Hey guys, I'm back! Another chapter for you, thanks for the gems, the views, and the collections! This novel has already gone much further than I thought it would, good chapter! See Ya!
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"Hey! Look what I found here! Shit, this bastard is heavy as hell, give me a hand!"
In a remote part of the vast East Blue, a ship sailed calmly across the sea. But it was no ordinary ship — it was a pink pirate vessel, decorated with hearts all over and a stylized Jolly Roger: a skull in profile with crossed bones behind it and a pink heart stamped on top.
That was the Miss Love Duck the ship of the Alvida Pirates. A relatively weak group from the East Blue. Their captain, Alvida "Iron Mace," had a bounty of 5,000,000 bellys. She was famous for her strength and for her... let's say, imposing figure. Today, one of her crew members stood watch in the afternoon, as rumors of increased Marine patrols had led Alvida to order constant vigilance.
This shift belonged to Pierrot, one of the weakest of the crew, known for his frail body — unable to withstand a single blow — and his self-deprecating humor. Normally, watch duty from the mast would be tedious and monotonous, but that day something different appeared in his line of sight: a small dot in the vast ocean. The currents brought the object closer, revealing a man adrift.
Climbing down from the crow's nest and moving to the ship's edge, Pierrot realized the man was close enough to be pulled aboard. "Easy money," he thought. If alive, the man could be sold as a slave. In the market, a single human was worth at least 500,000 bellys. No one asked where you came from; it didn't matter if you had been born free.
And so we arrive at the current scene: Pierrot couldn't lift the man alone, so he called for help.
"Hey, Pierrot! Found another barrel floating around?" — from the corner of the deck, a short, muscular, dark-skinned man named Caiman approached to check on his crewmate's find.
"No! Shit, my arms are burning! I found a pot of gold, another guy for the slave market! Hurry up, Caiman!" — Pierrot snarled, teeth clenched as he tried to haul the body a few more inches.
Caiman flashed a predatory grin and quickly joined in. "Hah! Pure gold!"
Thud. With a muffled sound, the man was finally hauled onto the deck.
"Quick! Help me get the net off him. If he's got a pretty face, we might sell him for even more!" — Pierrot said.
Caiman crouched to help, but immediately noticed something strange.
"Damn, this guy's huge... Shit! Are those horns?! HAHAHA, he's a fucking Oni!"
As they pulled the net away, they revealed a young man dressed in ragged leather, chest exposed, with a large pair of horns sprouting from his head. Caiman's wild grin only grew.
"What? Seriously?! Shit, we're rich!" — Pierrot, exhausted as he was, smiled as widely as his companion.
Oni slaves were worth far more than humans. They were rare, nearly extinct, and their horns were priceless: legendary forging material, rumored to have miraculous medicinal properties. A single horn could sustain a wealthy family for generations.
This greed had driven the onis to near extinction. The World Government had officially banned their sale, not to save the race, but to reserve the product for the elite — the Celestial Dragons, who used oni horns in their personal weapons. Still, in the black market, oni horns remained highly sought-after goods.
"Tie him up! Quick, before this bastard wakes up!" — Caiman ordered.
He knew this wasn't a full-grown oni: the horns had not yet shifted to the sides of the head, a clear sign of immaturity. But even a young oni was still far stronger than any common human, with skin resistant to most attacks.
In a hurry, the two wrapped Goraku's massive body in layer upon layer of rope, nearly immobilizing him completely.
"Take him to an empty cabin. Keep watch: if he shows the slightest sign of waking, kill him. What really matters are the horns. Meanwhile, I'll tell Alvida. We need to figure out how to sell this fortune fast."
Pierrot rushed off, leaving Goraku in Caiman's care.
"Damn, you're heavy as hell!" — Caiman grumbled, dragging the oni into an empty cabin under the curious stares of the other crewmates. With one final effort, he shoved the body inside, fetched a small stool from another room, and sat by the door, starting his watch.
"Bellys enough to fill a whole ship! We're rich!" — he muttered to himself, not noticing the small, involuntary movements of the oni's hands.
Time passed, and Pierrot had not returned. The captain's delay made Caiman restless.
"Damn it, where are they? Staying here alone with this bastard is creepy!" — he growled, tapping his foot.
Impatient, he stood up, determined to leave. "That's it, I'm not staying here alone!"
Just as his hand touched the doorknob, a tearing sound came from behind him.
"Shi—"
He tried to spin around as fast as possible, but before he could draw his flintlock or shout for help, a massive hand filled his vision.
BAM!
And then, everything went black.