Chapter 12

Walking through the streets of the capital, Su Xiao paid attention to the shops on both sides until a store named "Dulu General Store" came into view, and he stopped in his tracks.

This was exactly the place he was looking for. Su Xiao walked into the desolate general store.

"Hey, Sir Guard, our store paid the security fee three days ago, so...?"

The store owner’s gaze was as if he were looking at a plague god, indicating that he was often exploited by the guards.

"I’m not here to collect the security fee. Do you have a plant like this...?"

Half an hour later, Su Xiao left the general store with a smile, and the store owner warmly saw him off, suggesting that Su Xiao had bought quite a lot.

Korubo Mountain’s master was not easy to kill.

According to Su Xiao’s memory, the tiger’s size was at least several times that of an ordinary tiger, standing about four to five meters tall, a complete monster.

Su Xiao did not directly go to the wild to search for Korubo Mountain’s master but returned to the guard headquarters first.

After wandering around the guard headquarters for a while, Su Xiao went to the warehouse where supplies were stored.

Due to Oka’s death, the guard team was now leaderless, and in just one morning, the team had already shown signs of forming factions.

Hank and Oka’s two close confidants had each formed a faction, openly and secretly competing.

Tomorrow night was the time to burn the waste terminal, so a new guard leader would certainly be chosen today to avoid affecting the major event.

In this chaotic situation, Su Xiao easily infiltrated the warehouse. After staying there for some time, he left the guard team and headed towards Korubo Mountain.

Looking at the distant city gate, Su Xiao had previously sneaked in through this gate, but now leaving the city was very simple; he just needed to walk forward openly.

The few gate guards nodded at Su Xiao and let him pass without any questions.

After passing through the city gate and the waste terminal, Su Xiao saw a vast forest. This was Korubo Mountain, where the original protagonist, Luffy, grew up.

Walking into the forest, Su Xiao clearly felt the air was fresher, filled with the scent of various plants. Some unknown birds chirped incessantly on the branches, and occasionally, some gentle herbivores moved through the vegetation, not too afraid of humans.

Although Korubo Mountain was picturesque, it was also dangerous, with fierce beasts often appearing, and ordinary people dared not venture deep into it.

Walking alone in the forest, Su Xiao’s hand rested on the hilt of his sword, seemingly relaxed but actually alert to any movement around him.

The dense forest was not suitable for Su Xiao’s "hunting ground"; he needed an open area.

The open area did not need to be too large but had to meet two conditions.

First, it needed a water source. The Goan Kingdom was located on an island, and water scarcity was a common issue, so water sources in Korubo Mountain were scarce. Finding a water source would greatly increase the chances of finding the giant tiger.

Second, the open area needed to have vegetation, making it easier for him to set traps.

Of course, the traps Su Xiao set were not simple pits to lure Korubo Mountain’s master into.

The soil in Korubo Mountain was not very hard, and for such a large creature, unless the pit walls were reinforced with cement, a collapse would occur, leaving no escape.

The location for Su Xiao’s trap was hard to find, but after three hours of searching, he finally found a satisfactory spot.

It was an open area surrounded by trees, with lush grass and various wildflowers, emitting a faint fragrance.

After smelling the fragrance, Su Xiao frowned. The scent might affect his plan, but it also had its advantages, as it could mask the smell of certain items he placed.

Taking out a shovel from his storage space, Su Xiao took off his shirt and began digging holes in the open area.

Two hours later, Su Xiao was hiding in a large tree near the open area. The open area looked normal, with a few dry fruits casually placed on the ground.

Sweat dripped down Su Xiao’s face, and his bare upper body revealed well-defined muscles, which were not exaggerated but smooth.

Actually, those with overly muscular bodies were not suitable for combat. Strong muscles indeed increased strength but also affected speed and flexibility, which was very disadvantageous in battle.

Su Xiao had once tried this. He visited a famous boxing gym and sparred with the strongest combat instructor there.

Based on Su Xiao’s estimation, the combat instructor, with his bulging muscles, had at least twice his strength and very fast punches.

However, after just five minutes, the combat instructor, who was said to have won a city’s free fighting championship, collapsed on the ground, his body convulsing, and his groans evoked sympathy from some female students.

Su Xiao honed his killing skills, while the combat instructor practiced for competition, which had fundamental differences.

If there were rules, Su Xiao might not be the winner, but in a life-or-death struggle, Su Xiao could kill the opponent in two minutes.

The combat instructor, seeing Su Xiao’s 1.8-meter-tall, not overly muscular body, said, "We don’t need rules for sparring," sealing his own fate...

Sitting on a thick branch, Su Xiao held the "Old Flintlock Gun," which had three bullets left.

Su Xiao had previously tried to reload the gun, but the Cycle Paradise warned that due to severe wear, reloading might damage the gun, rendering it unusable.

This was probably a restriction because the gun was found by Su Xiao, not obtained from a treasure chest.

After opening two white treasure chests, Su Xiao had a basic understanding of the Cycle Paradise’s rules.

Items obtained from treasure chests were generally rule items and could be taken out of the pirate world, while items picked up or obtained during missions had a certain probability of being taken out, like the "Zanryu Flash" on his waist.

Through initial exploration, Su Xiao drew some conclusions.

The semi-datafication of living beings was just a prompt, such as his strength increasing from 6 to 7, clearly showing his improvement.

As for health points, they could not be quantified precisely, only in percentages, and there would not be a situation where cutting an enemy would result in a specific amount of blood loss.

The health bar above the enemy’s head mainly indicated their vital signs, and the more the bar decreased, the weaker the enemy became.

After receiving a fatal wound, the enemy would die immediately, even if they still had 100% health, the bar would be emptied, followed by death.

The datafication of equipment or items was even more interesting.

For example, the "Zanryu Flash" on his waist, its durability and additional attributes were understandable, and the attack power of 5~16 indicated the sharpness and strength of the weapon.

The rating of the equipment was the most important data, as it directly showed the item’s value.

After a few battles, Su Xiao understood that although it was semi-datafied, it was just to help estimate strength, and everything was based on reality, not game-like.

Semi-datafication was to more intuitively show his strength and the value of items.

This was the greatest help the Cycle Paradise provided to Su Xiao.