Chapter 317: Chapter 18: Coveted Technology
Rob Lucci stepped forward, dressed in a vest and looking like a shipwright, with a white pigeon perched on his shoulder.
"We’ve met once before," Rob Lucci spoke, his expression calm.
At this moment, Su Xiao’s expression changed.
Two more people appeared outside the warehouse. Judging by the aura he sensed, one was Kaku in disguise as a shipwright, and the other aura he had never encountered before, which Su Xiao guessed was Bruno.
The warehouse was surrounded. Thinking of this, Su Xiao flipped his palm, and several alchemy bombs appeared in his hand, ready to detonate the bomb inside Kalifa at any moment.
Even though he was surrounded, Su Xiao remained calm. As long as the explosion triggered, the people from the Galley-La Company would be alerted, and by then Rob Lucci and the others would have no choice but to retreat or kill Su Xiao while risking exposure.
Perhaps Rob Lucci understood this point as well, so he showed no signs of making a move.
"All four of you are exposed to my perception. Are you really planning a fight to the death with me today? For special agents like you, that’s... very foolish."
Kalifa was an agent, and with Rob Lucci and the others appearing with her, their identities were evident. Rob Lucci was not surprised that Su Xiao saw through them.
Rob Lucci made a gesture, and the four agents gathered inside the warehouse, with Bruno closing the old warehouse door behind them.
"Remove the bomb inside Kalifa."
Rob Lucci stood in front of the three, looking poised to negotiate with Su Xiao.
"First, state your intentions."
Su Xiao sheathed his sword and sat on a wooden crate, looking down at them. He remained vigilant all along.
Rob Lucci pondered for a moment, then nodded, and pulled a very small telephone worm from inside his shirt and tossed it to Su Xiao.
Taking the telephone worm, Su Xiao examined the small snail in his hand. This creature could communicate over long distances. The Pirate World’s tech tree is really odd.
"Dial it, someone wants to talk to you."
Hearing Rob Lucci’s words, Su Xiao thought for a moment, then decided to pick up the receiver on the telephone worm.
"Bloop, bloop, bloop..."
After waiting a dozen seconds, there was a "click" from the telephone worm, and its head protruding from its shell began to change as if mimicking someone’s facial features.
"Moses, Moses, can you hear me?"
A somewhat arrogant voice came through from the telephone worm.
"I can," Su Xiao replied.
"Are you the guy called Bai Ye? I’ll tell you, I order you to..."
"Shut up, Spandam." The arrogant voice was suddenly interrupted by this chilling voice.
"What gives you the right to order me? We’re of the same rank. Ow, that hurts... I was wrong... don’t hit the face."
A noisy voice came through the telephone worm, and after a while, the chilling voice spoke again.
"Hello, I’m Zero."
The speaker introduced themselves with a somewhat peculiar name.
"Zero?"
Hearing this name and thinking about the person’s CP department identity, Su Xiao was suddenly reminded of something.
"You don’t need to care who I am. You only need to know one thing: you are now a person of the World Government."
Su Xiao raised an eyebrow at the unexpected assertiveness of the other party.
"Oh? And you think these four can hold me?"
"Of course not. You know that bomb will attract others’ attention when it goes off."
The voice in the telephone worm responded confidently, seemingly not believing that Rob Lucci could keep Su Xiao surrounded.
"Bai Ye, person from the East Sea, age 25 to 30, born in Bayano Village of the East Sea, formerly a guard in the Goa Kingdom. After killing the King of Goa, you fled to The Great Route. After years at sea, you suffered a shipwreck and eventually reached the City of Seven Seas."
Zero recited Su Xiao’s details smoothly. Su Xiao was not surprised. This was the World Government’s intelligence department, after all. It’s not unusual for them to investigate this.
But what they didn’t know was that both the name and age were fabricated.
"And then? What good does knowing my background do you?"
There was a light chuckle from the telephone worm, but it was not pleasant, almost like the low laughter of an old witch.
"Of course, it doesn’t help. But do you intend to keep drifting around like this? From what I’ve found, aside from killing that king, you have no criminal record. This situation makes me think there’s only one possibility, and that’s revenge."
Su Xiao remained silent, having already roughly understood their intent, which in this case, was beneficial to him.
"Join the CP department of the World Government, temporarily as an external member. After some time for review, you can become a formal member of the CP department."
Su Xiao was taken aback. The other party directly invited him to join the CP department. Weren’t CP department personnel trained from a young age?
"A guy with an unclear background like me, would the CP department really recruit me?"
"Normally, no. But the higher-ups highly value your type of bomb. It has strategic significance. You are special talent, so you get special treatment."
Su Xiao suddenly understood. The World Government was interested in his alchemy bombs.
When learning alchemy, Reincarnation Paradise had once prompted him, [After mastering alchemy, certain scientific research camps in the Derivative World will give you priority recruitment. If alchemy reaches a high level, there’s a high chance large forces within the Derivative World may attempt to kidnap you.]
The World Government is a scientific research camp. They have specialized research forces under them.
"It seems my bomb-making skills have really piqued your interest."
With Su Xiao’s clear confirmation, Zero’s tone changed, no longer as cold as before.
"Your bombs are very discreet and not too complex in structure. If mass-produced, they would have significant utility."
Recruitment continued.
"Mass production? That idea sounds good, but don’t even think about it."
"Why?"
Zero’s voice in the telephone worm sounded a bit displeased.
"Alchemy bombs can only be made by me, no one else. Even if you have the formula, you can try."
Silence permeated the telephone worm.
"Devil fruit ability?"
"No, it’s a secret technique. I’ve studied it for over ten years. The former King of Goa once sought to acquire this secret technique but failed. My family is long gone, and the inheritance is broken. I can only make them, cannot pass it on to others."
"So you’re saying the alchemy bombs you mentioned can’t be mass-produced?"
The voice in the telephone worm sounded a bit disappointed.
"Not at all, as long as you give me sufficient raw materials, I can mass-produce them myself. Of course, it also requires the World Government’s support in all aspects."
"Really?"
"Yes, but like I said before, it requires the World Government to provide resource support."
"I need a specific number. How many of those bombs can you make in one day?"
Su Xiao pondered for a moment. If the World Government provided him with materials and mana recovery potions, he could make one alchemy bomb in forty seconds. Assuming he worked sixteen hours a day, in theory, he could make 1,440 alchemy bombs a day.
"With sufficient resources, 1,300 a day is no problem."
The breathing from the telephone worm noticeably quickened. Alchemy bombs were different from ordinary bombs, not only powerful but also easy to conceal, and most intriguingly, remotely controllable.
"You are now an official member of CP0. I’ll immediately send someone to fetch you."
Producing a thousand bombs a day obviously excited Zero. Just a dozen alchemy bombs could destroy a building, and they could be controlled from afar, a tantalizing prospect indeed.
"Mr. Zero, I believe I haven’t yet agreed to join the CP department."
Holding the technology that the other side coveted, Su Xiao naturally wanted to negotiate harder.