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Chapter 38 - Chapter 38: Pay Me Back!

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Peacock stormed back into the research lab, eyes blazing with anger and a hint of tears.

Her hands and whip were encased in Armament Haki, extending the dark energy all the way down the length of her weapon. Made from a special material, her whip could withstand the force of her Devil Fruit powers, and when enhanced with Haki, it was powerful enough to strike down even a Vice Admiral.

"Chiba, you jerk! Today, I'm going to teach you a lesson!" she shouted.

Peacock snapped her whip, aiming it directly at Chiba's golden bell shield.

In recent weeks, Peacock's strength had grown, and her fruit abilities had advanced in unusual ways. She wasn't sure if her strike could break through his shield, but she was determined to try.

Chiba braced himself, covering the sacred golden bell shield with a layer of Armament Haki. The shield darkened, turning black.

Crack!

Peacock's whip struck the shield with all her might.

But as the whip connected, the Armament Haki surrounding it shattered. The intense impact rebounded, breaking the whip itself and leaving Peacock staring in shock.

She froze, eyes wide with disbelief. "My Armament Haki… broke? And my whip… shattered?"

She could hardly process what had happened. "Has this guy's strength already reached an Admiral's level?"

"Peacock, stop making a scene. This is a Marine research facility, not a training ground," Chiba said, sounding both amused and mildly reproachful.

Peacock's pride wouldn't let her back down, and, realizing she was in the wrong, she shifted tactics. She pouted, and her voice took on a plaintive tone. "You… you're such a bully!" she wailed, making a show of crying and drawing everyone's attention.

The lab staff glanced over, and Chiba felt a wave of embarrassment. "Alright, alright, calm down," he said, attempting to soothe her. "I didn't mean for the shield to be that strong. It's a new technique—I didn't expect it would work so well."

"I don't care! You sent me flying outside, and now my ankle's bruised. It hurts so much," Peacock complained, looking down at her red and swollen ankle with a sad expression.

Chiba sighed, coming over to inspect her injury. Her feet were soft and delicate, almost like porcelain. Gently, he applied pressure, channeling his energy to soothe the pain and ease her bruised muscles. "Does that help?"

"A little…" she said, her voice turning soft, "but it still hurts. You should keep massaging it, just in case."

Chiba kept rubbing her foot, focusing his energy to further relax her muscles. Peacock's tears quickly dried, replaced by a satisfied smile.

After a moment, Chiba pulled back. "That should do it. Feeling better?"

"No, it still hurts!" Peacock batted her eyelashes and nudged him playfully with her foot. "You should rub it some more."

Chiba shook his head, gently swatting her foot away. "Alright, stop pretending. You know my medical skills; you're perfectly fine."

Peacock pulled her foot back, but she wasn't done. Looping her arm through his, she leaned in and said, "Well, even if my foot's healed, you still broke my whip. I don't care; you have to pay for it. If you don't, I'm not leaving."

She held on to his arm tightly, unwilling to let go.

She had used all her strength in that whip strike—Armament Haki, Devil Fruit powers, and the whip's own durability combined. No Vice Admiral could withstand it, yet Chiba had shattered it effortlessly. The man before her was strong, talented, and undeniably handsome. Only someone like him was worthy of her affection.

"Alright, alright, I'll pay for it," Chiba conceded, slightly exasperated.

Peacock was beautiful, an undeniable stunner, but her boldness often kept him on edge. And given her openness, he had no idea how many admirers she had kept in line with her fierce energy. Every time he thought about it, his feelings for her cooled just a little.

"How do you want me to pay you?"

"My whip was crafted using special materials. It took me two years just to collect everything. To hire one of the most skilled weapon smiths, I spent all my savings, and the whole process took three years. Now that you've broken it, tell me, how will you make it up to me?"

Peacock smiled slyly, adding, "Of course, there is another way you could repay me. If you're willing to give yourself to me, then you don't need to worry about the whip."

"I'll pay for the whip," Chiba replied flatly.

"Fine, but if you can't get me a better one, then you'll have to reconsider."

The researchers around them chuckled.

"Boss, why not just give yourself to Peacock? Save yourself the trouble," one of them called out.

"Yeah, Director! She's gorgeous. What's there to think about?" said another.

"If it were us, we'd be more than happy."

Chiba freed his arm from Peacock's grip, turning to the onlookers with a glare. "Alright, enough. I want a full report on the best whip-making techniques by the end of the day. And give me a list of reputable blacksmiths—one hundred, minimum. If I don't have them by tomorrow morning, you're all working overtime."

A well-crafted weapon could dramatically enhance a person's combat ability. Chiba knew that some of the most powerful weapons, such as the Twelve Supreme Grade Blades, held legendary power. Hawk-Eye Mihawk wielded the Supreme Grade Sword Yoru, and with a mere draw of his sword could surpass most others' ultimate moves. Whitebeard's Cloud Cutter could split the skies.

It was time he had a weapon to match his abilities.

With the staff thoroughly motivated, Chiba soon had a list of one hundred blacksmiths and their most famous creations. Skimming through it, he picked out two names and headed to the marshal's office.

Inside, Sengoku was practicing Divine Power Awakening. As Chiba entered, Sengoku opened his eyes and smiled. "Little Chiba, what brings you here?"

"Can't I just visit my dear Grandpa Sengoku?" Chiba replied with a grin.

"Come now, you're here to ask me to send Marine resources to find a blacksmith, aren't you?"

Chiba laughed. "Grandpa Sengoku, planting spies in my lab? Not very discreet of you."

"Well, what else do you expect in a place like your lab? Anyway, bringing a hundred blacksmiths to Marine Headquarters is out of the question. But ten or twenty? That, I can arrange."

"I don't need that many. Just two." Chiba placed the profiles of two blacksmiths on Sengoku's desk.

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𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚!

𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼:

• 𝘽𝙤𝙜𝙙𝙖𝙣 𝙋𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙪

• 𝙅𝙘𝟭𝟮𝟬𝟮

• 𝘼𝙝𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙟𝙖𝙝

• 𝗝𝗮𝗰𝗼𝗯 𝗠𝗼𝗲𝗲

𝗔𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸:

• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝙂𝙚𝙩 𝟴𝟱+ 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.

• 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁-𝗢𝘂𝘁: 𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩!

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝘀 𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝘁, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀!

👉 𝙅𝙤𝙞𝙣 𝙣𝙤𝙬: 𝙋𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣.𝙘𝙤𝙢/𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙊𝙛𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧