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Chapter 34: Goodbye
The saxophone music soared to its climax, resonating with the might of tumultuous ocean waves. Inside the cabin, Celestial Dragons danced wildly, lashing out with iron whips in a frenzy. Their faces twisted into grotesque, jubilant smiles as they moved to the rhythm of the music. The sharp crack of the whips merged with the melodious saxophone, creating a harrowing symphony.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Each snap of the whip tore into delicate flesh, eliciting no cry from the woman enduring the punishment. With teeth clenched, she endured the intense pain, her body marred by countless lacerations. Desperate to avoid further provocation, she maintained a forced smile, though her heart was far from cheerful.
"No, no! Your eyes are wrong!" Shields Saint bellowed, his anger flaring as he wielded the whip with his gemstone-adorned hand, striking with increasing ferocity. "You should look at me with eyes full of rebellion! You should hate me! Remember, I killed your father, I killed your mother, remember that well!"
Crack!
The sting of the whip sliced across the woman's chest, adding to her suffering. She whimpered softly, lying drenched on the ground, yet her eyes grew more submissive. She knew showing hate would only excite the Celestial Dragons' perverse craving for dominance. Submission, on the other hand, might make them lose interest.
"Useless! So useless!" Shields Saint raged, closing in on the woman. His heavy hand struck her face violently, sending her tumbling two meters back. She lay there with a swollen face, blood dribbling from her mouth, her black hair in disarray.
He muttered, winded and increasingly irate. Pulling a golden pistol from his waist, he clicked off the safety and pressed it against the woman's blood-soaked forehead. She had hoped to survive by appeasing him, but that hope now seemed futile. The Celestial Dragons harbored no empathy for those they deemed beneath them. Shields Saint, after all, had already set his sights on a new 'toy.'
With a malicious grin, he addressed his seventeenth wife. "I'm sorry, my beloved wife," he sneered, his finger hovering over the pistol's trigger. "Goodbye now."
However, in that instant, Shields Saint noticed a sudden change in the woman's eyes. Her vacant gaze sharpened, her attention fixed on something behind him.
"Huh?" Shields Saint's brow furrowed, confused. He recognized the pungent scent that now filled the air: blood. It was unmistakable and overpowering.
Behind him, a grating noise filled the room. Turning, he eyed the cabin door strangely. It was inching open, a pool of bright red blood seeping in from outside. As the door swung fully open,
A gust of wind laden with snowflakes swirled in from the outside world. A tall figure, drenched in blood and with short black hair sprinkled with snow, stood at the threshold. His wide white cloak, reeking of blood, whipped behind him. Shields Saint's eyes shot open, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "It's you!!" His gaze fixed on Darren, who stood at the door of the cabin, he caught a glimpse of the horrific scene on the deck outside. The bodies of those in black suits floated lifelessly. The 12 CP members, once responsible for the escort, had lost their vitality, their bodies pierced by rusty steel and hung askew. They resembled torn clothes fluttering in the snowy wind, their dripping blood turning the deck crimson.
Shields Saint's pupils contracted sharply. He thought, This man... he has killed my men! Could it be... In an instant, a bone-chilling coldness surged from the soles of the Celestial Dragon's feet, climbing up his spine to his forehead, numbing his scalp.
"North Blue Admiral, Marine North Blue Supreme Commander, Naval Headquarters Rear Admiral Darren, at your service, Lord Shields Saint," Darren said, narrowing his eyes, bowing slightly with a smile.
Boom! The golden pistol fired, and the bullet, aimed precisely at Darren's forehead, struck with a metallic clash. It ricocheted away, sparks flying. "It seems that your marksmanship is quite good," Darren said with a smile as he stepped forward.
"You, you..." Shields Saint, shocked by the bullet's ineffectiveness, stumbled backward. "Darren, what do you want to do!?"
"What do I want to do? That's a really good question..." Darren said with a smile, pausing as if in thought, and then he winked at Shields Saint.
Shields Saint, caught off guard, retorted angrily, "No matter what you want, you have offended me, and you must die!!!" He pulled the trigger in a panic as the Rear Admiral Marine approached.
Bang, bang, bang! The bullets kept hitting their target but bounced off one by one, leaving marks on the cabin's floor and walls.
After several shots, Shields Saint stared in astonishment at the man advancing towards him. "You..." Darren slapped him across the face, shattering his glass cover. Countless splinters pierced the Celestial Dragon's face, causing blood to flow.
Under Darren's formidable strength, Shields' porky face twisted and contorted. His body spun in the air and flew backward, crashing into the cabin with a loud thud. The wooden planks shattered.
Shields Saint screamed miserably, resentment flashing in his bloodshot eyes as he pointed at Darren, "You despicable..."
With that, two steel rods burst from the floor of the cabin, coiling around the Celestial Dragon's hands like roots. They pierced through his plump hands and pinned him to the wall. Shields Saint's screams echoed like those of a pig being slaughtered.