Kaguya played with a leaf in her hand, glanced at Reiju, and smirked, "Have you ever seen someone feed a fish after reeling it in?"
Sweat beaded on Reiju's forehead.
She hadn't expected the other party to be completely uncooperative. If Kaguya didn't take the bait, then her entire plan couldn't even begin—let alone succeed.
Using force was even less of an option. If she could win with strength, she wouldn't have needed this method in the first place.
What now?
It seemed she had no choice but to stake everything on one final gamble.
Reiju gritted her teeth, and a faint sound could be heard—something had been bitten open. At the same time, her body subtly shifted into a combat stance, and her clear eyes turned sharp. A faint but powerful aura began to radiate from her.
What Reiju had just bitten open was a poison capsule hidden between her teeth. Inside it was a special secret drug developed by the Vinsmoke family, capable of drastically boosting physical potential and unleashing strength several times beyond normal in a short period.
This was why the Vinsmoke family's clone army was so terrifying.
But gaining that power came at a price. The drug's effects were extremely intense. While it granted great strength initially, once the effects wore off, the user would fall into a period of extreme weakness. Their body would also suffer significant damage. It was never used unless absolutely necessary.
But clearly, this was one of those desperate moments. Survival mattered more than the consequences. After all, weakness only mattered if she lived to feel it.
Just as Reiju was preparing to risk everything, Kaguya suddenly clapped her hands and said, "Alright, I accept."
Reiju's tensed body froze. It felt like punching cotton—completely unsatisfying. Her face turned red with frustration as she shouted, "You bastard! Why didn't you say so earlier? Are you messing with me?"
She had already taken the drug, and now Kaguya said she agreed?
Kaguya replied, "Making a decision takes time. Isn't that perfectly reasonable?"
Looking at Kaguya's smiling expression, Reiju burned with indignation, wishing she could smash that face to pieces.
Kaguya asked, "Why so quiet? If you don't want to say it, then forget it—I won't force you."
Suppressing her anger, Reiju gritted her teeth and said, "Since that's the case, let's make a wager."
"What kind of wager?" Kaguya asked. "Just so you know, I'm known as the King of Gamblers—the Gut-Gambler. If you want to bet with me, you'd better be ready to lose."
"Don't worry," Reiju said with a challenging glare. "I just hope you won't back out."
Kaguya chuckled, "Why would I back out of something like that?"
"Good," Reiju's eyes narrowed as she said solemnly, "Let's bet on one thing. If you succeed, I'll let you become my master—serve you, fetch tea, do your bidding. But if you don't dare to go through with it, then you'll be mine. From now on, you'll follow my every command. Do you dare?"
Kaguya pinched her chin thoughtfully and said, "That's quite interesting. But since you're so confident, I'm guessing it won't be easy. Now I'm curious—what's the wager?"
"The wager is…" Reiju stared intently at Kaguya, "Kiss me."
Kaguya blinked in surprise, then suddenly appeared right in front of Reiju, placing a hand on her forehead. "No fever."
Reiju's pupils shrank sharply!
So fast!
Even after taking the drug and boosting all her physical attributes—including perception—she still couldn't see Kaguya's movements clearly. It was as if Kaguya had simply materialized in front of her!
Reiju took two steps back and asked warily, "What are you doing?"
Kaguya withdrew her hand and said, "Nothing. Just checking if you had a fever. But judging by this… you're clearly burning up."
"What, scared?" Reiju snorted coldly. "Who would have thought that the famous Kaguya would be afraid one day. Looks like those rumors on the Grand Line aren't so trustworthy after all."
Kaguya smirked with interest. "Woman, you're playing with fire. Do you realize that?"
Meeting Kaguya's half-smiling gaze, Reiju's eyes darted away nervously. "Hmph, if you're afraid, just admit it. Don't try to brush it off with cheap excuses."
Kaguya stared intently at Reiju. Just when Reiju began to feel uncomfortable under the gaze, Kaguya said, "In that case, don't regret it."
"You're the one who'll regret this!" Reiju said defiantly, lifting her chin.
Kaguya stepped closer, one step at a time. Reiju's nerves tightened, her heart nearly pounding out of her chest.
Finally, Kaguya reached out and hooked her finger under Reiju's smooth chin. As Reiju's eyes filled with panic, Kaguya leaned down and kissed her.
A fresh and delicate fragrance came from those soft lips. A blush appeared on Reiju's cheeks. But Kaguya had no intention of stopping there—she wrapped her arms tightly around Reiju's body, her tongue prying open Reiju's lips, exploring wantonly.
Not only that, one of Kaguya's hands slipped inside Reiju's slightly parted collar, her fingers closing around the soft, elastic curves within.
Reiju's hazy eyes suddenly cleared, narrowing with a flash of cold light.
You're dead.
Yet her body leaned in even closer, pressing tightly against Kaguya, moving against her with alternating intensity. Her own tongue slipped out quietly and intertwined with the one invading her mouth.
The truth was, from a young age Reiju had loved poisons, and her body could absorb and store toxins internally. In times of need, they could be used as a lethal trump card. Just now, she had transferred a deadly poison into Kaguya's mouth via her tongue.
This poison came from the world's most toxic creature—the Armored Tigerfish. Even ordinary giants would drop dead instantly after ingesting it!
In other words, it wouldn't be long before Kaguya would succumb to the poison.
But as time passed, the scene she imagined—Kaguya dying from the poison—never came to pass. Kaguya showed no signs of being poisoned at all.
What was going on?
Shirahoshi covered her mouth with her small hands, her big, beautiful eyes wide open, and her cute little mouth agape as she stared in surprise at the scene in the distance.
Beside her, Pudding wore a look of disdain and let out a cold snort.
This person—rumor had it she was a debauched pervert who didn't even spare women. Pudding hadn't believed it before, but now it seemed the rumors were exactly right.
H-How could this be?
Reiju was dumbfounded. With the violent toxicity of the Armored Tigerfish, anyone who came into contact with it should die within seconds.
But several minutes had already passed, and Kaguya showed no signs of poisoning at all. She looked completely fine. Reiju even began to suspect her poison was defective.
Meanwhile, Kaguya's hands moved more aggressively, boldly and freely roaming from Reiju's smooth back to her round, pert bottom, from her delicate collarbones to her full and perky curves. Her fingers traced slowly and deliberately across Reiju's fair skin, causing Reiju's stiff body to tremble ever so slightly.
Seemingly sensing Reiju's expression, Kaguya released her, licked her lips, and said, "Thanks for the treat. That was quite nice."
Sweat formed on Reiju's forehead. Though she had no idea why the poison hadn't worked, it was clear now that her plan had failed. This was bad. Fortunately, Kaguya didn't seem to have noticed the attempt.
Just as Reiju let out a small sigh of relief, Kaguya smirked and said, "Are you wondering why I wasn't poisoned?"
Reiju's pupils shrank sharply!
She knew!
Kaguya said, "That kind of toxin is rare—extremely potent. An ordinary person would've dropped dead by now."
Reiju bit her lip. Was this woman a monster?
Such a deadly poison had no effect on her!
"Since you're so eager to become my slave, I won't mind obliging you," Kaguya said with a glint in her eye, her tone darkly amused. "Looks like I won the bet."
Reiju's expression kept shifting, her eyes darting—clearly lost in thought.
Kaguya seemed to know exactly what she was thinking and said, "Are you planning to sneak away when I'm not around?"
Reiju froze but didn't respond.
"Since you've become mine, you still think about leaving? Isn't that a bit childish? But—" Kaguya continued, "if you really want to leave, I won't stop you."
Reiju was surprised. "I can leave?"
"Of course. But…" Kaguya said playfully, "I recall the Vinsmoke family has been quite active around the Rokes Islands in the North Blue recently, hasn't it?"
Reiju's heart skipped a beat. She stepped forward, speaking urgently, "What are you trying to say?"
Kaguya's cold voice dripped with sarcasm. "You don't actually think that if you run, I'll have no way to deal with you, do you?"
"Despicable!" Reiju bit her lip.
"Thanks for the compliment," Kaguya replied with a smirk. "By the way, when you go, you should change your clothes. What you're wearing now is just awful."
With that, she stopped paying attention to Reiju and walked toward Pudding. She wasn't worried about Reiju escaping—after all, a monk may escape the temple, but the temple never escapes the monk.
Kaguya stepped in front of Pudding and said, "Miss Pudding, we meet again. The twists of fate are truly something."
"I'd prefer not to have that kind of fate," Pudding replied, eyeing Kaguya warily. "What are you planning?"
"What am I planning? I think you know better than I do," Kaguya said coldly. "Didn't I say before—if you provoke me again, you know exactly what'll happen."
Pudding shivered, a chill running down her spine as sweat formed on her forehead.
At that moment, Shirahoshi rushed over anxiously and said, "A-Auntie, you've misunderstood! She didn't do anything to me. She's been protecting me this whole time."
Kaguya's eyelid twitched. "Auntie?"
Come to think of it, Kaguya had been friends with Neptune and Otohime, so in terms of seniority, Shirahoshi was indeed her junior—technically her niece. But still, being called auntie was far too jarring!
Being called uncle would've had a certain thrill, especially coming from such an innocent girl—there'd be a twisted sort of guilty pleasure in it. But auntie? That just sounded awkward.
"Ah, no, that's not what I meant!" Shirahoshi quickly waved her hands, flustered. "I meant sister!"
Kaguya raised an eyebrow. "She protected you?"
"Yes," Shirahoshi nodded quickly. "If Pudding hadn't saved me, I might not even be here right now…"
Kaguya turned her head to look at Pudding in the distance.
Facing Kaguya's half-smiling expression, Pudding looked uneasy, guilt creeping into her heart. After all, she hadn't protected Shirahoshi out of kindness—it was only because of her identity as Poseidon.
Just then, a blinding beam of light pierced the blue sky, shining like the sun itself. In an instant, the entire world was engulfed in pure white. Moments later, a deafening explosion roared through the heavens!
Pudding, Reiju, and even the gravely injured Smoothie all widened their eyes in shock as they stared at the distant blast. The scale of the explosion was immense—rarely seen. Even from this distance, they could feel the violent pressure of the blast wave.
Kaguya gazed at the mushroom cloud and roaring flames rising in the distance. A wicked smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
Reiju, who had been watching Kaguya closely, saw that smile and her heart skipped a beat. Could that explosion be…?
Meanwhile, on the island where Uranus was located—
Cough cough cough—!
A series of violent coughs echoed as Sengoku, covered in dust and rubble, crawled out from the debris. His clothes were in tatters, his body covered in wounds, and his trademark afro a complete mess—he looked downright ridiculous.
"Damn it!"
Veins bulged on Sengoku's forehead as he clenched his fists, his eyes practically spitting fire. He ground his teeth and roared.
Just as they were about to investigate the ancient weapon Uranus, it had unexpectedly opened fire. The sudden blast caught them all off guard, and the resulting shockwave sent them flying. Had Sengoku not reacted in time to dodge, he'd be critically wounded by now.
But the next piece of news made his already dark expression even gloomier.
Mary Geoise, the headquarters of the World Government, had come under attack. Under a torrent of raging energy, it was nearly destroyed. And the source of that attack—was none other than Uranus, now not far from where they were!
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