A dark and windy night, a night for murder.
A small building on Baihua Street was incredibly bloody; all the men were killed, and the women were abused.
Normally, the sounds of such a tragedy would have been heard by the nearby neighbors, but a soundproof barrier, similar to an igloo, isolated all sounds within the house, preventing the victims' heart-wrenching screams from escaping.
The night was as silent as usual, as if nothing had happened.
"Hehe, boss, should we find another resident to take care of?" a masked man asked.
Another man, cloaked in black, spoke in a loud voice, "This neighborhood is full of merchants and artisans; they should have a lot of Berries at home..."
"The Marines have already started patrolling the town and will find us sooner or later. Tonight, we'll clear this street, then leave this poor place and make a clean getaway."
The leader in the black cloak took the first step.
His subordinates followed behind him, all enveloped in an invisible cover, not making a single sound.
The faint sound of the breeze and the chirping of insects nearby all disappeared at this moment, all sounds were cut off from them.
"Boss, I did some reconnaissance earlier. There are really a lot of beautiful women on Baihua Street. There's a pretty widow who's very alluring, and a female teacher who's also a great beauty. Her delicate appearance, her slender figure, hehehe..." The masked man leading the way let out a lewd laugh.
"Oh? Lead the way, lead the way!" The cloaked man and his subordinates were impatient.
The masked man, leading the way lewdly, easily leaped over the fence into a small building's courtyard: "This is it! That very beautiful widow lives here!"
Outside the courtyard, several blood-soaked men in black simply kicked down the fence, yet not a single sound escaped that circular range.
He looked around, then stepped forward, just about to attempt a breakthrough, when a white light suddenly shot out from the darkness.
Whoosh!
The white light, carrying a strong wind, struck the masked man's buttocks without warning.
Ouch...
With a scream from their companion, everyone realized they had been discovered and ambushed, and they all chose to turn and flee.
Several white lights shot out, flying towards the group, and were all intercepted by the cloaked man leading the group, who swung his cloak.
"Retreat!" The cloaked man lifted the injured masked man with one hand and turned to leave.
The other men in black also retreated, disappearing without a trace under the cover of darkness.
"Are they that cautious? They must be afraid of the nearby Marines."
Martin, holding a throwing knife, emerged from the darkness.
"These pirates have no footsteps or shouts; they move like ghosts... They must have used some method to block all sound, leaving the victimized residents unaware and preventing those calling for help from being heard."
"Corazon's Silence-Silence Fruit!" Martin immediately guessed what it was.
Indeed, this was definitely the power of a Devil Fruit.
The time period he was in was ten years before the main storyline began, and Corazon, who possessed the Silence-Silence Fruit, had already died. The Devil Fruit naturally returned, and it was possible for someone else to find and eat it.
A Devil Fruit Ability User who has eaten the Silence-Silence Fruit can, when using the ability, create a soundproof barrier resembling a dome within a certain range of themselves. All sounds emitted by people or objects within this dome's range will be blocked by this soundproof wall and cannot be transmitted outside the wall; objects inside the wall also cannot hear any sounds coming from outside the wall, only seeing the actions performed without any accompanying sound.
Martin could confirm this was the power of the Silence-Silence Fruit.
It's a Devil Fruit Ability User; that pirate should have a considerable bounty.
He wouldn't risk chasing them, nor did he intend to wake the neighbors.
The throwing knife was coated with some poison, enough to make those few suffer.
He figured these people had already retreated, knowing the difficulty, and wouldn't risk coming back, and would leave the town...
No!
Even if he was cautious and low-key, these people were utterly ruthless criminals. What if they didn't give up and wanted revenge...
Kill!
With a change of mind, Martin suddenly drew his blade, carrying Senbonzakura, and pursued them in the direction they retreated, his killing intent fully revealed.
.
"Damn it, we were ambushed."
"We're the ones who ambush others, yet we were ambushed. This is simply unacceptable."
"Boss, let's go back and kill them!"
"Big brother, the poisonous throwing knife wounded me. My butt is so swollen! It hurts!" The masked man limped forward, pulled down his pants, and pointed at his swollen, oozing buttocks, wailing, "Big brother, save my butt... Help me get revenge!"
He hadn't expected the throwing knife to be poisoned. In just five minutes, his butt was in excruciating pain and swollen, growing larger and larger, with pus constantly oozing from the wound, and a strange odor.
"Old Seven, step back. This has nothing to do with you. Let me handle this. Put your pants on first."
"Yes, put them on first. That smell is too overwhelming."
"Ahem, Old Seven, can you stay further away from us?" The masked men all showed their disgust, which made Old Seven feel a pang of sadness.
They had promised to share hardships, to rob together, and to force women together.
Just because his butt was rotten, they were so disgusted with him?
"You few must be the pirates lurking near this town, right?"
A clear, cold female voice suddenly rang out. The pirates immediately looked in the direction of the voice and saw a tall woman in a black catsuit appear directly in front of them.
Under the faint Moonlight, they could barely make out that the woman's appearance was extraordinary, and her figure was excellent, but she exuded a cold aura, like a cold moon obscured by dark clouds in the sky.
"Huh? You're that beautiful teacher!" The masked man recognized her.
"Oh? She's indeed very beautiful, and her figure is great!"
"Everyone just got frustrated, so we can find her to vent some steam."
"Hmm, watch me."
The cloaked giant said, snapping his fingers, and an invisible dome enveloped the surroundings, completely isolating them from the outside world. Not a sound could escape, and the beautiful woman opposite them was also encompassed within it.
"Little girl, I'm a Devil Fruit Ability User! My ability will prevent any screams from escaping. No one will know where you are or how you died!" He grinned, letting out a triumphant laugh.
"A Devil Fruit Ability User, you say?"
"Coincidentally, I am too, you know." The beauty smiled calmly, crossed her arms over her chest, and opened her red lips: "Thirty-Flower Bloom: Choke!"
To the pirates' shock, almost simultaneously, two giant arms, each composed of 30 smaller arms, grew from their bodies and clasped their necks in a V-shape.
Crack! Crack! Crack...
With crisp snapping sounds, the pirates' necks were directly broken. They fell to the ground and died without even a whimper.
The seemingly strong Devil Fruit Ability User only managed to hold on for three more seconds than the others; his neck was ultimately snapped by the two large hands.
"You... who are you?" Before dying, he looked at the other person with an incredulous gaze and asked.
Until his death, he never imagined he would encounter such a powerful Demon Fruit Ability User.
"Me? I'm just a woman who seeks the truth in history and desires happiness..." The woman finished speaking, then turned and disappeared into the darkness.
Twenty seconds later, Martin, brimming with murderous intent and ready to cut down everything, arrived there.
He barely managed to catch up to these guys by relying on his high Perception. Due to the assistance of the Silence-Silence Fruit, these people ran silently in the dark, making them incredibly difficult to track. If not for his high Perception attribute, which allowed him to smell a faint scent of blood, he probably wouldn't have been able to catch up to them at all.
"Huh? Someone got here first."
"Are they all dead? Necks broken, in the same direction."
"Could it be..."
Inspecting the corpses scattered everywhere, Martin seemed to have guessed something.
"My dear wife, you're truly careless. Not everyone knows how to break necks like that. You have a record with the World Government. Let me clean this up for you."
Martin swung his sword and severed their heads.
Having done that, he immediately turned and, in no time, rushed back home, where he saw Robin reading on the second floor.
Robin was wearing a black silk nightgown, sprawled on the sofa: "Dear, where did you go? I called you just now, why didn't you answer..."
Without a word, Martin stepped forward, picked her up by the waist, and, despite Robin's token resistance, carried her into the bathroom.
Robin had sweat on her!
Soon, the sounds of splashing water echoed from the bathroom.
[Evaluation: Excellent]
[Obtained: Greatly increased favorability, greatly increased forging experience]
[Special: Flower-Flower Fruit Power +2]
It's a rare excellent evaluation!
Is this what's needed for relaxation after killing?
A refreshed Martin carried the soft Robin to the bedroom and gently placed her on the bed.
Speaking of which, since there's an excellent evaluation, when will I be able to achieve a supreme excellent evaluation?
There's plenty of time; I'll slowly figure it out.
Looking at his exhausted, sleeping wife, Martin's eyes were gentle, a smile on his lips, as he covered her with the blanket.
He was certain that Nico Robin was the one who had just killed those people.
After all, she was the Demon Child with a 79 million Berries bounty; she was truly ruthless when it came to killing.
However, from now on, such fighting and killing should be left to her husband!
Martin gently kissed his wife's forehead.
Good night, Robin-chan.