Chapter 0131: Offering Beauty to This World
"Looks like we won—"
Seeing the outcome decided, Hayashi rose from his throne and walked over to Heathcliff, patting him on the back. "Alright, take off your helmet—and hey, you're the winner, at least act a little happy."
"What's there to be happy about after defeating an opponent of this level?" Heathcliff removed his helmet, revealing the meticulously crafted, idol-tier handsome face beneath. "Why didn't you just have the guardians handle it?"
"Well, there are… some reasons for that—" Hayashi averted his gaze, glancing at Antilene, who seemed a bit crushed by Heathcliff's "this level" remark. He patted Heathcliff's back again. "Can't you see she's upset? Help her up already."
'You're such a pain—'
Heathcliff sighed and walked over to Antilene, extending his right hand. "Get up. Your skills may be lacking, but you've got some potential."
To be fair, Antilene's level undoubtedly exceeded 90. In a world where surpassing level 30 would earn one the title of "Heroic Realm," even if she wasn't the strongest in the world, ranking within the top three wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Quite impressive indeed.
"But still completely no match for you..." Antilene raised her head. The moment she saw Heathcliff, her movements paused slightly before she naturally grasped his hand and said with composure, "Is this the true power of a 'god'?"
"I'm no god, just an ordinary mortal," Heathcliff pulled Antilene up from the ground and said, "Nor do I have any intention of becoming something as dull as a god."
"Oh—"
After standing up, Antilene lowered her head again and absentmindedly took out a Rubik's Cube from her pocket, idly twisting it as she said, "Congratulations on defeating me."
"Just an ordinary victory, nothing special." Heathcliff glanced at the cube in Antilene's hand and asked, "Do you enjoy playing with this?"
"This? Yeah!" Antilene lifted the cube slightly, a faint smile on her lips. "Don't think it's easy, though! If you just want to solve one side, it's pretty simple, but..."
"Scramble it again."
"Huh?"
"Scramble it."
"Oh..."
Antilene twisted the cube in confusion, randomly turning it over a dozen times until the already mixed colors became even more chaotic. She then stopped and looked up at Heathcliff. "Is this okay?"
"Mm." Heathcliff reached out and took the cube from her, examining it for a few seconds as he turned it in his hands. "This will do. It's about right."
"What exactly are you—" Antilene's words were cut short as the scene that followed nearly made her eyes pop out of her head.
In her line of sight, Heathcliff's expressionless hands moved at an unbelievable speed, and with each twist, the cube in his grasp rapidly expanded its monochromatic surfaces.
Twenty seconds? Fifteen? No, not even close!
Five seconds!
Under Antilene's stunned gaze, Heathcliff took a mere five seconds to completely restore the scrambled cube she had just messed up into its original six-sided, uniform-colored state.
"Here."
He handed the cube back to her.
"..."
Dumbfounded, as if still unable to process the fact that "the cube she hadn't solved in over a decade had just been restored," Antilene numbly raised her hands and took the cube from Heathcliff.
"With that, I'll take my leave." Heathcliff calmly stepped past Antilene and headed toward the exit—he was now eager to continue studying the structure of the mechanical forces created by Violet. That was far more interesting than fighting a woman with mismatched hair colors.
...
...
"He's... gone."
Antilene leaned against the pillar by the door, her gaze slightly unfocused as she stared at the fully restored 3x3 Rubik's Cube in her hand. She murmured softly, "He's amazing... Not only did he defeat me in battle, but he can solve a Rubik's Cube so quickly too..."
Truly incredible.
As she was lost in admiration, the Black Captain, who had been nursing a headache, approached Hayashi and asked in a low voice, "Master of the Sky Castle, may I ask what exactly you intend to do?"
Before Antilene's defeat, the Black Captain had thought, 'No big deal. I have Kaido, the world's strongest creature, on my ship. Beating some rookie like Straw Hat would be a piece of cake.'
But who could have guessed that Luffy would keep bouncing back throughout the battle? In the later stages, he even transformed from a Paramecia-type into a Mythical Zoan, turning the fight into a Tom and Jerry chase before ultimately knocking out Kaido.
Total defeat.
"Well..." Hayashi stroked his chin, glancing back at Erina, Hisako, and Yunyun, who were seated and smiling at him. Turning back, he grinned and said, "To offer something beautiful to this rotten world!"
"Huh?"
The Black Captain looked utterly bewildered.
...
...
That night, the Black Captain and Antilene, after separate detailed discussions with Hayashi and his companions, mounted their warhorses and left the Sky Castle. However, compared to the relaxed and carefree atmosphere of their arrival, the mood upon departure was far more solemn.
After riding for over ten minutes, the Captain, still a minor and unable to contain his curiosity, turned to Antilene and asked, "May I ask what you discussed with them?"
Antilene tilted her head toward him, a teasing smile playing on her lips. "Oh? Interested, are you? Aren't you afraid of prying into something that might get you killed by me?"
The Captain twitched his lips and subconsciously touched the pendant on his chest. "He hinted that I should talk to you after we left."
Antilene's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Ehh—" she exclaimed. "I thought someone as rigid as you wouldn't make the same choice as me."
"!"
The Captain's eyes widened in shock, and he nearly reined in his horse from sheer astonishment.
"Why so surprised?" Antilene chuckled, casually flicking a wind blade to cut through a branch blocking their path. "Did you think I was the rigid one?"
"N-no, not that..." The Captain shook his head awkwardly. "I just never imagined you'd make such a choice."
Antilene let out a soft laugh and murmured, "There's a lot about me you don't know—"
She tightened her grip on the reins, her thoughts already racing ahead to two weeks later.
...
...
Meanwhile, back at the Sky Castle.
"As expected of Hisako! Truly unparalleled in wit and strategy!" Hayashi solemnly gave her a thumbs-up. "I could never have come up with such a method myself!"
"This is just a very simple scheme!" Hisako hurriedly waved her hands and said with a bitter smile, "Young master, if possible, you should really recruit some truly strategic talents. I'm really not cut out for this."
Compared to Demiurge from the original story who could kill multiple birds with one stone, Hisako felt like a complete fool. Even with such an overwhelming advantage in intelligence, she could only come up with such dry results—it was too shameful for someone with her transmigrator status.
"Eh? But I think you're already amazing, Hisako," Hayashi said as he lay on Erina's lap, happily rubbing his face against her plush thighs. "With this, our plan to make the other world a better place is already halfway successful, right?"
"Not even close—at most one-third complete—" Hisako shot an envious glance at Hayashi. She also wanted to bury her face in Erina's skirt and rub against those soft thighs!
As for Erina? She had already given up resisting and could only cover her face with her hands, pretending to be an ostrich.
"But that's still pretty good!" Hayashi hummed contentedly. "The most troublesome should be the Empire, right?"
"No, the most troublesome is actually the Kingdom," Hisako shook her head and said. "The Emperor of the Empire may be ambitious, but he's actually a smart man. Once we demonstrate enough overwhelming power, he'll obediently submit on his own. In contrast, the nobles of the Kingdom..."
When this topic came up, Hisako couldn't help but sigh, speaking in a tone full of disgust and disdain: "They're pure parasites—the kind that wouldn't matter even if they died."
It wasn't that Hisako had truly become bloodthirsty—otherwise, she wouldn't have felt uncomfortable about the deaths of 70,000 people in the Kingdom. But when the intelligence team compiled and presented the actions of the Kingdom's nobles on the table, they realized just how rotten the Kingdom's upper echelons were.
Simply calling them "scum" was no longer enough to describe those power-hungry nobles. These people were a waste of air even while alive. Hanging every last one of them from lampposts would only make Hisako applaud in delight.
At this point, Hisako shook her head and said, "Actually, the Empire was in a similar state before, but their Emperor was too exceptional—he forcibly purged the nobility once. Though the Empire isn't exactly a paradise now, it's still much better than the Kingdom."
Hearing such a heavy topic, Erina also lowered her hands and began kneading Hayashi's face unhappily, saying, "This world is just too awful!"
Hayashi scratched his cheek and said, "That's exactly why we need my 'Bringing Beauty to Another World' plan, right? Don't worry, with our intervention, the ordinary people of this world will definitely live better lives!"
"Mm!" x2