Chapter 123: Perona's Heartfelt Struggle
Blood stained the floor and walls, leaving traces of the spillage, and the ice on the floor turned red. White shards fell everywhere, with a splash of fresh blood landing on the big-bellied man's face.
"You're the bounty hunters who were attacking Perona and Mont Blanc Cricket earlier, aren't you?"
Esdeath's words sent a chill through the remaining bounty hunters.
"Y-Yes, we're bounty hunters, here to capture you criminals!" The big-bellied man had realized that begging for mercy wouldn't help, so he boldly tried a different approach, hoping for a chance at survival.
"Since you dared to attack my subordinates, that means you're prepared for the consequences."
"Your strength is too weak. There's no point in interrogation." Esdeath paused and then spoke coldly, "Let's just kill you directly."
"Wait, wait!" The bounty hunters hastily raised their hands to stop her.
But Esdeath paid no attention, instantly freezing them into ice sculptures. Their desperate expressions and gestures froze in place as their last moments.
"Thud thud thud," the sound of footsteps echoed as Eric and the others returned to the living room from the basement.
"Where is that bastard who took Mont Blanc Cricket?!" As soon as Eric entered, he furiously questioned the remaining bounty hunters, only to find them all turned into ice popsicles.
"Ugh, what is this tofu? Where did it come from?" Eric accidentally stepped on a soft white object near the basement entrance.
"Brains, I suppose..." Esdeath, nonchalantly admiring her work while standing in front of the ice sculptures, replied, "The one who captured Mont Blanc Cricket and Perona had his head smashed by a kick from me. Is there something you need from him?"
"Ugh..." Eric almost vomited, but quickly clenched his teeth, forcing himself to stop the bile from rising.
"It's nothing. He had tortured Mont Blanc Cricket. Since he's dead, there's nothing we can do about it..."
"If I had known, I wouldn't have kicked him so hard. Let him experience the taste of hell."
"Let's go! Since we've saved Perona, let's leave here quickly." Eric hurriedly motioned for everyone to leave. He made quite a ruckus, hoping no witnesses would contact the Navy. He still hadn't had the chance to enjoy the food in Food City.
"Hey! Dead captain, what do you mean by that?!" Perona became upset, even calling him "dead captain."
"Huh?" Eric turned around. Normally, Perona was noisy but respectful to everyone, especially to Esdeath and himself. She had never called him "dead captain" before.
"W-What's wrong?" Perona shrunk behind Kurumi.
"It's nothing. Looks like our relationship has improved a lot, at least now you dare to give me a nickname."
"Hah? Our relationship isn't better, you idiot!" Perona stuck her head out, strongly rebutting, even emphasizing the word "idiot."
"Yes, yes, you wouldn't dare speak to me like that before. Looks like you've finally accepted that you're one of us, not our prisoner. You should really thank these bounty hunters. Without this kidnapping, you'd probably still be hiding in the cage you made for yourself."
At these words, everyone fell silent, reflecting on what Eric had just said.
Perona pouted and didn't speak further.
Indeed, Perona had been forced onto the ship by Eric before, but she had just been kidnapped, and Eric and the others had rushed to save her.
'Sorry, Lord Moria, I've found a new captain who truly cares for me, and a group of trustworthy companions.'
Kurumi smiled and patted Perona's head. "We're family, but—" she leaned close to Perona's ear and whispered, "Don't think anything of Eric , okay~?"
"I won't! I won't think of that arrogant, delusional guy!" Perona responded immediately.
"Hah?" Eric 's forehead twitched as veins bulged.
In fact, Eric didn't mind calling himself a delusional person, but when someone else called him a delusional nerd or otaku, it made him extremely angry, especially when it came from a girl.
"Little sister, what did you say? I didn't hear you. Say it again?" Eric moved closer to Perona, forcing Fujitora .
"Who are you calling delusional?"
"You heard it, didn't you?" Perona used all her strength to retort, hiding behind Kurumi and refusing to come out.
"Alright, enough. Let's leave this troublesome place."
Kurumi intervened, breaking up Eric and Perona's argument.
"By the way, I just heard from that..." Esdeath spoke as she recalled, "That who? I forgot their name."
"I got information about a Devil Fruit from that person."
Esdeath not only forgot their appearance but also couldn't recall their name.
Dega, whose head was kicked in, had become nothing more than a speck of dust, disappearing into the river of history.
"Do you know what kind of Devil Fruit it is?"
"He didn't know. He only said it's going to be auctioned at Carnival City at the end of this month. It's been advertised for a while now."
"Mm..." Eric thought carefully, feeling a sense of familiarity about the town.
'Forget it, we used to hear about Carnival in our world all the time. Doesn't matter.' Unable to remember, Eric gave up trying to think.
'I didn't expect there would be news of a Devil Fruit. I'll collect it. It could be used by the crew or serve as a medium for summoning.' Eric decided to attend the auction.
"Since the people of this town dared to attack us, can I freeze the entire town in a snowstorm?"
Everyone was surprised when Esdeath suddenly said this.
Esdeath smiled coldly. As soon as she finished Speaking, the temperature around her rapidly dropped. A cold circle formed around her, passing through the entire town.
Suddenly, snowflakes began falling in the small town. Tourists in Food City looked up, and the sky was covered in black clouds. The contrast between the white snowflakes and the black clouds was striking.
"Look, it's snowing!" Cheerful children ran and danced in the snow.
"Why is it suddenly snowing?" The locals were surprised. Such weather had never occurred at this time of year, and they hurried outside to see what was happening.
"Wait!" Eric quickly stopped Esdeath's actions, "We still have people in the town!"
"Mm..." Esdeath paused, and the snow stopped falling, with the black clouds beginning to disperse. The earlier scene disappeared as if it were an illusion.
"Ha," Eric sighed with relief. At least there hadn't been too many casualties among the civilians because of the snowstorm.
'Does the weather change with her will... I need to practice harder myself.' Eric silently promised himself, determined to awaken his Devil Fruit powers soon.
At this point, the group had moved from the isolated small house to the bustling market district. Due to the earlier strange weather, the streets were now crowded with people.
"Hey, isn't that Akame?" Eric immediately noticed Akame in the crowd, standing in line with the noticeably pregnant Polki.
Upon hearing her name, Akame turned and walked over with Polki, who was struggling to walk.
"Ugh, so full!" Polki looked miserable as she held her belly, unable to speak smoothly from overeating.
Akame tilted her head and asked, "Eric , weren't you on the ship? The snowflakes earlier were caused by Esdeath, right?"
"Yes, Perona and Mont Blanc Cricket were captured by bounty hunters earlier, so we came to rescue them."
Upon hearing this, Akame's expression became serious, and she quickly walked over to Mont Blanc Cricket's side, reaching to remove his clothes to check his wounds.
"Hey, hey, hey, little girl, stop!" Mont Blanc Cricket, the tough guy, was embarrassed. "I'm fine, uh..." He looked at Eric , uncertain if he should mention the Senzu bean he had taken.
"I gave Uncle a Senzu bean, and his injuries are all healed."
"Okay." Akame nodded in relief, then looked at Perona.
"I just got hit with a stick. It's nothing," Perona quickly said. She didn't want to be undressed in the street.
"Don't take minor injuries lightly. Someone has made this mistake before, and then..." Akame's face became sad.
Eric placed his hand on her head and comforted her, "We'll have Da Vinci check it when we get back. It's not appropriate to undress in broad daylight. And you need to train Perona. At the very least, she should learn Observation Haki. I didn't expect her to be attacked from behind and knocked out."
"I'll make sure to encourage her, and I'll include Polki in the training."
"Eh? Why do I have to train too?" Polki, with her completely swollen belly, was shocked. She was supposed to become an idol, living off her looks, so why did she have to rely on strength to become famous?
Eric gave the two girls a good-natured headbutt.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" The two girls cried out in surrender.
Eric let them go and walked off, saying, "Our pirate crew is already famous in the world. You two are my crew now. Sooner or later, bounty hunters who are strong will come looking for us. What will you do if you run into them?"
The two girls muttered quietly, "Aren't you protecting us...?"
"Mm?!" Even Esdeath gave them a terrifying look.
"Eek!" The two girls suddenly gathered their strength, stood up straight, and loudly declared, "We will train hard and learn Haki!"
It seemed that a single terrifying gaze from a demon was more effective than all the gentle persuasion in the world. They had learned their lesson...
Although Akame had no idea why the two girls suddenly changed their attitudes and were willing to train, she smiled and said, "Great, now you can train together."
From today on, two iron-pumping girls joined the training room on the ship.
(END CHAPTER)
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