Embrace the Whole World

Conrad clenched his five fingers, and Tony's skeleton fell from his claws. He immediately looked up and surged forward using Geppo.

His long hair rippled like the waves of an ocean, coiling around him and echoing the increasingly blinding halo of the firmament, which bathed him in a thick, blood-red hue.

He pursued Laffitte, who was carrying the king. This time, his Haki held firm through over a dozen steps, showing no signs of exhaustion.

"Fly! Fly higher! He's catching up!" The king still had a cigar clamped in his mouth like a painkiller, his drool soaking the burning embers.

Laffitte's expression turned impatient. He had indeed enjoyed a comfortable life in the Ilusia Kingdom, throwing his weight around.

As long as he remained under this king's command, he could continue to enjoy himself, but he was already growing bored.

He raised his cane, flapped his wings with his back to the night sky, and sent hypnotic ripples toward Conrad.

"I am the sheriff of this country. You are a murderer who has broken the law. Upon seeing the sheriff, you should feel fear and flee..."

The hypnotic sound waves reached the upward-charging Conrad, pouring into his ears in an attempt to influence his thoughts and judgment.

Conrad even experienced hallucinations, as if he had truly become a criminal, and Laffitte, spreading his pristine white wings in the sky, was waiting with handcuffs for him to walk right into the trap.

"Yeah!" He stomped hard on the air with Geppo, the distance of each dash increasing.

Because when his bloodlust swelled, the identity of his target no longer mattered; only blood, death, and pain could fill this world.

Only by fighting incessantly to satisfy his hunger was his sole remaining goal.

Swish~

Laffitte's hand trembled slightly as he flapped his wings to fly higher.

He had encountered people who were immune to his hypnosis before, but this was the first time it had succeeded yet proved completely useless.

After all, he had consumed a special Devil Fruit and possessed rare flight capabilities; he flew higher and higher.

But when Conrad's energy ran dry, he would be forced to fall. Like a demon from hell chasing an angel toward heaven, he roared in frustration.

"Roar~!"

The roar echoed shrilly through the night sky, causing residents awakened in every household to pull their blankets over their heads, afraid to go near their tightly shut doors and windows.

In this Mafia city, no one would show their face at night, but the Mafia they feared was currently fleeing in terror.

Falling from the sky, Conrad stared at his shark-toothed claws. Between them was a crimson chain—the waist of Baby-5—which gave him the urge to crush it.

A scene suddenly flashed in his mind, and he laughed excitedly, his blood-red eyes fixed on his claws as he said, "Baby-5, turn into a rocket! A missile! Chase!"

Baby-5 had never transformed into that before; she had only ever become handheld firearms, but she did not hesitate.

She recalled the rocket she had seen for the first time just moments ago—the FT-G fired by Gotti.

She shifted back into her human form first, wanting to hug Conrad, but after a brief thought, she prioritized Conrad's request.

And so, unlike the cold weapons of the past, her entire body turned round and straight, forming a pitch-black rocket with tail fins.

"Yeah! Launch!"

Conrad hoisted the rocket with both arms, aimed at Laffitte, and threw it with all his might in a burst of excitement.

He immediately squeezed out his remaining stamina, stomped on the air with a powerful Geppo, and landed steadily on the rocket, surging forward with it.

Amidst the howling wind, the tail flame ignited.

Conrad planted his feet firmly, slowly stood upright on the missile, spread his arms wide to embrace the deep night, and laughed with utter joy.

Laffitte looked back, his tiny pupils seemingly dilating; this missile was faster than his own wings.

He changed direction, only to see Conrad adjust his trajectory as well, in hot pursuit.

Laffitte was confident in his own strength, and with his flight ability, he had viewed the situation from a high-and-mighty perspective from start to finish.

But at this moment, a sense of palpitations struck him, as if death itself were upon him.

Laffitte stopped his wings and watched the blood-red figure riding the missile close the distance rapidly. In mid-air, his wings began to spin, turning him into a top.

An object was shot out like an arrow from a bow—the only human weapon in his hand: King Lucas.

The wind pressure flattened the king's face against his cheekbones, and the cigar was jammed straight into his throat, turning his face a deep purple, but none of that mattered. What mattered was that he locked eyes with Conrad and collided with the rocket.

Boom~!

A dazzling fireball expanded in the sky, like fireworks celebrating the night's revelry.

Laffitte flapped his wings and flew far away without looking back, as if he had made a certain resolution.

The blood-red shadow with burning hair plummeted straight down from the sky, head toward the ground and feet toward the heavens, yet still gazing at the endless starry sky.

Baby-5 had released her grip on Conrad's feet just before the collision and explosion, so Conrad was not at the center of the blast.

He was blown away by the wind pressure and sent falling by the shockwave.

He fell straight down, and down, nearly two hundred meters from the ground—equivalent to a building over sixty stories high.

Facing such high speed, would Conrad die from the fall?

The answer is no.

His gaze had landed on a person standing on a rooftop, peeking down. Despite her high ponytail and youthful features, her unique appearance and high-bridged nose—and most importantly, that strange, baring-teeth grin—allowed Conrad to recognize who she was.

"Nico Robin!" Conrad shouted in shock. His roar was so deafening that it clearly startled her, causing her to turn and flee immediately.

"Catch me!"

Robin, hidden behind the rooftop railing, clearly looked conflicted, but perhaps out of an instinctive kindness, she still crossed her arms in a blooming gesture.

Arms sprouted like blooming flowers as he descended toward the residential building, offering soft, elastic support.

Feet and translucent white calves extended from the walls to form a staircase, cushioning the impact as Conrad's falling body broke through the net of arms.

Conrad landed steadily, the arms and legs vanished, and Robin had already disappeared without a trace.

His blood-red hair was still burning; he gave it a casual tug, the uneven, charred ends now reaching just below his waist.

A rain-like liquid descended beside him, swirling and condensing back into the form of the girl, Baby-5. Her face was deathly pale, and she looked as if she could barely stand.

She could transform into guns to fire bullets, but it consumed her energy. The rocket tail-flame acceleration from moments ago had been a desperate, blind push that drained her completely.

Conrad steadied her shoulders, his blood-red eyes gleaming. "Can you still walk? Shall I carry you?"

In truth, even if Robin hadn't caught him, he still had enough stamina to unleash Geppo to break his fall. He had absorbed quite a bit of life force, even if his chest still felt as hot as a furnace.

"Okay." Baby-5 smiled and nodded.

She was about to climb onto Conrad's half-crouched back and wrap her arms around his neck.

But Conrad gripped Baby-5's arm, stopping her from pulling herself onto his back.

In that instant, the soft sensation of her touch made his entire body tremble, and a powerful addiction surged forth like a fountain.

Touching Baby-5's delicate skin under the blood-colored starlight, the craving that filled his heart and mind grew ever more intense.

He could already imagine the heart-wrenching wails he would unleash after tearing Baby-5 apart; that was the nourishment the Great White Shark of the Heavenly Martial Killing Path craved most.