Seeing everyone frozen in place, the young man seemed quite satisfied with the effect. He lowered his leg, crossed his arms, tilted his chin upward, and looked down arrogantly. His bare torso was well-defined, his muscles sculpted neatly across his abdomen.
Golden curls fell behind his ears, giving him a somewhat handsome appearance—though still not quite as striking as the gentleman readers, of course.
The pirates in the hall were stunned by the scene. They stopped eating, stopped drinking, even stopped talking. All eyes were fixed on the brat who was clearly about to get himself killed.
"This kid's a goner. Of all people, he just had to challenge the Sword Demon. Does he think that bloodlust came from killing sea beasts?" a random pirate commented.
"Exactly, what an idiot. Still, it's good entertainment while we eat. Don't stop now!"
In a nearby private room, the four seated guests exchanged glances. Finally, Kadun called out, "Boss! Boss, are you still running a business here or not? Some guy's ruining our meal—kick him out already!"
"That little show-off… put some damn clothes on, it's blinding," Kadun grumbled.
"Coming, coming," the manager replied, casting a bitter glance at the young man. But there was nothing he could do—the brat wasn't someone he could afford to offend.
What a headache, he thought. If you want to challenge someone, take it outside. Do you even know who you're provoking? One wrong move and the entire Flying Bird Island could be flattened.
"S-Sword Demon sir, this is just a humble establishment. I can't afford to offend either of you…" the manager said, mopping sweat off his brow with a towel.
---
He'd already sweat more today than he had all of last year.
The young man glanced at him with a look that said at least you know your place. "Leave. This has nothing to do with you. If there's any damage, I'll pay from my own ship's funds. Your family's reputation should tell you where my ship is docked, right?"
"Sir Sword Demon, if you could just—"
"You can go now."
It seemed the young man had some status of his own—otherwise, the manager wouldn't be reacting like this. Weiss didn't make things harder for him either. Getting caught in the middle wasn't a fun place to be.
The manager bowed slightly with a forced smile and backed out.
Q: What do you do when you're caught between a tiger and a wolf?
A: Bow your head and feed the tiger. How? Well… cough, cough…
---
"Let me introduce myself—I'm Theodore, a pirate with a 90 million bounty. I heard you were famous, so I came to challenge you," he declared, dragging a chair over and sitting down across from Weiss without permission.
"Why should I accept your challenge?" Weiss asked, setting down his fork and lifting a glass of red wine. "We have no quarrel. In fact, you just interrupted my meal."
The other three exchanged glances and gave Theodore a pitiful look. They all knew—Weiss always had a glass of red wine before a fight.
"That's fine. This meal's on me. I'll cover the bill," Theodore said with a grand wave, as if generously offering a favor.
Weiss's eyes lit up suddenly. He leaned in and whispered something into Karina's ear. Karina looked at him like she'd just seen a ghost, but deep down, she was thrilled. Patting her chest, she said, "Leave it to me, Captain!"
She then jumped up and dashed out of the room, brimming with energy.
"…Where's she going?" Theodore asked, suddenly getting a bad feeling.
"Oh, nothing serious," Weiss replied with a friendly smile. "She's our ship's treasurer. I just asked her to pick up some supplies. You don't mind, right?"
"No, no problem at all. Let's get this fight started!"
Theodore stood up with a grin, cracking his knuckles, clearly eager to throw down.
"Hold on," Weiss said calmly. "You're so into challenging people—how many strong opponents have you fought?"
Weiss was stalling for Karina's sake. If he had to end the fight, he could do it in a single move.
"A lot. Pirates with bounties from fifty to a hundred million—I've fought at least ten. I even tried to fight Admiral Aokiji once. Got my ass kicked, and my crew barely got me out."
Theodore's expression darkened. Apparently getting caught by a Marine Admiral was a major embarrassment.
Weiss's interest was piqued. He got someone off an Admiral's ship? That's no small feat. But he didn't press the topic—better to wait until after the fight when the guy might spill more.
"And?" Weiss asked nonchalantly.
"Oh, about six months ago I ran into Hawkeye. I heard he was looking for someone, so I figured, why not challenge him?"
"And the result?"
"He ignored me—and then sliced my ship in half."
"So you think if Hawkeye wouldn't give you the time of day, I will?" Weiss chuckled. "Still… since you're covering the bill, I'll humor you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Jack and Kadun sensed a dangerous aura from Theodore. Then, a blur shot toward Weiss.
"You're too slow. Your punches are way too slow."
What looked like a lightning-fast blur to others was moving like a snail to Weiss.
He calmly raised a hand and caught Theodore's punch in his palm. Then, with one kick, he split the dining table in half, the momentum unbroken. His leg slammed into Theodore's well-toned abs.
Boom!
Theodore let out a pained grunt. Agony surged from his stomach and his arm. He was sent flying.
Crash!
A dozen meters of the dining hall were instantly cleared. Tables shattered on the ground. Theodore landed like a drenched ragdoll, soup and broth soaking his entire body.
Something felt off. Why was the hall suddenly so empty?
Looking around, he saw that half the pirates had already moved to one side of the room.
That side... was gambling.
---
"Boss, are we really okay doing this? What if the Sword Demon gets angry?" one pirate asked nervously.
"What's there to be afraid of?" another replied. "We'll just offer up eighty percent of the winnings. Besides, we're not betting against him—we're betting on how long that idiot Theodore can last. One second or two?"
"Everyone's betting on one second now. The Sword Demon's strength really is monster-level."
"This is faith—absolute faith in the Sword Demon!" the pirate declared confidently.
"But, boss… Theodore just got blasted in one second. They won the bet. We have to pay out now…" the first pirate groaned.
The confident pirate suddenly froze, noticing the bloodthirsty gleam in the eyes around him.
"Wait, wait! Theodore still has fight left in him! Hold on, no need to rush!"
"Go Theodore! You can do it! Hang in there!"
Theodore, clutching his arm and belly in pain, heard the cheering and was confused—but also oddly touched. They believe I can beat this guy who can hold his own against an Admiral…
I can't let them down!
He struggled to his feet. "Sword Demon… one more round!"
Seeing Theodore get up, Weiss let out a small breath of relief. He had held back, but still worried that one kick might've knocked him out for good.
That would've ruined Karina's chance to finish her errand.
"Come," Weiss said coldly, maintaining the aura of an unbeatable warrior.
---
https:// ko-fi.com/sami27