Sebastian Xiao was genuinely impressed by these idiots. How could he—an honest, upright person—be surrounded entirely by fools from other universes?
The first Siheyuan he met had been a brain-dead brute who only knew how to charge forward. Yet this time… Wapol Xiao managed to be even more idiotic than the last one.
The man had a cutting-edge, futuristic army at his disposal—yet dressed them up like they belonged in the Middle Ages.
No wonder the Wapol Army had always felt out of place. Now Sebastian finally understood where that strange sense of disharmony came from.
Wapol Xiao had mastered the entire world of Cyberpunk 2077, yet forced his soldiers to fight with low-tier weapons.
Most of his troops were wearing mechanical exoskeletons, yet still marched around in medieval armor.
There was no way to make sense of that. The truth was simple—they were playing pretend, putting on the act of being "simple natives."
After all, Wapol Xiao possessed the Munch-Munch. He could eat anything, incorporate it into his body, or even combine swallowed materials into something new.
He could even consume parts of his own body to change his bone structure. Mechanical? Biological? It didn't matter—he could transform both.
And once he swallowed something, he could store its data. As long as he had the raw materials, he could mass-produce it through his swallowing factory.
With abilities like that, manufacturing a mountain of Cyberpunk weapons was trivial.
So regardless of how lazy Wapol Xiao was, there was no universe where he'd actually let his soldiers rely on the primitive weapons of the One Piece world.
Sebastian's misunderstanding only came from prejudice. Because he knew Wapol Xiao originated from the pirate world, and because he saw their medieval appearance, he assumed their weapons were as crude as their cosplay—like the millet rifles from the original story.
Reality was the opposite. Wapol still followed the tech progression of the pirate world, yes, but he also had access to Cyberpunk-grade tech. Of course he'd arm his forces properly.
Anyone fooled by their outward appearance was destined to get slapped across the face.
But Sebastian knew his real mistake wasn't blindness—it was hubris.
"Weakness is never the cause of destruction. Arrogance is."
He muttered the old saying, set his cup down, and sank into deep thought.
The Dimension Farm and his world-bending powers had slowly made him forget caution. He had been intoxicated by superiority, forgetting that even lions use their full strength against rabbits.
And so—looking down on his opponent's forces, refusing to even activate his Dimensional Vision—his arrogance had cost the lives of hundreds of Mengji soldiers in the very first wave.
Fortunately, this was the Daluo Arena. The Mengji Army counted as his "property." None of the losses were permanent.
Win or lose, they would be restored afterward.
Strangely, Wapol's attempt to hide his own weaknesses actually benefitted Sebastian—it revealed far more of Wapol's real strengths… and his flaws.
Yes, Wapol's concealment had inflicted heavy losses on the Mengji Army early on.
But it also exposed who Wapol truly was—a man frozen in mindset, still thinking like Xiao did before transmigration.
Perhaps his technical knowledge had grown, but his worldview… remained entirely stagnant. Sociologically, mentally—unchanged.
Sebastian had just admitted he himself had been guilty of arrogance.
But Wapol's arrogance was different. His came from the superiority complex of a "modern man" bullying "ancient people."
He won countless wars in One Piece relying on Cyberpunk weapons.
He bullied civilians in Cyberpunk 2077 using his pirate-world physique and the Munch-Munch. How could someone like that develop better tactics?
Just the fact that he sent his army charging in a chaotic swarm, relying on volley fire like some last-century imperial regiment, showed he had no concept of modern warfare. His only redeeming trait was his ability to conceal his strength.
But the weapon gap between Cyberpunk and One Piece worlds was over a century. Between regular Earth and Cyberpunk? Another century beyond that.
Cyberpunk 2077 had humanoid ascension tech. Xiao's side wasn't even at the embryonic stage.
Yet even with a 100-to-1 numerical advantage, the Wapol Army still suffered a 10-to-1 casualty ratio.
On any modern battlefield, this was impossible.
Give modern soldiers Wapol's weapons and a single regiment with enough ammunition could conquer an entire world with ease.
But Wapol's troops? They were stopped by the Mengji Army and even ended up fighting at a numerical disadvantage despite overwhelming firepower.
After only a few salvos of artillery, the Mengji Army killed thousands—while suffering under a hundred casualties themselves, mostly from the initial ambush. Once they adapted, Wapol's men couldn't kill them so easily.
It looked less like a futuristic army and more like a knight battalion trying to charge the British-French coalition—always mowed down in neat rows. The only difference was that Wapol's tech was better… yet still useless in his hands.
This proved that technology alone couldn't determine victory. Tactics, command, and ideological progress were the real core of warfare.
Sebastian silently thanked his mother again. Her strict upbringing had taught him that ideological progress mattered far more than brute strength.
And that difference—his worldview—might prove a stronger foundation than any power.
"WAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Boy, did you see that? How's my electromagnetic acceleration rifle? Pretty damn impressive, right?!"
Wapol Xiao, of course, had no idea what he'd done wrong. He stood proudly amid the battlefield, cackling in triumph.
His laughter echoed across the plains, accompanied by an invisible surge of Conqueror's Haki.
Everyone felt a crushing weight on their chests, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
Conqueror's Haki… so cool. I want that so badly…
The shock of that domineering aura snapped Sebastian back to clarity.
He didn't rise to the provocation. Didn't respond. Didn't even look up.
Instead, he picked up his glass, took another slow sip, and simply waited in silence.
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