One Piece: The Living Devil

Chapter 767: Are You Even Listening!

"So, you came all the way here just to watch me make a fool of myself? Or did you come to join him and try out some new ways to torment me?", Shutara snorted, turning her gaze away in irritation.

Since her former frenemy had already seen her at her worst, she might as well go all the way.

That's right. Right now, she was nothing more than a toy kept by Rosse, something he kneaded at will to vent himself when he felt like it.

But so what?

At least in words, she still felt she had held onto her last line of defense.

She even had a twisted sense of superiority, 'My body may be forced to submit, but unlike you people, I haven't handed over my soul.'

"Tsk! Tsk! Listen to yourself. Don't make it sound like you're saying, 'I'm looking forward to it, hurry up,' alright?"

Hikifune Kirio smiled faintly. Having lived for hundreds of years, she saw straight through Shutara's act of clinging to self-respect while being abused.

Having the power to break free yet choosing to sink into it, this push-and-pull restraint… wasn't that exactly the kind of nauseating yet irresistible dynamic between these two?

"Hikifune Kirio! You came here today just to piss me off to death, didn't you!"

Shutara finally snapped. She curled up her legs and squatted on the massive throne, glaring at Hikifune.

Being messed with by Rosse in all kinds of ways every now and then was one thing. Occasionally even being dragged in as a "special guest" in his games with other women, she had endured all that.

But being mocked and judged like this face-to-face by a former equal? That she couldn't tolerate at all.

"Then go ahead and have your king treat me like a toy too. Let him vent himself properly on me."

Hikifune Kirio sat down in front of her with a bright smile. As she made that exaggerated provocation, the curves beneath her tight sportswear pushed forward boldly, and her mature, teasing eyes showed no fear that Shutara might lash out and kill her.

"Hmph!", Shutara glared at her, a trace of cold pity flashing in her eyes, "You're playing with fire."

Then, under Hikifune's amused gaze, Shutara slightly turned her face, her teeth lightly biting her lower lip. The sharp arrogance in her eyes blurred with a faint mist.

She hesitated for a moment, then raised her gaze toward Rosse, who stood behind with his hands behind his back.

"Hiss!"

Hikifune Kirio felt goosebumps rise all over her body. When had she ever seen Shutara like this?

The woman whose pride ran to the bone now carried a dangerous, captivating charm.

In just a few short years, what had this icy lotus covered in thorns been turned into?

"Master…"

Shutara parted her red lips slightly, her voice soft enough to melt.

Combined with her body wrapped in that translucent gauze, covered in red marks, that contradictory, broken sense of submission could ignite the deepest instinct of possession in any male.

If she asked for the stars in the sky right now, anyone would probably pluck them down without hesitation.

"What is it?"

Rosse walked over at an unhurried pace. Beside the black throne, he gently lifted Shutara into his arms as if picking up a precious Persian cat.

From up close, Hikifune caught a detail that made her uneasy.

The moment Rosse's large hand touched Shutara's shoulder, the woman's body trembled violently, almost like a spasm.

'Hmm?'

'When I touched her myself, she was angry, sure. But her body wasn't this sensitive.'

'Hiss!'

A chill ran from Hikifune's feet straight to her head again.

She watched as Shutara, like something that had lost all its bones, obediently settled onto Rosse's lap, her cheek resting against that luxurious robe, docile in a way that felt completely unfamiliar.

The once untouchable Shutara Senjumaru now looked overly softened and dependent, to the point that it was hard to look at.

Right now, the only thing about Shutara that was still hard was probably her mouth.

"How exactly did you mess her up like this? With her personality, she's really not resisting at all?"

Hikifune finally looked at Rosse with genuine unease.

She knew he had methods, but she hadn't expected him to break someone down this thoroughly.

Rosse casually stroked Shutara's long hair with one hand, moving from the top of her head down along her spine. His fingertips occasionally pressed down on those marks in a punishing way, his tone gentle.

"She is resisting. It's precisely because she keeps resisting that she's become this captivating," As he spoke, he raised his other arm toward Hikifune.

Her pupils shrank.

Shutara was biting down hard on his forearm, her teeth piercing the skin, her entire body shaking rapidly.

It didn't look like hatred. It looked more like someone in the grip of an addiction, instinctively biting down to counter some unbearable sensory overload.

"Tsk! Because of resistance, she ended up like this. A few years ago, she'd rather have destroyed her own soul than fallen this far," Hikifune subtly stepped back two paces.

If she knew how to get back to Soul Society, she would've turned around and run already.

Today, she had seen the brutality Rosse hid beneath a civilized exterior. This was the Hollow King she had expected.

She wasn't exactly kind to others herself, nor did she mind harsh methods, but she absolutely did not want to become a second Shutara.

"Hah! I… haven't submitted!"

Shutara suddenly released Rosse's arm, gasping for breath, her chest rising and falling violently, her small face flushed red.

Strangely, after that biting and the heavy breathing, her gaze toward Hikifune became clearer and calmer than ever, even more like her original self.

But to Hikifune, that was the most abnormal part.

She had to stay in close contact with her tormentor, be repeatedly touched, even resort to self-harm-like biting, just to maintain clarity?

That was definitely a serious problem.

"Hikifune, what's the situation with Zero Division now?"

Shutara straightened her posture in Rosse's arms. When she turned to look over, aside from the gauze and messy hair, her expression was frighteningly calm.

If not for her hand gripping Rosse's waist tightly, Hikifune might have thought she had recovered.

"Zero Division? About the same. Your master isn't interested in overturning everything yet. Ichibei and Oetsu are still up there. Only Kirinji came down with me, and he's currently leading a bunch of small fry in a meaningless resistance."

Hikifune shrugged, studying her friend with a complicated look.

"What exactly is going on with you right now? This isn't normal."

She didn't know everything, but she knew that this version of Shutara was probably her most "normal" state.

"Isn't it all because of this bastard!"

At that, Shutara shot Rosse a glare, though a trace of attachment flickered deep in her eyes.

"He locked me in a completely isolated, lightless palace deep under the sea. There, I had no spiritual pressure, couldn't move, couldn't even feel the passage of time. My senses were stripped away by absolute emptiness…"

Her voice trembled slightly.

"My body has developed a kind of lowly conditioned reflex. Only when he's here, only when he touches me, do my senses get reactivated through pain and heat, and my thoughts return from that dead silence. Otherwise, I'm just a beautifully crafted but unconscious corpse."

"That's your soul's self-preservation mechanism, isn't it? So even your will can be this fragile."

Hikifune sighed, 'Developing physiological dependence in just a few years… that level of conditioning is extreme.'

'But with Shutara's willpower, it shouldn't have been this fragile, right?'

'If it was me, I feel I could last longer.'

She had tried locking herself in a small dark room before. Though she could cancel it herself, so it wasn't entirely accurate.

Still, she stayed inside for ten years before coming out out of boredom.

"Why don't you come try it for yourself? I guarantee I'll take good care of you down in that deep sea," Shutara snorted, rolling her eyes.

Rosse smiled, "In truth, it all depends on you. If you were willing to fully offer me your loyalty, I would've given you freedom of movement long ago."

As he spoke, he continued gently stroking her back.

"In your dreams! I can make clothes for a madman like you, but I will never acknowledge you as my master!"

Shutara lifted her chest proudly, as if that final stance was her only remaining dignity.

"But that 'master' you just called out sounded pretty sweet."

Hikifune raised an eyebrow, teasing. Even her bones had almost gone soft from hearing it.

"Th-that wasn't me!"

Shutara gritted her teeth in denial. She firmly believed that the consciousness born in that dark void, craving touch and possession, was just a fake split off for survival, not the proud Shutara Senjumaru.

"Alright, alright, if you say so."

After seeing all this, Hikifune actually relaxed a bit.

Someone like her, who knew how to read the situation, probably wouldn't end up suffering that kind of inhuman mental torment.

If resistance was futile, why push yourself into splitting your own mind like this?

"Enough of that. How much do you know about this bastard?"

Shutara's expression turned serious.

"You're really saying all this right in front of him? Sitting in his arms, no less?"

Hikifune looked at her strangely, glancing at the large hand behind Shutara that was restlessly roaming over her abdomen.

"You've got guts. Aren't you afraid you'll get thrown back into that dark box completely?"

Being toyed with by Rosse while calmly discussing him… even Hikifune found this scene hard to process.

Shutara's state was extremely contradictory.

Her soul was still resisting stubbornly, while her body had become compliant like water, even actively seeking.

Hikifune couldn't understand why she insisted on enduring like this, but that didn't stop her from being shaken by it.

"He won't."

Shutara rolled her eyes. Her slender hand covered the large hand behind her. Instead of stopping it, she unconsciously clasped it tightly, like a silent plea.

"I understand him. Someone like him just wants to see a more interesting show. The more brilliantly you struggle, the more excited he gets watching from the audience. To him, truth and deception are equally entertaining."

Hearing that, Hikifune's eyes flickered, and she unconsciously looked away.

Even as a top scientist who prided herself on experience, this twisted, uncomfortable atmosphere put pressure on her.

"I don't know much," Hikifune took a deep breath, calming herself before answering honestly, "He's the Hollow King, and also the Commander-in-Chief of Soul Society. Those are the identities he's revealed. As for anything else, it's still speculation. The reason I agreed to come to Hueco Mundo was to solve some of those mysteries."

Since neither Rosse nor Shutara seemed to mind this kind of conversation, Hikifune simply treated Shutara as some kind of extension of Rosse and got to the point.

"Then you really don't know much."

Shutara exhaled, her eyes almost seeming to brim with moisture.

"His true identity… hm… is the ruler of another world."

"Cough! Cough!"

The scale of that statement made Hikifune instinctively raise her gaze.

She had to admit, Rosse was overwhelmingly strong.

That hand speed alone made her eyes blur. If it were directed at her as an attack, she probably wouldn't last two seconds.

She was starting to understand why Shutara had ended up like this.

If it was like this every day… the body really wouldn't hold up.

"Are you even listening!"

Shutara glared at her through clenched teeth. Was it easy for her to pass on information like this?

"I'm listening. You said he's the ruler of another world. For someone that strong, controlling a world isn't strange, right?", Hikifune spread her hands.

The Soul King could create worlds. Rosse controlling one wasn't that shocking.

Besides, Rosse currently controlled Hueco Mundo, the Human World, and Soul Society. That was already three worlds.

"You still don't get it. That world is on the same level as our three realms combined. That world… is one without spiritual particles, a world of pure physical matter."

As Shutara spoke, her body jolted, and she coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"Take it easy. Slow down."

Hikifune was worried she might drop dead, but this time, she finally understood.

"I had my suspicions earlier. Now it's confirmed. Your body is so strong because your world doesn't have spiritual particles, right?"

Her gaze passed over Shutara, studying Rosse with curiosity.

She really wanted to drag him onto her operating table.

As for Shutara standing in front of her? Just a lump of ruined flesh. No research value.

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