"Hey, Xiaohu, what are you doing putting stones in Mr. Iceburg's room?"
Watching Li Xiaohu holding white stones, drawing strange symbols on them, and placing them here and there around the room, the foreman Lulu couldn't help asking out of curiosity.
"I'm setting up an array to protect Mr. Iceburg."
"Just with these stones?" the others asked, astonished.
"These aren't ordinary stones; they're called Spirit Stones. I know you don't believe me, but you'll see once I'm finished." After placing the final Spirit Stone in position, Xiaohu activated the array.
The group felt a blur before their eyes and immediately looked toward Mr. Iceburg. Just a second ago, Mr. Iceburg had been in bed, but now he had completely vanished.
"Where did Mr. Iceburg go?"
However, a voice quickly came from the bed: "What? Aren't I still right here?"
Xiaohu explained, "I've set up an illusion array in the room. Aside from Mr. Iceburg at the array's core, everyone else cannot see the true situation inside."
Paulie exclaimed, "That's amazing! This way, the enemy won't be able to find Mr. Iceburg."
Kaku said, "But doesn't that mean we won't be able to protect Mr. Iceburg either?"
Xiaohu took out five Spirit Stones with carved patterns on them: "If you hold these Spirit Stones, you'll be able to see Mr. Iceburg."
Xiaohu then took out a stack of talismans and placed them by the bed: "Mr. Iceburg, please keep these talismans safe. The moment you spot an enemy, burn them directly. They will attack the enemy."
"Mr. Iceburg, don't worry. All five of us foremen will be guarding right here tonight, and right now our shipwrights are stationed all over the company grounds—I guarantee not even a fly could get in!"
"There's no need to make such a big fuss about it," Mr. Iceburg's voice came from beside the bed.
Kalifa pushed up her glasses and said, "This is the shipwrights' determination to protect you. Mr. Iceburg, you need to get well soon."
"All right."
"Then Mr. Iceburg, you rest for now, and leave the rest to us." With that, everyone withdrew outside the room.
Xiaohu said, "I'll leave the area around the room to you all. I'm responsible for guarding the main entrance, so I'll head over there first."
"No problem."
"Protecting Mr. Iceburg is our duty in the first place."
"Watch yourself, Xiaohu."
Xiaohu nodded and went to the front gate, standing firm at his post just like the other shipwrights. By now the night was deep, and the wind was growing even stronger.
Time ticked away second by second, and no one dared let down their guard. When the late hours of the night arrived, just as everyone thought the pirate assassins wouldn't come after all, an explosion rang out from the northern corner of the first floor!
"Enemy attack! It's a bomb!"
"Nobody panic, check if anyone is hurt!"
"Someone's broken in, be on alert! Half of you stay put!"
Just then, a masked figure holding a whip appeared out of nowhere, kicking several shipwrights flying and charging into the building. The shipwrights rushed forward to block the intruder, but all were kicked aside by the mysterious person.
"There's the enemy, catch him!" Shipwrights were knocked down one after another, but more kept stepping forward in waves. Meanwhile, the mysterious person ran a few steps forward to the wall, kicked away the shipwrights lunging at them, and turned, using the whip to vault up onto the roof.
"Did they come in through the side door?" Xiaohu saw the assassin leap onto the roof, but they were already surrounded by shipwrights who had been lying in ambush up there.
"There are two more people here at the back door!" The traces of enemies were discovered from afar, and they were all wearing masks and cloaks.
"Go, catch them!"
"Where on earth are all these people getting in?"
While Xiaohu was still hesitating about which side to go and help, a commotion erupted from behind him as well. Looking back, a disturbance had broken out at the main entrance, caused by none other than the green-haired young man Zoro, the orange-haired girl Nami, and... a raccoon dog?
At that moment, Zoro held a sword in each of his hands and bit down on a third with his teeth, moving like a whirlwind through the crowd and knocking the shipwrights to the ground in a matter of moments.
"He's got skills—no wonder he dared to charge in with hundreds of shipwrights around."
Seeing that Zoro had knocked down all the shipwrights guarding the gate and was about to reach him, Xiaohu flicked out an Earth Talisman, which transformed into a small mountain blocking the trio's path: "Hold on! Where do you think you're going?"
The green-haired man looked at the huge stone blocking his path, swung his blade, and chopped the small mountain into several pieces. Meanwhile, Xiaohu stepped forward to check on the shipwrights knocked down by Zoro, discovering they were merely unconscious.
"It's you..."
"Roronoa Zoro, are you guys in cahoots with those masked people?"
"Anyway, you won't believe whatever I say. We have something we must do tonight, so pardon us."
Zoro launched into a fierce dash. With a sharp "clang," a sword suddenly materialized in Li Xiaohu's hand, blocking his attack. The opponent was a swordsman as well?
A trace of excitement surged in Zoro's heart, and his figure flashed: "Three-Sword Style: Demon Glee!"
"Five Spirits Return to Origin!"
Seeing the sword in Li Xiaohu's hand multiply into five, not only blocking his attack but even reflecting the sword qi back at him, Zoro was taken aback and instinctively took a few steps back to dissipate the force of the sword qi.
"A swordsmanship that can use the opponent's sword techniques to counterattack? Interesting. One-Sword Style: Thirty-Six Pound Cannon!"
"Four Directions Subdue!"
The soaring flying slash approached with heavy pressure, but Xiaohu simply changed his hand seals, and the five swords hovering in the air transformed into four, dispersing to the four sides and blocking the opponent's attack on the outside.
"My turn to strike, then! Three Talents Ascendant!" Three spirit swords flew out from his side, charging straight at Zoro.
"Two-Sword Style: Rhino Cycle!" Knocking away the incoming spirit swords, Zoro watched as they recombined and returned to Xiaohu's side.
Gazing at the glowing swords, a fiery gleam entered Zoro's eyes: "What kind of swords are these that can split apart? And this kind of swordsmanship—I've never seen it before."
Xiaohu: "Is this a time for idle chatter? Unless you explain your purpose here, I won't let you pass."
"We're looking for someone."
"Nico Robin?"
"That's right."
"Isn't she your comrade? Or did she leave your crew just like that long-nosed guy in overalls?"
"Usopp? You've seen him? What did you do to him?"
"I didn't do anything at all. I even guided him to sail his ship to a safe place."
"Is that so? Then I thank you. We just want to find that woman and ask her clearly what on earth is going on with her."
"Once we catch her, we'll naturally notify you. Seeing as you didn't deal any heavy blows to our shipwrights, I'll let you off for now. As you can see, there are assassins inside Galley-La tonight, and the three of you will only cause trouble here—go back. Wait, where are the girl and the raccoon dog that were right behind you just now?"
Before Li Xiaohu could register it, he hadn't noticed when Nami and Chopper had disappeared.
Another explosion rang out from inside the shipyard. Almost simultaneously, Xiaohu felt the array inside Mr. Iceburg's room being breached!
"How is that possible? Not only did they break into the room, but they also cracked the illusion array? Couldn't Kaku and the others stop them? Or were they all defeated?"
Xiaohu could no longer afford to guard the main gate and channeled his Wind-Walking Technique to leave.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Zoro rushed forward and grabbed Xiaohu by the leg. Instead of taking off, Xiaohu was dragged right back down to the ground.
"What are you doing? My current strength isn't enough to carry people while flying!"
"Then tell those shipwrights to stop blocking my way."
"You... Fine, keep close to me." Xiaohu got up and ran straight toward the main building. When turning a corner, he happened to glance back, only to find that Zoro had sprinted off in a completely different direction.
"What is he playing at?" Having no time to overthink, Xiaohu flew toward Mr. Iceburg's room.