Chapter 36: Crushing Justice! The Demon and the Maid!
The deck of the Saint Noros had become a chaotic stage where the established order of the world was being violently dismantled.
Vice Admiral Ferguson felt like he was caught in the center of a hurricane. His heart, usually steady as a rock from decades of naval service, was currently being swept by a tempest of disbelief and rising terror.
Clang!
His arms, hardened to the color of obsidian by Armament Haki, crossed in front of his chest just in time to block another strike. The impact sent a jolt of numbing pain shooting all the way to his shoulders, rattling his teeth.
"Guh...!"
Ferguson gritted his teeth, his boots sliding backward on the gold-plated deck, carving deep gouges into the luxurious wood.
He simply couldn't believe it. He was a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral! He was an elite officer who had carved his way through the Grand Line, hunting down vicious pirates with bounties in the hundreds of millions. He was a master of the Six Powers, a symbol of Absolute Justice.
And yet, he was being completely suppressed by a maid.
A seemingly delicate, young maid in a frilly blue dress.
"Who... who the hell are you people?!" Ferguson roared, trying to find an opening to counterattack.
Rem didn't answer with words. She answered with violence.
Her movements appeared simple, almost elegant, but the heavy spiked morningstar she wielded struck with the force of a falling meteor. She spun the chain with terrifying precision, the weapon whistling through the air, attacking from tricky, unpredictable angles that forced Ferguson to remain purely on the defensive.
Her strength and speed far exceeded his understanding of human limits. It was monstrous. It was the strength of a demon.
"Rankyaku!"
Ferguson kicked out, sending a crescent-shaped blade of compressed air toward Rem's head, trying to buy himself some distance.
Rem didn't even dodge. She simply smashed the air blade with her iron ball, shattering the attack into a harmless gust of wind.
"Is that all?" Rem's voice was calm, her single visible blue eye cold and focused.
Ferguson gasped, sweat pouring down his forehead. With each parry, the soreness in his arms increased. He realized with dawning horror that if this continued, his Haki would run out before hers did.
Desperate, he tried to survey the battlefield, hoping for support. But what he saw out of the corner of his eye struck him like a bolt of lightning, freezing the blood in his veins.
Fifty meters away, a fountain of blood sprayed into the clear blue sky.
His colleague, Vice Admiral Momonga—a master swordsman—had been dismantled. His arm was severed, spinning through the air, and he was being beaten back by the black-winged woman as if he were a child fighting a giant.
But what terrified Ferguson even more was the scene unfolding near the shattered cabin.
He saw the pirate named Suzaku standing over the World Noble.
He saw the hand raised.
And then, he heard it.
SLAP!
The sound was crisp, loud, and impossible.
Suzaku had actually... actually slapped a World Noble, the supreme Tenryuubito, squarely across the face!
"The... the Tenryuubito... was hit?!"
Ferguson's mind went blank. The momentary daze caused his movements to falter. The rhythm of his breathing broke.
Cold sweat poured down his forehead like a waterfall, stinging his eyes and blurring his vision.
That loud slap didn't just land on Saint Jalmack's greasy face; it landed on the face of the World Government itself. It shattered the unwritten law that had held the world in check for eight hundred years. It gave Ferguson a strong sense of unreality, as if he had fallen into an absurd, terrifying nightmare.
"It's over..." Ferguson thought, his spirit crumbling. "An Admiral will be summoned. A Buster Call... No, this is bigger than that. This is a monumental disaster!"
However, on the battlefield, a split second of hesitation is the difference between life and death.
While Rem usually appeared as a demure and obedient maid by Suzaku's side, the Oni blood flowing in her veins gave her a beast-like keenness for seizing prey. Her combat instincts screamed that the enemy had exposed a fatal flaw.
"You looked away," Rem whispered.
A cold, sharp glint flashed in her azure eyes.
Her physique had improved rapidly during their voyage. Suzaku had explained that the food in the One Piece world—the Sea King meat, the nutrient-dense fruits—was rich in powerful energy. After nourishment, people in this world developed superhuman physiques. Rem was no exception. Her Oni blood was absorbing this energy like a sponge, evolving her strength daily.
At this moment, her petite body erupted with astonishing power.
CRACK!
The gold-plated deck beneath her feet shattered into splinters. She shot forward like an arrow released from a god's bow!
The meteor hammer, wrapped in a thick, dark layer of Armament Haki, whistled through the air. It tore through the wind, smashing toward Ferguson's chest like a falling star.
"Oh no!"
Vice Admiral Ferguson's pupils dilated. He was a seasoned veteran, and his Observation Haki screamed a warning of impending death.
It was too late to dodge. It was too late to counter.
"Tekkai: Gou!"
He instinctively crossed his arms in front of his chest, hardening his muscles to the density of iron, pouring every ounce of his remaining Haki into defense.
But against an Oni's full-power strike, iron was as brittle as glass.
BANG—!!!
A dull thud, like a giant war drum being beaten by a titan, exploded across the ship!
The sound of bones cracking was audible even over the chaos.
Ferguson felt a massive, unstoppable force smash into him. It felt as if a mountain had been thrown at his chest. Excruciating pain shot through his arms as his radius and ulna snapped under the pressure.
"Guh-AAAH!"
He spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes rolling back in his head.
His entire body was thrown backward like a stone launched from a catapult. His feet left the ground, and he flew uncontrollably through the air, tracing a pathetic arc over the railing of the Saint Noros.
He smashed through the wooden railing, splinters flying, and continued his trajectory over the open ocean.
THUMP!
A massive splash erupted as the Vice Admiral hit the cold seawater fifty meters away. A few bubbles gurgled on the surface, stained red with blood, and then... nothing.
The Vice Admiral did not resurface.
Suzaku, who had just finished disciplining the Celestial Dragon, looked back just in time to see the final scene of Ferguson falling into the sea like a broken kite.
He watched the ripples fade, a faint smile curving his lips.
"Well done, Rem!"
Suzaku shouted, his voice cutting through the cries of the terrified Marines. "You sent a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral flying with one hit! Your progress is astonishing!"
Hearing Suzaku's praise, Rem retracted her flail, the chain coiling back around her arm with a metallic rattle. She smoothed down her apron, her breathing only slightly elevated.
"Lord Suzaku overpraises me," Rem shook her head slightly, her expression serious as she analyzed the fight. "The opponent's strength was formidable. His mastery of the 'Six Powers' and his combat experience were very rich. In a direct confrontation, Rem would indeed find it difficult to secure a victory in a short time."
She looked at the spot where Ferguson had vanished.
"Of course, it would also not be easy for him to defeat Rem. Just now... it was mainly by taking advantage of his distraction caused by your action that I found a fatal opportunity."
Suzaku smiled knowingly, immediately understanding Rem's unspoken meaning. She was humble, but she was also confident.
If it were a fair fight, the current Rem—with her Oni strength and Haki—would be able to stand her ground against a Vice Admiral. It would be a stalemate.
But Suzaku knew something the Marines didn't.
Rem had not yet used her Float-Float Fruit (Fuwa Fuwa no Mi) ability.
Just imagine. In a confrontation of high-level fighters, positioning is everything. Who could deal with an opponent who could ascend into the sky at any time, drop battleships on their heads, or manipulate the terrain itself?
Rem, with air superiority and telekinetic control over the environment, was practically invincible against anyone who couldn't fly. She was holding back.
Just then, another voice floated across the deck.
"Lord Suzaku~"
The voice carried a hint of barely perceptible coquettishness, sweet as honey but laced with an undercurrent of terror.
"You can't play favorites, can you? Am I not doing well enough? I finished my task too."
Before she finished speaking, Albedo walked slowly from the ruined section of the ship.
However, the scene she presented made her sweet tone appear exceptionally terrifying.
Albedo was walking with a swaying, elegant gait. But in her right hand, her slender, pale fingers were gripping Vice Admiral Momonga's throat.
She held him effortlessly, lifting his entire body into the air as if he were a rag doll.
The fate of this renowned Marine Vice Admiral was extremely tragic. His remaining arm hung limply. Both of his legs were twisted at unnatural angles, the bones clearly pulverized. His uniform was soaked in blood, and his head lolled to the side, eyes vacant and staring at nothing.
He had clearly breathed his last.
In Albedo's hands, a man who was considered a powerhouse of the sea was indeed no different from an insect that had been crushed for buzzing too loudly.
This incredibly shocking scene became the last straw that broke the spirits of the remaining Marine soldiers on the ship.
They were already scared out of their wits. Their Vice Admirals were defeated. The Celestial Dragon was crying on the floor in a puddle of his own urine. The CP0 agents were dead.
Now, witnessing Vice Admiral Momonga—the hero of G-1 Base—being casually dragged like garbage, fear finally broke through the line of military discipline.
"Mon... Monster!"
A young Marine dropped his rifle, his knees shaking so hard they knocked together.
"Even Vice Admiral Momonga is dead... She killed him! She killed him like it was nothing!"
"Run! We have to run!"
"Abandon ship!"
Someone started it. A weapon clattered onto the deck. Then another.
The psychological dam burst. The soldiers completely collapsed. They no longer cared about orders, honor, or the consequences of desertion. Panic spread like a plague.
"AAAAHHH! DON'T KILL ME!"
Like dumplings falling into a pot, they scrambled over the ship's railing. Hundreds of soldiers screamed as they jumped into the cold seawater, splashing frantically as they swam toward the damaged escort ships in the distance.
Staying on the Saint Noros meant certain death. Facing these monsters was impossible. Survival became their only instinct.
"Truly ugly bugs."
Albedo watched the chaotic retreat with cold, glowing golden eyes.
She lifted her hand and casually flung Momonga's corpse aside. The Vice Admiral's body crashed into a pile of debris like discarded trash.
She didn't give him a second glance. Instead, she elegantly straightened her skirt, took out a pair of pristine white gloves from her pocket, and unhurriedly put them on, smoothing the fabric over her fingers. It was as if she had just completed a trivial cleanup of some dust, rather than slaughtering a high-ranking officer.
Then, her demeanor shifted instantly. The aura of the "Merciless Overseer" vanished, replaced by the "Maiden in Love."
She trotted with light steps to Suzaku's side. She ignored the sobbing Celestial Dragon on the floor, stepping over him as if he were a stain on the rug.
"Lord Suzaku," Albedo leaned in close, her voice turning sweet and needy. She looked up at him with sparkling eyes, seeking praise. "You haven't yet commented on my performance. Did I dispose of the trash to your satisfaction?"
Suzaku chuckled upon seeing this drastic change in personality. He naturally reached out and placed his hand on her head, stroking her silky black hair.
"Of course," Suzaku smiled warmly. "Albedo did an excellent job. Clean, efficient, and ruthless. You worked hard."
Receiving Suzaku's affirmation and the headpat, Albedo's face immediately bloomed into a radiant smile that could make a hundred flowers pale in comparison. A visible blush dusted her cheeks.
"Mmm~"
She narrowed her eyes slightly, like a cat being stroked, letting out a satisfied sigh and leaning into his touch. To her, this praise was worth more than the entire world.
"Alright," Suzaku patted her shoulder gently, signaling the end of the combat phase.
He turned his gaze to the ship itself. The Saint Noros was a floating palace. The gold leaf, the intricate carvings, the sheer size of it... it screamed of unimaginable wealth.
"Now," Suzaku said, a greedy glint appearing in his eyes that mirrored his Navigator's. "I have something important to entrust to you, Albedo."
"Anything, Lord Suzaku," Albedo stood at attention.
"Go call Nami over from the Vermillion Wing," Suzaku commanded, pointing to the magnificent large ship beneath their feet.
"This ship is for transporting the 'Heavenly Tribute.' That fat pig over there," Suzaku gestured to Jalmack, "was collecting taxes from entire nations. The hold must be piled high with gold, silver, devil fruits, and treasures."
Suzaku grinned.
"This kind of 'treasure hunt' surprise... of course, should be left for our greedy Navigator to discover herself. She might actually faint from happiness."
"As you command, Lord Suzaku," Albedo curtsied gracefully, lifting the hem of her dress.
"I shall go and convey your command to Nami immediately. I am sure she will be... very motivated."
Albedo spread her black wings, creating a gust of wind as she took to the sky, flying back toward their ship to fetch the woman who loved money more than life itself.
Suzaku stood alone on the deck of the conquered ship, surrounded by unconscious enemies and unimaginable wealth. He looked down at Saint Jalmack, who was shivering and trying to crawl away like a crushed insect.
"Now then," Suzaku crouched down, picking up a shard of the broken bubble helmet. He twirled it between his fingers, the sharp edge glinting in the sunlight.
"While we wait for the looting to begin... let's have a chat about what else you have in your inventory, shall we, Saint Jalmack?"
He smiled, but his eyes were colder than the deep sea.
"And you better hope your answers are more valuable than your dignity."
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