"Come witness the power of Germa technology~"
"Swish, swish, swish—"
The three brothers, transformed, blurred forward in a furious assault on Leno. From the distance, Judge actually watched his three sons with an expectant look. No matter what, this was his lifelong perfect masterpiece — deep down a sliver of hope still lingered in him. He hoped Leno would fall to the three of them; he hoped to see a sliver of victory shine upon him.
"Hmm, judging by that movement speed, they are actually a bit faster than Soru—interesting~"
"They can also levitate briefly; is that because of the jets on their feet...?"
Leno leisurely evaluated the performance of the Raid Suits as the three charged in. If ordinary people had these, wouldn't they instantly become super soldiers? Mmm, not bad, not bad — Leno grew more and more pleased with the suits.
"Spark • Valkyrie!"
"Boom—"
As Leno offered his casual commentary, 'Red' Ichiji slammed a flaming fist toward him. In the blink of an eye Leno's form was shrouded in flame. The blast's shockwave threw up a cloud of dust and swept the area; onlookers were forced to step farther back.
That wasn't all. Just as Ichiji's strike landed, a deep-blue bolt of lightning descended from the sky and submerged Leno's flaming outline.
"Dengeki Blue!"
"Winch Green!"
Niji's electric attack hit, followed immediately by Yonji's assault — a green vortex slammed into Leno. The three brothers' coordination was tight; strikes rained down one after another, giving Leno no time to react.
Thunderous detonations roared, shockwaves rolled, and the ground cracked under the immense impacts.
"What Thunder God? Is this it...? he can't even dodge our attacks!"
"I told you — he's been hyped up too much~"
Through the thick smoke and dust, the three brothers mercilessly belittled Leno, convinced his past feats were all hot air.
"Arararara..."
"So I've been underestimated~"
When the smoke and fire cleared, Leno stood unscathed. He pressed one finger each against the fists of Ichiji and Yonji and regarded Niji with a peculiar look — kid, using lightning on me?
"NANI!!!"
The three brothers' eyes widened in horror. Their fierce onslaught had been stopped by a single finger.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible—"
Yonji shook his head violently. The propulsion on his boots flared as his body lunged forward. He gathered every ounce of strength into his right arm, trying to shove Leno back with sheer force. No matter how hard he pushed, the jet-black finger that held back his punch did not budge.
"Hey~ have you had your fun yet?"
Leno watched the brothers' ashen faces with the bored air of watching a few rowdy children.
"'So devoid of emotions, they can still feel anger~ Or did you not have them completely erased?'" He glanced at the three, noticing the veins standing out on each of their foreheads.
"This time I'll teach you a lesson. Remember it well — not everyone can be provoked!"
"Rumble, rumble, rumble—"
At his words, three towering columns of thunderlight swallowed the brothers' forms.
Turning his back, Leno no longer paid attention to the three idiots behind him. Calmly, he walked up to Judge.
"Let's go, Your Majesty the king. I have something I need you to handle."
Seeing Leno head toward the castle, Judge wiped the cold sweat from his cheek and, glancing once at his fallen sons, hurried after him. This man was terrifying — his perfect masterpieces were like chicks under his fingers, easily snuffed out. Leno's performance had utterly shattered Judge's fanciful illusions and laid the harsh truth before him.
After the crowd dispersed, the soldiers came to their senses. They quickly carried the unconscious, smoking trio away for treatment.
Inside the castle, in a lavish hall, Leno took the throne without hesitation. When Judge entered, Leno declared his decision with domineering calm.
"Judge, I'm here for two things today. One: hand over all your years' experimental records and materials on the Lineage Factor, as well as the detailed manufacturing process and materials for the Memory alloy."
"Nani? No way!"
Judge, who had just arrived, panicked at such an outrageous demand and refused repeatedly. Ridiculous — those were the fruits of his years of labor; how could he simply hand them over? He had no idea that Leno wasn't bargaining with him — he had no right to refuse.
Leno expected Judge's denial. He continued in a steady voice:
"I'm a tolerant man. Since you refuse, I'll give you two choices."
"One: I wipe out the Vinsmoke Family, and I'll find those materials myself; or two: I annihilate the country — the Germa Kingdom erased so no trace remains, those materials vanish with it."
"You... you..." Judge staggered backward, trembling, pointing up at Leno in horror. He wanted to shout something. Inside he raged — what sort of choices were these? Either way it was death. This man was a demon. 'Tolerant' my A$$ — tolerance indeed. Despite his inner resistance, Judge dared not speak; the man above him truly had the power to obliterate everything. Empire dreams and years of toil were worthless before him.
"I... I agree to turn over everything..." Judge finally spat out the words with all his strength. The moment he did, his spirit seemed to drain away and he collapsed, kneeling limply.
"That's more like it. There's an old saying that fits well: 'The clever ones adapt; the stubborn ones fall!'"
Seeing Judge cooperate, Leno looked at him with approval and added: "As for the second matter, it's very easy for you, Judge."
"Remove the control program embedded in Reiju's Lineage Factor. From this day forward she has no ties to you or your Germa 66!"
At Leno's words, everyone present stared in shock. Reiju covered her mouth with both hands, trying not to sob. Really... was this man truly going to help her escape? After so many years, her dream might finally be realized. Since her mother's death and after she let Sanji go, she had never stopped thinking about fleeing this frozen hell. But she hadn't been able to — the devil's control allowed no escape. She never imagined that Judge's 'wise decision' this time would bring her a ray of freedom.
"Don't try any tricks, or you won't be able to bear the consequences!"
"..."