Why won't you let me leave in peace?

"Aaaah!! A monster—"

The "Carpenter" finally jolted awake, screaming as he stumbled backward. While retreating, he commanded the remaining wooden puppets, "Stop it! Kill it! Hurry and kill it!"

Monster?

Googling TWKAN

Were they talking about me?

This was the first time Xianuo had ever been called that.

He didn't think it sounded very good.

But on closer thought, he realized he secretly rather enjoyed the name.

"Call me whatever you want!"

He grinned menacingly as he advanced, unleashing a flurry of punches that sent the puppets blocking his path flying.

The one that lunged at him with a sword was caught by his elbow around its neck. Using the power of his waist and a sudden knee strike, he tore it in half with his bare hands.

Wood chips flew, and through the gaps, the "Carpenter's" face grew even more terrified.

Snap! Xianuo leaped up, soaring off the stage and landing directly in front of the main gate, cutting off the opponent's escape route.

The only ones still guarding the "Carpenter" were the town's security officers and Major Tom T. from the Marines branch.

"Get lost!"

Two more punches sent both men and their guns flying several meters back with muffled groans, collapsing to the ground unconscious.

This was because Xianuo had deliberately held back. These two weren't fully puppetized yet; perhaps after dealing with the "Carpenter," there was still hope for them to return to normal.

Click.

Xianuo reached out. His speed, far exceeding that of a normal human, left the "Carpenter" no room to escape. He was grabbed by the neck and lifted like a chick.

The "Carpenter" struggled with all his might, but the youth's grip was like iron pincers, making any movement impossible.

"Cough... cough..." the "Carpenter's" breathing grew rapid. He spat out words with great difficulty through gritted teeth, "I'm... I'm suffocating, let go! Let me go!"

Xianuo didn't loosen his grip, his gaze filled with disappointment.

"You're really too weak."

"You're a Devil Fruit user, I thought you might give me a decent fight, but you're just a coward hiding behind others, all bark and no bite."

"Without your puppets, you're nothing."

"How could someone as weak as you control the masters of the Eight Great Dojos back then?"

"What kind of stupid question is that? Don't look down on me!" the "Carpenter" gritted his teeth. "I couldn't beat you head-on at first, but couldn't I have ambushed you? If it weren't for a non-human monster like you, no one on Asagiri Island would have been my match..."

"Boss Xianuo!"

Junyi appeared at some point, wiping tears from his eyes. His eyes were red, and he clutched a discarded sword in his hand. "Please, give me a chance! Let me kill him myself!"

"Not so fast."

Xianuo raised a hand to stop him, then squinted, looking the middle-aged man in the luxurious trench coat up and down. "I still have a few things I don't understand and need to clarify."

"Are you humiliating me!"

The "Carpenter" yelled in shame and anger. "Who wants to answer your questions! Just give me a quick death! Besides, I can barely breathe, how can I answer your questions if you don't let go!"

"See, that's one of the doubts."

When Xianuo wasn't fighting, his cellular activity seemed to shift from his muscles back to his brain.

He glanced at his right hand, still clamped tightly around the "Carpenter's" neck. "I've been squeezing you for this long, are you really suffocating?"

"..." The "Carpenter" froze. He suddenly looked down and realized his breathing was still smooth. The suffocating sensation from earlier felt like an illusion.

Why? How was this possible?

"I don't know if you've noticed, but there's a lack of logic in many of the things you say and do."

Xianuo narrowed his eyes and continued, "Let me ask you, why did you suddenly come here and expose yourself and the identities of the ten puppets you controlled? What was the point?"

"Haven't you been desperately trying to make money? You worked hard on Asagiri Island for years and finally got a grip on it. Why the sudden self-destructive tendency today? Are you planning to run and find a new place to scam?"

That's right, why would I do that?

The "Carpenter" was dazed. Suddenly, he couldn't understand it himself.

He seemed to have had a similar feeling a long time ago.

--Whenever he was close to figuring something out, a barrier deep in his mind would form. The moment his thoughts collided with it, he would become confused and his mind would wander off.

The actions he ended up taking were completely contrary to his original plans, yet he somehow felt they were perfectly normal.

"No!"

"The 'Carpenter' suddenly shouted. "I almost fell for your trick, kid. When did I expose myself? Wasn't it that bastard Sakuraba Tree who exposed everything himself, seeking death?"

"But when you came in, he hadn't yet revealed that the masters of the Seven Great Dojos had also long since become puppets!"

Xianuo suddenly raised his voice, "Weren't the magistrate and that Navy lieutenant also brought in by you! When you came in, you could have directly controlled him and interrupted his words! Then you would have had ten thousand ways to make the public believe he was an imposter! Why didn't you do that!"

Why?

The "Carpenter" grew more confused. That's right, why?

There were clearly plenty of ways to cover it up and continue happily earning his ill-gotten gains, so why did he suddenly have to tear down the facade?

He suddenly vaguely recalled something even stranger from his past.

He knew that among all the puppets, Sakuraba Tree's puppet was the most difficult to control, often having its own opinions and thoughts.

Yet, he had never considered turning the other into a complete puppet. He had even kept it by his side, handling the most secret and important matters.

"Here," Xianuo suddenly extended his other hand and grabbed the man's right hand.

"What are you doing?"

"Control me," Xianuo said coldly. "You've killed eight puppets, so the empty fingers can be used to recruit new ones, right? Use your ability, try to control me!"

"But, but powerful individuals aren't that easy to control. You're even less likely to control me than Sakuraba Tree was back then..."

The "Carpenter" stammered. Before he could finish, Xianuo suddenly pulled Junyi over. "Then try him!"

"Huh? Boss Xianuo!"

Junyi, who had been listening intently nearby and had regained his composure, began to ponder the inconsistencies. Suddenly being pulled into the Carpenter's hands, he was stunned.

"..."

The "Carpenter" tremblingly reached out and grabbed Junyi's arm, but quickly froze in confusion.

He understood the principles of planting puppet strings and controlling others... the principles of the Devil Fruit. But how was it done?

"See, simply controlling these few puppets is the greatest authority you've gained."

Xianuo then lifted Junyi back with one hand, looking at the middle-aged man dressed in luxury. "Do you still think you're truly a 'Carpenter' who can create puppets?"

As his voice fell, Xianuo suddenly slammed his palm fiercely into the man's chest.

Bang! The sound was crisp and short, like striking a hollow bamboo tube.

The "Carpenter" knew better than anyone what this meant.

Xianuo finally released his grip, letting the middle-aged man slump down limply, collapsing onto the ground.

"I, I'm not the Carpenter..."

His expression was dazed, unable to accept reality, his voice dry. "I, it turns out I, am also just a puppet?"

"So, the real 'Carpenter' is someone else entirely?"

Junyi felt his head swelling, about to crash. "Then... then who could it be? And what grudge do they have against my father to attack him?"

Xianuo looked at Junyi with pity, and finally sighed:

"Whoever started today's farce is the Carpenter."

He suddenly threw a punch, caving in the middle-aged man's chest, then turned to look at the corpse on the stage and said in a low voice:

"Am I right, Mr. Sakuraba Tree?"

No one answered.

The wall clock ticked by, second by second. Amidst the ticking, the palpable silence lasted for more than ten seconds before movement finally came from the stage.

Crick, crick.

A grating sound of wood friction suddenly rang out. The limbs of the corpse bent backward at ninety-degree angles, rising up in a bizarre, ergonomically impossible posture, driving the upper body to stand straight again.

Accompanied by a series of clicking sounds, Sakuraba Tree's body remained with its back to them, but its head slowly rotated one hundred and eighty degrees, revealing a gaunt face that looked like it was neither crying nor laughing, filled with sorrow.

Junyi froze in place.

His hands and feet turned cold, and an unprecedented chill surged from his spine straight to the crown of his head.

"Why..."

The gaunt face finally spoke sorrowfully, its voice from its throat like a scratched old record, human voice and wooden vibrations eerily overlapping. "Why did you have to find out, and why did you have to say it?"

"Why... didn't you let me give Sakuraba Tree this identity a perfect send-off and leave in peace?"