Beheading with a Single Sword Strike

"Colonel Brina!"

The two Marine Soldiers stood at attention, raising their right hands above their heads in a respectful salute. The ones assigned to guard these prisoners were mostly branch Marines; the headquarters elites were all eating.

Even within the Marines, there was considerable unequal treatment between headquarters and branches, between different ranks, and between different branches.

In the end, this vast world had always been ruled by pure violence.

Whether it was a man’s romance, an ambitious tyrant’s aspirations, the Marines’ justice, or the World Government’s Greed, everything ultimately stemmed from pure violence.

Only the strong could conquer the Grand Line. Only the strong could defeat all opponents. Only the strong could make their voices heard.

That was the underlying Logic of this world.

Therefore, none of these branch Marines, Brina included, argued about it. Their weakness was the reason they received unequal treatment.

Bai Cangshu followed behind Brina, watching as the woman still maintained a cold and aloof façade. She waved a hand.

"You two go eat first. I’ll interrogate them for some information."

Neither man objected. This was Mock Town, and the Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals were still nearby. Besides, the two captives were both wearing Seastone Handcuffs. Their task was more about observation and surveillance anyway.

After the two left, Brina took a deep breath and pushed open the doors to the enormous warehouse with Bai Cangshu.

The infected monsters were simply too large, so they could only be held inside this abandoned shipyard.

The two entered and immediately saw the enormous gray wolf, as large as a hill, lying on the ground in the distance. Much of its fur had fallen out, exposing vast areas of flesh and blood. Countless tiny buds of flesh wriggled continuously across the wounds.

Clearly, after being completely corrupted, Jabura had also acquired abnormal bodily vitality.

This vitality allowed his flesh to regenerate continuously, recovering far faster than that of an ordinary Zoan Type Devil Fruit Ability User. Yet this diseased vitality resembled cancer cells more closely, crazily draining nutrients and energy from the body without any control.

On the other side was Moon Demon, a humanoid monster over three meters tall, with long limbs and bluish-black scales covering her entire body. She was tied to a steel pillar on the right side of the shipyard, with Seastone Handcuffs around her feet as well.

Bai Cangshu looked at her twisted limb joints and the two blades embedded in her shoulders. He knew Onigumo and the others had likely made some arrangements to restrict her movements.

Those Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals had probably realized that, unlike Jabura, Moon Demon was not the type who would be weakened by Seastone Handcuffs to the point of being unable to escape.

In fact, Seastone Handcuffs were completely useless against Moon Demon.

At the sight of the two monsters, Brina’s breathing grew slightly hurried. She could clearly feel the oppressive presence emanating from them. They were absolutely not like Sea Kings that were merely huge; terrifying power was contained within those massive bodies.

One lunge and bite would probably be enough to kill her.

"You go outside first. Just cooperate with me later."

Bai Cangshu waved casually, just as Brina had casually dismissed the branch Marines earlier.

Brina did not find anything wrong with that. Their relationship was not something rank could restrain. She had been subdued by the marine soldier calling himself Mercenary Tao, by his exceedingly dangerous nature and extremely violent methods, and did not dare resist. Besides, he most likely possessed evidence of her colluding with that evil god, resulting in the deaths of many marine soldiers.

Brina lowered her head and walked out. She did not go far, remaining near the shipyard to keep watch over the surroundings for Bai Cangshu.

After Brina left, Bai Cangshu lightly clapped his hands.

"Hey, Jabura, Moon Demon, you’re both still conscious, right?"

His Transparent World had clearly detected slight changes in the heartbeats of both motionless monsters after they entered the shipyard.

Jabura laboriously lifted his eyelids. His eyes were so enormous that even raising his gaze took great effort.

He was genuinely affected by the Seastone Handcuffs, leaving his entire body weak and powerless.

Huff—

A great deal of foul-smelling breath poured from the giant werewolf’s nose and mouth. The scarlet in his eyes had faded somewhat. It was unknown whether this was because Roland’s death had weakened the corruption, or because his weakened body had instead allowed his sanity to return.

But Jabura did not speak.

Bai Cangshu walked over to Moon Demon. Smiling at the still-unresponsive woman, he reached out and lightly tapped her scale-covered thigh.

Bang, bang, bang…

The tapping was slow, but Moon Demon, who had hoped to preserve her sanity through sleep, felt her heart grow heavier and heavier. A strong sense of mortal danger emerged once more.

She opened her eyes and met the gaze of Mercenary Tao, whose face bore a cruel smile.

Boom!

In an instant, that terrible hatred and bloodthirsty desire resurfaced. She opened her mouth, baring her sharp teeth.

"Mercenary Tao… I’ll kill… Urgh!"

A burst of force struck above Moon Demon’s collarbone, leaving her unable to make a sound. At some point, Bai Cangshu had leaped onto the monsterized Moon Demon’s shoulder, his left hand formed into a sword-finger and pressed beneath her neck.

"Jabura, Moon Demon, relax. I came to save you."

Bai Cangshu’s body was light and nimble as he sprang from Moon Demon.

Pfft! Pfft!

The blades embedded in Moon Demon’s shoulder blades and joints were pulled free. In the next moment, Bai Cangshu drifted through the air like an immortal crane and landed beside Jabura’s feet. He tore off the Seastone Handcuffs and inspected them. These unredeemed handcuffs could not be taken out of this world, so he tossed them to the ground in disappointment.

Outside the shipyard, Brina suddenly shivered. She sensed a powerful stench beginning to spread, and her body felt as though it had been shocked by electricity. Her instincts were warning her of danger.

Once the Seastone was removed, the power within Jabura’s body rapidly returned. Along with it, the continuously wriggling buds of flesh quickly repaired his torn hide. Then his fur began to grow back at a visible rate.

Jabura’s eyes narrowed, savage light overflowing from them. The sanity in his eyes rapidly vanished, and in the next moment, his enormous claws shot up.

Boom!

Amid the shattering ground, Jabura suddenly smashed through the doors and fled outside the shipyard.

Clang!

Sword intent rose, followed by the howling cry of a blade.

Bai Cangshu’s figure twisted and flickered several times in an instant. A jade-green sword light passed through his body and flashed into the shipyard entrance.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Awoo!

Amid the werewolf’s pained roar, Moon Demon’s figure became a phantom as she leaped out of the shipyard and vanished.

The struggle in Moon Demon’s eyes gradually faded. She clearly knew this was Mercenary Tao’s scheme. He had deliberately allowed her and the werewolf to escape, so that he would have a legitimate reason to kill her in front of the Marines.

But at that moment, her mind was in chaos. It was as if countless voices kept repeating useless information within her head, making her completely unable to control herself as all kinds of terrible emotions continuously surfaced.

Moon Demon had already done her utmost merely by struggling free and slashing the werewolf with her sword. Now, she could only hope that Mercenary Tao would kill the troublesome werewolf first and let her escape.

Pfft!

A dull slashing sound rang out. While sprinting madly, Moon Demon turned her head and saw only the terrifying sword light swung from an excessively large black Claymore. Then the enormous wolf’s head tumbled down from the air.

"A monster has escaped!"

Brina shouted a warning, drawing her pistol and firing to alert the others. Her expression remained cold as she watched Mercenary Tao sever the enormous wolf head with a single strike. Without touching the ground, he stepped through the air dozens of times and shot after the other monster.

She understood clearly that Mercenary Tao had deliberately let the monster escape. Whether or not that monster had wounded the werewolf, Mercenary Tao would certainly kill the werewolf first.

Although they had not known each other long, Brina had already realized that Mercenary Tao was a man absolutely devoted to his goals. If he wanted to kill someone, he would never leave an opening for them to attack and escape.

The only explanation was that he was using this method to pressure the other one.

The sword-wielding monster was Mercenary Tao’s true Hunter. There had to be something on it that Mercenary Tao wanted…

You killed a Plot Character, Mutated Jabura.

You gained 1500 Dimensional Points.