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Chapter 62 is out!!!! +40 advanced chapters monthly
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Aki didn't really ask for much out of life. As long as she had a safe home, a sense of security, and could see Baishui every day, she was completely satisfied.
Baishui, who carried the memories of surviving a cutthroat, highly materialistic society in his past life, cherished this pure, simple love all the more.
He took on all the heavy lifting, leaving her with only the lightest chores, like cooking. He couldn't even bear to let her mop the floors or wash the dishes.
He refused to let Aki's delicate hands grow rough, nor did he want to see her back hunched from labor at such a young age. To him, letting her suffer through that would be the ultimate tragedy.
Baishui was thoroughly enjoying his current life, intoxicated by the peaceful rhythm of their days. Every day, he watched the sunrise and sunset with Aki. At night, they would gaze at the stars together while he told her stories about the constellations.
But good things never last.
The heavens always find a way to introduce imperfections into the world—because only when things are imperfect do people truly learn to cherish and long for them.
One day, two weeks later.
Baishui was in the middle of his daily training. The ground in front of his house was heavily scarred, covered in characters he had carved directly into the earth using his powers. Compared to his crude, jagged attempts a few weeks prior, his control had undoubtedly improved. At the very least, the strokes and transitions of the words were much smoother now.
The Energy-Energy Fruit was an incredibly powerful Devil Fruit. Baishui had brainstormed countless ways to awaken and develop its potential, but ultimately, he chose the most balanced path. If he had stubbornly pursued the absolute strongest, most destructive route, he might have spent his entire life failing to master it. Sometimes, knowing when to let go and adapt was far better than blind obsession.
As Baishui practiced, a massive Marine warship suddenly appeared on the distant horizon. Standing tall at the bow of the ship was none other than the "Ship Cutter" himself, Marine Captain T-Bone.
What is he doing here? Baishui paused, frowning at the sea. Does he need another favor? But if he just needed my help, wouldn't a Den Den Mushi suffice? Why make the trip in person?
Whatever. I'll find out when he gets here. No point in guessing. Baishui shook his head, closed his eyes to focus his energy, and resumed practicing his Devil Fruit control.
Two minutes later.
"Baishui, I am terribly sorry to impose, but I am in desperate need of your assistance, so...!" T-Bone's imposing, skeletal figure loomed before Baishui, his gaunt face looking incredibly apologetic.
"Spit it out. What do you need me to do this time? For you to come here personally, it must be something major," Baishui said, not even bothering to open his eyes.
"Phew. In that case, I will be direct!" T-Bone let out a massive sigh of relief. He pulled a piece of paper from his coat and handed it over. "Here. Read this intel, and you will understand why I have come."
"The Sabertooth Pirates?"
Baishui opened his eyes and took the paper. He skimmed it, his brow twitching upward as the situation clicked into place. "I didn't expect them to be connected," he murmured softly. With a slight pulse of his energy, the intelligence report in his hand instantly disintegrated into fine powder.
The report had read: The captain of the Sabertooth Pirates will lead their entire fleet to intercept and snatch the six members of the Tiger Pirates mid-route. Proceed with extreme caution!
Seeing the bounty on Torsen's head, Baishui fully understood T-Bone's motives. "Sabertooth" Torsen: a staggering bounty of 130,000,000 Berries!
A bounty of that caliber made him a formidable powerhouse, even in the Grand Line. He was not a weakling by any stretch of the imagination. T-Bone and his men stood absolutely no chance against someone like Torsen. Therefore, if T-Bone wanted to complete this prisoner escort mission successfully, he needed outside help.
And without a doubt, he had set his sights on Baishui.
"Fine, I accept. I'll help you out," Baishui said, exhaling a long breath as he ceased his training and stood up.
"Thank you!" Hearing this, T-Bone let out another dramatic sigh of relief and bowed deeply to Baishui, his face lighting up with absolute gratitude.
"Alright, let me just go tell Aki, and then we'll head out. I'm assuming you're on a tight schedule." Shrugging off T-Bone's passionate display, Baishui turned and walked toward his house.
"What's wrong?" Aki asked, surprised by his sudden return.
Baishui fell silent. Seeing his hesitation, Aki seemed to guess what was happening, a brief flash of loneliness crossing her face.
He had agreed to T-Bone's request without a second thought, but looking at Aki, he found the words suddenly catching in his throat. After a moment of silence, he finally spoke. "Aki, I have to head out to sea for a bit. It might take a while. Yeah... that's it."
"I understand. Go on, just be safe!" Aki forced a gentle smile, though anyone could see the bitterness hidden beneath it.
"Don't worry, I promise I'll be back as soon as I can. Make sure you eat on time and answer my calls every day on the Den Den Mushi, got it?"
"If I come back and find out you've lost weight, you know I'll be upset. Don't go trying to save money or skimping on meals. You're my woman, and I won't let you suffer, understand?"
"I'll have T-Bone station some men to patrol the waters around the island to keep you safe. I'll also leave some Sea Kings to help guard the place, so you can walk around without a care in the world. Alright, I'm off. Make sure you miss me!"
Baishui pulled Aki into a tight embrace, whispering the bossy yet deeply affectionate words into her ear. He gently wiped a stray tear from her cheek, kissed her deeply, and then turned away with firm resolve.
"Baishui! I will! I'll wait for you, so come back soon!" Aki stood at the doorway, waving and calling out after him.
"Yeah!" Baishui replied, flashing her a thumbs-up over his shoulder without looking back.
Walking back to T-Bone, Baishui asked, "Can you dispatch two squads to secure Kuro Island? I don't want anything happening to Aki while I'm gone."
"Absolutely. It shall be done!" T-Bone agreed without hesitation. He had already anticipated this request and prepared for it before even setting foot on the island.
"Good. Let's move."
Baishui nodded and stepped forward. Wings constructed of condensed light particles unfurled from his back, launching him high into the sky.
He hovered over the ocean and raised his left hand, pulling his fingers back like a trigger.
"Photon Stream!"
A massive barrage of glowing energy orbs rained down from the sky, bombarding the ocean's surface in a devastating sweep.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ocean practically exploded, churning violently under the assault. Moments later, massive, terrifying shadows darted upward from the depths—a dense, heart-stopping swarm of apex predators.
ROAR!
An enormous Sea King with the grotesque head of an elk broke the surface with a deafening bellow. Its blood-red eyes locked onto Baishui hovering in the sky. It threw its massive, jagged jaws wide open, lunging upward to devour him whole.
But right at that moment—
RUMBLE!
More roars echoed from beneath the waves as five more terrifying Sea Kings breached the surface, completely surrounding Baishui. Their crimson eyes glared at him with pure malice, ready to tear him to shreds.
"Don't you dare!"
Baishui's eyes widened in fury. An unimaginably terrifying surge of killing intent erupted from his body, rolling out in a shockwave of absolute dominance that crashed over the monsters.
Whimper...
Instantly, all six Sea Kings froze in place. Their massive bodies trembled violently, their eyes now filled with absolute terror. Any thought of devouring Baishui vanished from their minds.
Gasp!
The Marines aboard the warship in the distance drew sharp breaths, entirely too shocked to speak. What kind of terrifying monster is this man?! He subdued a pack of Sea Kings with nothing but a glare!
"You six. You are going to protect this island for me. Intercept any ship that tries to approach. Do you understand?" Baishui commanded, his voice booming and heavy with an undeniable, kingly authority that demanded submission.
Grumble... One of the Sea Kings let out a reluctant growl, a brief flicker of violent defiance flashing in its eyes.
"Hmph." Baishui sneered coldly. He raised his right hand, his finger resting on an imaginary trigger, locking onto the defiant Sea King with chilling, murderous intent. "Got a problem with that?" he asked, his lips curling into a bloodthirsty smirk.
Whimper, whimper!
The Sea King's eyes were instantly consumed by dread. Hearing Baishui's threat, it let out a series of pathetic, trembling whines, completely submitting to his overwhelming presence.
"Excellent. Then it's settled. If I return and find out you haven't been doing your jobs, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
As he spoke, Baishui shot five thick beams of solid white light from his hand. The beams transformed into massive, glowing chains that pierced directly into the bodies of five of the Sea Kings.
As soon as he exerted this much power, Baishui's face visibly paled, his aura weakening significantly.
He then hurled the other ends of the five glowing chains toward the island. The chains sank seamlessly into the earth, anchoring themselves like a mystical seal, permanently tethering the five Sea Kings to the shores of Kuro Island.
"Alright, you can go. But until I return, if any of you dare to run... I will show you exactly how cruel I can be! Understood?!" Baishui's eyes narrowed, his voice dropping to an icy chill. His killing intent grew so suffocating that it almost felt like physical needles pricking their skin.
Nod, nod, nod! The five massive Sea Kings bobbed their heads frantically, looking utterly ridiculous given their terrifying, monstrous size.
"Good. Go!" Seeing this, Baishui's expression softened into a smile, and he waved them off, signaling they could leave.
SPLASH! Like convicts granted a sudden pardon, the five Sea Kings let out a synchronized cry of relief and frantically plunged back into the depths, desperate to get as far away from Baishui as possible. The pressure around him was just too suffocating; they could barely even breathe!
Deep down, none of them took the deal seriously. The ocean was their true domain. Why the hell should they listen to a human?
But the moment they swam fifty meters away, agonizing pain flared through their bodies. They were completely paralyzed by the tethers.
BANG! A fist-sized hole instantly blew open on one of their heads out of nowhere, sending a geyser of blood into the water.
Trying to back out of a deal with me? Consider that a lesson, Baishui scoffed internally, his face showing he expected nothing less. Unless I unlock these chains, it'll take you beasts at least a year to break free on your own. So be good little guard dogs, or die!
Feeling the frantic commotion under the water settle into terrified compliance, Baishui let out a cold laugh. He flapped his light-particle wings and flew toward the Marine warship.
As for why T-Bone hadn't requested a proper escort fleet from Marine Headquarters and instead sought him out? Baishui already had a pretty good idea.
It couldn't be helped. No matter how beautiful the world might seem, wherever there are people, there are factions. And where there are factions, there is conflict and politics.
Besides, this world wasn't exactly beautiful to begin with. Beauty and peace were luxuries afforded only to the strong. For the weak, there was only tragedy.
The real reason T-Bone hadn't called for backup? Simple. Personally escorting a high-value prisoner like Chris was a massive, promotion-worthy achievement.
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