CHAPTER 348: CHAPTER 49: THE HIGH GROUND AND THE SPIDER

The shouts of battle were deafening from behind, Su Xiao paid them no mind, he knew the Straw Hat Pirates had arrived, he was heading straight for the Tower of Justice, the highest point of Enies Lobby.

Looking at the dozens of special bullets in his storage space, Su Xiao smiled. These were bullets specially commissioned by Vega Punk, tailored for the Spider Queen Sniper Rifle.

No doubt, Vega Punk is a genius, simulating the Spider Queen’s special ammunition in just one day.

This wasn’t without cost, Su Xiao helped him make dozens of special level Alchemy Bombs, those bombs were made at Vega Punk’s expense, the ownership belongs to Vega Punk.

Su Xiao’s pace quickened as he crossed a suspension bridge and reached the Main Island; after that, the next island would be Judicial Island.

Tina followed closely behind Su Xiao, looking rather displeased, feeling something was amiss; as soon as Su Xiao set foot on the island, a group of pirates arrived.

"Mister Bai Ye, let’s temporarily hide on the Main Island, we can’t go forward."

Tina stopped where she was, seemingly seeking Su Xiao’s opinion, but in reality, she wasn’t.

The Main Island on the second island isn’t a good place; if the direction of the showdown zone deviates, the main island will be caught in between.

"Alright, then let’s rest on the Main Island."

Su Xiao’s cooperation greatly satisfied Tina, as she quickly walked towards the Tribunal on the Main Island.

Inside the Tribunal.

The Tribunal was no longer controlled by the CP Department, it was filled with corpses, all with several gunshot wounds. A man dressed as a cowboy was observing from the highest point in the Tribunal.

In the eyes of the Cowboy Hat Man, the Tribunal didn’t deserve its name; there was no justice here, just a place for random convictions, the CP Department’s lackeys, so he killed everyone here.

Seeing Su Xiao approaching the Tribunal, the Cowboy Hat Man smiled.

"Though a bit early, it’s not bad to fight here, the terrain offers an advantage."

Just as the Cowboy Hat Man thought Su Xiao would enter the Tribunal, he suddenly noticed Su Xiao’s footsteps had stopped.

At this moment, Su Xiao stood there, his face showing a pained expression.

"Mister Bai Ye, what’s wrong with you?"

Tina looked at Su Xiao in confusion, internally on guard, ready to activate her Devil Fruit Ability.

"Urgh~."

Su Xiao spat out a mouthful of blood, with a faint blue hue mixed in.

"The poison sac... it burst."

Su Xiao’s face turned gray, his pupils started losing their light.

"Impossible! Weren’t you already given the suppressant?"

Tina was shocked, but still cautious.

"I took the suppressant this morning, so why did the poison sac burst?"

Su Xiao slumped to the ground, blood oozing from his mouth.

"You took it in the morning? That’s even less possible, how many did you take?"

"Two."

Tina’s face changed drastically.

"Didn’t I tell you one would suffice?"

"Two would be stronger, wouldn’t they? What if I move too much and the poison sac bursts?"

Su Xiao’s answer made Tina’s world go black momentarily; that thing was only supposed to be taken once, taking two, even she didn’t know what effect it would have.

"Quickly, let’s go inside the Tribunal, there are doctors there, the poison sac shouldn’t be completely ruptured."

Tina’s heart had already turned cold; with the poison sac ruptured, Su Xiao was almost certainly going to die. If important researchers die under her watch, she can’t escape the blame.

"I feel the poison isn’t too strong, there’s still hope for rescue."

Su Xiao, sitting on the ground, difficultly stretched out his arm, Tina quickly walked over, supporting Su Xiao’s arm onto her shoulder, attempting to help him into the Tribunal.

Su Xiao’s weight was entirely on Tina, yet she easily supported him.

This was a perfect opportunity!

After walking a few steps, Tina suddenly felt something amiss; the man she was supporting seemed very strong, as if he wasn’t poisoned.

Su Xiao suddenly sprang up, the arm draped over Tina’s shoulder directly clutched her throat, forming a guillotine-like move in an instant.

"You..."

Ka-ka-ka.

Su Xiao used all his strength to clamp down on Tina’s fair throat, his face expressionless; Tina was choking and rolling her eyes, desperately elbowing Su Xiao’s side waist.

Suffering a severe blow to the side waist, Su Xiao grunted, yet his tightened arm did not relax.

Five seconds later, Tina’s body relaxed, leaning softly against Su Xiao, fainting due to insufficient blood supply to the brain, saliva dripping.

Tina, this little tail must be dealt with, otherwise all his actions will be hindered.

Throwing Tina over his shoulder, Su Xiao spat out the blood in his mouth; the blood was real, otherwise it wouldn’t have deceived Tina, as for poisoning? Completely impossible.

Su Xiao looked up at the top of the Tribunal, someone was watching him from there.

"Come up and have a fight?"

The Cowboy Hat Man held no grudge in his eyes; the fair fight before, being pierced through the bladder was due to his own incompetence, he accepted it willingly.

"Too early, do you want to be sneak-attacked for the Scarlet Card?"

"Of course not, then let’s meet at the Justice Tower, by the way, let me remind you, Contractors of the Front Island are already being cleared, all Contractors on the Main Island are hiding, I’ll clear soon, the final Judicial Island hasn’t been visited by anyone yet."

"Is that so."

Su Xiao carried Tina towards the Tower of Justice, the Cowboy Hat Man did not stop him.

On the way to the Tower of Justice, Navy personnel occasionally ran past him, some even questioned him, but upon showing his Researcher credentials, they let him pass.

Su Xiao is now a part of the Navy, and he has some ties with the CP Department, so he smoothly crossed the second suspension bridge, leaving the Main Island and reaching the third island, where the only structure was the Tower of Justice.

Just as he arrived at the entrance of the Tower of Justice, a large group of black-clad special and navy personnel surrounded him, the odd combination surprisingly is that the Navy and CP Department cooperated so well.

"Who are you?"

"Alert, he’s carrying Captain Tina on his shoulder."

"Put down Captain Tina, and lie on the ground!"

Su Xiao was surrounded, yet he remained calm.

"I’m Bai Ye from the Researcher unit; I’m here today looking for someone, here’s my ID."

Upon showing his ID, the people around him visibly relaxed.

"What happened to Captain Tina?"

"After we landed, we encountered a pirate attack, Captain Tina fought off the pirates to protect me and passed out."

Su Xiao handed Tina over to the Navy, previously contemplating whether to deal with Tina, but if he did, it would mean turning against the World Government.

In which case, the blueprint of Netherworld in his hands would turn into a pile of scrap paper, merely a quest item.

Tina had been injected with a drug by Su Xiao, she wouldn’t wake within 48 hours, which was enough time.

After confirming Su Xiao’s identity, those special agents let Su Xiao enter the Justice Tower; officially, he was here looking for Kalifa, but if Kalifa knew this, she would faint.

Quickly running up the stairs of the Justice Tower, Su Xiao raced toward the top floor.

In under a minute, Su Xiao reached the end of the stairs in the Tower of Justice, encountering an iron door.

Su Xiao didn’t destroy the iron door, spending some time to open it, arriving at the top floor of the Tower of Justice and Enies Lobby.

The rooftop area wasn’t large; only a few square meters to stand on.

Locking the iron door, Su Xiao lay on the small flat piece of land on the top floor of the Tower of Justice, with a blanket beneath.

Bubute Ni mimicked him, sensing that now was not the time to expose themselves.

Setting up the Spider Queen Sniper Rifle, Su Xiao surveyed his surroundings; having a clear view, nothing below escaped his sight, anyone entering the Tower of Justice would be exposed in his field of vision.

The gun was already set up, just waiting for the enemy to come.

There were 36 minutes until the ultimate showdown would begin, at which time the Blueprint of Netherworld would be sensed by all Contractors.

Checking the progress of the quest, it required 2 hours and 36 minutes for completion, meaning he needed to guard the blueprint for 2 hours.

Su Xiao foresaw that 36 minutes later, a plethora of Contractors would rush in, exposed under his barrel.