novelnext Chapter 166 Cruelty
Chapter 166 Cruelty
Chapter 166 Cruelty
As night deepened, the lights of the royal capital of Dressrosa remained as bright as day, and the air was still filled with the sweet aroma of flowers and desserts.
Violet linked one arm with Bai Yu's and lifted her skirt with the other, her steps as light as a fluttering butterfly.
The vendors on both sides of the street had not yet packed up, and the warm yellow lights illuminated her bright smile. As she walked along, she enthusiastically introduced everything about her hometown to everyone, and the happiness in her eyes was almost overflowing.
Robin walked to one side, a gentle smile on her lips, quietly watching the heartwarming scene before her.
With a freshly bought fruit candy dangling from her mouth, Kanna followed beside them on her short legs, occasionally glancing up at the two arm in arm, her big eyes filled with innocent joy.
A gentle evening breeze, carrying the unique warmth of a seaside country, made everything as peaceful as the most beautiful dream.
But this tranquility was abruptly shattered by a sudden, urgent, and panicked commotion that erupted in the central square of the capital.
The pedestrians who were leisurely strolling suddenly looked surprised and rushed towards the square. Discussions and exclamations rose and fell, and the originally cheerful atmosphere was instantly shrouded in a heavy unease.
"What's going on?!"
"Something seems to have happened at the palace!"
"His Majesty King Riku—His Majesty King Riku is borrowing 10 billion Berries from the entire nation?!"
As the frantic words entered her ears, Violet's smile froze instantly, her bright eyes widened in disbelief, and she stood frozen in place.
"—Ten billion Baileys? Borrowing from the people?"
She staggered back half a step, her face instantly turning ashen, and the fingers holding Bai Yu's arm tightened suddenly, the fingertips turning white from the force.
"Impossible—absolutely impossible! My father would never do such a thing! This can't be true!"
King Riku was honest and loved his people throughout his life, treating them as his own family. He would never borrow billions, let alone take even the slightest bit of profit.
This utterly absurd news, like a cold, sharp blade, instantly pierced Violet's heart.
Something must have happened at the palace.
Robin's voice instantly turned serious, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes: "Something must have happened in the royal palace, or rather, under King Riku, that we don't know about."
Bai Yu's hand, hanging by his side, twitched slightly. His dark eyes were calm and still, but covered with a layer of imperceptible coldness. He guessed what had happened: it was about Don Quixote, the clown, and his family's circus.
He didn't say anything more, only calmly stating, "Go back."
Once those two words were spoken, no one hesitated for a second.
Violet was already in a state of utter confusion, fear and unease gnawing at her heart. She clung tightly to Bai Yu's arm, almost being pulled along by him.
The figures of the group darted across the brightly lit streets, their once pleasant outing now turning into a journey home to the palace.
The closer you get to the palace, the stronger the smell of blood and the sense of panic become.
The square in front of the palace was already in complete chaos.
The once kind and gentle King Riku now has empty eyes, a distorted face, and a long sword tightly gripped in his hand, like a puppet controlled by invisible threads.
Threads of transparent silk, almost invisible to the naked eye, wrapped around his limbs and torso, even affecting every nerve and muscle.
Under that terrifying manipulation, King Riku uncontrollably swung his sword, slashing at his most cherished people.
Blood splattered on the white stone slabs, and piercing screams and desperate cries tore through the night sky.
Innocent citizens lay dead in pools of blood, their eyes filled with incomprehension, fear, and despair.
They couldn't believe that their king, who had always protected them, would suddenly turn on them and kill them.
"Father—!"
Violet witnessed this horrific scene, her pupils contracted sharply, and she let out a heart-wrenching scream.
She was trembling all over and could barely stand. If Bai Yu hadn't steadily supported her shoulders, she would have collapsed to the ground.
Just then, a wild and sinister laugh slowly rang out from the high platform of the palace.
A man in a pink feather coat leaned leisurely against the railing, his eyes behind sunglasses filled with mockery and cruelty.
He lightly twirled his fingers, manipulating the transparent, deadly threads, a cruel smile playing on his lips.
Donquixote Doflamingo.
The source of the entire Dressrosa dream.
"Tsk tsk tsk, look at this touching scene—"
Doflamingo licked his lips, his tone flippant and malicious.
"The merciful King Riku is slaughtering his own people—what a spectacle!"
Upon seeing the person on the high platform, Violet's blood almost froze.
It was him! It was that devil! He was the one who did it all!
Bai Yu, along with Robin, Kanna, and Violet, landed steadily in the center of the chaotic square.
His dark robes fluttered in the night wind, and the calm aura he exuded suppressed the panic and chaos around him.
He raised his eyes and calmly looked at Doflamingo on the high platform.
This glance, though lacking in sharp killing intent, caused the usually unbridled Doflamingo to abruptly pause in his finger movements.
A sense of oppression, originating from the depths of one's soul, descended silently like a giant wave in the deep sea.
Doflamingo's mocking smile slowly faded, and his fingers gripping the silk thread tightened slightly.
He didn't understand why this man would appear here at this moment. He knew very well that this man named Uchiha Shiraha was unfathomably strong and dared to defeat even a Marine Admiral head-on. He was definitely the most troublesome variable in his plan.
Originally, he intended to completely overthrow Dressrosa by manipulating King Riku, but he did not expect that Shiraha would arrive at this critical juncture.
If a fight really breaks out, he has no confidence whatsoever that he can escape unscathed, and may even perish here.
Doflamingo slowly straightened up, took off his sunglasses, and a calculating glint flashed in his cruel eyes. He slowly raised his hands, making a seemingly harmless gesture of stopping.
"Wait, Lord Baiyu."
He spoke, his tone less arrogant and more deliberately gentle.
"There doesn't seem to be any irreconcilable feud between us, does there?"
Bai Yu didn't speak, but just looked at him quietly, his deep eyes like an ancient, cold pool, making it impossible to see through him.
Doflamingo's heart tightened slightly, and he continued speaking, trying to calm the terrifying man before him with his words: "I'm just dealing with private matters in Dressrosa, it has nothing to do with you. If you're willing to stand aside, I can pretend today's events never happened, and even—"
He paused, then offered an enticing bargain: "Everything in Dressrosa, all the profits of the underworld, I can give you half. We can cooperate; there's no need to fight to the death here, right?"
He seized power by manipulating the king to massacre the people, but when faced with a strong opponent, he immediately put on a negotiating and truce face, trying to buy them off with benefits and settle things with words.
Doflamingo looked at Bai Yu with a fake smile on his face, but his heart was already on edge.
He was gambling that Uchiha Hakuba wouldn't make an enemy of a great pirate and middleman from the surface world for the sake of a country's royal family.
Violet clutched Bai Yu's sleeve tightly, her eyes brimming with tears, her voice trembling with a desperate plea: "Bai Yu-kun—please—save my father—save my country—"
The night wind swept up the stench of blood and dust from the plaza. On the high platform stood Doflamingo, in the plaza King Riku wielded his sword like a puppet, in the blood-soaked ground lay the desperate citizens, and behind him stood a terrified and helpless girl.
Bai Yu slowly released Violet's hand and took a light step forward.
The ground cracked silently.
The air froze instantly.
He raised his eyes and looked at Doflamingo on the high platform, who was trying to end the war with benefits and words. His calm voice, however, carried a power that could crush all hypocrisy, and slowly rang out.
"Your private matter?"
"To use such dirty tricks to harm the homeland of my comrades in front of me."
Do you think I'd negotiate with you?
The moment the words fell, an extremely terrifying pressure erupted, sweeping across the entire palace square.
A terrifying pressure swept through every corner of the palace square like a tsunami, the air was crushed and made to hum loudly, the stone slabs on the ground cracked inch by inch, and the broken stones were suspended in the air by an invisible force.
Doflamingo's expression changed drastically, and he stumbled half a step. Several of the transparent threads controlling King Kiku snapped instantly. He looked up sharply, and his pupils behind his sunglasses contracted violently due to extreme fear.
"Uchiha Hakuha—don't go too far!"
Doflamingo roared, his pink feather coat fluttering wildly in the wind. Dozens of jet-black Armament Haki threads shot out from his palms like dancing venomous snakes, aiming straight for Bai Yu's face: "I'm giving you face, but you don't appreciate it. Do you really think I'm afraid of you?!"
"Whether you're afraid or not, you'll know once you try."
Bai Yu remained motionless, and with a slight lift of his fingertips, the jet-black Susanoo skeleton instantly condensed in front of him, forming an indestructible psionic shield.
Doflamingo's Armament Haki threads struck Susanoo, shattering into countless points of light like ants trying to move a mountain, leaving not a trace behind.
At the same time, dozens of figures suddenly darted out from the shadows on both sides of the royal palace platform.
Pica, Diamanti, Torrepol, Jorah, and other core members of the Donquixote Family all appeared, gripping weapons and with sinister eyes, their targets were Violet, who was being protected by Bai Yu, and King Riku, who was lying limp on the ground.
"Young Master! Let's eliminate the remaining rebels in this country!"
"Arrest the princess and the old king; we're not afraid that Uchiha Hakuba won't compromise!"
A sinister laugh echoed across the square as Pica transformed into a giant stone golem, swinging its massive fist down. Diamante's Fluttering Fruit unfurled a curtain of sharp swords, and Trebol's sticky slime spread like a tide, attempting to completely trap Violet and King Riku.
Violet's face turned pale. She instinctively shielded her injured father behind her, her fingertips trembling as she gathered the power of the Gaze-Gaze Fruit, but she was no match for the combined attack of several top executives.
Just as Robin was about to use her Arm-Arm Fruit ability to stop them, an even more terrifying figure, filled with bloodthirsty ferocity, stepped in front of them first.
The flowers of Mao are intense.
At this moment, she had long since shed her gentle, flowing grace. Her long hair was disheveled and clung to her neck, and her eyes, which always held a faint smile, had completely transformed into a murderous gaze. The curve of her lips was no longer gentle, but a wanton, arrogant, and bloodthirsty grin.
The former captain of the 11th Division, the first Kenpachi of Soul Society, Unohana Yachiru, has now fully awakened.
"Oh my gosh—a bunch of dirty little bugs, they look kind of fun!"
She slowly raised her hand and drew her knife, without any fancy moves, only the purest and most brutal killing instinct.
"Perfect timing—it's been a long time since I've had a proper workout. You guys, come and play with me!"
Before she could finish speaking, Unohana Yachiru's figure suddenly vanished from the spot.
It was so fast that it left only a white afterimage, and even Observation Haki couldn't detect it.
Jorah, who was the first to rush forward, only felt a blur before her eyes, and then a cold, sharp pain shot through her neck. Before she could even scream, her head was lightly severed by the Spirit Slash, and blood gushed out, splattering onto the stone slab and blooming into eerie, blood-red flowers.
"Jora!"
Diamanti's eyes were bloodshot as he swung his sharp ribbon sword in a horizontal slash, but Unohana Yachiru grabbed his wrist with one hand and twisted it gently, the crisp sound of bones cracking clearly audible.
Diamante let out a piercing wail, her arm twisting and dangling at an unnatural angle, her Devil Fruit power instantly dissipating.
Unohana Yachiru kicked him hard in the chest, the immense force sending him flying dozens of meters, crashing into a stone pillar in the palace, breaking his bones, spitting blood, and losing consciousness.
"Monster! This woman is a monster!"
Torrepol screamed and flung out a large amount of corrosive slime, which sizzled and smoked on the ground, but didn't even touch the hem of Unohana Yachiru's clothes.
She moved like a ghost behind Torrebol, and a short blade formed from her spiritual energy pierced his heart. Sticky bodily fluids mixed with blood gushed out, and the usually noisy cadre instantly fell silent.
The stone man Pica roared and swung his stone fist, his massive body obscuring the night sky, but Unohana Yachiru leaped up, grasped the invisible spirit Zanpakuto in one hand, and slashed down from above.
Boom—!
The enormous stone man was cleaved in two from head to hip. Amidst the deafening roar of shattering rocks, Pica's body tumbled from the rubble. Before he could even get up, his head was crushed by a foot, splattering red and white matter all over the ground.
Bloodshed and brutality spread rampantly across the square.
Unohana Yachiru is like a ferocious beast that has broken free of its shackles. Every move she makes is accompanied by death and screams. The Donquixote Family executives have no right to resist her and can only become prey to be slaughtered at will.
Her movements were both elegant and cruel, her hair stained with droplets of blood, her smile growing ever more radiant and bloodthirsty. With each kill, she would glance up at Doflamingo on the high platform and silently mouth, "Next one~"
Doflamingo witnessed this entire scene.
He watched helplessly as the family he had built with his own hands, and his most loyal subordinates, were crushed one by one like ants in the hands of that seemingly gentle woman. His heart felt as if it were being squeezed tightly by an invisible hand, and anger and fear surged to the top of his head.
"Damn woman, I'm going to kill you!"