"Please... please don't hurt my child," Sora's voice, though weak, echoed through the room with unwavering firmness. She clutched Sanji tightly, her beautiful eyes filled with a mother's fierce vigilance. She was prepared to die, but Sanji, the only one of her children who still possessed a "heart," had to be protected at all costs.
"Is it really that serious?" Takero looked at her, watching as she braced herself as if facing a mortal enemy. He touched his own face, a bit bewildered. Do I really look like a bad guy? he wondered. I'm pretty harmless, right? Why is she looking at me like I'm some kind of Demon King?
He quickly shook the thought away. Taking a step forward, his gaze settled on Sora again, his tone becoming more forceful. "I'll ask you one more time. Is this the Germa Kingdom?"
"Yes..." Sora began to answer, but the door to the room was suddenly thrown open. Several maids who had heard the loud crash stumbled inside. When they saw the gaping hole in the ceiling and the unfamiliar young man standing in the center of the room, their minds went blank. A moment later, a piercing scream tore through the air.
"Help! Intruder! There's an intruder in the Queen's room—!!!"
The scream acted as the kingdom's highest alarm. Instantly, the sound of heavy, urgent footsteps thundered down the corridor. A squad of guards in full combat suits charged in, brandishing spears that crackled with electricity. Without a single word, they moved to capture Takero.
"Noisy," Takero muttered, not even bothering to look at them directly. He didn't move a muscle, but with a simple thought, a vast and invisible pressure washed over the room. This was the Conqueror's Haki, an overwhelming aura that emanated from the truly powerful, and it swept out like a tsunami.
The guards, who had been charging with murderous intent just a second ago, stopped dead in their tracks. Their eyes rolled back into their heads, and they collapsed to the floor in a heap, completely unconscious before they could even get close.
Seeing this, the color drained from the face of the maid who had screamed. She was paralyzed by absolute terror for a moment before scrambling to her feet and fleeing for her life.
"An evil intruder! Quick! Report to His Majesty Judge—!!!"
Takero let her go. He turned his attention back to the mother and son on the bed, a playful smile on his lips. "Judge? So this really is the Germa Kingdom. And that must make you the Queen, right?"
Though it was a question, his tone left no room for doubt. Sora couldn't be sure of his intentions, but she could feel the clear malice this young man held for Vinsmoke Judge. It made her anxious heart beat even faster. Sanji trembled in her arms. Finally, she summoned the last of her courage and pleaded, "If... if you want valuables, you can take all the jewels in that box. I only ask that you please don't harm us."
"Relax," Takero said with a casual wave of his hand. "My fight isn't with you. I'm just here to have a little 'talk' with that scoundrel, Vinsmoke Judge." He paused for a moment. "But before he gets here, I think I'll need to keep you as hostages. I wouldn't want him to get scared and run away."
Hearing this, Sora's heart, which had been lodged in her throat, finally settled. As long as he wasn't going to harm her or Sanji, she could accept anything. As for Vinsmoke Judge's fate? Who was that? She didn't know the man.
It was Sanji, however, whose normally timid eyes now held a strange light. He stared intently at the mysterious stranger who had fallen from the sky, his expression a mixture of curiosity and something that looked a lot like admiration.
The minutes ticked by. Before long, the sound of chaotic footsteps echoed from the corridor again, accompanied by several voices.
"Father, why do you even care about that woman and Sanji? They're just useless failures," a cold, arrogant young voice said.
"Remember this, Niji," another, colder voice replied. "Sora and Sanji's lives don't matter, but the dignity of our kingdom does! Anyone who dares to challenge the authority of Germa must be met with the cruelest and bloodiest punishment!"
As the voices grew closer, a tall man wearing a black cloak and a large metal helmet strode into the room, followed by four children in different colored uniforms. There was one girl and three boys—pink, red, blue, and green—and all of them had the same distinctive curly eyebrows as the little boy on the bed.
Takero couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark. "Well, well. Add the little yellow one over there, and you've got yourselves a five-color task force ready to save the world."
When Vinsmoke Judge saw that the intruder was just a young man who looked like he wasn't even fully grown, he was momentarily confused. That confusion quickly turned into a towering rage. A mere youth dared to break into his kingdom, destroy his castle, and hold his wife and son hostage? Who gave him the nerve?!
"Clang—!"
Judge wasted no time on words. The rocket boosters on his feet erupted with flame, and he shot forward like a golden bolt of lightning. The electromagnetic spear in his hand surged with power as he thrust it directly at Takero's heart.
"Klang!"
The sound of the spear piercing flesh never came. Instead, the air was filled with the ear-splitting screech of metal on metal. Takero hadn't even shifted his stance. He had simply raised his right hand, catching the tip of the super-charged spear between his fingers. Then, with a casual squeeze, he tightened his grip.
"Boom!"
The spear, a special weapon made of memory alloy capable of piercing the armor of a warship, shattered into pieces like fragile glass. The metal fragments clattered onto the floor.
"Who... Who in the world are you?! Why have you trespassed in Germa?!" Judge's rage vanished instantly, replaced by sheer panic. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead. His last attack had been at full power, the attack of the King of Germa, and this intruder had stopped it as easily as if he were snapping a toothpick. The strength of this man was far beyond anything he could comprehend.
Takero grinned, showing a mouth full of white teeth. "What do you mean, 'trespassed'? Weren't you the one who sent people to come looking for trouble with me first?"
Judge's mind raced, but he couldn't remember ever offending such a terrifying monster. He asked cautiously, "I... I don't believe we have any grievances with each other, sir. Could there be some kind of misunderstanding?"
Takero offered him a helpful reminder. "Ambri Island."
"!!!"
Judge's pupils constricted. He understood everything in an instant! This man was an assassin sent by that brat named Tesoro!
----------------
You can read advanced chapters here: patreon.com/GregariousLion