Outside the door, a faint knock sounded.
Kane unhurriedly unbuttoned his cuffs and reached out to open the wooden door.
Outside, Kozuki Toki stood silently.
Her thin, plain inner garment was soaked through with dampness, the fabric clinging tightly to her shapely figure.
The cold rain made her body shiver, but her cheeks glowed with an unnatural flush.
She hung her head, her long, broken hair obscuring most of her face. Rainwater trickled down her slender, pale neck, dripping into her collar.
[Kane's inner monologue: Oh, wow. Coming to knock on my door in the middle of the night dressed like this, she's really putting in the effort for the foreplay.]
While calculating inwardly, his face flawlessly shifted to an expression of mingled surprise and concern.
"Madam? It's so late. Did something happen to Hiyori?" He propped one hand on the doorframe, his voice kept extremely low, deliberately creating an impression of thoughtfulness, as if fearing to disturb others.
Kozuki Toki said nothing, simply stepping into the dim room.
Before Kane, her knees buckled, and she fell straight to her knees.
"Admiral..." Her voice was hoarse, her words trembling with despair, "Please... save Wano Country!"
Kane didn't move an inch.
He looked down at the woman, humble as dust, his eyes as still as an ancient well.
"What do you mean, Madam?"
Kane's brow furrowed imperceptibly, his expression instantly turning solemn.
He squatted down, looking Kozuki Toki directly in her tear-filled eyes, his tone deep and serious.
"I beg you, Admiral! Slay Orochi! Slay Kaido!"
Kozuki Toki suddenly looked up, her eyes filled with a desperate plea, on the verge of collapse. She clung tightly to Kane's gaze, as if it were her last straw.
"They destroyed Wano Country, killed my son, ruined everything I had! Admiral! If you can do this, Kozuki Toki... is willing to pay any price!"
Her voice was full of tremors.
She knew her current wretchedness and ugliness, but she no longer cared.
Kane's face grew heavy. He sighed deeply and shook his head.
"Madam, you overestimate me."
He stood up and paced to the center of the room, turning his back to Kozuki Toki. His voice carried a hint of helplessness.
"Kaido... that man known as the Strongest Creature, commands vast forces, with many Devil Fruit users. To wage war against him, even I would have to mobilize the most elite forces of Marineford and apply for the highest authorization from the World Government. Madam, though I am an Admiral, to unilaterally engage in full-scale war with a pirate of such magnitude would violate military regulations and carry immense risk. It is certainly not something I alone can easily decide."
He paused, his tone becoming extremely veiled, yet tinged with a helpless bitterness.
"Moreover, we also need a reason—a reason that can silence those stubborn factions within the World Government. Otherwise, even if I override all objections and mobilize troops, I would be severely punished afterward, and even... held accountable."
Kane's words were reasonable, well-founded, and righteous.
Kozuki Toki felt all her strength drain away instantly.
She knew the Marine's rules and understood the World Government's stance.
Wano Country, to the World Government, was a closed-off non-affiliated country, a lawless land. The Marine had no obligation to deal with its mess.
And now, what reason could she offer?
Her Kouzuki family was now a name only. Her husband was insane, her son tragically dead, and her retainers all sacrificed.
She, an abandoned widow, had nothing left but grief and hatred.
Tears silently streamed down her face.
She suddenly looked up at Kane's back. That figure appeared exceptionally tall in the dim candlelight, but at this moment, it was like an insurmountable iceberg, blocking her path to revenge.
Suddenly, Kozuki Toki smiled.
Her laughter was desolate, yet resolute.
She slowly straightened her back, standing before Kane.
"A widow... indeed has no chips left to buy her enemies' heads." Her voice no longer trembled, stripped of all emotional fluctuations, leaving only the calm of utter resignation.
Her slender, pale fingers rested on the sash around her waist.
"The entire Kouzuki family now has only me, this inauspicious person, left."
The silk sash slipped.
The thin kimono first slid off one shoulder, revealing a patch of fair, smooth skin.
Then, with her trembling, it completely fell down, pooling at her feet.
Large expanses of dazzling white skin were exposed to the cool air.
Her skin, meticulously cared for over the years, had not lost its luster despite several days of rough travel. Instead, against the backdrop of this extremely dilapidated hut, it presented a breathtakingly tragic beauty.
This was the last thing she could offer.
This once noble General's wife, Kozuki Toki, now completely cast aside all her dignity.
"If the Admiral doesn't mind..." Kozuki Toki squeezed her eyes shut tightly, two lines of clear tears streaming down her cheeks, her chin slightly raised, assuming a posture of sacrifice, inviting him to take her.
The red glow of the hearth fire illuminated the woman's exposed body.
Kane's gaze did indeed linger for half a second between her prominent breasts and undulating waistline.
He whistled wildly in his mind.
He had to admit, that idiot Kozuki Oden had quite the luck with women. This figure was in no way inferior to Stussy's. If it were his usual self, this late-night snack would have been a sure thing.
However, the most sophisticated hunter always appears in the guise of prey.
Kozuki Toki tilted her head back, eyes closed, tear streaks mingling with the flush on her cheeks, awaiting fate's judgment.
However.
The expected rough tugging never came.
Kane's face was now filled with shock and alarm. His eyes were wide open, as if he had seen something filthy that defiled his belief in Justice.
He even took two steps back, his tone carrying the anger of being insulted, and an indescribable heartache.
"Madam! What... what are you doing?!"
Kane's voice was resonant, carrying the profound sorrow of a betrayed faith.
His gaze did not fall on Kozuki Toki's shapely body in the slightest, but rather directly, painfully, on her eyes filled with shame.
"You... what kind of person do you take me, Kane, for?!"
His voice was filled with incredulous anger and disappointment.
"As an Admiral of the Marine, I came here upholding Justice! If I were to take advantage of your misfortune, of your family's ruin, to commit such sordid and illicit acts, how would I be any different from those pirates who plunder your Wano Country and poison its people?!"
Kozuki Toki trembled at this sudden, thunderous rage, completely stunned in place.
Kane gave her no time to react.
He took a few steps forward, bent down, and picked up the kimono from the floor.
With gentle yet undeniable force, he meticulously draped the thin kimono over her.
"Madam! Do not engage in such self-degrading acts again!" Kane's voice now became serious and low, but it contained an unquestionable authority.
She was bewildered.
Completely and utterly bewildered.
After traveling through time to this turbulent era, she had witnessed Whitebeard's unrestrained magnanimity, Roger's disregard for rules, and even personally experienced Oden's comical absurdity.
But men were men, and this was a world governed by the law of the jungle, violence, and pure desire.
Subconsciously, she had long accepted the rule—that men wielding supreme power would inevitably demand corresponding beauty or profit.
Yet, this Marine before her, faced with readily available allure, was actually angered that his integrity and beliefs had been trampled upon!
His bottom line, his pride, the pure, unadulterated Justice radiating from him, was so dazzling that it made Kozuki Toki feel utterly ashamed.
What foolish thing had she done?
She had actually used such a vulgar, brothel-like trick to defile a truly compassionate hero?
The shame of self-reproach was instantly replaced by a more complex emotion, bordering on reverence.
She thought she had offered everything, only to discover that what this man sought far exceeded her imagination.
His character, his magnanimity, the Justice he upheld, instantly elevated him to a height she could never hope to reach in her lifetime.
This man was a true hero.
He was a sacred existence, one that she, a mere mortal woman, could never defile.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, Your Excellency..." Kozuki Toki buried her face deep in the wide collar of her garment, sobbing uncontrollably, "It was me... I was vulgar, I judged a gentleman by my own petty standards..."
She cried her heart out.
Only this time, her tears were no longer born of the compulsion of hatred, but rather from an extreme guilt, regret, and shock.
Kane still stood with his back to her, hands clasped behind him, his body as straight as a spear ready to pierce the sky.
The act had reached its peak; the timing was perfect.
Kozuki Toki's sobs gradually subsided, and a deeper layer of despair once again enveloped her heart.
Since even her own body, her only bargaining chip, was seen as an insult, how could this noble Admiral violate rigid military regulations and single-handedly confront the entire Beasts Pirates for a nameless widow of a fallen country?
There was no hope.
All paths were completely blocked.
Kozuki Toki released her tightly clenched grip on the edge of her coat and turned to leave in a daze. She truly shouldn't remain here, defiling this room, defiling this man's eyes.
Just as she felt utterly disheartened, even her breathing seemed superfluous.
The man who had kept his back to her for so long, turned around.
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