Aboard Charlotte Linlin's pirate ship, somewhere in the waters of the New World—
Glug… glug… glug…
In one go, Linlin drained the entire bottle of rum.
The moment it was empty, she smashed it against the wooden floor.
Crash!
Glass shards scattered everywhere, adding to the sea of broken glass already littering the deck.
"More…" she shouted loudly. "Bring me more rum!"
The nearby pirates exchanged helpless looks. None of them dared get too close, partly afraid of provoking Linlin… and partly because the floor was already covered in enough broken glass to cut their feet to ribbons.
But obviously, Linlin did not give a damn about any of that.
When no one replied, and, more importantly, no one brought her another bottle of rum, she shouted again and slammed her fist onto the wooden table hard enough to make it creak loudly.
"I said… bring me more rummm!!!!"
"!!!" Every pirate on deck flinched.
They all looked at one another, silently urging someone else to tell her the truth… but very few had the courage to do it.
Normally, Streusen would have handled this rather easily. He would have spoken to Linlin and somehow managed to calm her down.
But Streusen was no longer on the ship. He was no longer even part of the crew. A few days ago, he was expelled!
Which meant someone else had to do it.
Slowly, all eyes turned toward one of Linlin's senior crew members, silently pressuring him to speak.
After enough urging, the senior member finally stepped forward and hesitantly opened his mouth, "A-Ane-san… a-all the rum is gone… t-there isn't any left…"
At those words, Linlin slowly turned her head and glared at him with bloodshot eyes.
The pirate's legs immediately began to tremble, 'I… am I going to die today?'
"Hic…" Linlin let out a loud burp. Her face was flushed, and her red eyes had turned glossy from all the alcohol. "Gone?" she slurred. "How can all the rum be gone…? I-I… hic… I ain't drunk enough yet…"
The surrounding pirates wanted to scream. 'You drank the entire fucking ship dry! There is not a single bottle left anywhere on board, and you still think you haven't had enough?!'
But they only dared complain in their hearts.
"A-Ane-san…" one of them said in an overly sweet, but trembling voice, "we've run out of rum. We need to restock…"
"Restock?" Linlin tilted her head slightly, then suddenly burst into laughter. "Ahahahahaha… Mama… Mama…"
The pirates gulped nervously, unsure how to react to her manic laughter.
Then, just as suddenly as she had started laughing, Linlin stopped.
Her expression darkened, and she roared, "Then go restock… hic…! What the fuck are you all standing there starin' at me for?! Huh?! Or do you all wanna end up like Streusen…? Wanna do what he did…?!"
"N-No!!!" the pirates shouted in unison.
None of them actually knew what Streusen had done. They only knew it had been something Linlin hated enough to throw him off the crew immediately.
And they wanted absolutely no part of that.
Not only because they did not want to end up stranded alone in the middle of the ocean on a small boat… but because, unlike them, Streusen had been something close to a foster father to Linlin.
She had spared him because of that. Would she spare them if they did the same thing?
No one was stupid enough to find out.
"W-We'll head to the nearest island and stock up on rum immediately!" one of them shouted.
Then the pirates hurried off in a panic. Some of them even grabbed oars and started rowing to make the ship move faster.
Left all alone, a heavily drunk Linlin slumped over the table.
"Hic…"
Lost in her haze, she did not even realise when she picked up a shard of broken glass and began dragging it across the wooden table, ruining the surface.
Or perhaps she was not scratching it absentmindedly at all; she was drawing.
A house with a sheep symbol on it. Several young children are sitting around a table together, laughing and having fun.
She drew all of it… Then, with a sudden movement, she violently scratched through the entire thing, destroying it, and threw away the shard of glass she was using.
"Haaa…" Letting out a long, drunken sigh, Linlin buried her head in her hands. Another hiccup escaped her as she muttered bitterly to herself. "Why the fuck do I keep havin' that same dream… hic… over an' over again…"
For the past few days, she had been having the same dream over and over again.
In it, she found herself back on that island… alone.
She wandered across it, searching for the other children from the Sheep's House… searching for Mother Carmel…
But every single time, without exception, she found only sweets.
Talking sweets… like her homies.
Sweets that had little traits that reminded her of the orphans and Mother Carmel… but they were still only sweets.
Not people, right? Right!!! They were only sweets.
And before she could see anything more, she would suddenly jolt awake, frightened, nervous, her heart pounding, until the only thing that could calm her mind was rum, causing her to drink until the ship ran dry.
"Even though… hic… even though I wanna see ya so much, Zechs… why the fuck ain't ya appeared in my dreams even once…?" she slurred quietly. "Didn't ya say… hic… that ya could talk through dreams…? So why ain't ya talkin' to me…? Am I not… important enough t' ya…?"
After the first time Zechs had appeared in her dream, he had never shown up again.
Every night, she went to sleep hoping she would see him once more.
Yet all she ever saw was that same fucking dream.
Not once had Zechs appeared again.
At this point, Linlin had begun to wonder if that first time had just been another dream, too.
Maybe Zechs had never actually appeared at all.
Maybe it had all been in her head from the start.
"Haaa… what th' fuck am I even doin'…?" she muttered bitterly. Then, still slumped over the table, Linlin slowly drifted off to sleep.
When the sound of snoring finally came from inside, Rob, who had been standing outside the door wanting to speak with her, paused.
"Uhh… she fell asleep." He scratched his cheek and muttered to himself for a moment before quietly closing the door without entering.
Turning back to the others, he said, "Seems… now isn't a good time…"
The other members of Zechs' crew looked increasingly helpless.
"We've already delayed for so many days," one of them said. "At this rate… are we even going to search for the captain?"
Rob remained silent for a few moments before letting out a sigh. "As for searching for Captain… let's wait until we get some news about him."
"What?" the others said in shock. "We're going to wait even longer?"
"With Streusen gone, the situation on this ship is bad enough already," Rob replied after thinking it over. "Linlin-san is the Captain's woman. We can't just leave her like this. She's obviously depressed… we need to stay here and make sure she's safe. This is what Captain would want us to do."
The others hesitated. "But what about Captain…?"
"If Captain is alive, he'll find us," Rob said firmly. "It's better to stay here than wander around aimlessly. We don't even know where we'd even start looking."
He was not worried that Zechs would blame them for not searching for him. Rob knew Zechs was not that kind of person. Even so, the decision still left him feeling guilty.
But right now, he believed this was what he had to do. As Zechs' second-in-command, he had to make sure nothing happened to the captain's woman. He had to make sure the Marines did not capture her and send her off as some Celestial Dragon's slave.
Rob was not especially powerful, but he was still Zechs' second-in-command. He believed he was capable enough to protect her from that much.
After thinking it over for a while, the others finally nodded. "Alright then…"
Satisfied that the others had agreed, Rob sighed. Then he turned and looked out the window at the bright horizon. "I still wonder…" he muttered quietly to himself. "If Captain's alive… where the hell he is and what the hell is he doing right now?"
The bearded helmsman, who had heard Rob's question, let out a puff of smoke and chuckled. "Haha… knowing Captain… if he's still alive, he's probably off somewhere busy bangin' some woman…"
The area immediately fell silent as everyone turned to stare at him.
Faced with all of them looking at him, the helmsman frowned and complained, "What? Don't tell me none of you are thinkin' the same thing."
For a moment, no one said anything.
Then, all of a sudden, they burst out laughing. "Hahaha… yeah, knowing Captain… that's definitely the kind of thing he'd be doing right about now. And not with just one or two women either… probably a whole fucking dozen…"
"Yeah… stealing other men's women and making them vomit blood… that sounds exactly like Captain… Bahahaha…"
…
Bang!
"Gahaaa—! Blegh…!"
Thud!
"Cough… cough… haah… haah…" Clutching his stomach, Zechs rolled across the ground as ache spread through his entire body.
"Fuck… that hurts…"
Not far away, Katakuri slowly lowered his trident, Mogura.
Wearing his usual cold expression, he looked down at Zechs without the slightest bit of pity. If anything, there was a trace of mockery in his voice. "Is that all, Captain?"
"Katakuri, you bastard…" Zechs cursed. Despite the pain, he forced himself back to his feet and raised his wooden sword. "Just because you managed to land a few hits… don't think that means I'm weaker than you."
"Humph." Katakuri snorted. "The only thing I know is that for the past few hours, I've been hitting you over and over again…" he said mockingly. "And you still haven't managed to hit me back even once, Captain."
"Tch… you don't need to rub it in my face," Zechs muttered with a click of his tongue.
Then he straightened his stance. Thanks to his Steel Balloon physique, the pain already no longer mattered that much.
Pushing his Observation Haki to its limit, he tightened his grip on the wooden sword and coated it in both Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki. "Come again."
"Hmm, pointless ordeal… but, as you wish," Katakuri replied. He took his own stance and activated his Observation Haki, along with coating Mogura in Armament Haki, and charged forward.
Step. Step. Step.
Closing the distance in a few long strides, he swung his trident down at Zechs with tremendous force.
Zechs tried to defend against Katakuri's trident.
Ding… Tuk… Tuk… Tuk…
The sounds echoed through the clearing as Zechs swung his sword again and again, barely managing to block each strike… and even felt somewhat overwhelmed.
The problem was not speed.
It was not as though Zechs was too slow or Katakuri was too fast. Strength was also not the problem. If it came down to pure physical power, Zechs was stronger thanks to the Steel Balloon Physique.
The real problem was the other party's Future Sight. Katakuri could see how Zechs would react to his attacks before Zechs even had the thought of reacting.
Every time Zechs raised his sword to block, Katakuri had already foreseen it long before the thought even clicked in Zechs' mind and adjusted his attack accordingly.
The future was not absolute, of course. Zechs' combat instincts and experience still let him react in time to defend against some of the attacks. But only some, not all. Every once in a while, a few attacks would slip and land on him.
After all… if one person could see the future and the other could not, then the one who could not was obviously at a massive disadvantage.
What did it matter if Zechs had greater strength?
What did it matter if he could even coat his attacks in Conqueror's Haki?
If his attacks never landed, then all of that power and technique were useless.
And that was exactly what kept happening.
Every time Zechs blocked or dodged one of Katakuri's attacks and swung his own blade in return, Katakuri would already have foreseen it.
Then, with calm precision, he would reshape his mochi body so that the blade passed harmlessly through empty space without ever touching him.
"It's useless," Katakuri said coldly, repeating it over and over again, deliberately trying to piss Zechs off and wear down his spirit.
"Would you shut the fuck up…" Zechs snorted and lashed out with his wooden sword in a rapid flurry of strikes.
But once again, every single attack was either blocked or dodged, and Katakuri didn't forget to repeat, "It's useless."
Zechs' lips twitched in annoyance, but this time he said nothing.
Instead, he focused entirely on the battle and pushed his Observation Haki to its absolute limit, trying to catch even the slightest glimpse of the future.
That was his goal.
He was trying to learn Future Sight.
An advanced technique like Future Sight was not something you could learn through ordinary training.
You could not simply sit down and practice it until it worked.
It was the kind of ability that only emerged when someone was pushed to the extreme, in the middle of a real fight.
That was why, instead of training normally, Zechs had chosen to fight Katakuri.
After all, Luffy had awakened Future Sight while battling Katakuri. Zechs intended to do the same.
Of course, Future Sight was not the only thing Zechs was training.
At the same time, he was also trying to improve his control over Conqueror's Haki infusion and push that ability even further in both attack and defense.
Later, he also planned to train Armament Haki Emission… and eventually Internal Destruction as well.
[Host… you will not be able to master all of these things in such a short time, it'd definitely take a few months,] Miss System commented.
The protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy, might have mastered Future Sight and other advanced techniques in a matter of days and weeks... but that's because he's the protagonist.
Not everyone has that kind of absurd halo around them, nor was fate, or the author, going to hand Zechs that ability after only a few days of training.
Mastering advanced techniques takes a lot of time… Even if Zechs managed to master advanced techniques like Future Sight, Emission, and Internal Destruction within a few months, that would still be ridiculously fast. But hoping to master them within a few days… Miss System didn't want her host to have such delusions.
'It's fine, Miss System, I know I am not some Child of Prophecy... Now that I've contacted Linlin and confirmed that she's alright, I'm not in a hurry to leave this island anymore. Knowing that even fate is against me, it's better to increase my strength first… then head out afterward, a few more months of separation won't make much difference, and if I want to talk to her, I can contact her via dream walk,' Zechs replied.
Getting stronger is his immediate objective. That is also one of the main reasons he has finally summoned Katakuri.
With Katakuri by his side, Zechs had not only gained a loyal and capable subordinate but also a good training partner.
Someone strong enough to push him to become stronger… While he, in turn, would push Katakuri to become stronger as well, so that Katakuri would also master advanced Armament and Conqueror's techniques.
'Fufu… I really have to thank you, Miss Sys—' His thoughts were abruptly cut off by Katakuri's cold voice. "You're getting distracted."
At the same moment, Katakuri thrust his trident forward.
Zechs' eyes twitched as he barely managed to block the strike with his sword.
But Katakuri's attack did not end there.
At some point, he had already used Mosu Doughnuts.
Behind Zechs, more than a dozen mochi fists infused with dense Armament Haki suddenly shot toward him at once.
'Damn it…' Cursing inwardly, Zechs immediately swung his tail like a whip behind him, coating it in Conqueror's Haki as he rapidly swatted away the incoming punches.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
…
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The constant banging from the fight between Zechs and Katakuri kept echoing through the forest, mixed with the cries of animals fleeing in panic.
With so much noise, Pudding found it impossible to concentrate.
"How much noise are those two going to make?" she muttered as she opened her eyes and sighed again. "Don't they know it's hard to concentrate and 'hear' any 'voice' with all this noise…"
Obviously, it wasn't just Zechs and Katakuri who were training. Pudding was being forced to train as well, much to her annoyance.
If it were up to her, she would much rather laze around and rest instead of putting herself through all this training. Considering how tired she is… wouldn't it be better to rest and laze around? But Zechs had given her only two choices: either spend every single night getting railed by him from dusk till dawn... or train.
Now, she didn't exactly mind getting railed by him. After all... it feels good, and she also wants to serve him.
But every single time he fucked her, he ended up completely wrecking her body. Afterwards, she could barely stand, let alone walk, without a walking stick. The pounding was so rough that even being touched made her flinch until the pain finally eased. Sometimes, she honestly felt like he was going to fuck her to death one day.
It's truly terrifying.
'No wonder he used to sleep with so many women... a single woman simply can't handle him...' Pudding even found herself thinking that.
The truth was, Zechs hadn't always been this overwhelming.
Sure, thanks to his Incubus bloodline, he had always been able to keep going for as long as he wanted and ejaculate as many times as he pleased. But before, he wasn't nearly this rough. There had still been some restraint. Most women ended up unconscious afterwards, but not to the point where they were completely ruined and unable to move the next morning.
That changed after he obtained Linlin's Steel Balloon physique.
Since then, his libido had skyrocketed, and the sheer brutality of the way he had sex had increased just as much. His thrusts had become absurdly powerful, more than enough to completely wreck someone as physically weak as Pudding.
And the worst part? He was still holding back.
Because the way he was now... if he truly lost control, he could probably fuck a woman to death.
Fortunately, Zechs still restrained himself to some extent and doesn't have the intention of fucking her to death yet... but even so, he always, even intentionally, left her completely wrecked afterwards.
What annoyed her even more was that Zechs could easily heal her, yet he deliberately refused to heal her core and ass.
Why? Because her Goshujin-sama liked seeing her in that kind of pain.
Worse, he looked proud of himself for causing her that kind of pain.
'Humph! Sadist... pervert...' Pudding could only curse her Goshujin-sama silently in her heart.
Yet, despite herself, a faint blush still spread across her face.
Because... she didn't actually hate the pain when Zechs was the one causing it. It annoyed her, yes... but at the same time, there was something about it that she couldn't bring herself to dislike and actually felt sweet about it in her heart.
'N-no... what the hell am I thinking...? Am I some kind of masochist or something...?'
She hurriedly shook her head, shuddering at the thought, 'N-no... definitely not...'
But in the end, because she needed rest and because she didn't want to be fucked to death, she had no choice but to accept the option of training.
Fortunately, for now, most of her training focused on listening to the 'voices.' In other words, she was trying to master the Voice of All Things that she had awakened after that undersea disaster.
And if she was being honest... a part of her was actually excited about learning it because of one particular possibility. 'If I master the Voice of All Things... then I'll be able to hear Zechs-sama's thoughts... right?'
That possibility alone was enough to keep her motivated and training.
Of course, besides the Voice of All Things, she was also starting to train her Observation Haki.
Although she still hadn't awakened Observation Haki yet, as one of Yonko Big Mom's daughters, her potential for Haki was naturally very high.
She might not have inherited her mother's monstrous strength or Steel Balloon physique, but she had still inherited talent… at least when it comes to Observation Haki.
And that talent didn't come only from Mama's side. Part of it also came from her father's bloodline, from the Three-Eye Tribe.
With that potential, along with guidance from Zechs and Katakuri, she was already on the right path.
Sooner or later... she would probably awaken it.
'Mm... I need to master both Observation Haki and the Voice of All Things as quickly as possible... Zechs-sama also said that if I manage to master both of them... he'll give me a gift... I wonder what it is...?' she thought.
Indeed, Zechs had promised her a reward once she successfully mastered both Observation Haki and the Voice of All Things.
She had no idea what kind of reward he intended to give her, but the thought of getting a reward from him made her more excited. She was already looking forward to it.
So, with that thought in mind, she closed her eyes once more... and tried to listen to the 'voices' hidden beneath all the 'noise.'
…
Somewhere in the waters near Totto Land, a Marine warship cut through the sea.
The atmosphere on deck was miserable.
The sailors were exhausted from waiting.
"How much longer do we have to keep doing this...?" one of them muttered while slumping against the railing.
The others clearly felt the same way.
But honestly, the one taking it the worst was probably Kong.
"Sob... sob... nom... nom... I... nom... I didn't even get to attend the Banana Festival... sob... nom... nom..."
While shoving one banana after another into his mouth, Kong couldn't stop crying.
He had been looking forward to the Banana Festival for months. There were supposed to be over two thousand different varieties of bananas there... and he hadn't gotten to taste a single one of them.
But now he couldn't go at all...
If that wasn't enough to make him cry, then what was?
The sailor beside him, who was busily peeling bananas for him, could only roll his eyes.
The admiral was whining about missing the Banana Festival when the real problem was that they still hadn't delivered Charlotte Linlin to the Celestial Dragon yet.
Even Rear Admiral Sengoku was worried and couldn't help but say, "Admiral Kong... we still haven't handed Charlotte Linlin over to the Celestial Dragon. At this rate..."
Kong began to respond, "Nom… actually… sob… nom…"
Sengoku frowned slightly. 'Either eat, cry, or talk... don't do all three at the same damn time...'
Of course, he only thought it. He didn't dare say it out loud.
Kong seemed to realize the same thing. He held up a hand, waiting until he finished chewing the banana in his mouth before speaking.
A few moments later, he finally swallowed and said, "About that... patience is—"
But before he could finish, his Transponder Snail suddenly began to ring, making him stop.
Buru buru buru buru buru...
He hesitated for a moment before finally answering. "This is Admiral Kong speaking..."
The person on the other end was Fleet Admiral Kong. The moment he recognized the voice, Kong hurriedly apologized.
"Forgive me, Fleet Admiral-san... there still hasn't been any progress in capturing Charlotte Linlin. She still hasn't returned to Totto Land at all..."
Charlotte Linlin's newly developed ability to control the ocean and create tsunamis made capturing her at sea nearly impossible. Because of that, Kong and Sengoku had planned a siege near Totto Land, hoping to catch her off guard and capture her on her own territory.
But Linlin had not returned even once.
Their entire wait had been pointless.
The Fleet Admiral already knew why. "There's been a change in the situation," he said through the Transponder Snail.
Both Kong and Sengoku's expressions immediately changed, and they straightened in their seats. "A change? What do you mean, Fleet Admiral-san?"
"A few days ago, Vice Admiral Blue Grass's warship took a prisoner. That pirate happened to be a former high-ranking member of Charlotte Linlin's crew. Based on the intelligence we obtained from him…" the Fleet Admiral began to explain why Linlin had not been returning to Totto Land, as well as the existence of the territorial sea slugs surrounding the waters of Totto Land.
"Damn it… No wonder she never came back to Totto Land at all… so that's what was going on…" Kong snarled and slammed his fist onto the table.
These past few weeks of waiting had been completely useless. As long as he remained here, Linlin would know about it.
Which also meant that he had missed the Banana Festival for absolutely nothing. That thought only made him even angrier.
But then… Kong took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down before asking, "Then… what's the next plan? Are we withdrawing from here or…?"
"The change in the situation is related to that. Head to G-17 and coordinate with Vice Admiral Blue Grass… once you do, you'll understand the rest," the Fleet Admiral said.
Kong and Sengoku exchanged a glance. Then Kong nodded. "I… see… Fleet Admiral-san… we will coordinate with Blue Grass…"
Kacha!
The call ended.
Immediately afterward, Kong ordered the warship to leave the waters around Totto Land and set course for Marine Base G-17, the base under Vice Admiral Blue Grass's command.
.
.
.
.
A/N:
Dear reader, the story hasn't been receiving many Power Stones lately, and as a result, it isn't getting the level of attention I had hoped for. To be honest, that's quite disheartening and a bit demotivating.
This isn't a translated work; I'm writing it entirely on my own, and I already have a significant portion of the story planned out. However, if the story isn't supported, it becomes difficult to stay motivated in the long run. I don't want to drop this story, but without support, it does become a real possibility.
So, I'd really appreciate it if you could help support the story, not just with Power Stones, but also through comments and reviews.
Each Power Stone, Comment, and Review will help the story rise in rankings, reach a wider audience, and motivate me to write more.
Of course, if you'd like to support me further, you can also do so on Pa-t-r-e-o-n. That kind of support makes a huge difference and helps me stay consistent and motivated with writing.
On my Pa-t-r-e-o-n, you can read up to 26 chapters in advance before public release, and I generally post 6 chapters a week, meaning you'll get one extra chapter per week compared to the regular schedule, which is 5 chapters a week.
Pa-t-r-e-o-n:Knockturn_Alley