Venting, Finding Shelter

Crack.

The shackles fell open. Ye Chen's first sensation was freedom from restraint. Both physically and mentally, it felt wonderful.

"Baby, I've unlocked you. Hurry up and make me excited."

The fat woman tossed aside the shackles, her eyes gleaming as the flesh all over her body jiggled. She could hardly wait.

Ye Chen rolled his neck and smiled, revealing a row of exceptionally white teeth. He reached out as if to stroke the fat woman's cheek.

The fat woman actually narrowed her eyes halfway and began enjoying herself.

Bang!

Without warning, Ye Chen's hand exploded. Flesh and blood sprayed everywhere, blowing half the fat woman's face into a mangled mess and exposing bloody muscle and bone. She fell to the floor, trying to scream.

The smell of blood turned Ye Chen's eyes red. He straddled the fat woman's neck, covering her ruined mouth with one hand while using his ability again with the other.

Blood flew everywhere. The fat woman's pupils widened as she tried to shriek, but Ye Chen gave her no chance. Her shredded mouth was clamped tightly shut beneath his hand.

Bang! Bang!

He had to thank the fat woman's room for its excellent soundproofing. Coupled with the relatively quiet explosions, no one noticed anything for the moment.

"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle..."

Blood bubbles kept rising from her mouth. At last, terror appeared in the fat woman's eyes as she struggled desperately.

His face covered in blood, Ye Chen smiled silently, his eyes crimson. Like an evil ghost, he looked savage and delighted.

One explosion after another filled the room with blood. Ye Chen blew apart the fat woman's limbs one by one before finally standing up and looking at her dismembered body.

The fat woman was barely alive now, spitting bloody foam from her mouth as she shook her head and stared at Ye Chen in terror.

Ye Chen looked at her feverishly, stuck out his tongue, and licked the foul blood from the corner of his mouth, actually showing an expression of enjoyment.

He raised his hand. It was completely unharmed. He clenched it, his face filled with a vicious grin.

At first, his ability could only affect tiny substances on his body, such as boogers or hair. But over the past month, Ye Chen had learned to concentrate explosions in both hands—on all ten fingers.

The Bomb-Bomb Fruit was not as perfect as Ye Chen had imagined. Exploding flesh caused him pain. Though he always recovered completely afterward, as if he possessed an immortal body, the pain was real.

For instance, when one of Ye Chen's fingers exploded, it truly felt as though a bomb had blown that finger apart. The pain was real. Even if it lasted only an instant, to Ye Chen, it felt eternal.

Fortunately, the pain would not increase along with the power of future explosions. It remained within a fixed range.

For the old Ye Chen, that pain would have been unbearable enough to make him cry out for heaven and earth. But now, he had grown accustomed to it. He even found a twisted sort of enjoyment in it.

Pain was truly pain at first, but after enduring enough of it, one grew used to it. The process, however, was utterly insane.

Perhaps someone would break down during that process, take their own life, or become a walking corpse. But there was another possibility: their mind could become twisted until they came to regard it as enjoyment.

Clearly, Ye Chen was in that state now. Pain was not merely something he had gotten used to—it had become something he enjoyed.

Such people were no longer normal. They were lunatics, madmen. Their hearts had become utterly twisted, and they were capable of doing anything that defied common sense.

One could imagine how much cruel suffering it had taken for someone who had once merely been a somewhat rebellious flower raised in a greenhouse to become this inhuman, ghostlike person with such a twisted mind.

Some things could only be understood when they truly happened to oneself. Only then did one realize how despairingly vast the gap was between hearing or reading about something and experiencing it firsthand.

Tilting his head slightly upward, Ye Chen walked over to the fat woman with a chilling air. He crouched down and reached out to stroke the intact half of her face.

The fat woman shuddered all over. Even the pain seemed to vanish, because her soul felt as though it were being slowly swallowed by a boundless, pitch-black Abyss.

She opened her mouth but could not say a word. Still, Ye Chen could see from her eyes that she was begging him now, just as he had once begged her.

"I begged you like this before. Don't worry. I'll make sure you die painfully."

His sharp teeth, pale and sinister beneath the blood, flashed as Ye Chen suddenly thrust out two fingers and gouged out the fat woman's eyes while she was still alive.

"Ah..."

Her weak scream only made Ye Chen more excited.

For a full ten minutes, abnormal sounds echoed through the bedroom. If anyone had entered at that moment, they would have found shredded flesh and blood scattered all over the floor.

Standing amid the blood, Ye Chen raised his head. Blood dripped wetly from both hands as heavy breaths escaped his nose.

After venting, Ye Chen felt empty inside, even nauseated. But whenever he thought of the pain he had once endured, he gritted his teeth and revealed a sinister smile.

This was only the first one.

The next day, the fat woman's death caused some disturbance, though only within Areas 70 to 79—the Hotel Street. Fortunately, she held no important status, and her relationships had been terrible. Not a single person sought justice for her, including those burly men.

This was reality. This was the pirate world, a world where the strong devoured the weak.

As for Ye Chen, few people cared about him. Who would care about a slave? Besides, he was just a child, someone who could die in some corner at any time.

But no one knew that a sick, twisted demon had broken free from his cage and begun to emerge into the world. And all of it had been forced upon him!

The entire Sabaody Archipelago was divided into six regions.

Areas 1 to 9 were home to human trafficking shops, slave auction houses, and lawless land. It was a dark place where all sorts of people mixed together.

Areas 10 to 19 were residential districts, home to places such as Soap Bubble Park.

Areas 40 to 49 were sightseeing districts, with specialty shops, commerce, and similar businesses.

Areas 50 to 59 contained shipyards and coating craftsmen. It was essentially a harbor, where pirates had their ships coated before heading to Fish-Man Island.

Areas 60 to 69 were where the Marines were stationed, as well as where people of high status lived.

Areas 70 to 79 were the Hotel Street, where Ye Chen currently stayed. He had spent more than a month there, and it had left him with memories that could never be erased—memories so painful that he would never forget them for the rest of his life.

Now, Ye Chen stood outside the Marine garrison, looking at the seagull flag with calm, unruffled eyes.

Over the past month, Ye Chen had thought about many things. In the end, he decided that he should join the Marines first.

His body was only that of a twelve- or thirteen-year-old, and he had developed his ability only a little. If he went out on his own, he would undoubtedly die.

After suffering so much, if Ye Chen still had not recognized what kind of world this was, or if his temperament had not matured, then he would deserve to endure that pain.

Thankfully, Ye Chen had grown up. So, he had to survive.

For now, the best choice was the Marines.

More importantly, Ye Chen wanted to grow up safely and have more time to develop his ability. Besides, the Marines had something he wanted.

This world had no laws, no order, and no kindness. It only had power.

Only by gaining power could one survive—could one live properly.

Ye Chen turned and looked in the direction where he had been auctioned off. His face twisted as he resolutely turned back toward the Marine base.

What you owe me, I'll make you repay a thousandfold someday. You all have to die.

Hostility surged from him, filled with ruthless malice. If anyone had seen Ye Chen's expression, they would have been startled. It was not an expression a twelve- or thirteen-year-old child should have had.

Let it be stated again: this novel's timeline is complete nonsense!

If not for fear of censorship, this chapter would definitely have been bloodier and more nauseating. Sigh... after learning from World-Weary's lesson, it was better to keep a low profile.