"Vice Admiral Hound..." The commodore beside him was also badly frightened, cold sweat already covering his forehead.
At the commodore's call, Vice Admiral Hound snapped back to reality.
Watching Lancelot, who had already turned away and continued toward his warship, his heart trembled slightly.
"Hoo..."
A gentle breeze blew past, and Hound shivered involuntarily.
Only then did he realize that, at some point, his back had become drenched in sweat.
Hound couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Originally, he had intended to use this opportunity to gauge Lancelot's strength.
Now he had seen it, but the power displayed confirmed the rumors.
This suddenly risen Rear Admiral indeed possessed the strength of a headquarters elite Rear admiral.
And among elite rear admirals, he was top-tier.
Probably only Onigumo or Momonga could rival him.
However, what made him most wary wasn't Lancelot's strength, but his ruthless methods.
Hundreds of pirates had been slaughtered without the slightest hesitation.
Not even a blink of hesitation.
Truly vicious!
A god of slaughter—this was a true god of slaughter.
At this thought, he couldn't help but murmur, "I'm afraid the West Blue is about to become 'lively'."
The commodore fully agreed with this statement.
"With this level of strength and these methods, I'm afraid he's going to unleash a storm of bloodshed in the West Blue."
Just then, the two of them saw the warship in the harbor suddenly change course and head in another direction.
The merchant fleet followed closely behind...
Seeing this, Vice Admiral Hound couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"It seems we've already offended Lancelot."
The commodore nodded beside him.
Where was this place?
The entrance to the West Blue, equivalent to Loguetown in the East Blue—absolutely the most important naval base in the West Blue.
In such a place, claiming they hadn't detected Capone Bege's infiltration due to his unique abilities...
Could barely be considered plausible.
But with such a huge commotion just now, and still not a single marine appearing? That spoke volumes...
"Sigh!"
Hound couldn't help but sigh, 'Somewhat fortunate we're marines.'
"Given his way of doing things, if we weren't marines, he'd probably have come to kill us already."
Hearing this, the commodore frowned: "Should we try to make amends then?"
Vice Admiral Hound said, "Make amends for what? The offense has already been committed. Besides... over something this trivial, would he really come after me directly? At worst, we just won't get any benefits from his Four Seas Exchange in the West Blue.
But if we try to make amends, not only would we be unable to explain it to those behind us, but those targeting Lancelot would also see us as his allies. Then... we wouldn't even know how we died."
At this point, Vice Admiral Hound paused briefly before adding, "Remember this—unless we receive explicit orders from above, our only principle regarding Lancelot and his Four Seas Exchange is: no interference, no inquiries..."
The Commodore nodded in response.
"Understood, Vice Admiral Hound."
...
Meanwhile, Lancelot plunged his blade into the chest of Capone Bege, who was barely clinging to life.
He withdrew the sword, and fresh blood spurted out... splattering onto a piece of fruit that had been prepared in advance.
The Paramecia-type Castle-Castle Fruit was now his.
Thump...
Lancelot unceremoniously tossed Capone Bege's corpse out of the ship's cabin window into the sea, leaving it as fish food.
"Lise..."
He then called out toward the door.
Click...
Lise immediately pushed the door open and entered.
Lancelot handed the Paramecia-type Castle-Castle Fruit to her.
"Eat it!"
"Huh?"
Lise was momentarily stunned, unable to comprehend why Lancelot would suddenly ask her to eat fruit. Nevertheless, she obediently took the fruit.
And took a bite.
After all, through nightly training sessions, obeying commands had become almost instinctual to her.
"This..."
After consuming the fruit, Lise was utterly astonished.
She felt a surge of power welling up inside her body—a power that granted her a miraculous ability.
She was no longer the person she once was, having gained considerable knowledge under Lancelot's guidance.
Thus, she quickly realized.
What Lancelot had given her was no ordinary fruit.
It was a Devil Fruit.
Gulp...
Lise couldn't help but swallow hard, her eyes filled with disbelief.
She had never imagined that one day she, too, would obtain a Devil Fruit.
She now held the hope of becoming a powerful figure in her own right.
Most importantly, as her understanding grew, she became increasingly aware of just how precious Devil Fruits were.
How could she not be moved?
When she looked at Lancelot again, her eyes were brimming with affection.
"Master..."
Her voice was so seductive it could make an elephant stand at attention.
Smack...
Lancelot gave her tits a "firm" slap, causing them to "bounce" enticingly—a sight that was utterly irresistible.
He couldn't resist giving them another smack.
"Mmm... Master..."
Lise's gaze was practically dripping with desire.
Seeing this, Lancelot chuckled lightly.
"Slut, we have serious matters to attend to! If you want to repay your master, save it for tonight."
Lise nodded obediently.
"Yes, Master."
Lancelot's expression then turned serious.
"Remember, your ability must remain a secret. For the time being, no one can know about it—not even Lina or Johnson..."
Lise: "Understood, Master."
Lancelot's expression softened.
"From now on, you are my mobile storage. All important items will be entrusted to your care."
As he spoke, he retrieved the Paramecia-type Shadow-Shadow Fruit, Paramecia-type Ghost-Ghost Fruit, Paramecia-type Transparency Fruit, one unnamed Paramecia-type fruit, and one unnamed Zoan-type fruit from the room's safe.
He placed each one into special cases and handed them to Lise.
"These are five Devil Fruits in total. You must keep them safe... They are crucial to our future."
"Five Devil Fruits?"
Lise's eyes widened in astonishment.Based on her current understanding of this world, aside from the Celestial Dragons, even the Marine Headquarters probably couldn't produce so many Devil Fruits all at once!
And now, her master had actually entrusted all these Devil Fruits to her for safekeeping.
What an immense responsibility this was!
"Master..."
When Lise looked at Lancelot again, not only did her eyes seem to draw silken threads of desire, but other parts of her did too.
If Lancelot hadn't mentioned earlier that there was still important business to attend to, she would have eagerly sat on him right then and there, properly repaying her master for his great kindness and trust.
Afterward, she used her ability to store the five special boxes containing the Devil Fruits inside her body.
Then she proactively offered a kiss before slowly walking out.
Watching her swaying figure, Lancelot's eye twitched.
'This woman is getting more and more S-like. Just wait until tonight when I properly discipline her.'
"Hah..."
Lancelot took a deep breath to dissipate the fire burning within him.
"Baby-5... bring those two in."
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