Gensokyo's Dimensional Black Shop

Page 41

Esdeath was deeply skeptical when she thought about the classification of Ice-Ice Fruits on the back of Byakuya's card.

After eating a few pieces of chocolate that Byakuya handed her to suppress the nauseating taste, Esdeath grabbed the teacup on the table and took a big gulp before standing up and swaying as she walked toward the portal.

"Manager, you shouldn't be closed within the last three hours, right?"

"No ah."

"That's good." Esdeath smiled with satisfaction, turned around to show half of her profile, and displayed a wild smile to everyone: "At our marching speed, three hours should be enough to conquer the next alien tribe."

"May I ask, what are your plans after conquering the tribe you mentioned?"

"Is that even a question?" Esdeath looked at Kuzan, who had asked the question, as if he were an idiot. "Of course, we take everything of value from them, and bury the useless stuff. Isn't that how wars are?"

"So... to the foreign race you speak of, you are the invader, aren't you?"

"Oh, I remember now, the word 'justice' seems to be written on your cloaks, you pitifully silly little cuties." Esdeath covered her mouth and chuckled. "I admire you for being able to write something so foolish on yourselves, but that's no excuse for pointing fingers at me without knowing the truth. Now those scum of other races know I'm an invader, but why didn't they think the same way when they slaughtered my Baltus race?"

As Esdeath loses control of her emotions, the murderous intent she has accumulated over the years in her battles against dangerous species and humans once again spirals out of control.

Bai Ye frowned.

"Hey, shopkeeper, I remember when you weren't here before, Jeanne Alter said that you went to another world, right?" Before Bai Ye could speak this time, Esdeath deliberately suppressed her killing intent and looked at Bai Ye to ask.

"Yes." Bai Ye nodded.

"So, considering what I've seen and heard outside this shop, you should be able to send our customers to other worlds, right, shopkeeper?" Esdeath beckoned to Kuzan and the other two with a provocative gesture. "Here's your chance. In my world, the human world can be divided into my empire, the revolutionary army that claims to be saving the people from the empire's brutal rule, and the alien races I'm currently fighting. After seeing their situation, if you three still have any opinions about my killings... feel free to point them out."

Chapter 098 The Reversal of Roles: Hunter and Prey

Esdeath's invitation coincided with the three Logia-type Vice Admirals, or more precisely, with Sengoku, who was behind the three Logia-type Vice Admirals.

After seeing the "ice" on Esdeath's body that was clearly different from Kuzan's, it would be a joke not to be curious about her world. Now that there was an opportunity to go and see it for himself, Sengoku would not give it up... even though he wasn't among those who went.

After stepping out of the portal, the Third Lieutenant General found himself in a battlefield where a battle had just ended and soldiers were cleaning up the aftermath.

The scattered severed limbs and blood everywhere made all three of them frown.

Although they had encountered some ruthless pirates during their rise to vice admiral, who did similar things to defenseless civilians, this was the first time they had ever seen a battlefield on such a large scale... This could practically be considered a slaughterhouse, right?

No wonder that woman exuded such a strong murderous aura!

"Don't get angry yet. Don't forget our agreement. We'll talk about everything after you've seen it with your own eyes." Seeing that the three seemed about to explode, Esdeath raised her hand and released a wisp of cold air to calm them down.

"Hmph, hopefully you won't have lost your way in the killing when we return, 033. Otherwise, regardless of your stance, the three of us will kill you." A surge of dark red magma erupted from his body, instantly dispelling the chilling aura. Sakazuki glanced disdainfully at the circle of soldiers surrounding him…

There's not a single one who can fight. ╯^╰

Then the three of them left Esdeath's camp together using Moonwalk.

In the camp, Esdeath only looked away after the word "Justice" on the capes behind the three people was no longer visible.

"In the name of absolute justice?"

"The slogans are quite loud, but if it were in a more peaceful world, there might be a chance they could be realized..."

"It's a pity it's not here..."

Watching the three men take to the air, Daidas licked his lips, which had become somewhat dry from the cold northern climate: "General, are those three your friends? They all look quite strong..."

"Save it. Even without using that move, I might not be able to keep them here." Esdeath, who had personally experienced how unsolvable elementalization was, rolled her eyes.

Although the shopkeeper said that in the world where Devil Fruits are produced, there are unique methods to counter the elementalization of Devil Fruit users, it is obvious that... Daidas doesn't have that ability.

……

A few days later, at the main gate of the capital, three disheveled figures walked in along the main road.

Considering the bloodstains on the three men that were clearly not human, the soldiers at the gate didn't make things difficult for them, and instead chose to comply...

No matter how you look at it, the pot-bellied merchant in the back seems much easier to bully than these three who can hunt dangerous species.

"Hey you, what are you looking at? What's that fat guy carrying on his back?"

"Some...local specialties..."

"Stop right there! If it's local specialty, why are you running away? Are you a spy for the revolutionary army? Come back with us first, I suspect you're up to something..."

Hearing the commotion behind them, the three people, who had already walked some distance, sighed in unison.

Borsalino glanced at the lifeless pedestrians on the street through his aviator sunglasses: "What a country that's rotten to the core, isn't it, Sakazuki?"

"Hmph." Sakazuki glanced back at the city gate with disdain: "Let's find a place to stay first. The so-called revolutionary army may have loud slogans, but in reality, they are just fooling the civilians in a different way. Now it's up to this empire."

Kuzan yawned.

The three of them then found a hotel, used the money they had "borrowed" from a branch base of the revolutionary army to book a room, took a shower, changed into relatively ordinary clothes, and went out again.

It was already dark, and there were hardly any pedestrians on the street. A night breeze blew by, and the three of them had a strange feeling...

Okay, okay, okay.

A carriage stopped beside the three of them, the curtain was lifted, and a blonde noblewoman stepped out.

"Are the three of you not from Beijing?"

Kuzan and the other two exchanged glances and nodded in unison.

"Ah~ I knew it wasn't, I could tell at a glance." The noble lady playfully tapped her lips. "Looks like the three of you don't have a place to rest yet, do you? Why don't you come to my house for the night? The nights in the capital aren't exactly peaceful..."

Sakazuki frowned, about to refuse, but Borsalino grabbed his wrist.

After calming Sakazuki down, Borsalino politely thanked the noble lady before him: "We just didn't know where to go tonight, and were planning to find a place where the wind wasn't too strong to stay for a while. Thank you so much, Miss."

"O(∩_∩)O Haha~ No need to be so polite. My father has always taught me to be kind to others." The noble lady looked at the three of them and then looked back at her carriage. Suddenly, she was a little embarrassed: "But it seems that you will have to follow along yourselves. The space inside the carriage is too small."

“Oh, that doesn’t matter. As you can see, the three of us are actually quite robust,” Borsalino replied with a smile.

“It’s wonderful that you think that way. By the way, my name is Arya, and yours is Arya?” The noble lady twirled around happily, seemingly quite satisfied with their answer.

"Kuzan." "Sakaski." "Polsalino."

She was met with three voices that were not very enthusiastic.

Arya: "..."

Is something wrong?

……

That night, after having dinner at the warm hospitality of Arya's family, the three people, who had been separated into three guest rooms, got together again.

Following the guidance of the will of the universe, Sakazuki arrived outside a warehouse, took down two guards, and then pushed open the door.

Then all three of them fell silent.

“Anyway, even if this isn’t our world…” Borsalino twisted his neck.

“If you can pretend you didn’t see this, then I think you might not even be able to lift the cloak of justice when you get back.” Kuzan also took off the eye patch from his forehead.

"In the name of absolute justice, let's begin to cleanse this place of evil!" Sakazuki's hands transformed into magma, colliding with each other in front of him.

Chapter 099 Huh? Wasn't the outcome already predetermined from the start?

While idly chatting with his teammates in the in-game chat, Bai Ye suddenly caught a glimpse of the light shining on the portal out of the corner of his eye.

When the light faded, he saw Kuzan rushing out of the door, holding Sakazuki in his left hand and Borsalino in his right. All three of them looked to be in bad shape.

"Weren't you supposed to be following Esdeath to her world to observe what justice is? How did you end up like this?" Bai Ye slapped a ball of life force at Borsalino and Sakazuki, keeping them barely alive, while curiously looking at the relatively intact Kuzan.

"Um... I got hit by a big guy."

Kuzan's face twitched at the thought of that giant mech that emerged from under the palace and nearly smashed the three of them into tiny pancakes with a single punch.

No wonder the empire is so corrupt, yet their rule can still be maintained. The so-called revolutionary army only dares to make small moves far from the capital. It turns out the empire still has such a trump card!

Put yourself in their shoes. If the World Government and the Navy allow the Celestial Dragons to act so recklessly, isn't there a similar situation?

It's terrifying to think about.jpg

"Tsk tsk... I bet if Sengoku saw you like this, his heart would ache beyond measure."

After checking on Sakazuki and Borsalino's injuries, Byakuya sent a vibration to Sengoku's card.

This could be considered a privilege of Byakuya as the store manager, allowing him to directly convey simple messages to customers' cards without their consent.

A few minutes later, Sengoku's figure emerged from the portal.

The moment he entered, he saw the three pillars of the navy's future that he had been longing for for several days standing before him, two crippled and one injured.

He quickly broke the card into pieces, using enough life force to fully restore the three of them. Seeing their condition improve rapidly, Sengoku breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the one he had always thought was the most reliable: "Kuzan, what happened?"

"Didn't we go to Esdeath's world as you instructed?" Kuzan's face showed a conflicted expression. "To be honest, from my personal perspective, it seems like there isn't a single normal person who truly holds power in that world. Sakazuki, Borsalino, and I traveled south from the northern battlefield, and before heading to the Imperial Capital, we visited several branches of the Revolutionary Army. And the final result..."

"Up until we reached the capital, we encountered a noble family who treated us like ordinary people, tricked us into leaving, and wanted to torture and kill us for their amusement. In the end, not only Sakazuki, but also Borsalino and I couldn't hold back. After destroying that family's manor, we clashed with the capital's garrison."

"The process went smoothly at first, but later we decided to meet with the ruler of that country to see if he still deserved to be saved..."

"And then you got beaten half to death by the other side?"

Kuzan: “…”

Your Excellency, please don't expose my hardships!

"Serves you right. You dared to underestimate the enemy just because you had a moment of success. How many people who can rule a country are simple?" After confirming that the three of them had no lasting effects, Sengoku felt a surge of anger again. "After we go back this time, it seems I will have to ask the Marshal to give you three a good training. In this condition, you are not even qualified to be promoted to lieutenant general, let alone general."

"Admiral, what kind of promotion were you talking about?" Borsalino's face twitched. "Can I apply to be promoted to Vice Admiral, like Vice Admiral Garp, so that I can better serve the Navy and give opportunities to those who need them more?"

"You want to slack off like Garp?"

"..."

"Hehe." Sengoku gave Borsalino a meaningful smile and turned back to the portal.

As a general, especially one who is about to be promoted, he has been very busy these past few days.

……

After the three vice admirals of the Natural type left, Bai Ye thought for a moment and still sent Esdeath a card shake.

On the battlefield between the Imperial Army and the foreign tribes, Esdeath, who was enjoying the atmosphere of the battlefield just a moment ago, was stunned and took out her card from the pocket of her military uniform.

Although the balance on the Ice-Freeze Fruit was reset to zero when she bought it, during the days that Lieutenant General Sanji led her army south, she conquered several villages of other ethnic groups, quickly replenishing her balance...

Having consumed one hundred Origin Coins, Esdeath vanished from her horse amidst the bewildered gazes of the surrounding soldiers.

"Manager, I felt it vibrate just now, it shouldn't be my imagination, right?"

"Hmm... I was the one who needed to talk to you." Bai Ye rested his chin on his hand and looked at Esdeath curiously: "By the way, what's the situation with Kuzan and the other two? When they came back from your world before, judging from their condition, if they had been any slower, Sengoku would probably have had to drag his old buddies across worlds to avenge those three."

“Um, I don’t know either.” Esdeath shook her head. “After I brought them there, the three of them separated from me, saying they wanted to see that world for themselves…”

"So these three went to the capital to carry out their righteous journey? By the way, I heard from Kuzan that there's a big guy in the capital who even the three of them combined can't beat. Do you know what's going on?"

"It should be... the Empire's true trump card, right?" Esdeath recalled, "I seem to remember a minister mentioning that the Empire's last line of defense is neither my army nor General Budo, who commands the Imperial Guard, but the Supreme Imperial Arms left behind by the first emperor, which can only be activated by true members of the royal bloodline. According to him, the Supreme Imperial Arms possess power comparable to that of gods... What's wrong, shopkeeper?"

"...I'm just curious, what exactly is the concept of gods in your world?" After squinting at Esdeath and making her feel a little uneasy, Bai Ye slowly exhaled and said.

Strictly speaking, compared to a god-killer who uses a mortal body to slay gods and usurp their authority, his status after becoming an immortal is more like that of a god.

"By the way, Kuzan and the others told me to tell you that after we go back this time, the three of them will start training. Once their Devil Fruit abilities awaken, they might even be able to put up a fight against that big guy. If you ever fall out with the Empire, remember to let them know so they can go back and take revenge."

"Hmm~ I don't think there will be such an opportunity, but thank you anyway." Esdeath nodded.

Chapter 100 Even if I, Bai Ye, am... really tempted!

Because Esdeath was still at war, after answering some of Byakuya's questions, she returned to her own world through the portal.

However, Bai Ye was unable to continue her happy time with the "rough-looking man" on the other end of the internet cable.

Almost immediately, Esdeath left through the portal, and then Yukari Yakumo walked in through the main door with elegant steps.

"You sage, what brings you here again today?"

Could it be that this person is actually a layabout rather than a wise man, with nothing of substance to do all day?

"What's with your attitude, Manager?" Sensing that Bai Ye wasn't too happy with her, Yakumo Yukari pouted and looked at Bai Ye coyly.

Bai Ye's expression stiffened. "So you came here today just to act cute and youthful?"

"Ugh, what do you mean by pretending to be young? I'm a genuine seventeen-year-old beauty! Look at my skin, my features, my figure..."

"You think you can get at least seventeen yuan a pound at the market?" If you keep this up, I'm going to lose control of the black dragon sealed in my right hand!