Mumei leaned a little closer, almost pressing her face against Saint Dio's. Her clear, wide eyes looked him up and down before she earnestly reached a conclusion. "Hmm... gods don't look any different from us. One nose and two eyes."
Standing nearby, Ayame's heart leaped into her throat. Her hands unconsciously clenched the hem of her clothes, afraid that this reckless little girl would speak without thinking and anger the unfathomable god.
Saint Dio, however, showed no sign of anger whatsoever. Just as a person would not get angry at their pet puppy for being lively, he paid no mind to such childish candor.
Stussy came over as well, folding her arms and smiling at Mumei. "You were pretty nimble when you dodged that samurai just now."
Hearing this, Mumei immediately puffed out her chest and answered proudly, "Of course I was!"
Then Stussy changed tack, her tone provocative. "But as far as I'm concerned, you're still a little lacking."
Mumei puffed out her cheeks at that, glaring defiantly at the beautiful woman in white before her.
Stussy raised an eyebrow at her reaction and chuckled. "Want to give it a try? Let's see if you can dodge me."
Mumei snorted and declared confidently, "You can't catch me. Believe it or not."
Stussy said nothing more. She merely smiled and lowered her body.
The next instant, she vanished from the spot without warning.
Mumei froze, her pupils contracting sharply.
She disappeared?!
The combat instincts she had honed through years on the edge of life and death made her leap backward and upward without hesitation.
Almost at the exact instant she jumped, Stussy appeared like a phantom behind the spot where she had been standing. A white-gloved hand reached for her former position and caught nothing.
Mumei flipped in midair, hanging upside down as she looked down at Stussy, her eyes full of confusion and shock.
She could not understand how the woman had vanished from in front of her and appeared behind her in an instant.
That speed was completely beyond anything she knew.
Mumei adjusted her posture in midair, lightly planted both feet against an overhead beam, and bent her knees to push off, springing back down to the floor.
Her toes had barely touched the floor when she saw Stussy reaching to grab her. She hurriedly stepped backward, trying to put some distance between them.
Yet the instant she retreated, Stussy vanished from her sight again without warning.
Mumei's pupils contracted, alarm bells ringing in her mind, but this time, she did not even have time to react.
A hand lightly tapped her shoulder.
"Over here."
Stussy's voice came from behind her. Mumei whipped her head around and saw Stussy standing less than a step behind her, that white-gloved hand resting on her shoulder.
Mumei's mouth fell slightly open. For a moment, she did not know what to say.
The agility and speed she took such pride in had proved as helpless as child's play before this woman.
Chapter 27: Arrival at Kongoukaku
"You..." Her little mouth open, Mumei stared blankly at Stussy, unable to recover for quite some time.
The nimble moves she took such pride in had not lasted even a single exchange against this woman.
But soon, excitement lit up her wide eyes. Like a child who had discovered a novel toy, she asked eagerly, "What technique was that? It's amazing! How did you do it?"
Stussy withdrew her hand and folded her arms, a meaningful smile on her lips. "Want to learn?"
Mumei nodded vigorously without hesitation. "Yes!"
Looking at her sparkling eyes, Stussy chuckled. "Then we'll have to see whether you qualify."
Sitting on a cargo crate, Saint Dio watched Stussy and Mumei interact and understood that Stussy had already begun working on Mumei.
With her methods, winning over this little girl was only a matter of time.
Just then, a samurai called from outside the carriage, "Lady Ayame! We're almost at Kongoukaku!"
Hearing this, Ayame quickly turned to Saint Dio and bowed respectfully. "Lord God, Kongoukaku is just ahead. Once we arrive, I will arrange the finest accommodations and hospitality for you as a token of our respect."
Saint Dio gave a slight nod without saying anything more, but he was contemplating something else.
This trip would not end peacefully.
He had not come to this world to sightsee.
The Kotetsujō continued along the tracks, and before long, an enormous fortress came into view.
Its towering walls were built from thick stone, with multiple firing platforms along the top where samurai carrying Steam Rifles patrolled back and forth.
Beneath the walls stood heavy iron gates, which were slowly opening to welcome the Kotetsujō home.
As the train was about to pass through the gates, Saint Dio gave a calm order. "Sonia, Gurude, stay outside the walls. Don't come in."
The two women on the roof exchanged a glance at his words. Although they did not understand their master's intentions, they answered in unison without any hesitation, "Yes."
Then two tall figures leaped down from the roof, landed firmly on the ground, and watched the Kotetsujō pass through the gates.
Naturally, Saint Dio had his own plan in keeping them out of the fortress.
If two intimidating "snake women," each nearly three meters tall, entered Kongoukaku with him, they would inevitably put the samurai on high alert, which would only get in his way.
What he needed was for the people of Kongoukaku to offend him first.
Only then would he have a legitimate reason to act, paving the way for what came next.
The Kotetsujō gradually slowed, its wheels screeching against the rails, before finally coming to a complete stop at the platform with a long hiss of steam.
White steam billowed out like mist, enveloping part of the platform.
Once the steam had dispersed a little, the samurai already waiting on the platform immediately gathered around, carrying record books and inspection tools as they prepared to perform routine checks on the returning Kotetsujō's occupants.
This was Kongoukaku's rule. Every time people returned from outside, everyone had to undergo strict quarantine inspections.
Kabane infection spread much like a zombie infection, through bites or scratches, and had an incubation period.
Therefore, to prevent infected people from slipping into the fortress, everyone had to be screened individually upon returning, without exception even for direct members of the Yomogawa Family.
The carriage doors opened, and samurai filed inside, directing the passengers to line up for inspection.
A samurai wearing armor with a Steam Rifle hanging at his waist walked to the carriage doorway and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Everyone, line up! Get inspected! Hurry up!"
Ayame sighed softly. Although she was the eldest daughter of the Yomogawa Family, rules were rules, and she could hardly violate them openly.
She straightened her clothes and left the carriage for the women's carriage, preparing to undergo inspection.
Saint Dio, however, had no intention of cooperating.
Without so much as glancing at the samurai, he walked straight past him toward the platform exit.
There was no such thing as "lining up for inspection" in his vocabulary.
As a Celestial Dragon, he only ever had others line up before him. Since when had it been his turn to accommodate anyone else?
Seeing someone ignore his orders and walk straight out, the samurai immediately frowned and barked, "Hey! You over there! I'm talking to you! Didn't you hear me? Come line up for inspection!"
His shout did not stop Saint Dio, but it made Hancock, who was following behind him, frown.
She abruptly turned her head and fixed the samurai with a cold glare from her black eyes.
Since eating the Love-Love Fruit, Hancock's entire bearing had undergone a dramatic transformation.
Her innate arrogance and icy beauty, enhanced by her Devil Fruit ability, had become a power of enchantment.
The instant the samurai met her gaze, his heart jolted, and two pink hearts involuntarily appeared in his eyes.
However, Hancock had only recently eaten the Love-Love Fruit, and her development of its abilities remained far from sufficient.
Had her ability been fully developed, this samurai would already have become her captive entirely, a puppet she could command at will.
As it was, the enchanting power merely clouded his mind, stirring an uncontrollable, lustful impulse within him.
The hand he had extended to stop Saint Dio inexplicably changed direction, reaching for Hancock's arm instead.
How could Hancock tolerate such a violation?
She simply raised her long leg and delivered a clean, decisive kick.
Crack!
A crisp cracking sound rang out. The samurai's outstretched arm rapidly turned grayish-white from the point where the kick had struck, showing signs of petrification.
Then the petrified arm snapped in the middle, fell to the ground, and shattered into several pieces like broken stone.
"Aaaaargh!"
Only then did the samurai snap out of the enchantment. Agony washed over him like a tide, and he collapsed screaming, frantically using his remaining good hand to pick up the broken stones and trying to piece them back onto his severed arm, as though doing so could restore it.
His screams immediately drew the attention of the other samurai on the platform.
They turned toward the sound, and all their expressions changed when they saw a fellow samurai clutching his severed arm, rolling on the ground and howling.
Almost simultaneously, over a dozen Steam Rifles rose, their dark muzzles aimed at the group by the carriage door.
"Don't move! Put your hands up!"
"What happened?! Who did this?!"
Chapter 28: Suppression
Saint Dio walked out of the carriage at an unhurried pace.
Standing on the platform, he calmly surveyed the dark gun barrels aimed at him, his face showing neither panic nor anger.
Ultimately, the Steam Rifles these men held were like toys in children's hands, far less powerful even than the flintlocks of his world.
As though sensing its master's wishes, Jörmungandr trembled slightly at his waist, then transformed on its own.
The dark silver metal melted and reshaped itself like flowing water, turning from a longsword into a slender snake that slithered down to the ground.
It coiled several times on the ground, bending into the shape of a comfortable chair, then lifted its head and flicked its tongue gently at Saint Dio.
Paying no heed to the samurai around him, whose nerves were stretched almost to breaking point, Saint Dio sat down leisurely and crossed his legs. He propped his chin on one hand and regarded the gun-wielding samurai with a condescending gaze.
His posture and his gaze made it seem as though he did not have over a dozen guns pointed at him.
This arrogant attitude, treating them as beneath his notice, thoroughly enraged the samurai present.
"This brat...!"
"How dare he act so arrogantly! This is Kongoukaku!"
"Who cares who he is! Seize him first!"
Just as the tension mounted and the confrontation threatened to erupt into gunfire, an urgent voice came from inside the carriage:
"Stop! All of you, stop!"
Holding up the hem of her Western-style dress, Ayame hurried out of the carriage.
Not even caring that she had yet to complete her quarantine inspection, she rushed between the two sides and spread her arms in front of the samurai's gun barrels, shouting urgently, "Lower your guns! Hurry, lower your guns! This is our honored guest!"
However, the samurai were on high alert, and with their adrenaline surging, Ayame's words did little good.
Their guns remained firmly trained on Saint Dio, and some had even begun working their bolts.
Just as Ayame grew so anxious she was about to stamp her feet, a steady voice came from behind the crowd:
"All of you, stop."
Hearing that voice, the samurai turned around.
A middle-aged man with a neatly trimmed mustache was approaching. Dressed in well-fitted clothes with a sword at his waist, he walked with steady strides, his features bearing the authority of someone long accustomed to command.
The lord of Kongoukaku-Munechika Shikishima.
Seeing her father appear, Ayame looked as though she had found her savior. She hurried to meet him and quickly explained the situation in a lowered voice.
As Munechika Shikishima listened to his daughter's report, he looked toward the White Hair boy sitting on the snake, a flicker of surprise and uncertainty passing through his eyes.
But he was, after all, the lord of a fortress, well accustomed to turmoil, and he soon made his decision.
He stepped forward and declared in a clear voice, "This is my honored guest. Everyone, lower your guns."
Only after the lord himself spoke did the samurai lower their Steam Rifles. Although reluctance and wariness remained on their faces, orders were orders.
However, this was not the development Saint Dio wanted.
He slowly rose from Jörmungandr, swept his gaze over the samurai who had just lowered their weapons, then glanced at Munechika Shikishima, the corners of his mouth lifting.
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