1000 - 7 = ?

"What did you say?!"

Morgan's eyes flew wide with rage. Waving the prosthetic limb that had been replaced by a sharp giant axe, he strode toward Kael and threatened:

"What fake Kuro?! You'd better not spout nonsense, or I'll let you find out what it feels like to have your head moved!"

"Oh?"

Kael tilted his head and smiled.

"After dreaming for so long, you still haven't woken up, have you, big guy?"

"Was Kuro really captured by you? Don't you have any fucking clue in your heart?!"

"You!"

Morgan's expression froze as he was about to retort.

Yet for some reason, when he saw the contempt in Kael's eyes, a scene suddenly flashed through his mind.

It was a gaze equally full of contempt...

The only difference was that those eyes had been looking down at him from above.

In an instant!

A strange feeling suddenly seized his mind, as if he did not belong in this body at all!

"What's going on?!"

Morgan abruptly frowned and slapped his own head with his remaining good hand, finally driving the muddled sensation from his mind.

Yet deep in his eyes, when he looked at Kael, a trace of fear slipped out unconsciously.

"You... what did you do to me?!"

Morgan shouted in panic.

"What did I do?"

"Pfft!"

Faced with Morgan's accusation, Kael gave a scornful laugh and shook his head helplessly.

Honestly, the Morgan before him could be considered a tragic figure.

About two years ago, he had merely been a hot-blooded young man.

Like many Marine soldiers, justice ran through his veins!

But...

One day two years ago, Morgan, then an ordinary Marine, had set out to sea aboard a warship on a mission, only to unexpectedly encounter a notorious pirate of the East Blue...

"Black Cat" Kuro, with a bounty of sixteen million Beli!

At the time, Kuro had grown weary of his fugitive life, constantly hunted by Marines and bounty hunters. Thus, he used his subordinate Jango's hypnosis to hypnotize Morgan and flawlessly stage his own death to escape!

And Morgan, whether lucky or unfortunate, became a pawn in Kuro's scheme.

Under hypnosis, he mistook the corpse of his former companion for the pirate Kuro, reported it to the Marines, and became a Marine colonel because of it.

In the blink of an eye, two years had passed.

Yet under Jango's hypnosis, Morgan's temperament had changed drastically.

From a man of justice, he had become a dictator obsessed with power.

However...

Was Jango's hypnosis really so brilliant that it could completely change a person's personality?

Kael remained skeptical.

Still, whether Morgan had truly been harmed by villains, or whether a dragon-slaying hero had ultimately become a dragon himself, had little to do with him.

Kael only knew...

Morgan was the best candidate to bring him benefits!

Because just moments ago, he had tested Morgan with Gecko's character card.

The result...

Compatibility—90%!!!

It was even ten percent higher than Tashigi and Rukia's compatibility!

Perhaps this was what they meant by fellow sufferers...

Both Gecko and Morgan had been persecuted by bad people and became mental and psychological freaks because of it.

"Colonel Morgan, do you still think that you killed the pirate Kuro back then?"

"If you had even a little brain, you should have noticed that the person you used to be is very different from who you are now, right?"

"Brat,"

"what nonsense are you talking about?!"

Morgan's gaze trembled, but he still revealed a vicious expression as he stared fixedly at Kael.

But just then, Kael suddenly took a step forward and continued walking toward him.

"Nonsense? Is that what you think?"

"Fair enough..."

"After all, you can never wake someone who's pretending to sleep."

Kael raised his head, his gaze imposing yet calm, forming a sharp contrast with Morgan, who had flown into a rage from humiliation.

For no apparent reason, Morgan's heart trembled.

He did not know why, but in his eyes, Kael suddenly overlapped with a man who should not exist, yet had once trampled him beneath his feet.

It was as if...

Kael had once stepped on him!

A pungent smell of blood washed over him.

"You... who the hell are you?!"

Morgan, who had been arrogant just moments ago, was now mentally dazed by Kael's words.

He swung the heavy axe in his right hand, wildly slashing the blade at Kael a few times to threaten him not to come any closer.

However, Kael merely said to Tashigi behind him:

"Restrain him."

"Yes!"

Tashigi answered crisply.

As soon as her words fell, she abruptly raised two fingers before her chest. Without even chanting, she directly said:

"Bakudō #10: Hōrin!"

A yellow beam of energy instantly flew from Tashigi's fingertips like strips of cloth, swiftly reaching Morgan and circling around him.

The next second!

The soft energy beam suddenly hardened and released even more energy, forming a massive disk that tightly bound Morgan and both his arms!

"What is this?!"

At the sight of such a miraculous scene, Morgan's voice inexplicably gained a note of terror.

He instantly tensed every muscle in his body and violently struggled outward with both arms!

However...

That pale yellow disk was like an eternal tree ring. No matter how hard he struggled, he could not break free in the slightest!

"Damn it!"

Morgan cursed.

His eyes once again turned an angry crimson.

But just then, Kael abruptly stepped forward. Taking advantage of Morgan's unsteady balance, he shamelessly swept his legs out and knocked him to the ground.

Before Morgan could react, a Martin boot suddenly stepped onto his metal jaw.

That was precisely where Kuro had once stepped on him.

Kael bent down, bringing his face close in Morgan's field of vision, revealing an inscrutable smile.

"Marine Morgan, how much longer are you going to sleep in your old dream?!"

"Look at yourself..."

"A dignified colonel of a Marine branch, yet you were easily pinned to the ground by two pirates!"

"Could someone like you really have defeated the pirate Kuro, who had sailed the seas for years?!"

"Have you still not seen yourself clearly?!"

Kael's words lingered in Morgan's ears like a devil's whisper.

Yet Morgan, already immersed in his sweet dream, was not so easily awakened.

But that was fine...

Kael had plenty of time.

Since someone pretending to sleep could not be woken, then he would beat that person until he could no longer keep pretending!!!

Crack!

Kael suddenly exerted force and kicked Morgan directly in the jaw.

In an instant!

The metal jaw embedded in his flesh suddenly tore free by a fraction!

"Ah!!!"

The pain of flesh being torn made Morgan let out a miserable scream.

Yet as if he had not heard that heart-wrenching cry at all, Kael suddenly asked:

"Answer me!"

"What is 1000 minus 7?"

Morgan, consumed by pain, had no intention of answering Kael.

But then, another piercing pain struck him.

Kael fiercely stomped on Morgan's metal jaw again, tearing away a large amount of flesh.

Kael asked again in a low voice:

"What is 1000 minus 7?"

"It... it's 993."

Morgan panted heavily. Looking at Kael, whose foot rested on his metal jaw, his eyes were filled with fear as he began answering Kael's questions.

Yet even so, Kael showed no mercy. He continued brutally kicking Morgan's jaw and asked:

"What is 993 minus 7?"

"..."

"It's... 986..."

"...979..."

"...972..."

Kael kicked Morgan's jaw again and again, while Morgan numbly answered Kael's questions through his pain.

Only when Morgan's metal jaw had been completely kicked off and fallen to the ground with a clang did Kael stop tormenting him.

By then, Morgan's face was already drenched in blood.

Combined with his missing jaw, he looked no different from a zombie in a bloody horror film.

However...

Looking at Morgan lying on the ground, barely alive, Tashigi did not feel the slightest fear. She only found him pitiful!

Several times, she wanted to persuade Kael to simply give Morgan a quick death instead of tormenting him like this.

But in the end, she suppressed those thoughts.

Because from their conversation just now, she had already sensed that something was off.

Perhaps Captain Kael had his own reasons for doing this!

Tashigi thought timidly, but she could not help recalling the image in the newspaper of Kael holding a gun to her own head...

At that thought, she suddenly shuddered. Her smooth white-stockinged feet uncontrollably took a step back, away from Kael.

Mm...

As expected of an agent under the Fleet Admiral. He was usually so gentle and respectable.

But once he carried out a mission, he instantly became someone even more terrifying than a devil!