"Wait."
A deep male voice echoed in this dilapidated tile-roofed house.
Kozuki Toki's body suddenly froze.
She stood at the doorway, half a foot already stepped into the cold wind.
She didn't look back, nor did she have the courage or face to confront this noble Marine Admiral.
Tap. Tap.
The sound of military boots stepping on the wooden floor was steady and powerful.
Kane took long strides, unhurriedly walking to a spot three feet behind the woman before stopping.
He looked at the thin silhouette before him, trembling from extreme inferiority and despair.
He took a deep breath, then let out a long sigh, as if it had exhausted all his strength.
"Madam, as a Marine, my duty is to clear the evils of this sea."
"Whether it happens in an affiliated nation or a non-affiliated one."
Kozuki Toki turned around stiffly.
Her eyes were filled with tears, not understanding the deep meaning behind Kane bringing up the past at this moment.
"But..." Kane's tone shifted.
His sword-like eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and his handsome face now showed signs of extreme struggle and pain.
"I am, after all, the highest combat power under the World Government. My every move represents the face of Marineford."
"If I forcibly interfere in Wano Country's internal affairs, using my status as an Admiral to mobilize a fleet for a full-scale war with the Beasts Pirates... I will inevitably face accountability from the World Government, even implicate countless colleagues, and ultimately be sent to a military court."
Kane spoke slowly, portraying a tragic hero who cared for the people but was restricted by cold military regulations to perfection.
"Is there... really no way at all?" Kozuki Toki completely broke down.
Her knees buckled, and she collapsed onto the cold floor like she had lost her spine, looking at Kane in despair.
"There is."
A short, powerful syllable struck the room.
Kozuki Toki looked up abruptly.
A faint glimmer of hope instantly ignited in those dim eyes.
Kane looked down at this pitiful widow.
He slowly crouched down, extended his hands, and with great patience and gentleness, cupped Kozuki Toki's beautiful face, which was covered in tears and dirt.
The man's large, warm palms rubbed against her delicate skin, conveying an indisputable sense of control.
"To break this deadlock, there is only one way." Kane's gaze was deep, his voice kept very low.
"That is to turn national affairs into family affairs."
"To turn public enmity into a private grudge."
Kozuki Toki stared at him blankly, her mind a complete void, unable to keep up with his jumping train of thought.
"As a Marine Admiral, I absolutely cannot interfere in the name of the military."
Kane's thumb tenderly wiped away the tears from the corner of the woman's eye, his fingertip intentionally or unintentionally brushing across her moist lips.
"But... if I were to form an inseparable bond with Madam..."
"Then all of this would become my, Kane's, private grudge and my family affair."
These words falling into Kozuki Toki's ears were no different from a sudden thunderclap on level ground.
Forming a bond? Private grudge? Family affair?
These words fermented wildly in her mind.
Her cheeks suddenly burned, and even the tips of her ears turned red.
She understood! She finally understood what this Admiral meant!
As long as she became Kane's woman.
Then Kane drawing his sword against Kaido would be to seek justice for his own woman.
When a man fights for his own family affairs, who would dare use Marine regulations to disparage him? The World Government wouldn't be able to find a single fault!
This was a perfect excuse!
"For the sake of the hundreds of thousands of suffering people in Wano Country, to help you settle this blood debt..."
Kane's eyelids lowered slightly, his righteous face showing a hint of tragic heroism, as if facing death.
"I, Kane, am willing to bear this sin that violates morality and military discipline! Let me... make the best of this mistake!"
Boom!
Kozuki Toki's psychological defense was completely and utterly shattered into dust at this moment!
What a good man!
She looked at the extremely handsome face before her, at those compassionate eyes filled with sacrificing one's reputation for the sake of the big picture, and was moved beyond words.
Her previous thoughts were too dirty and shallow!
She thought Kane pushing her away earlier was because he despised her withered willow state.
She never expected that this Admiral, whose character was noble to the extreme, would even risk his own clean reputation just to save this land rightfully!
What a great and selfless sacrifice!
What a heavy debt of gratitude!
"Lord Admiral..." Kozuki Toki sobbed uncontrollably.
All shame was replaced by a near-fanatical reverence and gratitude. She could no longer suppress her inner emotions and proactively placed her hands on Kane's broad, solid shoulders.
She stood on her tiptoes, closed her eyes, and devoutly offered her trembling red lips.
Softness met.
Kane put one arm around her slender waist and effortlessly picked the woman up.
On the surface, he still maintained that sorrowful and determined for justice look, even his brow was slightly furrowed.
But at this moment, deep in his heart...
The soul of a Cao Thief burned fiercely, and the Jian'an spirit was at its peak.
Refreshing! It was so damn refreshing!
Sleeping with someone else's wife, taking someone else's country, and even making that person's wife feel deeply grateful, viewing it as a blessing and salvation sent by a god.
This rhetoric combined with Oscar-level acting was simply invincible!
Kane's steps were steady as he carried the soft, warm body in his arms, walking step by step toward the small wooden bed in the inner room.
Kozuki Toki hugged his neck tightly, her head buried in his broad chest, fearing this was a dream she would wake from at any moment.
The kimono slid down her fair skin to the floor.
A few gusts of cold wind snuck through the gaps in the window, making the charcoal fire in the hearth flicker.
Amidst the flickering firelight, the old wooden bed made a slight creaking sound under the heavy burden.
Outside the window, a gale blew and torrential rain poured down, mercilessly washing over this riddled land.
But inside this broken house, the temperature was constantly rising.
The long-repressed sobs gradually turned into intermittent murmurs, accompanied by a primal rhythm, weaving into an absurdly ridiculous anthem in this desperate rainy night.
...
The camera pulled back.
To the Kuri Market, across a mountain.
The streets were full of ruins left by the war; houses had collapsed, and rubble was everywhere.
The people had long since been taken to the quarries as forced labor; not a soul could be found around.
The only thing moving was a strong, naked man.
Kozuki Oden.
The heavy rain beat down on him, soaking his iconic topknot like a clump of rotten seaweed.
With his large bare feet, he was dancing intently in a puddle mixed with blood and mud.
"Heh, ha! Twist to the left, twist to the right! Push forward hard with the hips!"
Oden had his hands on his hips, sticking out his large buttocks, spinning wildly in the mud.
The national hatred in his subconscious had been completely erased by Kotoamatsukami, and he had no concept of wife or children in his head.
Only dancing! Only this ridiculous rhythm could bring him supreme pleasure and satisfaction!
Not far away, several corpses of samurai who had died with their eyes open stared vacantly at the lord they had once sworn to serve until death.
A stray dog with thinning fur wandered over and stopped by the mud pit.
The dog looked at this naked human raving in the rain with extreme disdain, then lifted its back leg, peed on Oden's discarded loincloth, shook its fur, and ran off without looking back.
Oden was completely unaware, dancing even more vigorously instead.
"Oh yeah! I am the Dance King of Wano Country! Everyone, dance together!"
How ridiculous. How ironic.
His country was annexed by pirates, his loyal retainers were slaughtered, and his eldest son was crushed into a pulp.
While his lawfully wedded wife was currently in someone else's arms, repaying that man's great kindness in the most primal way.
This green hat, hand-woven by the Marine Admiral, was fitted snugly onto his head.
It was shining green, earth-shatteringly green!
But he himself was in this mud, tirelessly twisting his body, completely unaware of everything.
...
Deep inside the broken house.
The creaking of the wooden bed finally gradually subsided after an unknown amount of time.
Kane leaned against the headboard, playing with the woman's soft long hair with one hand.
Kozuki Toki was like a well-behaved kitten that had exhausted its strength, lying limply on his broad chest, fast asleep. Yet there was a sense of peace at the corner of her mouth after a total release.
A mechanical prompt sounded in his mind right on time.
[Ding!]
[System has detected extremely undisciplined behavior!]
[Behavior Judgment: Possessing a core female character through extremely hypocritical and despicable means, and placing a perfect green hat on the lucky character Kozuki Oden!]
[Event Analysis: Acting like a Cao Thief under the guise of justice. Not only has it destroyed the core causality of the original plot, but it has also made the victim's family feel deeply grateful.]
[Subversion Coefficient: Severely violates Marine moral standards!]
[System Evaluation: Even a military dog in Marineford has moral standards far superior to yours.]
[Final Settlement: Disciplinary points +150,000!]
Kane looked at the blue light screen popping up on his retina, where a long string of numbers changed.
Remaining disciplinary points: 3,709,500.
He let out a disdainful cold laugh in his heart.
Moral bottom line? Can that thing be exchanged for the God Realm? Can it let him suppress Imu?
Can it feel good?
Kane's slender fingers gently brushed across Kozuki Toki's fair and smooth back. The woman in his arms whimpered softly and snuggled into his embrace even more forcefully.
"Sleep, Madam. This is only the beginning."
Kane slightly narrowed those deep eyes; the eyes that were full of compassion just now were now full of cold calculation.
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