"Alright. Everyone else can die—but she stays alive."
Elric stepped forward calmly, his voice carrying absolute authority that allowed no argument.
As he moved, dozens of deformed bullets—crushed and flattened beyond recognition—slipped from his open palm and clattered onto the blood-stained hospital floor with metallic tinking sounds.
The one who had stopped those bullets mid-flight moments earlier was naturally Elric himself, using a combination of spatial manipulation and enhanced reflexes.
The reason he had chosen to spare Dr. Anna specifically was brutally simple and pragmatic.
She was also a qualified System adopter.
Two high-value women in a single hospital location—a beautiful nurse and a beautiful doctor, both meeting his standards.
That represented an absurdly high return on investment for a single rescue operation.
Elric didn't care even slightly what personal grudges or professional conflicts existed between Emily and this doctor.
Letting a qualified adopter die when he could easily prevent it would be an unacceptable strategic loss.
"She'll be your sister from now on," Elric stated flatly, his tone brooking no disagreement as he gestured between Emily and Dr. Li.
"You'll both be my women. Both part of my collection."
He paused deliberately to let that reality sink in.
"You can hate each other if you want. You can argue endlessly. You can fight verbally and compete for favor."
His eyes hardened significantly.
"But you do not kill each other. That is an absolute rule. Understood?"
Emily—who mere moments ago had looked like a blood-soaked demon intent on murder, her eyes burning with homicidal rage—
Instantly softened at Elric's command.
Her entire demeanor transformed like a switch being flipped.
"Yes, husband," she answered with perfect obedience, without the slightest hesitation or resentment in her tone.
That single word—"husband"—stunned everyone present in the hospital corridor.
Shay blinked repeatedly in genuine disbelief, her masked face turning toward Emily with shock.
"She switched sides that fast?" Shay muttered incredulously. "You still haven't even called him that after weeks together!"
Emily completely ignored the comment, her focus entirely on Elric.
Dr. Li stared at Elric with dawning comprehension and shock.
So it was him all along.
He's the reason Emily could kill so freely without fear of consequences.
Her protection. Her power source. Her... owner.
Elric walked purposefully toward Dr. Li, his enhanced vision automatically triggering the System evaluation.
Her translucent status panel unfolded silently before his eyes, visible only to him:
Name: Anna
Age: 31
Appearance: 93
Figure: 93
Overall System Rating: 93
Monthly Exchange Reward Count: 25 cycles
System Evaluation: Meets adoption conditions perfectly. Successful adoption will significantly increase Devil Fruit Tree growth rate.
Another 93-point adopter—exactly matching Rachel and Erin in overall value.
Excellent quality. High reward generation. Medically skilled.
Perfect addition to the collection, Elric assessed coldly.
"You heard what I said," Elric stated calmly, his tone matter-of-fact rather than threatening.
Dr. Li steadied her breathing with visible effort, forcing her racing heart to slow, and nodded with surprising composure.
"So... I'm your woman now?" She touched her chest unconsciously, feeling her heartbeat. "Just like that?"
She had already accepted death moments earlier when Emily's gun was pointed at her skull.
Anyone who survives after genuinely accepting their mortality doesn't cling stubbornly to pride or independence.
Besides, objectively speaking, this man...
He was undeniably strong. Terrifyingly powerful. And impossibly attractive.
Survival with benefits beat death with dignity.
"Yes," Elric replied simply. "You, Emily—all mine now."
"Now I need you both to do something productive."
He gestured toward the masked Shay standing nearby.
"You and Emily—find proper allergy medication and dermatological supplies. Fix her facial scarring professionally."
Emily nodded immediately with enthusiasm. "We're both specialized in dermatology. We can absolutely restore her face."
Dr. Li hesitated for exactly half a second—weighing her options and finding them remarkably limited—then nodded as well with professional acceptance.
"I understand. We'll handle it properly."
Elric's cold gaze swept across the remaining trembling doctors and nurses huddled against the walls.
"The rest of you can help with the treatment," he said dismissively. "Make yourselves useful and you'll live."
Their faces immediately lit up with desperate, grateful relief.
At least they wouldn't die today.
CRACK—
Thunder suddenly crackled through the air as Elric's body sparked with electrical energy.
In the next instant, he simply vanished—disappearing through spatial displacement.
Less than three minutes later, the systematic purge was complete.
Every single thug, gang member, and violent opportunist who had been terrorizing the hospital was dead.
Their bodies lay scattered throughout the building—scorched black, skin cracked and smoking, muscles still twitching from residual electrical current coursing through their nervous systems.
Counter Shock combined with magma heat created devastatingly efficient kills.
Elric reappeared calmly at the main stairwell, barely breathing harder despite the rapid systematic elimination.
Just as he prepared to return to collect his new acquisitions—
His enhanced senses detected something different outside.
Something worth investigating.
At a large intersection near a looted supermarket roughly two blocks from the hospital, two distinct groups were facing each other in tense standoff.
One side: More than twenty rough-looking men armed with knives, metal pipes, and makeshift weapons. Thugs and opportunists.
The other side: A dozen people who moved with disciplined coordination—organized, well-equipped, clearly trained. Some kind of survivor group or faction.
Leading them was a tall woman with commanding presence—short dark hair, tactical vest, confident stance.
Beside her sat a large metal case, opened to display its contents.
Inside that case—
More than a dozen white, glowing fruits arranged in neat rows.
Elric's eyes narrowed with sharp interest as his enhanced vision analyzed them from a distance.
They were Strength Fruits—the basic enhancement type that granted simple physical power increases without special abilities.
"...Interesting," he murmured to himself, watching the tense negotiation from his concealed position.
In a city already crawling with emergency shelters, roaming monsters, and desperate survivors—
Someone was openly trading supernatural power like it was a commodity.
Organized. Public. Systematic.
That implies structure. Resources. Knowledge of the fruit system.
Either they have a fruit tree of their own... or they've found a reliable source.
There is 60 chapter Advance, in my patreon. If you are interested can check it out.
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