Alone and Infinite.

Chapter 623 The Ring of Greed, Comparable to a Divine Artifact

"We're almost at Sabaody Archipelago!"

Aowu lay on the bow of the ship, gazing happily at the land ahead. Although it was a dragon, dragons didn't want to stay on the ship every day. After obtaining the consent of several kings, Li Xia directly brought everyone onto a small, fast ship, hoisted the sails, and moved forward at full speed. Aowu even secretly manipulated the ocean currents to propel them forward. The useless king of the Goa Kingdom had some objections, but after being glanced at by Li Xia, he had now become paranoid and was cowering in his room, trembling with fear.

What would normally take a large fleet at least ten days to complete was almost over in just over a day.

Li Xia sat atop the tall mast, watching what Hei Tan posted in the team chat channel.

"Meow! (April in Dressrosa encounters an apostle trying to take advantage of a bargain.)"

"Meow meow meow! (Caught red-handed by Shanks, Ace, and Sabo)"

"Meow! (And this came out too)"

Endless Greed

[Grade: Permission-based equipment]

[Origin: Original Sin Hell]

[Durability: 5/5]

Greed: Can target a story character/native world character. Upon death, the target will drop one of the specified items and undergo a notarized ceremony. Durability is consumed based on the value of the item: maximum 5 points, minimum 1 point.

Endless: This equipment can be gifted. Once equipped, it cannot be removed for a certain period of time and will greatly increase the likelihood of being coveted by story characters/original characters. If you die while wearing this equipment, your soul will be devoured by greed and you will become the Spirit of Greed.

Each time this equipment absorbs a soul, it will become slightly stronger. The stronger the soul, the more Greedy Spirits it will generate. Using it will consume all the Greedy Spirits and revert the equipment to its initial Greedy Seed state.

Current number of Greedy Spirits: 271
Current equipment effect enhanced: 271%
[Synopsis: Is greed the original sin? No, no, no, greed simply stems from not having enough. So, go and plunder, my child!]

Li Xia had examined the equipment's attributes several times over, and even with his strong temperament, a faint chill still rose from the bottom of his heart when he looked at this equipment.

Greed, not just human greed, this equipment itself is imbued with immense greed.

The person who gets the equipment will be reluctant to use it. Because of the existence of the Spirit of Greed, he will rack his brains to accumulate the Spirit of Greed for the ring, and may even deliberately give the equipment to a character in the story, and then kill him.

The reward mechanism and drop settings cause this equipment to circulate constantly, and the only certainty is that it will consume endless lives.

271
This equipment has changed hands at least a hundred times.

Li Xia stared at the crimson numbers, but there was no doubt that the equipment was extremely powerful. If used properly, it could even be used repeatedly—reverted—and upgraded again.

"call"

Li Xia closed the chat pop-up. It has to be said that his first reaction upon seeing the ring was to use it to constantly deprive himself of what he wanted.

Even someone with such a temperament as myself could be influenced; an ordinary apostle would probably be blinded by greed the moment they saw it.

"Meow?"

Black Charcoal sent another message, asking if they should use this to deprive Im of his fruit.

"No need. Im's Devil Fruit is useless to us; it just looks strong."

Li Xia stated her plan directly:
"If used properly, this equipment is comparable to a divine artifact, but as long as you have the confidence that you can use it well, such as thinking that you are restrained enough, you have already fallen into the control of this equipment and will only get deeper and deeper into it."

The best way is to treat it as a disposable item. Find something that requires five points of durability, use it, and then destroy it!

"Meow!"

Black Charcoal answered crisply and decisively. The kitten had no complicated thoughts; it only listened to its boss.

As the sailboat gradually approached the dock, Li Xia leaped from the mast and landed lightly on the deck.

Dizzy and lightheaded, King Cobra was helped out of the room by Vivi, his head trembling. Dalton, the king of Sakura Kingdom, Chopper's hometown, was a warrior and fared a little better.

However, this was also his first time visiting the Sabaody Archipelago. As soon as Dalton stepped out of the cabin, he was immediately shocked by the scene before him and stared blankly.

The heir to the Goa Kingdom rushed out of the ship's cabin and, upon seeing the CP agents in white suits and World Government security personnel on the dock, immediately ran towards them, tears streaming down his face.
"That person—that person is threatening me, intimidating me!"

The men in white suits silently pushed him aside and bowed their heads to Li Xia in respect.

"General Wright-Shaw."

Li Xia, as if he hadn't even seen King Goa, nodded at them and stretched.

"I'll leave the safety of the kings to you for now. I'll take over once the people from the Ryugu Kingdom arrive. I'm going to rest for a bit. Is Kizaru in Sabaody?"

"Admiral Kizaru is currently resting at the naval base in Sabaody Archipelago."

"Thanks."

Li Xia retrieved the roaring dragon egg, pulled out a Navy Den Den Mushi from it, and immediately called Kizaru.

After a while, the Den Den Mushi used all its might to try and imitate Kizaru's wrinkled and somewhat lewd expression:

"Oh, it's Xia. I'm on vacation. If you encounter any problems, please don't tell me."

Li Xia was not at all surprised by Kizaru's answer; the laziest person had eaten the fastest fruit.

"Really not coming?"

"Don't go!"

"I'll buy you a drink, order whatever you like."

The Den Den Mushi's eyes widened immediately, and even its mouth formed an "o" shape:
"Where are you?"

Li Xia looked up at the huge numbered label on the mangrove tree:
"Pier 66!"

The Den Den Mushi clicked and lowered its head, and a beam of light instantly appeared beside Li Xia, coalescing into a tall, thin figure in a yellow suit:
"Oh ho ho ho—Xia is actually going to treat us to a meal. This is a rare opportunity."

Li Xia glanced at Kizaru. The speed of the Glint-Glint Fruit was indeed fast. Many people think that Kizaru does not have the speed of light, but in fact, in the world of One Piece, Kizaru's speed is indeed the upper limit of speed in a certain sense.

What limits Kizaru is not the Glint-Glint Fruit, but his reaction speed.

Normal people move by exerting force directly and then stopping at the desired location, but Kizaru's movement is similar to a coordinate system. He needs a starting point and an ending point because the Glint-Glint Fruit is too fast.

The reason why Kizaru looks unusually old is because time almost stands still when he travels over extremely long distances, so he experiences much more time than a normal person.

"Okay, okay, I'll treat you to both the drinks and the meal. Deluxe miso ramen with ginger soda, eat as much as you want."

The Admiral's appetite is not as big as Luffy's, but it is still terrifying. The reason why the World Government can easily recruit top-level fighters is not only because of the so-called 'righteous cause', but also because it can provide sufficient resources.

Just like Luffy, ordinary small countries simply can't afford to support him. A single meal can cost tens of millions of Berries, and it's not impossible for him to have hundreds of millions of Berries.

Furthermore, Li Xia also knew that Kizaru had actually given the vast majority of his salary to the families of wounded or widowed marines, and that he himself did not have much money.

This seemingly comical and lazy Kizaru actually possesses intense emotions, most notably the one he personally witnessed in the original storyline when he saw off his mentor, Zephyr, and on Egghead Island, facing the Five Elders' aggressive tactics, he used his own speed to deliver a meal to a exhausted Gear Fifth Luffy, silently protesting against the World Government. "Really?"

Kizaru was taken aback, then looked at Li Xia with some suspicion:

"Do you perhaps need my help with something? Let me make it clear beforehand, I don't want to run around like this."

He runs around like he's jumping. A normal person can just sprint, but he has to jump in segments.

"There's nothing I can help you with. I'll treat you to the meal, and I'll choose the location, no problem."

Kizaru was perfectly fine with it. The two admirals, one tall and one short, strolled leisurely across the Sabaody Archipelago with their hands in their pockets, casually chatting about meaningless nonsense. This made the civilians and pirates who knew a little about the Navy secretly tremble with fear, wondering what major event had occurred that would cause the two admirals to be mobilized together.

"arrive."

Li Xia stopped and looked at a tavern not far away. Kizaru stared at the sign of 'Shakky S Rake Bar', stroked his chin, and a meaningful smile appeared on his face.

As an admiral stationed on the Sabaody Archipelago, how could Kizaru not know what kind of people were hiding on the islands under his jurisdiction?

"How terrifying. I knew you didn't have good intentions, Xia, that's why you brought me here."

"We're just eating and drinking; there's no reason for a business to refuse customers, right?"

As Li Xia spoke, she stepped forward and pushed open the door. The bar wasn't big, but it was very popular.

One of the women, a tall, thin woman with short black hair, heard the wind chimes at the door, turned around, and instinctively greeted them:

"Welcome light—"

The smile on her face suddenly froze, and a look of horror gradually appeared on her face, which, despite the passage of time, still retained its charm.

"Boss lady! Boss lady! Another bottle of wine, please!"

The patrons shouted loudly, but received no response for a long time. Frustrated, they slammed their fists on the table and stood up.

"Boss lady!! I want some alcohol!"

Xia Qi snapped out of her daze and forced a smile:

"I'm sorry, our restaurant is closed right now. All the drinks are on me, please leave."

"What?! Why are you closing down?!"

"I haven't finished drinking yet!"

"Is someone causing trouble?"

A burly, drunken man chuckled, let out a foul-smelling burp, and then patted his chest:

"Xia Qi, I'll help you sort this out, but you'll have to have a good drink with me in return."

After saying that, he kicked the stool aside, drew his pistol from his waist, and pointed it at the door:

"You bunch of scum, don't you recognize me, your master?!"

"It's a handgun! How scary!"

Kizaru spoke in his characteristically lazy and irritating voice, raising both hands.

The entire bar had fallen into absolute silence at some point. They might not recognize other people who were in business on this island, but they knew the CP, the Celestial Dragons, and the Navy very well!
Navy Admiral!

Two of you!!!

Li Xia indifferently glanced around at the tavern's customers. If all of them were shot, there might be innocent people among them, but if every other one was shot, there would definitely be some who escaped.

"crash"

The sound of the chair falling over was like a signal; everyone cried out and scrambled towards the door, fearing that if they were too slow, the general would crush them to death.

In just a dozen seconds, the entire tavern was emptied, except for Shakky, who was frozen in place, as well as Li Xia and Kizaru.

Li Xia slowly walked up to Xia Qi, but did not stop. Instead, he found a clean table, gently tapped it, and the bowls, plates, and grease on the table jumped up and down. Then, with a flick of his hand, the food floated lightly to the next table without spilling a single drop of wine.

Witnessing these actions, Kizaru's gaze became much more serious. An ability? No, that's not right, this is... a technique?
What exquisite control of force!
Kizaru seemed to be meeting Li Xia for the first time. In this world, most people pursue higher, faster, and stronger. Generally speaking, having great strength is powerful, but few people would pursue such terrifying control of force.

Perhaps a swordsman would pursue that, but what a swordsman pursues is entirely the angle and speed of the sword strike.
Just as Kizaru was deep in thought, Li Xia's voice suddenly rang out:

"Two bottles of the best wine, eight dishes of appetizers, four cold and four hot, and two servings of deluxe miso ramen. First, make the broth with pork bones, and don't cook the noodles yet."

Kizaru and Shakky were both taken aback, as they both assumed that they had come here with a purpose.

Kizaru narrowed his eyes, walked over, and sat down opposite Li Xia:
"You really came here to eat and drink?"

Li Xia didn't even look up:

"if not?"

"Can--"

Kizaru opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say. This was Shakky. In the entire Sabaody Archipelago, who didn't know that Shakky was not to be messed with?
Who is Shakky? She is the former queen of the Kuja Kingdom, the most beautiful woman in the world, and the ultimate grand prize in the hunting tournament held by the Celestial Dragons in God Valley is Shakky.

The Rocks Pirates and the Roger Pirates both came to fight for Shakky, and pirates from all over the world headed to God Valley.

It can be said that Shakky was like Helen, who triggered the Trojan War, thirty-eight years ago, serving as the fuse for the God Valley War.

"Hold on."

Shakky bit her lip, deciding to follow the admiral's instructions first, and wait for the leader to discuss other matters.

In the increasingly strange atmosphere of the quiet restaurant, Li Xia's order was quickly served.

until--

"Oh!"

The door was pushed open, and a handsome old man with a white beard stood in the doorway, one hand on the hilt of his sword.

"The navy is harassing this retired old man—"

Rayleigh, the former vice-captain of the Pirate King and Roger Pirates, known as "The Mediocre Master" and "Dark King," watched as Li Xia and Kizaru drank one glass after another at the table, while his little lover Shakky happily joined in, also raising her glass.

He was confused. Wasn't the navy supposed to be here to arrest him?

————————————————————

1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

(End of this chapter)