Devil Fruit User

A moonless night for murder, a windy night for arson.

"What...?"

Crack, crack... Crisp sounds rang out. Reg emerged from within the gate, his face slightly flushed, the killing intent in his black eyes growing ever stronger—yet not a drop of blood stained him.

These people had not only locked those children in dog cages, they had even frozen the bodies of dead children. Reg naturally knew what that was for... It was brutality beyond all reason.

Click, click... Reg flicked his lighter on, off, then on again... and put a cigarette between his lips.

"Cough, cough..."

This body, smoking for the first time, still found it rather choking... but Reg kept inhaling.

He needed to calm himself down... After spending six years on Tower Forest Island, how could he have remained completely unaffected?

From the passageway to the gate... including those two guards, he had killed ten people in total.

An absurd feeling unexpectedly arose... A voice within told Reg: This is justice.

The sense of superiority that came from killing was something Reg could not accept.

Those people truly deserved to die, but he could not let such feelings run wild. Otherwise, one day, he too would lose himself in slaughter.

Whoosh... Receiving the signal, Jabra appeared before Reg.

"Whew..."

After glancing at Jabra, who had turned into a "big bad wolf," Reg exhaled smoke and asked, "Did you take care of the ones outside?"

"Eight people, Big Brother... Your dagger and gun." Jabra handed the items over.

"I've already dealt with the guards... Once we're inside, go to the first door on the right. There are still nineteen people there, along with children who need rescuing. Come support me after you finish killing them."

Reg did not spot any discomfort on Jabra's face... To him, killing those people was probably no different from killing the beasts on the island.

"Yes, Big Brother."

Jabra obeyed Reg's every word... When it came to using his brain, Reg was more than ten times better than him.

"Move!"

Reg used Shave and vanished from before Jabra... Hopefully, those drunkards at the table were already dead drunk. That way, they could die a little more painlessly.

In the dimly lit hall, Carlo, the transvestite, had flushed cheeks as he swayed toward the door on the right.

"Cute... Tonight, big sister will shower you with love! Oh~ That adorable face, that smooth, tender skin... I can't take it anymore, I can't hold back!!"

The two underlings following behind him burped drunkenly as they staggered along.

Thud... The sudden sound sobered Carlo slightly. When he turned around, all he saw was a savage wolf's face.

Before he could make any sound, Jabra's claws swept across his throat... Carlo, finally reacting, clutched at the blood gushing from his neck, his face full of disbelief as indistinct mutters slipped from his mouth.

Squelch, crack...!

At the same time, Reg's dagger flew into another man's heart... while he swiftly snapped the third man's neck himself.

After completing the slaughter, the two nodded to each other... Reg appeared before the door to the dining room on the left.

Inside, he could still hear clinking glasses, drunken curses... and women's coquettish cries.

"Can't be sure..."

Reg rubbed his brow... There were only seven people left inside. Though he knew that four of them were "extras."

Observation Haki could not distinguish good from evil... Nor had Reg trained to Rayleigh's level, where he could judge someone's strength from their aura.

Creak...!

Reg slowly pushed open the dining room's wooden door... In that case, he would see for himself.

As the door opened, the men and women around the large round table in the dining room all turned toward the entrance.

"A child?"

"What the hell is Carlo doing?"

"He's quite cute... Look at those women, hahaha..."

The tall man seated at the head of the table had a diagonal scar across his forehead, and the muscles in his arms bulged high... He looked far more imposing than in the photograph from the intelligence report.

He was Marcus—the man who had killed the former boss and successfully taken his place.

Reg also used this chance to determine who needed killing... Seven people in total: four women. The boss had two in his arms, while each of the remaining men had one.

The naked women all wore metal collars around their necks. At the clasp were two ball-shaped pins... These collars would explode if they moved beyond a certain distance.

The women's eyes were filled with pity and sympathy for Reg. No matter how this child had gotten in, he was bound to receive a vicious beating.

"Good evening, you pieces of trash."

Reg smiled shyly, his face slightly red... This scene was really not suitable for children.

"Haha... Boys, did you hear that? He actually called us trash! Grab him and teach him properly how to respect adults!"

Bang... Marcus rose to his feet and slammed his hand heavily onto the table. Broad-backed and burly, he stood nearly two meters tall!

"Hehe... leave it to me, Boss!"

The monkey-thin man shoved away the woman in his arms and staggered over.

"Brat, accept your punishment obediently!" The man lunged forward.

Reg's body shot upward in an instant, appearing before his face... Bang!

After kicking the man flying, Reg stepped lightly through the air and instantly arrived before the other man. His elbow smashed into the man's face... blood and teeth sprayed out in great gushes.

"You're an assassin!!"

After that lightning-fast exchange, Marcus finally reacted... not only did he fail to rush forward and avenge his two instantly defeated underlings, he instead grabbed the woman at his right by the neck and held her before himself as a shield.

Standing in the air with Moon Walk, Reg looked at the pale naked body before him and the terror and pleading in the woman's eyes... she did not want to die yet!

Swish... Reg gave a kindly smile and immediately drew the dagger hidden behind his back with his left hand, slicing across Marcus's fingers.

"Damn it, that hurts!"

In pain, Marcus released the woman in his hand. Yet his massive body nimbly leaped backward as he wrapped his arm around the woman to his left.

"Don't come any closer! Take another step and I'll kill her!"

"Oh... go ahead and kill her. She seems quite willing to die with you."

Reg spoke indifferently as he sheathed the dagger with his left hand and drew his loaded flintlock pistol with his right... aiming it at the woman's head, his finger curled around the trigger.

"Thank you, little brother."

The woman closed her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks... she had been humiliated for far too long. Being able to die now could be considered a release.

"Bastard... you die first!"

Marcus shoved the woman forward and shot toward the kitchen behind him.

"Get farther away."

Reg put away his flintlock pistol, caught the woman before she fell, and immediately followed after Marcus.

"Be careful, he can..."

Before the woman could finish speaking, she saw Reg, who had charged inside, sent flying by a black bear paw... blood spraying from his mouth in a great gush.

That had naturally been intentional... the moment Marcus transformed, Reg sensed it as his Observation Haki spread out.

After all, he had felt that sort of presence from Jabra far too many times... using Paper Art, Reg deflected most of the impact and only took a portion of Marcus's force.

Reg had chosen to save these slave women not merely out of sympathy: they could also provide plenty of evidence for his "fake death."

Roar...!

Accompanied by a thunderous roar, a half-man, half-bear creature covered in black fur and nearly twice its original size crashed straight through the kitchen wall.

Bang...!

The enormous bear paw came crashing down with fierce momentum. Reg adjusted his body in midair with Moon Walk... while tossing the woman behind him into the distance.

"Die, die! You little brat, savor what true despair feels like!" Marcus laughed wildly as he relentlessly pursued and attacked Reg.

Once, twice, three times... blood soaked Reg's white shirt, and his movements gradually slowed.

The women huddled in the corner, trembling, also showed sorrow and worry in their eyes... would this child, who had appeared like a savior, die?

"You damn insect, all you know how to do is run?! Weren't you going to save these women? Hahaha!" Marcus grinned viciously and charged toward the women in the corner.

Reg, head lowered and clutching his chest, did not have the slightest trace of anger in his eyes... he was utterly calm. This act had to be convincing.