Chapter 122: The New Devil Fruit
"Waa waa!" Perona, who had just been untied by Kurumi, suddenly burst into loud tears. When she had called for help earlier, she was in her spirit form and couldn't cry, but now that she was back in her body, the tears came out even more intensely.
Kurumi gently hugged the petite Perona and comforted her, "Don't cry, don't cry, Esdeath will avenge you."
Through her sobs, Perona said, "It's all my fault, I caused Uncle to get shot and beaten…"
Eric also arrived beside Mont Blanc Cricket and began untying him.
"These are severe wounds, and there are whip marks?! Did he interrogate you?" Eric saw the red whip marks all over Mont Blanc Cricket's upper body, along with purple bruises from blunt force trauma. There was hardly a patch of uninjured skin, and he was even more enraged.
"Fortunately, I know a bit about Haki. I used Armament Haki to block quite a bit of the damage, so it's not too serious..." Mont Blanc Cricket, the tough guy, endured the pain and said.
"Ugh!" Mont Blanc Cricket groaned in pain when Eric helped him sit up.
"Open your mouth."
Mont Blanc Cricket obeyed and opened his mouth, and Eric placed a Senzu bean in it.
"Mm?" Mont Blanc Cricket looked at his upper body, which was now completely healed, as though the gunshots and whippings had only happened in a dream. Even the pain from the injuries had disappeared.
Perona, who had been watching worriedly, widened her eyes and gasped.
"..." Mont Blanc Cricket silently glanced at Eric , "This kind of thing, I'll never speak about it, even if I die."
Perona quickly nodded in agreement.
A medicine that could instantly heal injuries was equivalent to having a second life during a battle. If word got out, it would be highly sought after. And this priceless medicine was given to her without hesitation by the captain.
Mont Blanc Cricket felt an overwhelming warmth in his heart.
"Hey, Perona, this is a lesson. From now on, you need to train your body and abilities properly." Eric walked up behind Perona and patted her on the head.
"Huh?" Perona was taken aback by this unexpected remark.
"I'm saying you need to undergo strict training. Learn both Armament Haki and Observation Haki." Eric grinned mischievously. "Fortunately, we have two experienced masters on the ship—one is the wise teacher Chiron, and the other is the Queen of the Land of Shadows, Scáthach . Which one do you choose?"
"I-I'm not choosing either!" Perona was startled, running behind Kurumi. As a homebody, she had no interest in becoming a fitness girl.
"No way! You must choose, or should I pick for you?" Eric reached for Perona.
"Sis, help!" Perona cried out to Kurumi, avoiding Eric 's outstretched hand.
However, Kurumi, who Perona called "sister," had no intention of overly indulging her. Instead, she turned and grabbed Perona, saying, "No, you must learn Armament and Observation Haki. If you had known them earlier, you wouldn't have been captured today. To be caught by such weaklings... how embarrassing."
"Learn from Chiron, he's a great teacher."
Chiron, who had trained many heroes, was very experienced and skilled in teaching. He would be the head of a department in any university.
"Ugh, I get it," Perona, with tears in her eyes, fiddled with her fingers nervously, looking quite pitiful.
"By the way, where's Esdeath? The temperature dropped significantly, so it must be her power. Why don't I see her?" Mont Blanc Cricket, who was still putting on his blood-stained clothes, looked up.
Just then, screams of extreme pain echoed from upstairs.
"Oh, she's probably interrogating him?"
Hearing Eric 's words, Mont Blanc Cricket shut his mouth. He was relieved that it wasn't Esdeath interrogating him, or he wouldn't have been able to withstand it.
…
When Eric and Kurumi had just entered the basement, Esdeath had already restricted Dega's body.
In the black man's eyes, apart from the obvious expression of fear, there was a trace of greedy lust hidden deep within.
Esdeath, of course, noticed everything and sneered.
"How dare you look at me like that? It seems I should show you my interrogation methods and let you experience true pain."
"Also, weren't you interrogating my subordinate?" Esdeath had already considered Mont Blanc Cricket her subordinate, even though Mont Blanc Cricket had never agreed to that.
"Yes, yes!" The big-bellied man, standing nearby, quickly nodded in agreement, "When we first arrived here, we even heard the sound of the whip."
"Yes, I heard it too!" Long Snake Monster's tongue was tightly retracted into his mouth.
"Oh?" Esdeath smiled upon hearing this, "I almost forgot about you guys."
The big-bellied man froze, wishing he could slap himself. Why did he speak so much? Had he become like Long Snake Monster?
Of course, Esdeath was joking. Her Observation Haki wasn't weak, so there was no way she couldn't sense the presence of these people.
"Although I heard it was a black-skinned guy who kidnapped the person, what are you guys doing here?"
"I, we are here..." The big-bellied man hesitated to speak. He couldn't very well say that they had found Dega's hideout to steal his prey for Perona's bounty, and had ended up fighting with him and getting trapped in the room by them.
"They're my subordinates." Dega answered for him, trying to Dragon a few more people into the situation.
"No, we're not!"
"We have a grudge with him! His spiked club has our companion's blood on it!"
The other bounty hunters all shouted in protest.
"Swish!"
A small ice shard flew over and pierced through Dega's gas mask, blinding one of his eyes. Dega's screams of agony echoed throughout the hideout.
Dega's scream instantly startled the others. After all, he was a wanted criminal who dared to kill many nobles and commit serious crimes. They didn't dare to speak recklessly anymore.
"Those who lie must face punishment."
Esdeath spoke a smile , her stunning and elegant beauty accentuated by her smile. But no one dared to admire her beauty; they were trembling in fear.
"Whoosh, whoosh..." Dega gasped, his pain gradually subsiding. The pain in his blinded eye was becoming more familiar and bearable. He had started crying, his tears and snot streaming down his face.
Esdeath began her punishment, using ice knives made from her powers to carve various wounds into Dega's body. The wounds weren't just cuts, but also caused frostbite, with a prickling, itchy pain spreading all over him.
Dega's continuous cries echoed throughout the room, sending chills down the spines of the other bounty hunters. Watching Esdeath's execution on television was one thing, but seeing it in person was a completely different experience.
Dega's remaining eye was filled with terror, and there was no trace of his previous bravado.
He had always relied on his large build and slightly stronger strength to bully others, but his cowardly nature, coupled with his exposed greed and cruelty, made him more prone to excitement when torturing others.
Now, after Esdeath's slight torment, his inner cowardice was fully exposed.
"Waa, I won't do it again! Please spare me! I'll be your slave..."
Unexpectedly, Esdeath showed a look of disgust. "I don't need a slave like you."
The other bounty hunters, especially the big-bellied man, were shocked by Dega's reaction. Was this really the strong, cautious bounty hunter they had known?
"I'll do anything for you, even lick your shoes. Please don't hurt me anymore..." Dega fell to his knees, continuing to beg.
Even the other bounty hunters standing nearby showed disdain. How embarrassing. They had all gone through life-and-death situations before, and being bounty hunters was a profession where they risked their lives for money, but this guy was so scared of dying, it was embarrassing for them.
"Hah?" Esdeath tilted her head, "Isn't licking shoes a reward?"
Everyone in the room froze in confusion at her words.
"By the way, I heard that there will be an auction at Carnival City on the next island at the end of this month. Not only are there rare treasures, but apparently there's also a Devil Fruit!" Dega quickly spilled all the information he knew, hoping to save his life.
"Mm..." Esdeath placed her hand on her chin in thought, "A new Devil Fruit? If Eric knew, he would be very happy."
"!" Seeing a glimmer of hope for survival, Dega quickly rattled off everything he knew, including information about a fine sword—Flower State, a few high-bounty wanted criminals, where their hideouts were, and possibly where a treasure map might be hidden.
However, the more Esdeath listened, the more her eyebrows furrowed. "Enough!" she interrupted Dega's incessant rambling with a sharp command.
"These are all useless pieces of information. I'm not interested in criminals with bounties under 300 million. And forget about anything under 100 million. I don't care about weapons or treasures either."
Dega was stunned by her words.
"Interrogation is meant to break the wills of those who are tough and make them submit. You, however, are so cowardly that you don't even deserve to be interrogated."
Dega had just started to smile when Esdeath's next words froze his expression.
"Therefore, die."
"Bang!"
With a kick, Dega's head was shattered like a watermelon, exploding on impact.
(END CHAPTER)
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