Chapter 158: On the Scale of the Darkest Blame and the Darkness of the Biggest Blame (Part 3)

There is a particularly interesting and utterly astonishing thing about the Celestial Dragons: this bunch of absolute morons has no idea what "fear" even is. Expecting "top-tier" figures who grew up in such an immensely pampered environment to be fearless is impossible; in reality, it is simply because they lack the very concept of "fear."

This is the inevitable result brought about by arrogance and inflated egos to a certain degree. Under normal circumstances, they truly have no need to feel afraid, especially when the targets are limited to human beings. Celestial Dragons could easily be scared half to death by Sea Kings, but if the opponents are merely humans, they probably wouldn't bat an eye even if Whitebeard himself were standing right before them.

So, would the Celestial Dragon right before their eyes feel any fear toward Qiubai? Heh, in this individual's eyes, his level of threat was lower than that of a cockroach.

However, no matter what, people still need to learn many things they previously did not understand—for instance... the most terrifying thing in this world is definitely not Sea Kings or secondary sea beasts, but human beings themselves.

Qiubai had originally intended to follow up with a swift chop, a solid "thump," to knock the young girl unconscious, but after some thought, he decided to let a professional handle it.

"Law, I'll leave this to you."

He had no gauge for the physical durability of ordinary people. If he just gave her a random chop and accidentally knocked her to her death, who would take the responsibility?

Understanding Qiubai's intention, Law stepped forward and gently pinched a specific spot on the back of her neck, whereupon the Celestial Dragon promptly and seamlessly passed out.

"I always feel like your profession is quite similar to another line of work..." Qiubai did not express amazement at why Law was so proficient, because he ought to be this proficient; to a certain extent, the art of saving lives reversed is the art of taking them.

"What should we do next?" Law did not pick up Qiubai's thread.

"Anyway, let's just find a random room and lock her up first."

Qiubai handed the unconscious Celestial Dragon over to Law, asking him to find a cabin to store her temporarily.

"Now, the crucial question arises..."

The ship they had hijacked had now completely sunk to the seabed, maintaining a depth of about 1,000 meters while moving forward in the direction pointed by a permanent log pose, and the other end of that needle was their current destination, Enies Lobby.

With the intelligence-gathering capabilities of the World Government operating at full capacity, they would surely figure out very quickly that the terrorists who had hijacked a Celestial Dragon had dived into the sea. The act of a coated ship entering the ocean would easily lead to the suspicion that they intended to pass through Fish-Man Island to reach the New World.

Coupled with the fact that Qiubai was a member of the Donquixote Pirates, and Doflamingo was currently in Dressrosa, they wouldn't even need any prompting; the World Government would soon directly deduce that Qiubai was going to rendezvous with Doflamingo.

The mastermind behind this incident would logically be pinned on Doflamingo as well.

After such a roundabout process of events, by the time Doflamingo realized his own innocence, and the World Government and Navy Headquarters discovered in wrathful embarrassment that they had also been played, and then began searching for Qiubai anew, the time elapsed would be just about enough.

Once they arrived at Enies Lobby, the Celestial Dragon would be sent back "completely unharmed."

The question was, what should Qiubai do during this interim process?

"Time is tight, so our actions must be swift, and the very first thing..." Qiubai fixed his gaze on Cavendish, "Cavendish, are you sleepy right now?"

"...Huh? What?"

Cavendish was being exceptionally anxious about why he had boarded such a pirate ship in the first place, but he never expected that this matter would somehow involve him as well?

"So-called natural beauty is true beauty; no amount of makeup can compare to being naturally gifted, so next, you need to give an authentic performance in a little play..." Qiubai's explanation was as good as no explanation at all; Cavendish still had no idea what he was talking about.

***

"Hmm? Ugh..."

The dryness in her throat made her open her eyes once more.

The environment before her was extremely dim, with only barely discernible light. However, after lingering for a couple of minutes, her pupils finally adjusted the aperture, and her field of vision became visible again.

This should be a ship cabin, with everything as quiet as an underexposed old photograph. The pain coming from her arm reminded her of her previous encounter, yet before she could even entertain words like punishment or retaliation, the slightly warm and damp sound of breathing beside her ear sent a chill straight down her spine to her tailbone.

In the dark environment, besides herself, something else was constantly breathing, and it was positioned a mere hair's breadth behind her—just imagining that sensation was a bit thrilling.

With difficulty and sluggishness, she turned her head, and then she saw an exaggerated face... What Qiubai needed was a genuine performance from Hakuba, not Cavendish; without a doubt, his alternate personality possessed far more oppressiveness.

Yet this oppressiveness seemed a bit over the top. Much like how a girl of her age could not appreciate the hearty artistry of cavalry charges, too much stimulation is never a good phenomenon.

She wanted to scream, but she found that her rapid breathing had already forced her chest cavity to operate at full capacity, leaving her with no spare energy to produce a sound. At this scalp-tingling moment, it seemed her cerebellum had taken over the job of her cerebrum, commanding her limbs to scramble backward on all fours until she could retreat no further, curling up tightly into a corner of the cabin.

The sound of iron chains clashing rang out incessantly, and her movements undoubtedly provoked an even more violent reaction from Hakuba, who lunged toward her direction as well.

An even greater sense of oppression washed over her, and then, with the sound of tautening chains, "it" stopped dead in its tracks.

Completely contorted movements, exaggerated expressions—was this even human? Was it?

Hakuba's entire body was secured by chains, and this restriction merely allowed him to halt right before her eyes without advancing an inch.

Moreover, the chains on his upper limbs and torso were somewhat longer than those on his lower half, causing Hakuba's entire body to lean forward at a sharp angle, with the tip of his nose stopping less than five centimeters away from the tip of hers.

Both of their breathing felt as though they were simply exchanging carbon dioxide.

Hakuba was struggling desperately to break free from his restraints, and every single time those chains clashed, they articulated three exceptionally clear words: "I'll kill you."

Every single time his limbs contorted, they said, "I'll kill you."

Every single breath he exhaled said, "I'll kill you."

Every single rise and fall of his chest cavity said, "I'll kill you."

The inhuman whimpers in his throat all said, "I'll kill you."

And she could only frantically retreat backward, though this struggle was entirely futile; no matter what, her back could never press against the cabin bulkhead.

Time ticked by second by second. As the fear persisted, she began to grow numb, until—

"Clang!"

The sound of an iron chain striking the wooden planks was crisp and clear. Hakuba's efforts were not in vain; with his entire waist already bruised and bloody to the flesh, he finally snapped one chain, and then, the contortion of his entire body became even more exaggerated.

After who knows how much longer, the chain on his right arm was also broken open. That blood-stained palm, rendered uniquely rough and granular through constant friction, reached out straight toward her neck.

Her adrenaline at that moment burst forth just like a can of cola that some mischievous kid had shaken violently back and forth 300 times before being popped open. The intensity of her heartbeat felt as though it were continuously hammering against the cabin bulkhead behind her.

And then, she passed out.

"Tsk tsk, this is a bit too much... I mean the hypnosis on Cavendish, isn't it a bit too intense?" After the Celestial Dragon fainted, Qiubai, who had been monitoring the scene the entire time, immediately rushed over and pinned Cavendish down.

To be honest, seeing the pitiful state the guy was in right now scared Qiubai half to death himself, let alone the girl who had been frightened unconscious.

Yet his words sounded somewhat like he was shifting blame onto someone else, but Law indicated that he refused to take this bullet:

"I said from the beginning, I'm just a surgeon, and I only know a smattering of hypnosis—you're the one who insisted on doing it this way!"

After quite a bit of tossing and turning, the two of them managed to wrestle Cavendish down together. "Fine, I admit that about 2% of this matter is my responsibility. Anyway, Cavendish's mission is accomplished; go ahead and bandage him up afterward... out of humanitarian spirit and a doctor's conscience."

Law glanced sideways at Qiubai. For some reason, hearing the word "conscience" come out of the other's mouth felt utterly discordant.

Whether for Cavendish or for the Celestial Dragon, the experiences they had just gone through were hardly pleasant, right? Qiubai's actions just now had thoroughly violated the Minor Protection Act from Article 1 all the way to the very last one...

"You take this one, I'll take that one; anyway, we can carry these two out now."

Qiubai picked up the Celestial Dragon and slung her over his shoulder.