Chapter 136: Path Of Revenge, 4
Weibul sat in front of the table, gnawing vigorously on a half-cooked bear leg full of fishy smell. Black Thorn Flower Island was remote and sparsely populated, but the resources on the island were not scarce. The human habitation was just a corner of the island, radiating outward from the natural harbor as the starting point.
Deep in this island was a vast primitive forest. The forest was so vast in area and so ancient in age that even local hunters had never truly explored every corner of it. They only moved around the periphery of the forest, but even the prey on the periphery alone was sufficiently abundant.
A five-hundred-kilogram black bear was considered a standard prey. The bear leg that Weibul was gnawing on was the right leg of a black bear.
Ms. Bakin’s clinic.
The not-at-all-good-looking maid cowered and hid in the kitchen, secretly watching Weibul who was devouring the bear leg in big bites. Her face showed deep fear. Two years had been enough for the islanders to know that Ms. Bakin’s son was a dim-witted unfortunate, in short, an idiot.
However, although his brain was not up to the task, Weibul’s strength was like that of a monster. The maid working at the clinic knew this best. She had seen more than once Weibul playing with those several stones weighing over a thousand kilograms each in the clinic’s backyard. Stones that heavy were no different from children’s toys in Weibul’s hands.
So when Ms. Bakin was not around, the maid would always try every means to hide far away.
As soon as Ms. Bakin went out, the maid immediately brought all the half-cooked food to the table in one go, then hid in the kitchen. This idiot child Weibul clearly lacked the judgment for food taste; he did not care about raw or cooked. Anyway, his appetite was enough to digest these half-cooked foods.
Bear leg, roast goose, roast wild boar······
The roast wild boar still with residual blood water was swallowed into his belly by Weibul in just a couple of bites.
“Squeak!”
The maid shuddered.
The door, which had not been oiled since it was installed, emitted a piercing sound. Heavy footsteps like those of a black bear in the forest came from the front room of the clinic. The rural small clinic had a simple structure: front room and back room, plus a spacious yard behind.
The front room was for seeing patients, with a small operating room attached. Passing through a short corridor led to the back room, the residence of Ms. Bakin and Weibul. The dining room, kitchen, and bathroom were all here. At this moment, those heavy footsteps were charging along the corridor.
“Doctor Bakin is out. If it’s not an emergency, please wait in the front······” The maid also worked part-time as the clinic’s nurse. When Ms. Bakin performed surgery on someone, the maid would help hold down the patient’s body.
Yes, Ms. Bakin was not keen on using anesthetics, so she had to use physical knockout methods or let the patients pass out directly from the pain.
The maid poked her head out from the kitchen.
But—
The maid looked at the man who was estimated to be over three hundred centimeters tall, bare-chested, wearing black wide-leg pants, draped in a black cape, with only one arm. For some reason, the originally fluent lines got stuck in her throat like a stone, and she could not say them at all.
“Leave here.”
Zephyr stopped his steps. He looked down at the maid blocking his way. “If you don’t want to die, leave this clinic at your fastest speed.” He shouted loudly to scare this maid who clearly had never killed anyone. His principles did not allow him to harm such an innocent civilian, not even accidental injury in combat.
“Um, this is Doctor Bakin’s······”
“I said, leave here.”
Zephyr frowned.
He himself did not possess the power of Conqueror’s Haki, but the imposing presence cultivated from years in high positions also had the power to intimidate people. The maid was startled and fled in panic, running out of the clinic.
Having driven away the troublesome nuisance, Zephyr stood in the corridor, calming his mind and focusing.
His left was the dining room, right was the kitchen. Weibul······ was in the dining room. The straight-line distance was only about five meters. At such a close distance, he could clearly sense Weibul’s vital signs without deliberately activating Observation Haki.
“Hoo—!”
He let out a long breath.
Zephyr strode forward with huge steps, charging into the dining room with a ferocious momentum like a charge.
————
About six hundred meters away from the clinic, on the only street of Black Thorn Flower Island, Ms. Bakin, leaning on a cane, stood in the middle of the street, looking at Elus floating in the air about thirty or forty centimeters off the ground with a grim gaze.
“Ms. Bakin, trouble has come knocking.”
Elus said with a smile.
He sized up this little old lady who looked like a shriveled orange peel. Hmm, although she looked a bit unkempt in appearance, Neuro-Scan could ‘see’ Ms. Bakin’s vigorous vitality, stronger than that of many young people.
“Black Prince······ what business do you have with a country bumpkin doctor like me? If I remember correctly, I haven’t provoked anyone from the Eckmond Kingdom?” Ms. Bakin gripped the cane in her hand tightly. She had already seen Elus standing with Zephyr earlier, but he was not willing to give up just like that.
She wanted to struggle a bit more.
“Your son, Mr. Zephyr has already gone to deal with him. Even if you go back now, it’s useless. And I’m very curious, your son······ what relation does he have to Old Man Whitebeard?” Elus pulled out a portrait from his pocket.
Weibul’s portrait.
A portrait refined by a skilled artist, removing Weibul’s excess fat. The Weibul in the portrait looked more refined and also more like that Pirate Emperor with a bounty exceeding five billion Beli.
“And your identity, who exactly······ are you?”
Elus said word by word.
His gaze was exceptionally serious, like a knife directly placed on Ms. Bakin’s neck. This attitude······ already made it clear that any struggle from her was futile. Elus would not let her go. Ms. Bakin deeply understood this.
The tip of the cane ground hard on the bluestone-paved street surface.
Ms. Bakin, in an extremely foul mood, revealed a ferocious expression like a mother wolf. In front of the Black Prince······ she did not think she could escape to safety as luckily as before, let alone with Zephyr and the numerous troops.
Zephyr and Elus had gone ahead first.
But Ain and the others had not delayed too long either, not to mention ‘Strangling Ghost’ Farrug who had already arrived on the island long ago.
“Your Highness, please give your orders without hesitation. As long as I can do it, I guarantee one hundred percent completion.”
Farrug led over five hundred well-trained armed sailors rushing into the village. All were equipped with weapons, uniform long-barreled flintlock muskets about eighty percent new. These black gun barrels held little meaning for experts, but for islanders who had never seen such a large force, they were immensely intimidating.
Originally, some people saw Elus blocking Ms. Bakin and thought of stepping forward to help, but as Farrug’s armed sailors appeared, especially when those terrifying black gun barrels were aimed at them, the willingness to help was instantly doused like with a basin of cold water.
“Farrug, clear the area at the fastest speed. Make all these idlers get far away from here.”
Elus did not hesitate, quickly issuing orders.
He had to be fast.
Who knew when the fight at the clinic would start. If they waited until combat broke out there, just the shockwaves from the clash would bring devastating damage to this village. Elus did not claim to be a good person, but with Zephyr here too!
Rather than having unpleasantness over such small matters later, better to arrange these small things early.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Farrug responded loudly.
The ruddy-faced, energetic Strangling Ghost directed his armed sailors to start driving away the village residents. The black gun barrels and gleaming knives made the islanders, who dared to be angry but not speak, leave their homes and move toward the open area by the shore.
These armed sailors were not kindly-looking good people. Or rather, those who could survive on this New World sea were generally not good stock.
With the expansion of the maritime transport network, his subordinates’ influence kept swelling, and gradually the composition of personnel became ever more complex.
If not for Elus’s strict orders, plus the continuous patrols by his aide-de-camp everywhere, some would have long ago moonlighted as pirates for big business. Never underestimate anyone making a living on this vast sea. Even those seemingly harmless cruise ships might not resist making a quick fortune when seeing fat prey.
On this vast sea, what gave the Navy headaches was not only pirates flying the black skull flag. The vast numbers of part-time pirates—merchants, fishermen, bounty hunters, even nobles and royals—were the real issue. That’s right, compared to professional pirates, there were many more part-time pirate types on the sea.
What made the Navy’s heads bald most were royals and nobles from some kingdoms. Some were inherently evil, some financially strained. For various reasons, these nobles robbed wantonly at sea. Yet because of their status, even knowing about it, the Navy could not intervene and arrest them.
After all,
The Navy must not interfere in domestic affairs.
Without permission from the kingdoms, the Navy could not even easily enter their territories.
Getting off track. Anyway, Farrug’s group of sea-hardened thugs dispersed the nearby islanders with astonishing efficiency. Centered on the clinic, within a three-kilometer radius, outside the clinic there were only Elus and Ms. Bakin, with Farrug standing loyally at Elus’s side like a faithful lackey.
“Think it over carefully! Ms. Bakin, you should now think well about your future. Remember, your answer will decide your future.”
Elus did not make things hard for the little old lady. After dropping this line, his wings behind vibrated lightly. He turned around to look at the small clinic. Farrug also turned with Elus’s movement, looking toward the clinic.
Not taking the Ms. Bakin behind him to heart at all.
Bakin leaned on her cane, her eyes half hatred, half bewilderment. The hatred was naturally because Elus’s arrival had destroyed her life, turning all her future plans into unrealistic pipe dreams. The bewilderment was because she did not know how to cope with this changed future.
“Boom!!!”
Accompanied by a deafening huge roar.
Smoke and dust shot up into the sky above the small clinic, like a long dragon charging straight toward the sky.
“It’s started!”
Elus smiled.
Farrug trembled lightly with excitement. A battle of this level was the realm he dreamed of!
Ms. Bakin’s face was grim as she stared in the direction of the clinic. Perhaps, perhaps······ perhaps Weibul could defeat the aged, one-armed Zephyr? Even if he could not beat the Black Prince, as long as he could protect her and let her escape······
This was not Ms. Bakin being naive.
She was not a warrior after all.
She did not understand combat and had never fought anyone, so she was not very clear on how powerful her beloved baby son Weibul really was. But he had chopped off Zephyr’s arm before, so maybe he could win this time too?
······
On the ruins of the clinic,
Just a few seconds ago, this was the only clinic on Black Thorn Flower Island. Now it was just a worthless pile of ruins.
“You’re that old guy? I remember you. You hit me so painfully! I, I, I’m gonna kill you!” Weibul hefted a long naginata. The naginata wrapped in Armament Haki tore through the air, slashing toward Zephyr’s head amid that slurred roar.
The sharp edge of the naginata caused a slight stinging pain even before it got close.
Zephyr stood unmoving amid the rubble and tiles, boldly swinging his fist. That fist also coated in Armament Haki clashed with the naginata’s blade. Logically, line against surface should favor Weibul, but compared to Zephyr’s Armament Haki honed to the extreme, Weibul who relied only on innate strength did not gain any advantage.
Zephyr stared unblinkingly at Weibul. His eyes held sorrow, pain, anger, self-mockery······ Earlier, he had tried saying a couple words to Weibul. In that brief exchange, he discovered that Weibul was not smart.
This executioner who chopped off his arm and killed a boatload of his students was actually an idiot?
This discovery plunged him into great bewilderment.
An idiot whose brain was not up to snuff had slaughtered his students and taken his arm······
