REINCARNATION PARADISE

The semi-digitized system brought several benefits, like providing a clear understanding of his own strength. This made it much simpler to figure out how to grow stronger: focus on improving his physical attributes while honing his combat skills.

No matter how strong one's attributes are, if they can't be fully utilized in battle, they're meaningless.

Su Xiao had a hunch that since he could be transported to the world of One Piece, he would likely be transported to other worlds as well, giving him plenty of opportunities to strengthen himself.

His current stats were: Strength: 7, Agility: 7, Vitality: 5, Intelligence: 6, Charisma: 3, and Luck: a dismal 1.

Strength and Agility were straightforward—they were key to his close combat skills. Vitality represented life force and resistance to damage, while Intelligence seemed related to magic or special abilities, but its function wasn't clear yet.

Charisma was more of a mystery. Was it to make him more handsome? He shook his head. It probably had more to do with social interactions or summoning abilities.

As for Luck, he suspected it was an extremely important stat but difficult to improve.

Su Xiao specialized in swordsmanship, and his development would likely focus on Strength and Agility. For now, he wasn't rushing into planning his path too far ahead; this was, after all, the first world he had experienced through Reincarnation Paradise.

As Su Xiao pondered, he suddenly heard the sound of branches breaking in the distance—a massive beast was approaching.

It's here!

What emerged was indeed the ruler of Mt. Colubo—a massive tiger.

This giant tiger looked similar to a regular tiger but was much larger. Standing over four meters tall and stretching seven or eight meters in length, its size rivaled that of an elephant.

The tiger's fur was a deep, glossy yellow, reflecting the sunlight like a shining coat of armor.

Su Xiao, hiding in a large tree, watched the tiger carefully, even lowering his breathing to avoid being detected.

Despite its immense size, the tiger still had the sharp senses of a predator. Su Xiao knew that even the faintest sound could alert it, so he remained extremely cautious.

The tiger stopped near the trap he had set, sniffing the air, clearly sensing something was off. Yet, it was also drawn to the dry fruits placed on the trap.

These dry fruits, known as Mutenji, were something Su Xiao had bought at a general store in the capital. In the real world, there's a similar plant called catnip, which has a drug-like effect on felines.

Even though the tiger was massive, it still couldn't resist its feline instincts. The Mutenji had an irresistible allure, much like how catnip affects ordinary cats.

Watching the tiger's drooling gaze, Su Xiao knew his plan was working.

The tiger paced cautiously around the trap, clearly on guard, sensing something amiss. However, the fruits were too tempting, and soon, the tiger started approaching the center of the trap.

It took a few cautious steps forward, then paused again to scan its surroundings.

Su Xiao's eyes twitched slightly. It was evident that animals in the One Piece world were much smarter than normal. The tiger's behavior indicated intelligence similar to a child around ten years old—or even higher.

Time dragged on as they reached a stalemate—a contest of patience.

Finally, the ruler of Mt. Colubo couldn't resist any longer and lunged forward to devour the Mutenji.

With a boom, dust rose as the giant tiger grabbed the fruits in its mouth and began chewing.

The fruits tasted terrible—bitter and astringent—but the tiger seemed to relish them, gnawing away contentedly.

After a few moments, the effects began to show. The tiger, initially lying down, now rolled onto its back, rubbing its body against the grass.

The great ruler of the mountain was rolling around like a house cat!

Just as cats on Earth react to excessive catnip consumption, this giant tiger was now hallucinating and rolling on the ground, completely absorbed in its behavior.

Although the tiger looked fierce, it couldn't escape its instinctive reaction to the Mutenji. Its mouth was now drooling, indicating it had succumbed to the hallucinations.

The moment had come. Su Xiao raised his Worn Flintlock Pistol and aimed—not at the tiger, but at the ground beneath it.

That's right, the ground. Even if Su Xiao managed to shoot the tiger in the eye, this damaged gun wouldn't kill the beast. And he couldn't guarantee he'd hit such a precise target anyway.

Beneath the tiger, Su Xiao had buried explosives. On top of the explosives, he had set additional traps to make sure the tiger would be severely harmed.

With his arm outstretched, Su Xiao pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The forest echoed with the gunshot, sending flocks of birds flying into the air.

The bullet, heated by the explosion of gunpowder, shot from the barrel, slicing through the air before plunging into the soil beneath the tiger. A small patch of green grass was cut clean through as the bullet pierced the earth.

The hot bullet made its way into the buried barrel of explosives. The intense heat from the bullet ignited the gunpowder instantly.

The tiger flinched as the sudden gunshot startled it, but by then, it was too late.

Boom!

A deafening explosion rocked the forest, sending shockwaves through the area and scaring animals across a kilometer-wide radius.

The dozen barrels of gunpowder buried under the ground exploded in sequence, forming a powerful chain reaction. The force of the explosion hurled the giant tiger three meters into the air, while hundreds of iron nails, embedded in the explosives, shot deep into its body.

Roar!

The tiger let out a gut-wrenching roar, but its nightmare wasn't over.

Flames erupted, engulfing the tiger midair. The acrid stench of burning fur filled the forest.

Thud!

The tiger crashed back to the ground, thick smoke curling around its massive body, which continued to sizzle from the heat of the explosion.

Su Xiao, still perched in the tree, watched all this with cold eyes. But his expression wasn't one of satisfaction.

It wasn't sympathy for the beast—such feelings had long since left him.

The reason for his grim expression was simple: the tiger wasn't dead. Reincarnation Paradise hadn't given any notification.

The plan had gone perfectly, but the strength of creatures in the One Piece world was truly terrifying.

Leaping down from the tree, Su Xiao drew his sword, Dragon Flash, and approached the smoldering wreck of the tiger.

If the explosion couldn't kill it, he would cut it down with his blade. As long as there was a sliver of hope for victory, he would fight. Fear had no place in him.

In fact, Su Xiao thrived on combat.

The thrill of combat, the adrenaline, allowed him to forget his past misfortunes and focus entirely on the fight at hand, cutting down his enemies until the battle was won.

(End of Chapter)

*********************************

Translator's Note :- I am Not that familiar with a lot of the fictional worlds mentioned in the story. So if I make a mistake naming something please correct me by writing a paragraph comment on the mistake. Thank you.