Lance was sitting in what used to be the guards' break room, feet propped up on the table, enjoying a cigarette while using a rag to wipe the blood from his clothes.
"This place… clearly isn't a proper prison, is it?"
He scanned the area.
If this were a government-run prison, how could there be so few people?
Not to mention, the chaos inside had already reached a breaking point—and yet no one from outside had come in. It was as if the whole place was cut off from the rest of the world. Clearly, this was a private prison—most likely owned and operated by the Donquixote Family to secretly detain certain prisoners.
No matter how much noise was made inside, no one outside would hear a thing.
About an hour later…
As the final, agonizing scream came to an abrupt end, Lance felt a surge of heat flooding through his body. His entire form felt like a raging furnace, with torrents of power pouring into him—his strength skyrocketing.
"A perfect humanoid. No flaws at all."
"As long as I don't die, I can survive indefinitely."
"Feeding on power only makes me stronger… makes killing easier…"
"Looks like my Ajin template is even better than the one in the manga."
Lance took a long drag from his cigarette, squinting thoughtfully.
After observing for an hour, he realized just how different he was from standard Ajin.
Typical Ajin could only maintain their IBM for 5 to 10 minutes. But Kuro had been killing nonstop for a full hour and hadn't shown even a hint of dissipating.
Which meant—as long as Lance was alive, Kuro could exist indefinitely!
"All done."
"Everyone's been eaten. Time to leave."
Lance stood up from the chair, curled his lips into a smirk, threw on a black coat, and calmly opened the prison gate to walk out.
The private prison once owned by the Donquixote Family had now fallen into complete silence. All that remained was a floor soaked in blood, a suffocating stench of gore, and piles of shredded flesh and white bone.
…
The next day, in Dressrosa, at the King's Plateau.
"Diamante! You'd better give me a good explanation—what the hell happened?!"
In a lavish room, a man with slick blonde hair, wearing unique sunglasses, a flamboyant pink feather coat, cropped pants, and pointed shoes barked in a harsh tone.
If Lance had been there, he would've instantly recognized this blond man as none other than one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and King of Dressrosa—the very man who had nearly killed him: Donquixote Doflamingo.
Right now, Doflamingo's face was clouded with rage.
In the room were several other executives of the Donquixote Family.
Trebol, the snot-covered pervert and sticky-sticky fruit user.
Pica, the massive stone-stone fruit user with an enormous build.
All of them turned their eyes to a confused Diamante.
"Doffy, what's going on?" Diamante asked, puzzled.
"Take a look at the mess you made!"
Doflamingo snapped, "Didn't you tell me yesterday that you personally executed that little punk who bumped into me?"
"Then explain to me why not only is he still alive, but he also slaughtered everyone in the prison—including the pirates we captured!"
"That's how you get things done for me?"
Diamante's heart skipped a beat.
That guy was still alive?!
Impossible!
He had personally pulled the trigger and hit him in the head!
How could he still be alive?!
"You've got to be kidding me… Doffy, that's not funny."
Diamante tried to wave it off with a forced smile.
"Oh? You think I'm joking?"
Doflamingo's expression darkened. Diamante realized instantly—Doffy wasn't playing around. He was furious.
"You should be asking Dellinger, not me," Diamante quickly deflected. "He's the one in charge of the prison. This should be his responsibility!"
"Dellinger already reported everything," Doflamingo said coldly. "When he arrived, everyone was dead. Guards, prisoners—it didn't matter. The only one missing… was the guy who insulted me."
"So instead of pointing fingers at Dellinger, maybe think about how you're going to explain your part in this."
"You're not seriously saying I let him go, are you?!"
"Come on, Doffy, you know me better than anyone. I'd never betray the Family!"
"You're my family… of course I believe you."
"I also believe you wouldn't oppose me over some lowly pest. But the fact remains—he escaped on your watch. You don't think that means anything?"
Doflamingo's sunglasses flashed with a dangerous glint. "More importantly… there's something even more disturbing."
"What is it?"
"Dellinger told me… everyone in the prison was eaten. Flesh completely devoured. Only bits of gore and rivers of blood remained."
Doflamingo hunched forward slightly, the anger on his face fading into an eerie smile.
"To think… someone would devour human flesh like a beast. Now I'm really curious. Just what kind of creature is he?"
"If we can capture him alive… maybe he could become my next weapon."
Hearing this, Diamante was even more confused.
He had definitely killed that guy—so how the hell had he survived, and eaten everyone?
Just what was he?
"Diamante, this all started because of you. You're the one most responsible."
"Put out a full bounty. Lock down the gates. Monitor every checkpoint. And search the entire city!"
"I want him found—and I want to know exactly what he is."
A wicked curve spread across Doflamingo's lips.
…
Meanwhile, the very person Doflamingo was so interested in—Lance—was hiding in a small inn.
He stood by the window, watching the soldiers go door-to-door inspecting homes.
His eyes narrowed.
"So they've already started hunting me down…"
"Doflamingo, huh? You're sending me more 'food'?"
"You must really have a death wish."
"Then allow me to grant it."
(End of Chapter)
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