Chapter 28: The Reaper in the Sea Pavilion [Part Three]

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Of course, in the end, no one gave him a back scrub. The guards, by some unknown means, had raised the water temperature to three hundred degrees. To their astonishment, apart from a slight flush to the man’s skin, there was no other reaction at all. Minutes passed, and he actually lay down in the iron vat and… fell asleep.

“What kind of monster is this man?” the guards cursed inwardly. Boiled in three hundred degree water for half an hour, and he emerged completely unharmed? The head jailer couldn’t bear to watch any longer and promptly woke him.

Shu Mingyuan opened his eyes in a drowsy haze and stretched lazily—he hadn’t slept so well in ages. Gazing at the group of guards, he asked, confused, “What’s wrong? Weren’t you going to give me a warm bath? I haven’t even finished soaking, and you’re making me get up already?”

The head jailer twitched at the corner of his mouth and said irritably, “You’re clean enough—get out, next! There are others waiting.”

Shu Mingyuan could only get up reluctantly. Truth be told, he hadn’t had enough of the bath. He took the prison clothes from another guard and put them on, then was led deep into the cellblock and locked inside a cold, damp cell.

After he left, more shrill screams echoed from the cleansing hall.

The cell was damp and gloomy. Fierce blue apes patrolled back and forth from time to time. There were six others locked up with Shu Mingyuan—all burly, covered in scars and bloodstains, their fierce expressions broadcasting their ruthlessness. One look and it was clear these men were hardened criminals, cruel to the core.

Fresh from his bath, Shu Mingyuan’s skin was fair and delicate. Only fifteen years old, he was already the size of a grown man, but the youthful innocence in his features marked him clearly as a boy.

“Tsk tsk, look at this tender little punk. The guards must know I’m bored in here, so they sent me a toy?” From the corner emerged a hulking brute, over two meters tall.

“Drag him over here, let me have a good look,” he commanded.

Shu Mingyuan turned sharply to face the man, who was greatly respected—feared, even—by the other pirates in the cell. His gaze was cold, as if looking at a dead man.

“Well now, even if he’s a boy, he’s got a pretty face. Heh heh, not a bad toy. Kid, come give me a massage.”

Shu Mingyuan remained unmoved. Instead, he asked calmly, “You lot—pirates, right? Where are you from? What’s your bounty?”

“Kid, I’m from the West Sea—three million!” one snarled.

“I’m from the North Sea—five million!” another boasted.

“…Our boss, Henry Wood, is from the South Sea. A wanted man with an eleven-million bounty,” another added.

As the pirates announced themselves, Shu Mingyuan’s brow furrowed deeper.

“Haha, kid, are you scared? Surrounded by pirates wanted all over the world?”

“Hey, don’t scare my toy, you guys,” Henry Wood said, his voice low and threatening. “Kid, with me here, no one dares bully you in this cell.”

Shu Mingyuan couldn’t help but scoff. Wood’s face darkened. “What are you laughing at, brat? Didn’t you hear me tell you to come here?”

“All together, you barely add up to twenty million berries,” Shu Mingyuan said with a shake of his head. “I’m laughing because you’re worthless.”

Suddenly, a brilliant flash of lightning erupted in the cell. In the next instant, a sword of pure electricity shot from the youth’s hand, piercing straight through Wood’s heart in a blink.

Henry Wood, the South Sea pirate with an eleven-million berry bounty, died on the spot.

“You… You’re a Devil Fruit user! But you’re wearing seastone cuffs—how can you still use your powers?” The remaining pirates were terrified. This boy had killed an eleven-million bounty pirate as easily as breathing. They couldn’t understand why his abilities still worked with the cuffs, but clearly, they stood no chance.

“Two hundred and twenty justice points—so little. Still, even a mosquito is meat. Well, I’ll just kill them all,” Shu Mingyuan muttered. With a surge of chirping lightning, every wicked pirate in the cell collapsed in a pool of blood.

“Killed six, and barely gained five hundred justice points. Pathetic.”

Shu Mingyuan grumbled to himself, then gave a low shout. His right arm suddenly expanded to a massive size, snapping the seastone cuffs with brute force. Though seastone was as hard as diamond, the part encasing the lock was not, and under his partial transformation, it broke off cleanly.

He rubbed his wrist. After wearing the cuffs for a month, it hadn’t hindered his powers, but it certainly hadn’t been comfortable either. Now, freed at last, he truly felt liberated.

He glanced indifferently at the corpses—men who had killed without remorse and deserved their fate. He felt no guilt in striking them down. Lightning flashed again on his left hand, and he sliced through two bars of the iron cell.

This ten-meter-long lance of lightning was a new form of Chidori he had developed over the past month—Chidori Sharp Spear! With a reach five meters longer than the original, its range far exceeded Chidori, and though less powerful, it allowed him to strike from a distance, sparing him the trouble of close combat.

Why rush in to smash someone’s head with your fist when you can cut them down from afar?

Shu Mingyuan strode calmly from the cell, a free man once more.

“Hey kid, you’re wearing prison clothes too—how are you out here?” someone called.

“Are you breaking out? Can you get us the keys? We’ll never forget your kindness!” another begged.

Seeing the boy outside, the whole floor erupted, prisoners clamoring for him to open their cells. But their pleas were answered by a ten-meter lance of lightning stabbing through the bars, slaughtering the pirates within.

Witnessing the boy’s ruthless efficiency—killing as if reaping wheat, heads rolling in his wake—the pirates were silenced, not daring to utter another word or even breathe too loudly.

Shu Mingyuan walked with his hands behind his back down the corridor. The pirates on this floor were all too weak—far from what he wanted. Dozens killed, and he’d only gained six thousand justice points. After some thought, he decided to head deeper.

Only on the fifth underground level were those pirates with bounties over one hundred million imprisoned. Killing any of them would net him thousands of justice points at once. Now that would be interesting.

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