Newkama Land.
A crowd of okama surrounded Yujin, who was lying on the bed, their tears falling as if they were free.
Anyone who didn't know the situation would have thought Yujin was already dead.
Because he had opened his Gene Lock earlier, Yujin hadn't even felt how severe the injury on his shoulder truly was.
It wasn't until he returned to the Newkama Land and saw everyone's expressions that he finally realized how terrifying the wound caused by Shiryu's thrown slash had been.
The attack had pierced straight through him, cutting off almost the entire left side of his shoulder.
It was so serious that if the slash had been just a little deeper, he would have lost his entire arm and ended up like Shanks.
Ivankov rushed over the moment he heard the news.
After seeing Yujin's injury and the antidote Yujin had brought back, the Okama King completely lost his royal dignity.
He rolled on the floor, sobbing miserably—so miserably that anyone would wonder whether Yujin really had died.
"King! King!"
A bunny-girl okama shouted, interrupting Ivankov's dramatic rolling.
"Yu—Yujin has something to say!"
"What! What do you want to say!?" Ivankov scrambled and crawled to the bedside.
"I want to eat meat."
"At a time like this, you still want to eat meat— I understand!"
Ivankov burst into tears again.
"You want to die as a full ghost! Uwaaah! You can't die! If you die, what about your childhood sweetheart!? You still have to get married, you still have to—"
Then Ivankov noticed the sword leaning in the corner.
"Why did you steal a sword back then!?"
Yujin rolled his eyes.
"I forgot to turn off auto-loot. If you don't bring me meat soon… I really am going to die."
Only then did the okama finally start moving, rushing to carry piles of meat into Yujin's room.
"Don't… watch me eat."
Using the last of his strength, Yujin shoved them all out of the room.
He then released the Earth Grudge Fear threads from his body and began devouring food like a madman.
Time passed—more than ten hours.
Inazuma had finally recovered from Magellan's poison, though he was still extremely weak.
He sat in a wheelchair as Ivankov pushed him toward Yujin's room, anxiety filling his every movement.
He knocked gently.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Inazuma didn't dare knock too hard, and Ivankov's face was full of worry.
Both of them feared that once the door opened, they might see a cold corpse inside.
Just then, faint rustling sounds came from within the room.
A tear flashed in Ivankov's eyes as he shoved the door open.
Yujin's lips were lined with dark, vein-like markings, which he quickly drew back into his body.
He turned his head, saw Inazuma awake, and managed a small smile.
"It's good to see you alive."
Inazuma nodded gratefully.
"Thanks to you."
"No… I should be the one thanking you for holding on. With you, the user of the Scissor-Scissor Fruit, breaking out of here just became a lot easier."
Ivankov asked in surprise, "You're ready already? Your Armament Haki?"
Yujin rolled up his sleeve, frowned, and punched forward with all his strength.
In an instant, his fist was coated in a layer of dark blue-black.
This was the basic application of Armament Haki, Hardening.
"When I was eating just now, I recalled the state I was in when Shiryu slashed me. I tried to imitate that feeling, and it worked."
Ivankov forced himself to look calm.
"At a time like this, and you're still thinking about getting stronger… You really need to get some rest."
With that, he closed the door.
Immediately after, Yujin heard Ivankov burst into loud crying outside, along with the sound of him rolling all over the floor so dramatically that dust began falling from the ceiling.
Meanwhile, in the outer corridor—
Two pillars of Impel Down stood face-to-face.
Magellan clenched his fists tightly, his expression filled with anger.
"Shiryu, after Hannyabal woke up, he personally told me it was you who cut him up like that. This is the fourth time this month you've attacked your own colleagues. And now that we've caught you red-handed, I suspect you're also connected to the guards who disappeared last week… and last month… in the Freezing Hell you oversee."
Without his original blade, Shiryu now held a lower-grade replacement.
He drew the sword with a cold laugh.
"Ha… so what? I killed them. Trash like that—what's the point of keeping them alive?"
Magellan sighed.
"You're addicted to killing. Having a scum like you in Impel Down is my greatest shame."
The moment he finished speaking, Shiryu attacked.
"Poison Dragon!"
————————
Six days passed in a row.
Inside the temporary holding cells of the police station, eight prisoners had already been locked up.
They all shared one thing in common — they killed while wearing demon-faced masks.
The entire Central Continent team now held Chu Xuan in absolute reverence.
According to Chu Xuan's calculations, neither the North Polar Team nor the East Sea Team would interfere when they went to capture the remaining killers.
And things happened exactly as he predicted.
The capture of the eight killers went extremely smoothly, and with Chu Xuan's supercomputer-level mind running the numbers, not a single one escaped justice.
All eight were convicted.
He lifted his Reincarnation Watch.
The numbers displayed on it now read: 8 / 10.
That meant only two killers were left before this scenario could finally end.
Chu Xuan's office was located in the second-floor archives room.
On the first floor, Zhao Yingkong, Zhang Jie, and Zheng Zha were standing guard.
The remaining idle members on the second floor were gathered together, murmuring restlessly.
The newcomer, Li Shuaixi, glanced at the tightly shut archive room door and said, "It's been so many days since the last killer was brought back… We still don't have a single clue about the ninth and tenth ones. I've been sleeping with my heart in my throat every night!"
The yellow-haired delinquent, Fei Hao, quickly chimed in, "You're telling me! These past two days have completely drained me! Suddenly, I finally understand what my cousin felt during his college entrance exams. No—this is ten times worse!"
Hu Yong, the beer-bellied engineer, yawned loudly. "I haven't gotten a good night's sleep since this started. When's this even gonna end? Didn't that glasses guy say he was really smart? What's going on now?"
Hearing the newbies complain, Yehui—now without her Kabutack—walked over. "Hey, it's easy for you lot to talk. Where were you when we were out there fighting for our lives?"
After a few days together, the newcomers had already gained a basic understanding of what the Central Continent team was like.
Although Yehui was a veteran, she wasn't all that different from an ordinary person.
Without Kabutack, she might not even win in a fight against beer-belly Hu Yong.
****
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