After dealing with this group of Black Shark Pirates, Zhao Xuan quickly reverted to his normal human form.
His Observation Haki surged outward.
With a single sweep—
He instantly located the large stash of spirit herbs and medicines stored inside the ship's cabin.
He strode into the cabin at once.
When he saw the massive pile of spirit herbs and medicines inside, Zhao Xuan finally let out a sigh of relief.
Next, without hesitation, he efficiently transferred the entire stash back into the Desert Ruins.
"Damn it!!!"
After counting everything, Zhao Xuan discovered—
He had lost at least two hundred million worth of cultivation resources.
He didn't even need to think to know that those two hundred million worth of spirit herbs and medicines had already gone straight into the stomachs of those Black Shark Pirates.
"Damn it!"
He, Zhao Xuan, was always the one taking advantage of others!
And yet—
Today!
Because of his own carelessness, someone had actually taken advantage of him.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
"No, no, no!"
Zhao Xuan clenched his fist and said coldly,
"This matter cannot end like this! Black Shark Pirates, huh? You ate two hundred million worth of my spirit herbs? I'll make you spit it out tenfold!"
After quite some time, Zhao Xuan finally calmed down from the loss.
Once his mind settled, he realized something—
In truth, two hundred million wasn't a big deal.
With his current wealth, that amount wasn't worth stressing over.
What he truly needed to worry about was this—
Had those Black Shark Pirate lackeys already sent the news of discovering a large spatial ruin back to their base?
In the Endless Sea, all electronic communication devices were useless.
However—
Certain special communication tools created through Devil Fruit abilities could still function within a limited range.
"What if…?"
Zhao Xuan's thoughts darkened.
"What if they already used some special communication method to send the message back before I arrived?"
"No! No! No! No! No!"
He clenched his fists and shook his head violently.
Then—
His gaze suddenly sharpened.
The killing intent that had only just settled surged forth once again.
"Better safe than sorry!"
"If you don't cut weeds at the root, they'll grow back with the spring wind!"
"Strike first and you live—hesitate and you die!"
With that—
Zhao Xuan made his decision.
Black Shark Island.
He would go there.
He would find the Black Shark Pirates.
And he would wipe them out completely.
Only by doing so could he eliminate all future threats.
It wasn't because his hands itched for a fight.
Nor was it because he couldn't let go of the two hundred million in resources.
He genuinely wanted to eliminate all future trouble.
Yes.
Really.
…
After that—
Zhao Xuan finished looting the corpses, then jumped off the Black Shark Pirates' medium-sized sailing ship and returned to his own small single-mast sailboat.
"A bunch of poor bastards," he muttered irritably.
"You call yourselves pirates of the Endless Sea? Every one of you is broke."
He was annoyed that he had wasted ten minutes looting over a dozen corpses, only to find nothing worthwhile.
"Boom! Boom!"
With a few punches, he blasted two massive holes through the pirate ship's hull before sailing away.
Not long after Zhao Xuan departed, the Black Shark Pirate ship sank beneath the endless sea.
On deck—
Just as Zhao Xuan returned to his boat—
"Chirp!"
The golden rat's cry rang out immediately.
Turning his head, Zhao Xuan met its bright, eager gaze.
"Chirp chirp!"
It chirped again.
Clearly, it was reminding Zhao Xuan to fulfill his promise.
"Alright, alright!"
Zhao Xuan quickly pulled out a cactus flower from his ruin space.
Before he could even throw it—
A golden flash!
The cactus flower vanished from his hand and appeared in the golden rat's grasp.
In the next instant, the golden rat had already returned to the bow of the ship, clutching the newly acquired cactus flower and inhaling it with a look of bliss and intoxication.
The entire process was smooth and lightning-fast.
From the moment it took off, to snatching the flower, to returning to the bow—
Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
Zhao Xuan didn't even have time to react.
"…Did this guy just get faster?"
He narrowed his eyes as he watched the golden rat.
A deep sense of confusion arose in his mind.
"All it does every day is inhale flowers… I've never seen it train or do anything else. So how did its speed increase this much?"
"Could it be that fifth-tier cactus flowers, besides strengthening Armament Haki, also enhance physical constitution if consumed in large amounts?"
Thinking this, Zhao Xuan took out another cactus flower from a small spatial ruin he had obtained from the old Li family patriarch.
The moment the flower appeared—
Whoosh!
The golden rat abruptly lifted its head and looked over.
Zhao Xuan ignored it.
He brought the flower to his nose and mimicked the golden rat's actions, inhaling deeply.
Instantly—
His Armament Haki stirred slightly.
Proficiency +1!
"…Nope."
"This cactus flower has absolutely no effect on physical constitution. Not even a tiny bit."
"It only enhances Armament Haki."
Zhao Xuan grew even more puzzled.
He carefully examined the golden rat from head to toe.
The golden rat clearly misunderstood something.
It seemed to think Zhao Xuan wanted to steal its cactus flowers.
Immediately, it became vigilant.
It even moved the flowers behind its back.
"Chirp chirp chirp! (Don't even think about it—these are mine!)"
At that moment, it looked exactly like a food-guarding dog.
Zhao Xuan: "..."
Who the hell wants to steal yours?!
Even if you gave them to me, I wouldn't want them!
He silently complained.
Then he sighed and said aloud,
"Relax, I'm not trying to take them."
"Chirp chirp? (You sure?)"
The golden rat still looked suspicious.
Meeting its thief-guarding stare, Zhao Xuan's face darkened.
After taking a deep breath, he changed the subject.
"By the way… has your speed really increased?"
"Chirp! (Yes!)"
The golden rat immediately puffed out its chest, looking proud.
"How did your speed improve so quickly?" Zhao Xuan asked.
"Chirp chirp chirp!"
"…What?"
Zhao Xuan froze.
"You're saying your speed increases every time you wake up?"
"Chirp chirp chirp? (Yeah—don't humans grow stronger the same way?)"
The golden rat scratched its head with a tiny paw, wearing a confused expression.
Zhao Xuan: "..."
Damn it!!!
Comparing people to people—
No, comparing people to rats—
Is enough to make someone die of anger!
He worked himself to the bone every day, fighting and killing just to grow stronger.
And this thing?
It slept—and got stronger?!
What the hell?!
As he grumbled internally, Zhao Xuan grew increasingly curious about the golden rat's origins.
It was only fourth-tier, yet its burst speed rivaled his dragon-man form.
Only fourth-tier, yet capable of tracking targets over hundreds of kilometers.
"I really want to cut it open and see what kind of body it has," he thought.
The golden rat suddenly felt a wave of malice.
It hurriedly opened a spatial rift and stuffed all its cactus flowers inside.
Then it patted its chest and sighed in relief.
"Who wants your stupid flowers anyway," Zhao Xuan muttered irritably.
Shaking his head, he put the golden rat out of his mind for now.
"Enough distractions."
"Time to deal with the Black Shark Pirates."
Zhao Xuan's killing intent surged again.
"Even if they didn't send the message back, even if their base doesn't know about me yet—they still need to be eliminated."
"We're already enemies."
"And while I'm at it, I can use their first and second leaders as sparring partners to improve my combat proficiency."
"If possible, I'll also recover that two hundred million worth of resources."
With that thought, Zhao Xuan raised his head and gazed at the endless sea.
Then—
He froze.
"…Wait."
"Wait. Wait. Wait."
"I don't even know where the Black Shark Pirates' base is!"
"Damn it! I should've kept one alive earlier!"
"The Endless Sea is huge—finding a group of pirates in it is like searching for a needle in the ocean!"
His fighting spirit instantly deflated.
"This is seriously screwing with me…"
He looked like a defeated rooster, slumping in frustration.
Then—
His gaze drifted to the golden rat at the bow.
Suddenly, a bold idea formed in his mind.
"Wait… wait… wait…!"
His eyes lit up.
"There's always a way!"
"If it could track those pirates hours after they left the island, even from that far away…"
"Then maybe—just maybe—!!!"
He coughed lightly.
"Ahem."
"Chirp?"
The golden rat tilted its head in confusion.
Zhao Xuan waved the cactus flower in his hand.
"I've got a new mission for you."
"Chirp chirp! (Leave it to me!)"
The golden rat puffed out its chest proudly.
"You still remember the scent of those guys from earlier, right?" Zhao Xuan asked.
"Chirp! (I remember!)"
Its eyes followed the flower closely.
"Then…" Zhao Xuan said slowly,
"Can you smell where there's still a concentration of their scent?"
The moment he finished speaking, Zhao Xuan stared at it expectantly.
"Chirp! (Yes!)"
"Chirp chirp! (Definitely!)"
The golden rat nodded without hesitation.
Zhao Xuan laughed brightly.
"Same deal as always. If you lead me to where their scent remains, the flower is yours."
"Chirp! (Deal!)"
The golden rat turned around and began sniffing the air seriously.
A few seconds later, it turned back.
"Found it?" Zhao Xuan asked eagerly.
"Chirp chirp! (Of course!)"
It raised its head proudly.
"My nose is the real deal!"
"Which direction?" Zhao Xuan asked.
"Chirp!"
The golden rat pointed toward the left-front direction.
"Good!"
Zhao Xuan smiled in satisfaction.
He quickly adjusted the rudder and sails.
Then—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
He began punching the sails again.
With the assistance of powerful gusts, the single-mast sailboat sped forward in the indicated direction.
About an hour later—
"Chirp chirp!"
The golden rat suddenly cried out.
"What?" Zhao Xuan stopped punching.
The rat pointed ahead.
"You're saying there's a ship approaching—and it's about to cross paths with us?" Zhao Xuan asked.
"Chirp! (Yes!)"
"And it carries the scent of those pirates?" Zhao Xuan asked again.
"Chirp! (Yes!)"
"I see."
A sharp glint flashed in Zhao Xuan's eyes.
Soon—
A medium-sized three-mast sailing ship appeared on the horizon.
Using a telescope taken from the pirates, Zhao Xuan observed it carefully.
His lips curled upward.
"Well, what do we have here?"
"A lone Black Shark Pirate ship?"
At the same time—
On the pirate ship—
The lookout spotted Zhao Xuan's single-mast boat.
"Contact!"
He struck a gong and shouted,
"Eleven o'clock direction! A single-mast sailboat, resembles an emergency lifeboat!"
The once-relaxed pirates instantly entered combat readiness.
After all—
No one who survived in the Endless Sea was weak.
And pirates lived every day with their lives on the line.
Their combat experience was extremely rich.
At the same tier, pirates of the Endless Sea were far stronger than land-based ability users.
But—
Unfortunately—
They were about to meet Zhao Xuan.
They had no idea what kind of massacre awaited them.
"It's a kid!"
The lookout shouted again.
"A kid! Looks under twenty!"
Excitement filled his voice.
The pirates' eyes lit up.
After all, pirates loved nothing more than young geniuses entering the Endless Sea for the first time.
They always carried massive amounts of spirit resources.
"Damn it! He noticed us—and he's eating spirit fruits!"
"Quick! Catch up!" shouted a sixth-tier peak captain.
"Don't let that brat finish eating what belongs to us!"
The ship sped toward Zhao Xuan.
When it arrived—
Zhao Xuan had already restored some stamina and was waiting calmly.
Then—
He moved.
Under the greedy gazes of the pirates, Zhao Xuan leapt onto their ship.
Before they could react—
He entered Dragon-Man Form.
One punch—
Slammed straight into the captain's head.
Pop.
In front of over a dozen pirates—
Their captain's head exploded instantly.
One punch.
Instant kill.
The deck fell into absolute silence.
Every pirate stood frozen in terror.
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