Listening to the Mind

"Marines? Are you here to cause trouble?" After steadying himself, the man in black subtly shifted backward, his eyes darting toward the space behind the two of them.

"Are you looking for your men? Don't waste your effort. Those guys won't be waking up again." Longinus advanced step by step, the intermittent sound of his footsteps seeming to stomp on the man in black's heartbeat. The invisible pressure made beads of sweat form on his forehead. It was as if he wasn't facing a teenager at all, but a ferocious beast capable of devouring lives.

"He took down my men without making the slightest sound. Looks like he's a troublesome opponent!" the man in black said, forcibly suppressing his fear.

"You don't even recognize Big Brother Longinus. Are you a rookie who just entered the Grand Line, or a loser who retreated from the seas behind it?" Hina asked in surprise.

"Heh heh! Looks like this Navy brat is pretty famous in these waters?"

"But, little girl, we're not losers. Even throughout the first half of the Grand Line, the Arbitrator of the Dark Night Felix, whose ferocious presence is like that of an evil spirit, is the captain of our Black-Clothed Pirate Group." The man in black leaned forward, trying his best to put on a vicious, savage expression.

...The Black-Clothed Pirate Group. The naming style of the Pirate World really is as bizarre as ever! Longinus thought speechlessly.

"Though I don't know what your Black-Clothed Pirate Group is, only the most incompetent losers would get involved in things like human trafficking!" Hina exposed his sore spot without giving him the slightest face.

"Little girl, you'd better think before you speak. Offending our Black-Clothed Pirate Group will end very cruelly!" the man in black threatened with a feral grin.

"You're the one who should think before speaking. Do you really still believe there's any chance of reconciliation between us?" As he spoke, Longinus had already drawn close to him.

"Damn Navy brat, don't think I'm really afraid of you!" The man in black pulled two long swords from behind him and gripped them in his hands. He was clearly a swordsman who wielded two blades.

"Haah! Tiger Leopard Double Kill!" As if trying to encourage himself, the dual-sword swordsman let out an angry shout and charged forward in a gust of wind. The faint sound of air breaking could be heard.

Boom!

Longinus seemed to teleport above the swordsman in black and brought down a fist like a falling thunderbolt, smashing him directly into the shattered ground.

The next moment, Longinus grabbed the man in black by the hair and lifted him from the ground. The man in black no longer resisted, as if someone had seized him by the scruff of fate.

"..." Hina watched this scene speechlessly. She knew that the swordsman certainly couldn't be Big Brother Longinus's opponent, but wasn't this defeat a little too clean and swift?

Was this guy really a vicious pirate?

"I ask, you answer. Understood?" Longinus threatened him concisely.

"I... I understand, Marine officer. Ask whatever you want." The man in black's eyes shifted eerily. He was completely unaware that his hood had already split open, and clearly had no intention of submitting so quickly.

Longinus didn't mind and pressed on, "Who is the little girl you're trying to capture? Why did you make such a huge fuss after one slave escaped?"

"The captain certainly wouldn't tell a nobody like me about something like that! I only know that many big shots from the Underworld want to get their hands on her!"

"How many people can you mobilize? Apart from the area around the venue, where else have you deployed them?"

"We mobilized around... six hundred people this time. Apart from the fifty stationed in the center of the venue, most of them were deployed around the three entrances to prevent that little brat from sneaking away."

"What about your captain? What abilities and trump cards does he have?"

"Our captain is a Great Pirate with a bounty of eighty million Beli. They say his abilities are related to the dark night and shadows. I don't know anything more, because everyone who has seen the captain use his abilities is already dead."

Seeing Longinus suddenly fall silent, the man in black cautiously asked, "Marine officer, seeing how well I've performed, how about you let me go? I had no choice before, but now I want to be a good man!"

This idiot brat loves showing off his heroic side in front of women. As long as I keep a good attitude and humble myself, he'll definitely let me leave. Longinus looked at him with a gentle smile. "That's what you're thinking, isn't it? I'm not wrong, am I?"

"You—you—you—you... how did you know?" the man in black shouted incoherently as if he had seen a ghost, then quickly realized what was happening and denied it. "No, that's not it. What I mean is..."

"She knows the Ancient Script and is coveted by those Underworld forces. You want to use her as a channel for advancement and gain access to the deeper darkness of this world."

"Secondly, your captain wanted to keep this favor for himself, so he took most of the Black-Clothed Pirate Group's fighting force to intercept the other pirates. Fewer than two hundred pirates remained behind, and most of them are at the place where the slaves are being held."

"Finally, your captain's abilities have more to do with fear. That's why he keeps spreading his own terrifying reputation."

"You—you—you—you... who are you? How could you know all this?" The man in black's face turned ashen, and he stopped trying to hold out.

"Didn't you tell me all of it?"

"I told you..." the man in black muttered, gradually realizing the truth. "Could it be that you can see through my mind? So you knew I was lying but didn't react at all and simply continued, because every time you asked a question, I subconsciously thought of the answer!"

"I just didn't expect you to be so loyal to your captain. You'd rather die than reveal his secrets!"

"Rather die?" The man in black struggled in terror. "Give me another chance! Give me another chance! I promise I'll be a good..."

Longinus twisted his neck without the slightest change in expression. Hina, born into a family of soldiers, felt no discomfort at the scene. Her eyes sparkled with little stars as she said, "Wow! Big Brother Longinus, you can actually read those people's minds? That's amazing! Is it an innate talent?"

Longinus asked in surprise, "Aren't you afraid? No one should be willing to have their thoughts read by someone else!"

"Why should Hina be afraid?" Hina tilted her head cutely and countered. "Hina doesn't have any shameful thoughts. Besides, Hina knows that whatever Big Brother Longinus does must be right!"

"But if you don't want people to know, Big Brother Longinus, Hina will definitely keep your secret."

"Really? Then thank you, Hina!" Longinus placed his hand on Hina's soft hair again, while he thought darkly to himself, What a pity. Hina still needs four years before she can join the Navy. Otherwise, given how much she trusts me, she would be an even more worthwhile person to cultivate than Gregory and the others.