Second, and more unexpectedly, Su Xiao had stumbled upon a potentially game-changing opportunity.
The guard had said, "About your nephew, everything's arranged. Just bring enough 'sincerity,' and he can join the guard squad today."
This hinted at a deal between the black-market merchant and the gate guards—buying a position in the guard squad with money.
If Su Xiao could impersonate the merchant's nephew and infiltrate the guard squad, he would be one step closer to his assassination target.
Though the plan was risky, it was the best option at hand. After all, Reincarnation Paradise hadn't provided him with any kind of official identity—he was an outsider with no legal standing in this world.
Driving the cart deeper into the city, Su Xiao found himself in the outer layer of the Goa Kingdom's capital, a district inhabited by commoners.
The streets of the commoner district were fairly clean, lined with vendors calling out their wares.
Large crowds of civilians wandered leisurely through the streets, giving the city a bustling, lively atmosphere. However, some faces in the crowd looked weary and anxious, as though they were barely scraping by.
The only difference between these commoners and the scavengers outside the walls was that they didn't starve, though they still struggled to survive.
This was the Age of Pirates, a time filled with war and roving bands of pirates, leaving most of the population in poverty.
Walking through the noisy streets, Su Xiao felt as though he had been transported to another world. This place felt real—not like a mission world, but an actual world filled with real people, not mere NPCs.
The guards' vigilance had already proven that underestimating anyone in this world would be a grave mistake. If he hadn't been thoroughly prepared and quick on his feet, they would have seen through his ruse.
In the Reincarnation Paradise mission worlds, it was crucial never to underestimate anyone, Su Xiao reminded himself.
For now, though, the priority was to find a place to clean up. He also needed to open the [White Treasure Chest] he had acquired earlier. Any available resources had to be used, given the precarious situation he was in.
As a Level 1 in this Level 6, Nightmare-difficulty world, Su Xiao knew how dangerous every step would be.
(End of Chapter)
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Translator's Note :- I am Not that familiar with a lot of the fictional worlds mentioned in the story. So if I make a mistake naming something please correct me by writing a paragraph comment on the mistake. Thank you.