"It's that rhino..."
Rose stared at the massive unicorn rhino that had suddenly charged in, sending the blonde woman, who had previously knocked Haiyna down after appearing out of nowhere, flying.
It had initially charged in, only to be knocked back by Giorno.
Then, it had reappeared from some unknown direction, only to be knocked back again by Jolyne.
Now, it was back...
"A CP... agent..."
King was even more shocked by the identity of the blonde woman the rhino had sent flying.
"Aooo! Aooo! Aooo!"
After sending Stussy flying, the massive unicorn rhino reared up on its hind legs and roared twice with overwhelming force.
Its large, red eyes scanned the surroundings.
"This place..."
The Royal City Fortress, now reduced to ruins.
"Rasha, Coyatl, Jiabode..."
The three unconscious companions lying on the ground.
"Haiyna..."
And Haiyna, lying weakly on the ground, utterly drained.
"What exactly happened here?!"
The Unicorn Rhino's large eyes welled with tears. "Why would Stussy attack you, Haiyna?! Did she reject your confession?"
Haiyna remained silent.
Robin glanced down at Haiyna lying on the ground.
Haiyna turned her head slightly away.
Liam pondered aloud, "Does this minotaur girl have something wrong with her head?"
"I'm a rhino! Not a cow!"
The Unicorn Rhino whirled around, glaring fiercely at Liam and Robin. "You must have done this! Beating Rasha, Coyatl, and Jiabode so badly... and even Haiyna..."
Haiyna, lying flat on her back, whispered, "Kamui..."
"I'm here!" The Unicorn Rhino rushed anxiously toward Haiyna, who was lying on the ground. But as her massive hoof brushed against the Seastone cuffs binding Haiyna's wrists, an inexplicable weakness washed over her. "But wicked... what is this?"
"Don't touch the cuffs..." Haiyna finished, sighing softly.
The Unicorn Rhino was gradually shrinking on her body, its rhino hooves gripping the handcuffs slowly transforming into delicate human hands...
"Seastone handcuffs... so wicked, so wicked! What exactly happened, Stussy...?"
The Unicorn Rhino's massive form slowly shrank into Kamui, another of the Four Horsemen, now appearing as a white-haired girl. Her bloodshot eyes glared in the direction Stussy had been sent flying.
"Just who are you...?"
The blonde woman was rapidly returning, her footsteps echoing sharply through the air.
"What kind of person...?"
Kamui, weakened by the Seastone handcuffs, was kicked off Haiyna by the returning Stussy with a resounding thud.
Crash! Kamui tumbled into a pile of rubble in the ruins.
Stussy landed silently, brushed off the dust, adjusted her amber sunglasses, and turned to Giorno and Jolyne Cujoh. "Where were we?"
Robin said, "Giorno said he's going to chop you into eight pieces and throw your bones into the sea one by one..."
"Did I really say that?" Liam turned to look at his Captain.
Robin smiled and winked at him. Liam felt a jolt of electricity.
Stussy smiled faintly. "Back when you stole Caesar's Logia, I expected to see news of your deaths in the papers soon, or perhaps reports of you being captured, imprisoned, or enslaved by some Great Pirate... or at least news of your capture by the Marines."
"Is that so?" Liam scratched his head with one finger. "It's just the ability to steal Devil Fruit powers. Don't tell me the Marines have no clue about this technology?"
He smiled. "Isn't Dr. Vegapunk right under your control?"
"...Your uniqueness lies in the fact that Caesar is still alive," Stussy said after a pause, her smile unwavering.
"No, it's more accurate to say that after you stole his Devil Fruit ability, it was as if nothing had happened. He simply lost his power..."
"Hahaha!" Liam laughed, waving his hand modestly. "So I'm that badass, huh?"
Stussy continued, "But during your weakest, most vulnerable, and most likely to die period, both of you vanished completely. When you reappeared one to two years later, you already possessed formidable strength. Even if some still remembered your unique abilities and still wanted to prey on you, you likely no longer even considered them worthy of your attention, right?"
Liam thought back carefully. "Yeah, I guess we did beat up quite a few rude guys like that..."
"You decisively fled into the Calm Belt..." Stussy asked. "Was this to disappear, hone your strength, and resurface only when you had enough confidence, a plan you'd devised back when you were seizing Caesar?"
Liam nodded. "Yep, yep."
"Really?" Robin looked at him.
"Calm Belt..." Haiyna, lying down, suddenly turned her head to look at Robin and pointed a finger. "Jolyne Cujoh, over there... are there hundreds or thousands of people hiding?"
Robin was surprised.
Stussy was even more astonished. She glanced down and noticed that the Seastone handcuffs that had been restraining Haiyna had vanished.
'Just now…'
Stussy recalled the moment she had kicked the Unicorn Rhino off Haiyna. She abruptly looked up at the rubble and spotted Kamui, now back in her white-haired little girl form, clutching a pair of Seastone handcuffs. Sweat streamed down her face as she desperately tried to... throw them away.
When an ability user touches Seastone, they lose their strength as if they've been plunged into the sea.
Kamui had fought tooth and nail to grip those Seastone handcuffs, determined to remove them from Haiyna. Perhaps her fierce determination had backfired; now her hand was clenched so tightly around the cuffs that she couldn't easily release them.
Haiyna pointed to the green Den Den Mushi that Rose had returned to Robin.
At that very moment, the Den Den Mushi City Fortress was crammed with people Rose and Robin had "collected" from the surviving City Towns across Kuraigana. Whenever Rose arrived at a town, she would explain everything to the residents. Naturally, they refused to believe her, so Robin would knock them all unconscious and transport them to the Den Den Mushi City Fortress. Now, several floors specially cleared by Vane were packed as tightly as sardines in a can with citizens of the West Sea Kingdom.
"So that's how it works... A truly fascinating ability to neutralize my Corrupting Poison, heh heh heh..."
"You admit it?!"
"Oh, I let that slip. Just pretend you didn't hear that, okay?"
Hundreds, even thousands, of people were crammed into the City Fortress, the air thick with the stench of sweat, tears, and blood.
The voices of Princess Rose, King, and the Shichibukai, the woman Grand Duchess Haiyna, whom everyone revered as a savior, echoed in their minds, recalling what they had heard outside the fortress.
"So, you're the one who caused all this? You spread the Corrupting Poison across the nation, then pretended to offer a cure, becoming a revered savior to everyone... Yet you continued to poison the nation's minds with your Devil Fruit ability! Why would you do such a thing? You're already an Oka Shichibukai, why commit such atrocities?"
"Why...? Because I can."
As the people wept in agony, remorse, and despair, dark green venom suddenly surged from the bodies of some among them. As if guided by an invisible hand, the venom flowed through the fortress windows, coalescing into a stream that flew outward.
(End of This Chapter)
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