"Stay away from me! Please, spare me! You want money, right? My father has plenty—I'll give you 2 billion berries! No, 5 billion! Just don't kill me!"
Princess Paula was on the verge of collapse. First, they had threatened to kill her, and now they were coming at her to defile her. Raised in luxury and comfort, she had never faced such horror. Desperation made her babble incoherently.
Seeing that the two captains remained silent, the bald pirate took it as permission to advance toward the princess. His crewmates eagerly followed. This was a royal princess—beautiful, with a perfect figure—and the thrill of violating someone of such high status had them trembling with excitement.
'A princess! A once-in-a-lifetime chance!' None of the lackeys wanted to miss this opportunity. It would be the ultimate bragging right.
"Stop! Don't come any closer! If you do, I won't cooperate with the ransom call! You'll never get your money!"
Tears streamed down Princess Paula's face as she watched the group of burly men approach, her eyes wide with terror.
The bald pirate just laughed. "Oh, you'll cooperate. After we're done with you, you'll be begging for more!" He had done this many times before. Still stripping off his clothes, he closed in on the bound princess, his crew mimicking him with leering grins.
Paula's mind went blank. She knew there was no escape. Her body, which had been thrashing violently before, now lay still. Her eyes glazed over, her lips moving soundlessly.
If anyone had leaned in, they would have heard her whispering: "God… save me… I offer myself to you… my family will serve you for generations…"
The bald pirate and his men drew closer, mistaking her stillness for submission. He crouched in front of her, reaching for the hem of her dress—
BOOM!
A deafening crash erupted from the cellar entrance.
Everyone froze. Even Paula snapped out of her daze, her body jerking instinctively as she stared at the cellar door with desperate hope. 'Was it… her savior?'
The bald pirate's hand hovered midair. The crew swallowed hard, all eyes locked on the entrance.
Silence.
No one dared to breathe. Even the cloaked captain's hidden gaze sharpened, piercing toward the doorway.
First Mate Kyle tensed, suspecting Marines had tracked them down. He braced for a fight.
Then—a massive silhouette appeared in the doorway, too large to fit properly. The cellar's low ceiling obscured the upper half of the figure's body, leaving only a looming shadow.
"Brother', I 'told' you this place was too small! I can't even stand up straight—had to rip the damn door off! Huh? Why's everyone frozen? Welcoming committee?"
A giant man ducked inside, his voice booming through the cellar. Even crouched, his head nearly scraped the ceiling.
The cloaked captain sighed. "Colin, must you always barge in like that? You nearly gave them a heart attack."
"Yeah, Boss Colin! You scared the hell outta me! What if I was in the middle of something important? My poor nerves!" the bald pirate whined.
The newcomer was Captain Cohen's younger brother—Colin. A towering brute, already nearing five meters tall and still growing. Pure muscle, monstrous strength, and the undisputed third strongest on the crew.
Unfortunately, he was also as dumb as a brick.
"Hah! Baldy, what're you—'oh!' A woman? I wanna play too! Me first!" Colin might have been simple-minded, but he 'loved' "playing" with women. The bald pirate had introduced him to the "fun," and since then, he'd left a trail of broken victims in his wake.
"Colin, she's important. We can't touch her yet," Kyle cut in. "I'll find you a better one—bigger, stronger!"
"No! I want this one! She's pretty! The ones you bring me have ugly round faces!" Colin pouted like a child. Once his mind was set, no logic or plan could sway him.
The cloaked captain chuckled. "Let him, Kyle. The princess has outlived her usefulness anyway. Imagine the shock when we deliver her corpse tomorrow… 'Kehahaha!'"
Kyle grimaced but said nothing. He'd chosen this hideout specifically to avoid Colin's meddling, yet here he was. And with the captain's approval, there was no stopping him.
For a fleeting moment, Paula had dared to hope. That enormous figure in the doorway—surely it was her answered prayer!
But hearing their conversation crushed that hope. They were all the same.
And when Colin turned his lustful gaze toward her, true terror set in.
'That monster… he'll tear me apart!'
"Boss Colin, if you go first, what's left for us?" the bald pirate groaned.
"Move! Outta my way!" Colin shoved through the crowd, his massive hands—each as wide as half of Paula's body—reaching for her.
"NO! Stay back—'PLEASE!'" Paula screamed, her voice raw with hysteria.
But reason meant nothing to a man like Colin. He bulldozed forward, even shoving the bald pirate aside. His fingers twitched with anticipation.
And Paula knew—no god was coming to save her.
Colin poked Princess Paula's cheek with a single finger—each digit nearly half the size of her head. The sheer horror of what was about to happen was unimaginable.
Then, he extended his massive tongue, a thick, yellowish-green drool dripping from it as it inched toward her face.
At close range, the stench hit Paula like a physical blow—a rotting, putrid odor so overpowering that even holding her breath did nothing. It felt as if the foulness had been seared directly into her mind.
The grotesque tongue writhed closer… closer… just moments away from slathering across her skin.
Colin's face twisted in perverse excitement. Even the other pirates, hardened as they were, couldn't bear to watch. The bald man—no stranger to cruelty himself—turned away, unable to stomach what was coming.
Then—
Colin froze.
His expression locked in place, the manic glee shifting into something else—disbelief.
Only Paula, in her terror, saw it: a small, finger-sized hole punched clean through his skull. No blood. No fluid. Just… a perfect, charred puncture.
"SHHIIING—"
The sound of something slicing through the air reached their ears a fraction of a second later.
Colin's massive body swayed—then toppled forward. His head slammed into the wall before his entire frame crashed sideways, landing flat on his back. Miraculously, his bulk missed Paula entirely. His lifeless eyes stared wide, unseeing.
Cohen snapped back to reality the instant his brother fell. His gaze locked onto the small, blackened hole in Colin's left temple. No blood. Just a scorched tunnel through flesh and bone.
The smell hit him next.
'Burnt meat.'
He knew that stench far too well.