https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-997-Dance-and-I-ll-Spare-This-Island/13540691/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-999-Fate-Must-Be-Grasped-by-Oneself/13540693/
Chapter 998: If You Don't Beat Him Until It Hurts, How Will He Understand Pain?
Chapter 998: If You Don't Beat Him Until It Hurts, How Will He Understand Pain?
Slapstick Dance?
This sudden, bizarre request startled Wilbur for a moment. Instinctively, he glanced toward the town behind the port, where numerous residents still lingered—some hiding in plain sight.
“That’s right, Slapstick Dance. Don’t worry if you don’t know the steps—I’ll teach you.”
Liu Sheng Shi Hu clapped his hands, bent one leg, and spread his arms—one hand raised high, the other extended downward with his five fingers splayed wide.
Thud-thud-thud!
Balancing on one foot, he hopped forward a few times, his head slowly twisting in a full circle before snapping forward. With a grin stretching halfway across his face, he declared, “This is it! Slapstick Dance! Though there are many variations, you only need to perform one. Even if you can’t manage this, you could always do a folk dance from your homeland or improvise something. Just walk around the town half-naked for half a day until everyone believes you’re a fool! Half a day—just half a day—and I’ll spare you.”
Half a day? Wilbur would accept. Then he’d learn the true meaning of despair—the kind a naive man discovered twenty years ago!
Bang!
A gunshot rang out again.
Liu Sheng Shi Hu’s head jerked upward before slowly lowering. His eyes grew gruesome, yet his grin remained, though now twisted downward. Still, a hint of mirth lingered in those bloodshot eyes.
Glee first—then rage.
A black trail of light flickered beneath his chin as the bullet flattened and dropped to the ground.
Even with Haki-infused bullets, they’d done nothing.
Liu Sheng Shi Hu touched his jaw. Though his face darkened, his tone turned mocking: “Oh? You’re refusing my request?”
Wilbur slammed his palm down, vaulting backward into a standing position. He raised his gun, aiming steadily at Liu Sheng Shi Hu. “Are you insulting me, pirate?!”
“Is this an insult?” Liu Sheng Shi Hu chuckled. “Saving your beloved island and its people requires a small price—your petty pride. Is your dignity worth more than their lives? Their safety?”
As he spoke, Liu Sheng Shi Hu’s expression shifted. Suddenly grinning, his voice turned sharp: “Fine then. If your pride’s so precious, let’s do this: a duel! No more half-day farce. Just one hour. Survive my attacks for sixty minutes, and I’ll spare everyone. Simple, no?”
“Have you finished humiliating me yet?!”
A sudden roar froze Liu Sheng Shi Hu in place.
Wilbur fixed him with a cold stare, voice firm. “I’m Navy. You’re a pirate. Our only path is battle. Yes, you’re strong. I can’t defeat you. But that doesn’t mean I’ll surrender like a puppet for your amusement! Death isn’t feared—it’s an honor to die protecting others, fighting for the Justice Cause!”
A surge of Navy officers gathered around him.
“Kuromr. once said,” Wilbur continued, “peace through compromise is just begging for mercy. Such peace is fleeting, discarded when the oppressor sees no threat. You can’t reason with pain unless you make them feel it. Peace exists only when both sides can threaten annihilation!”
His voice thundered: “I’ll never accept your terms! Your only path to victory is through our corpses. Even if this island burns, I’ll fight to the last breath to keep you from claiming it!”
The Navy behind him nodded grimly, raising their guns in unison.
Liu Sheng Shi Hu stared blankly, memories flashing—of a naked man wandering alleyways, of the same man supporting nine others atop a giant cauldron, of weeping crowds and the grins of a hulking Haki-wielder and a sneering dwarf.
His expression faded—no rage, no joy, only emptiness.
“Why?” he rumbled. “Why not compromise? No bloodshed. No sacrifice. You Navy might welcome death, but what of the civilians? Spare them! Comply, and no harm comes!”
“We’ll never rely on an enemy’s mercy!” Wilbur roared. “Besides, what good is your promise? Without you, another pirate will come. Must every tyrant hold a island hostage, demanding surrender? We’re Navy—fighting pirates is our duty!”
Perhaps Liu Sheng Shi Hu would keep his word. But what of the next pirate? The next threat? Surrendering today only ensured a painless, silent extinction tomorrow.
Weapons could never be abandoned. Without them, resistance died.
“I reject all demands! Our only path is battle—even if we’re utterly destroyed, we’ll never surrender!”
Wilbur’s words shook Liu Sheng Shi Hu. For a moment, he seemed lost in thought.
“Vice Admiral—we’re with you!”
Suddenly, a flood of young civilians surged from the town, wielding makeshift weapons. They lined up behind the Navy.
“We’ve had enough!” shouted an elder. “Every pirate demands taxes we can’t pay. Or they force us into piracy. But I won’t be a pirate—I’ll be Navy! Even if I die here, let pirates see our integrity! Vice Admiral Wilbur, The Justice Faith teaches we must never yield to violence—we must strike back! And we will!”
With those words, civilians raised their weapons—sticks, stones, anything—took their places beside the Navy, faces grim. Fear lingered, but resolve burned brighter. Death? They’d faced worse.
They’d endured enough.
Pirates rotated through endlessly. Even surviving one crew’s tyranny meant another would arrive. In this New World, pirate crews fell as quickly as they rose—one might dominate for years, another mere days. Each new “protector” left them worse off.
But now, the Navy had driven them out, rebuilding homes and hope. Wilbur Vice Admiral’s teachings rang true:
You can’t reason with pain unless you make them feel it.
They’d finally understood. To overturn fate, they had to fight. Even in death, their resistance would force pirates to hesitate—to spare the next island.
They were people, no different from their tormentors. Let the pirates see their unyielding spirit!
The young man’s voice cracked with fury: “The only way you’ll take this island is over our corpses—we’ll—”
“Never Surrender!!!”
Weapons raised, the civilians roared. The shockwave rattled the port. Pirates flinched, sweat streaming as they gripped their guns.
What was this? They were pirates—civilians should flee or beg! Why this tyranny of defiance?
Thud-thud!
The sound shook Liu Sheng Shi Hu backward. He blinked, his gaze clouded with memory.
If only they had stood like this back then…
Would things have changed?
(End of Chapter)
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