"So it's Lord Kurota. Please wait a moment. I'll go get our boss right away."
The manager was a middle-aged man in a suit. He clearly recognized the man at the front and hurriedly offered a few pleasantries before telling a waiter to fetch the owner to deal with the problem personally. This situation was already beyond what he could handle.
Kurota and his men sprawled across two tables and said arrogantly, "Cut the crap. Bring us two tables of good food and booze first. You can't expect us to just sit here waiting."
"Of course, no problem. Please wait a moment."
The manager immediately told the waiters to serve these thugs. As long as they didn't cause trouble, smash things, or hurt anyone, a little food wasn't much of a loss.
"Hehehehe, this really is a sweet gig."
"Of course it is. How could we go wrong following Boss Kurota?"
"Our boss works for Captain Nezumi of the Marine Branch. He can't personally handle things like collecting protection money, so even after we pay him his cut, there's still plenty left for us."
The punks chatted idly. Precisely because people knew they worked for a Marine captain, no one dared provoke them.
Reporting them wouldn't do any good either. Never mind whether their reports would even reach the higher-ups-even if headquarters found out, Captain Nezumi wasn't personally involved and could easily find a scapegoat to brush the matter aside.
But the retaliation Captain Nezumi would unleash afterward was not something ordinary people like them could withstand.
"Hey, boss, look at that chick over there. She's pretty fine."
One sharp-eyed lackey glanced around and spotted Kazu and Makino sitting off to the side.
Kurota looked in the direction his lackey pointed. Sure enough, she was a beauty.
"Hahahaha, looks like today's really my lucky day."
"You've earned yourself some credit, kid."
"Hehehe, thanks, Boss Kurota."
Kurota got up and walked over to Kazu's table, his eyes fixed entirely on Makino. He paid no attention whatsoever to Kazu beside her.
"Hey, gorgeous, all alone..."
Before Kurota could finish, Kazu flicked his hand back, sending his dining fork straight through Kurota's throat.
Kurota desperately clutched his neck, pointing at Kazu with his other hand. His eyes bulged, and he couldn't get a single word out.
Thud!
Kurota fell to the floor and went off to meet his great-grandmother. Only then did his stunned lackeys react.
"Murder!!"
The other customers in the restaurant saw this and immediately chose to flee. Even the manager and waiters nearby dared not approach and hurriedly hid to one side.
"You bastard! You actually dared kill Boss Kurota! You're dead!"
"That's right! We work for Captain Nezumi of the Marine Branch! Just wait till you die!"
More than a dozen men threatened Kazu, but not one dared make a move.
Kazu's attack had been so fast that they hadn't even seen it clearly. Even thinking with their asses, they knew he was far stronger than they were.
One quick-witted lackey had already taken out a Den Den Mushi to call the Marine Branch. This arrogant bastard had to pay.
Kazu didn't stop the lackey making the call. He glanced back and raised a finger.
"Space Pistol!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~
Kazu compressed the space at his fingertip into tiny balls and fired more than a dozen shots in succession. Everyone except the lackey making the call dropped to the floor.
They all shared the same feature: a hole where their hearts had been. They couldn't have been any deader.
"So noisy."
There was spare cutlery beside him, and Kazu continued eating as though nothing had happened.
The last punk, who had been making the call, scrambled and crawled his way out.
Of course, he had only survived because Kazu deliberately let him go. Kazu still needed that punk to show Captain Nezumi the way.
Makino knew how strong Kazu was, so she wasn't too worried.
"S-sir."
"You should leave too. Captain Nezumi will be here with his men any moment. If you don't go now, it'll be too late."
The manager ran over in a panic, intending to urge Kazu to leave quickly. That would be best for both Kazu and their restaurant.
If Kazu stayed, Captain Nezumi would kill him, and if their restaurant became the battlefield, it would probably suffer heavy losses too.
"Thank you for your concern. I'll leave after I finish eating."
After that reply, Kazu went right back to tucking into his meal, leaving the dumbfounded manager at a loss.
He hadn't expected this young man to be so unafraid. Even after his warning, Kazu still wouldn't leave. He probably had some real skill.
He killed without hesitation and was clearly a ruthless character the manager couldn't afford to provoke either, so the manager dared not say much more.
What if another warning annoyed him and he sent the manager underground to meet his parents?
Even taking the worst-case scenario, if a fight really broke out in the restaurant, he was only the manager. The owner would be the one suffering heavy losses. At most, he would lose his job, which was still better than losing his life.
Shaking his head, the manager led the others into the kitchen to hide. He would leave this place to them to do as they pleased.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak. Who's got the nerve to cause trouble on my turf?"
Half an hour passed before Captain Nezumi finally arrived with a large group of Marines.
Kazu had just finished eating too. There was no helping it-he had eaten so much that it had taken a little longer.
Captain Nezumi pushed the door open and entered, followed by dozens of Marine soldiers carrying guns, each raising his weapon and aiming toward Kazu.
"Bastard! Were you the one who killed Kurota?"
Kazu took a sip of hot tea, then stood and walked right up to Captain Nezumi.
"So you're the leader of these bastards."
"Captain Nezumi?"
Captain Nezumi was the local emperor here, and with so many soldiers ready to risk their lives for him present, he wasn't worried in the slightest.
"Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak. You knew I was a captain of the Marine Branch, yet you still dared attack."
"I'd say you're a vicious pirate."
"Men, shoot him dead on the spot."
Captain Nezumi intended to kill Kazu right there. Unless he intimidated those civilians, others would step forward to challenge his authority in the future.
Besides, he had seized the initiative. Whatever the man's identity, he would label him a pirate first. As a Marine captain, wasn't eliminating pirates only natural?
A vicious pirate had brutally murdered more than a dozen innocent citizens in town, and he, Captain Nezumi, had personally led his men to eliminate the pirate and safeguard the Conomi Islands.
He had already worked out the achievement he would report afterward. This was the last bit of value the bastard before him had to offer.
Just as Captain Nezumi gave the order, Kazu seized the initiative, extending his left hand and clenching it in midair.
"Space Strangulation!"
The space around the Marines seemed to twist into a braid. In an instant, dozens of Marines and Captain Nezumi were turned into paper-thin figures together, their blood splattering across the floor.
Even the restaurant's tables and chairs were twisted to pieces along with them.