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At the library—
"Sir... Sir Zechs..." Ruri came running into the library, her face full of panic.
Only to freeze in place as she saw Zechs pulling a blade from the sailor's chest. Blood coated the steel. The sailor collapsed to the floor, clutching at the wound in his chest as blood poured out between his fingers.
Ruri staggered back. "Y-You... you killed him...!!!"
"Well..." Zechs said casually, flicking the blood from his blade. Red droplets splattered across the wall. "Commodore Alpha Male has already gone to the tavern with a group of marines. I assume that is because you did not tell him that you brought me here."
He glanced down at the dying sailor. "But this one... and another sailor... both knew you brought me here. If I leave them alive... you understand what that means."
"I..." Ruri opened her mouth, but no words came out.
Zechs calmly sheathed his sword. Then he picked up the newspaper. Not just the newspaper, but several books and a stack of sea charts from the marine base as well. He stuffed everything into a backpack before glancing back at her. "By the way, Miss Ruri... what did you come here for?"
"Husband... he... he is..." she began, only to come to a stop because she realised that somehow Zechs already knew that her husband had gone to the tavern. It must mean that he obviously knew the reason.
"…" Her lips trembled, but she did not know what to say.
"Fufu..." Zechs chuckled. "Even though you know I am a pirate, instead of helping your husband capture me like a good wife and a good citizen, you came here worried about my safety. I wonder what you are thinking, Miss Ruri..."
Ruri lowered her head in shame. She knew this was wrong. She knew what she was doing was betraying her husband. But for some reason... she could not stop herself. "You should... run away..." was all she could say.
"I do plan to run away," he said, picking up the backpack. "But before that... there are still a few things I need to do."
He stepped up beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Come with me."
"N-No..." Ruri tried to pull away. "My husband is here... and my children too... I can't leave with you..."
"You are thinking too much." He shrugged. "Even if you wanted to come with me, I would not bring you out to sea. You would be useless for anything except serving me with your body."
Those words made her feel ashamed and worthless… and she froze.
Using that opportunity, he slid a hand around her neck as if choking her and leaned close, his lips brushing her ear as he whispered: "Let's roleplay, Miss Ruri. I am an evil pirate who has kidnapped you. Right now, you are my hostage... and I am threatening you. If you do not cooperate... You will lose your husband... and your son and daughter too."
"W-What...?" she whispered, stunned by his words.
"It is only roleplay," he said with a charming smile. "Just like last night, when we role played to me being a stranger who helped you take revenge on your husband by cuckolding him. This is the same sort of thing..."
But as she looked at that smile, her heart skipped a beat. It was charming... dangerously so... and strangely addictive.
At the same time, she realised something else. This roleplay… Zechs might not be pretending at all.
If she refused him... he might truly kill her husband. Her children, too.
In the end, she had no choice. "A-Alright..." she said quietly, nodding.
"Good," he replied. "Then let's go."
He pushed her forward and led her out of the library, heading toward the back gate.
"Madam Ruri...?"
The marine stationed there looked over in confusion. He had no idea what was happening, but he found it strange that the man Ruri had brought earlier now had a hand around her neck.
Then he noticed the tension on her face. "Madam Ruri... are you—"
It was too late.
Plunge!
By the time he realised something was wrong, Zechs had already thrown his sword.
The blade flew through the air and pierced straight through the marine's heart, killing him instantly.
"Kyaa—!" Ruri let out a scream, only for Zechs to immediately cover her mouth with his hand.
"Do not scream," he whispered into her ear. "Have you already forgotten? I am only helping you avoid trouble. This man also knew that you brought me here. If he stayed alive... it would be dangerous for you."
Ruri fell silent. She did not know what to say, but she did realise one thing.
The two people Zechs had killed... he had killed to protect her. A strange warmth slowly spread through her chest. As though... for the first time in a long while... someone was protecting her.
"Fufu..." Zechs chuckled softly, clearly noticing the change in her expression.
Then he began walking again. But instead of leaving through the gate or heading for the harbour... He led her deeper into the main building, which confused her.
As they entered the building, Zechs noticed several sailors approaching from the other side of the corridor. "Hmm... there are still quite a few sailors here. That is troublesome..."
With those words, he released a wave of Conqueror's Haki.
The invisible pressure swept through the building. One after another, the sailors collapsed to the floor, foam gathering at the corners of their mouths as they lost consciousness.
Strangely, only the sailors inside the building were affected. Nothing happened to anyone outside the Marine Base.
"T-This... this..." Ruri had never seen anything like it in her life. She stared in horror at the unconscious men scattered across the floor. "What... what happened to them?" she asked shakily.
For a moment, she thought they were all dead, and that thought frightened her.
Only then did she realise something else... She had been worrying about the safety of a man this terrifying. Rather than him, she should have been worried about her husband.
"Do not worry," Zechs said casually. "They are not dead. They are only unconscious."
Then he looked at her. "By the way, Miss Ruri... do you know where the sailors keeps the Log Poses? If you tell me, I will not have to kill these innocent marines."
"I... I do not know..." she replied honestly.
"Is that so...?" he murmured. "Then I suppose we will have to search room by room."
He began moving through the base, opening one room after another.
The building was large with many rooms, but with no one left to stop him, it did not take long.
Eventually, he opened a door and found a room lined with shelves. On those shelves sat a collection of Log Poses. Several of them were Eternal Poses.
"Here..." Zechs said, a faint smile appearing on his face. "As expected... there are quite a few Eternal Poses here..."
Without hesitation, he gathered every Eternal Pose he could find and tossed them into his backpack. "Next... let us see if there is any Seastone," he murmured.
He continued searching, checking the prison cells and several storage rooms.
But after going through the entire building, he found nothing. "Hm." He clicked his tongue. "That stuff really is rare these days. It cannot be helped."
Shaking his head, he moved on and searched the rest of the building for anything useful.
Eventually, he found a decent sword. It was nothing remarkable, not a named blade or anything famous, but it was still far better than what he had before.
So he took it.
Then he spotted a small safe, likely where the funds for the island branch were stored. "Fufu... now this is interesting..."
He looked at Ruri. "Do you know the combination?"
Ruri shook her head. "That... only Husband knows..."
"Is that so? No matter." He did not care.
With a single slash, he cut the safe door clean off its hinges.
Then he scooped up all the money inside and poured it into his backpack as well.
After robbing the safe, Zechs glanced around the room and frowned thoughtfully. "Hmm... what else can I take from this marine base...?"
For a moment, he looked around. There was probably nothing left worth stealing from the base. Since that was the case, he turned his attention back to the woman. "Miss Ruri… I guess… it's time for me to leave…"
She was a little surprised that he was leaving just like that… but then again… she also felt relieved that he was not going to do anything to her family. Yet at the same time… there was a strange reluctance in her heart.
Not knowing what to say, she lowered her head, letting her hair fall over part of her face.
After informing her, Zechs released the tail that had been binding her hands. Then he turned around and began to walk away, one step at a time.
Though he walked slowly, thinking to himself, 'Come on… come on… stop me, woman… don't you want me to fuck you one last time before I disappear?'
Meanwhile, she struggled with a storm of emotions and thoughts. The sound of his footsteps echoed in her ears, each step telling her that he was indeed leaving… that he'd disappear, that she'd never see him again… that she'd never again feel what she had felt the night before…
After wrestling with herself for several long moments, and realising that she might truly never see him again, which, for some reason, filled her with reluctance, she finally gave in to the urge in her heart and called out, "—w-wait…! S-sir…"
Zechs' lips curled into a faint smile. 'Hooked…' He glanced back at her with a slightly puzzled expression. "Is there something?"
"T-there is…" she nodded. Clutching her dress tightly, she hesitated for a moment before, with a flushed face, pleading, "Before you leave… could you… could you…"
"Could I?" he asked, feigning confusion.
Biting her lip, she slowly lifted her skirt, exposing her thighs and panties to him as she looked at him with a shameful expression. "Make me… feel like you made me feel last night…"
Zechs chuckled. "Fufu… and what about the fact that you're married? That you have children?"
"I… I don't have a choice… I… I'm the prisoner of a scumbag pirate… and this… scumbag pirate… he's forcing me…" she said, ashamed even as the excuse left her lips. "I have to do everything to ensure the safety of my husband… my children… and the people in the town…"
"Fufufufu… that's right… we were roleplaying…" Zechs said with a nod as he turned around and walked back toward her.
He stopped in front of the 1.7-metre-tall woman and looked down at her. Reaching out, he took hold of her cheek and lifted her chin. "Look up at your kidnapper," he ordered.
She looked up at him with a pitiful expression. "S-sir… y-you can do whatever you want to me… but… but don't hurt my children… or my husband…"
"Fufufufu…" The more he listened to her excuses, the more he wanted to laugh. He understood now that, beneath all her protests, she was a bit of a bitch. But what did he care? Even if she was a bitch… she was a hot bitch.
And before disappearing, he did not mind having his way with her one more time.
Since that was the case, he decided to play along.
"I can let your husband and children go. I won't hurt them… but…" he said as he shamelessly caressed her curves, "I'm not going to show you any mercy."
"As long as… my husband and children are safe…" she said, trembling under his touch.
"Fine then… let's go…" He grabbed her by the hand and pushed her forward.
"W-where…?" she asked, her face red and trembling with both confusion and nervousness.
"Take me to your husband's office. As the branch chief… he ought to have an office, right?" he said, slapping her backside.
"My… my husband's office?" Her eyes widened as she realised what he was planning. For a moment, fear filled her. After defiling both her and her husband's bedroom… he was now planning to defile her husband's workplace as well.
She knew it was wrong. Yet, for some reason, the thought also made her feel aroused and excited.
Moreover, as his captured hostage, she did not have much choice. So, even though she still appeared reluctant, she obediently led him toward the office.
"Is this… your husband's office…?" Zechs murmured as he led her inside.
Then, without hesitation, he sat down in the very chair her husband, the Commodore Alpha Male, used every day. Pulling her in front of him, he forced her down onto her knees and ordered, "Serve me."
"S-serve you…" she repeated, confused for only a moment. But she immediately understood.
Reaching out with trembling hands, she unbuttoned his pants as his fully erect member sprang free and slapped against her face.
She did not pull away. Instead, she inhaled softly, then parted her lips and eagerly took him into her mouth.
"Good…" he murmured.
He grabbed her hair in his fist, holding it up as she bobbed her head, filling the office with wet, sloppy sounds.
Slurpp… mwaahh… gluck….
As he enjoyed the sensation of her wet, hot mouth, he asked casually, "By the way… Miss Ruri… have you ever served your husband here… in his office…?"
She paused and pulled him from her mouth. While stroking him with her hand, she shook her head. "Never… never here…"
"That's good…" he said, sounding satisfied.
A smile spread across his face as he continued, "That means… from now on… whenever you come into this office of his… all you'll be able to remember all the memories we make here today… of you serving me… with your body… isn't that wonderful?"
She felt ashamed hearing those words. Yet at the same time, the thought excited her.
So she devoted herself even more eagerly to pleasing him, as though she truly wanted to stain this office of her husband with memories of the two of their immoral act.
"Fufu… good… good… keep sucking like that…" he laughed.
Poor Alpha Male. While he was out there searching for Zechs… Zechs was here, in his office, sitting on his chair, and getting pleasured by Alpha Male's own wife.
"Alpha Male… from now on… you should change your name to Beta Male… fufufu…"
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At the tavern—
"Not here… none of the three of them are here…!" Alpha Male shouted, slamming his fist against the wall, completely unaware of what his wife was doing.
"Sir… your children…" one of the marine sailors called out as he noticed Alpha Male's son and daughter being brought over.
Surrounded by so many marines with their weapons raised, the two children looked a little nervous. "Dad… w-where's Mom?" they asked.
"Your mother is safe. She's at my office right now, nothing would happen to her there…" Alpha Male said, feeling somewhat relieved to see them unharmed. Then he asked, "Did either of you see those three?"
Yu shook his head. "No… I went out to play earlier…"
Akari trembled slightly before shaking her head as well. "No…"
"I see…" Alpha Male muttered. He did not notice that Akari was glancing toward the distant Marine base building where her Mom… and that handsome Onii-chan should both be.
Since neither child knew anything, Alpha Male ordered one of the sailors to escort them back to their room.
Then he turned to the others. "Search the town. Search the harbour too. Spread out. They have to still be here… or hiding somewhere."
"Sir, yes, sir!" the marines shouted.
They quickly spread through the town, searching shops and questioning people about the three strangers.
Meanwhile, Alpha Male headed toward the harbour himself.
If Asmodeus Zechs and his crew were planning to leave the island… they would need a ship. So he decided to personally inspect the harbour.
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At the town—
"Thanks for shopping, please come again…"
"Hehe… probably not… since… You are going to be bankrupt and in debt to be able to keep the store open anymore…" With those confusing parting words, Pudding walked out of yet another shop after using her Memo-Memo no Mi to buy a pile of things for free.
"It really is addicting…" she murmured.
Over the past hour or so, she had emptied out shop after shop, stuffing everything into the backpack slung over her shoulders.
Stuffed with too many things, the backpack was dozens of times larger than her body and probably weighed far more than she did as well. It looked absurd hanging off her small, frail frame.
Yet, to the surprise of everyone who saw her, she carried it as though it weighed nothing at all, even skipping along the street every now and then in excitement.
"Let's see… which shop should I empty out next…" she mumbled, stopping before the next two shops.
She looked between the two stores in front of her, struggling to decide, before finally resorting to a trick. "Eenie… meenie… minie—"
But before she could finish, a group of marines came running toward her, shouting as they raised their rifles. "There's one of them…! We found one of them…!"
They immediately surrounded her from every side and pointed their guns at her. "Surrender, pirate…!"
Pudding puffed out her cheeks. "I was interrupted…"
Even so, she did not panic. Instead, she slowly raised her hands as though surrendering and put on a pitiful expression. "Please don't shoot, Marine officers…"
"Handcuff her," one of the marine officers ordered at once.
Taken in by her act, the Marines believed she was frightened and ready to surrender. Their guard dropped slightly.
As one of the officers stepped forward with the handcuffs, Pudding smiled faintly. "Memory Threads…!"
Before the Marines could react, dozens of strings shot from her fingers. Each one latched onto a Marine officer, making them freeze in shock.
"W-what is this?!" One officer desperately tried to tear the thread off, but failed. It seemed stuck to him. Worse, he could not even touch it, as though the thread did not truly exist but was just some illusion. The other Marines found themselves in the same situation. Alarmed, they raised their guns at her again, fingers tightening around the triggers. "What is this?! What did you do?!"
"Hehe… everyone has some very painful memories…" Pudding said softly. "Sometimes it is something simple, like the pain of pricking a finger, and sometimes it is something far worse. The death of a loved one, some terrible tragedy. Tell me, Marine officers, do you all have such a memory?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?!" the officer barked. "Are you surrendering, or are you going to fight?! I'll count to three before we open fire!"
He raised his gun. "Three… two… one…"
But when the count ended, there was no gunfire. Instead, guns clattered to the ground.
"Aaah…!"
"Dad… Dad…"
"My daughter… my son… wuuuh…"
The Marine officers dropped to their knees, overcome by grief and agony as the memories buried deep within them resurfaced all at once.
"Hehe… this is 'Flashback'…" Pudding smiled.
She lowered her hands and watched the Marines drown in grief, too broken to even think about her anymore. Satisfied, she brushed imaginary dust from her maid uniform. "It seems my shopping spree ends here…"
Without another glance, she turned and walked toward the harbour.
The townspeople who had gathered nearby immediately parted before her. Fear spread across their faces. They had just watched a single, frail-looking girl defeat so many Marines without even trying.
None of them dared approach her. They silently stepped back, swallowing nervously, while the only sound left echoing through the street was the sharp click of her high heels as she disappeared.
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At the harbour—
As Alpha Male arrived with the Marines, he froze in shock.
One of the three intruders, the largest one, was casually sitting on the railing of a Marine warship as though he owned it.
Alpha Male immediately went on guard. If this man were here, then the other two had to be nearby. "Where are your two companions?!" he shouted.
"Not here at the moment," Katakuri answered honestly.
"Not here?" Alpha Male relaxed slightly.
He signalled to the Marines behind him. At once, dozens of rifles were raised and aimed at Katakuri.
"You are surrounded!" Alpha Male warned. "For your own sake, surrender. If you do, I can arrest you without hurting you."
Katakuri merely shrugged and lightly tapped his fingers against the railing. "You are mistaken about something, Commodore…" he said calmly. "The one surrounded here… is not me." His eyes narrowed. "Rather… I alone am surrounding all of you. So… it would be best if you put down your weapons… and back off."
Alpha Male frowned. The pirate showed no fear at all, despite dozens of guns pointed at him. That calm confidence gave him a bad feeling.
But he suppressed it. "Fire!!!"
Yet no gunshots rang out.
Before the Marines could pull their triggers, Katakuri had already seen the future and unleashed a wave of Conqueror's Haki that swept across the harbour.
Boom!
The Marines stiffened. Then, one after another, they foamed at the mouth and collapsed like dumplings dropping to the floor.
Plop… plop… plop…
Alpha Male was the only one still standing, but his entire body trembled, and sweat poured down his forehead. "T-That... that was..." he stammered.
He could not use Haki himself, but that did not mean he knew nothing about it. He knew exactly what Conqueror's Haki was, and the moment he realised the pirate had used it, fear gripped him. This pirate was far too dangerous... far too strong...
For a moment, a thought escaped his lips before he could stop it. "Are you... Are you the captain?"
That had to be it. A man this strong... especially one who possessed the Will of a Conqueror... would never bow his head and sail under someone else's flag.
But Katakuri merely shook his head. "No. I am not. Zechs is the captain."
Alpha Male stared at him in disbelief. "Haha... you're joking, right?"
"I am not," Katakuri replied flatly.
"Damn it... damn it, damn it... damn it!" With a roar, Alpha Male suddenly drew his sword and charged forward at full speed. He kicked off the ground, leapt high into the air, and swung straight at Katakuri, intending to cut him down in a single blow.
But Katakuri had already foreseen everything. He did not blink. He did not move. He did not even lift a finger.
Without him even doing anything, a massive mochi fist suddenly formed in midair and slammed directly into Alpha Male's face, sending him flying away even faster than he had charged in.
Bang!
The marine crashed into the ground hard enough to crack it, then skidded several metres across the street before finally coming to a stop when a high heel pressed down against him.
"Ehh... is he already defeated?" murmured Pudding, tilting her head a little. The heel naturally belonged to her. She had stopped Alpha Male with it and now looked down at him with mild curiosity.
"Wow... your face looks really bad right now..."
His nose was broken and bleeding heavily, several of his teeth had been shattered, and his face was already beginning to swell.
"Well... that's Katakuri Onii-sama for you..." she said casually. She felt a little sorry for the innocent marine to have to go through this... but then she suddenly remembered something. "But last night... you were peeking at my cleavage..." she said, narrowing her eyes. "I wonder if I should punish you for being so audacious...?"
Although she was deliberately flashing it to him to distract him from his wife, whom her master intended to seduce and fuck, she still felt disgusted that another man, someone other than Zechs, had looked at her that way.
"Humph... I guess you deserve this, pervert... really... all men are perverts... Marines included..." A vicious smile spread across her face. Then, without the slightest bit of sympathy, she drove the pointed heel of her black boot down onto his body.
Crack... crack...
The sound was like eggs cracking.
For a moment, it almost felt as though Alpha Male's soul had been forced out of his body as a scream echoed through the area, a scream so shrill and agonised that even the people reading from the other side of the screen could imagine exactly what had happened.
Not only Alpha Male and the readers, but even Katakuri, who had been sitting calmly on the railing and watching everything unfold, felt his composure crack for a moment. A chill ran down his spine as he stared at Pudding.
For only the second time in his life, he looked at a woman and felt genuine fear. "She... she really has taken after Mama..." he muttered under his breath.
At that moment, Pudding reminded him far too much of the Big Mom he remembered. He understood very clearly that it was best never to offend this little sister of his who hides her dark, twisted nature underneath her innocent face.
Having cracked two eggs, Pudding let out a satisfied sigh. "Yes... I feel much better now..."
With an innocent expression on her face, she stepped over the groaning Commodore and walked towards the warship. The sharp clicking of her high heels echoed behind her, one of them stained with a little blood.
She did not seem to care.
Instead, she looked up at Katakuri and smiled brightly. "Onii-sama... I bought everything."
"Yeah..." Katakuri replied with a nod, trying to keep his expression as flat and composed as usual, even though his back still felt strangely cold.
A moment later, Pudding reached the warship and gracefully leapt aboard. "Is this the ship, Onii-sama?"
"This one seems to be in the best condition," Katakuri answered casually. "And it's ready to set sail. Now we just need Zechs to come back... and we can leave."
"Zechs-sama... huh...?" Pudding murmured. She glanced in the direction of the Marine base. She could sense his presence there... and she could sense Ruri's as well. She did not need to think very hard to guess what was probably happening.
"Tch... perverted master..." Clicking her tongue, she turned and headed deeper into the ship.
"I'll pick a room for Zechs-sama and me... and I should also have a look at the kitchen on these old-fashioned Marine warships."
With that, she disappeared inside, while Katakuri remained seated on the railing, silently waiting for Zechs to return… which was probably going to take some time.
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A/N:
Smut incoming next, donate power stones!!!!!
Comments and Reviews are also necessary, especially Reviews. The story has far fewer reviews than I'd prefer.
And naturally, the greatest support comes from Pa-t-r-e-o-n.
For me, who is trying to make full-time as a writer, Pa-t-r-e-o-n support is the most needed since this is my only source of income. So, if you love this story, and you can support me, please do so to help me stay consistent and motivated with writing.
On my Pa-t-r-e-o-n, you can read up to Chapter 83 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.
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