NOVEL NEXT Chapter 164: Intermission
"Alright, I'm convinced...that winged friend of yours definitely isn't from this world..." remarked Rayleigh, a bead of sweat trickling down the left side of his face as he felt the reverberations of Grayfia's attack through his Observation Haki, accrediting it to Vahn. As the former First Mate of Gol D. Roger, he was well-acquainted with the pinnacles of power in his world, so he understood on a fundamental level there wasn't anything he or anyone else could do against such might.
"Vahn is pretty amazing..." asserted Nami, nodding affirmingly with her arms crossed under her breasts. "But there's only so much assistance he can provide us without some serious consequences. That means it's up to us to raid Impel Down and rescue Luffy's brother."
"Right! Just hold on a little longer, Ace! We're coming to rescue you...!" exclaimed Luffy, throwing his fists into the air and shouting at the top of his lungs. He had briefly fallen into a stupor after feeling Grayfia's attack resonate with something deep within him, but Nami's words brought him back to reality.
"Has the plan changed any...?" asked Zoro, similarly shaken by Grayfia's attack but doing his best to appear unaffected.
Shaking her head, Nami explained, "We're still going to invade through the moon pool on Level Two, but instead of having the Sunny reveal itself and distract the Marines for however long it takes us to rescue Ace, it will lie in wait on the seabed until we're prepared to make our escape."
"Alright. I was looking forward to showing off Sunny's capabilities in front of the Marines, but I guess we'll have plenty of opportunities to do that as we make a run for it across the Calm Belt," said Franky.
"Sounds good—" started Nami, her words abruptly cutting off as she and everyone present shifted their gazes to a golden Magic Circle bearing the seven-winged crest that was increasingly becoming associated with Vahn and the Dragon's Pavilion.
Appearing from the Magic Circle in a stylish, incredibly low-cut white and black-trimmed kimono that nearly exhibited as much cleavage as Yasaka, Venelana, sporting an alluring smile with her hands folded neatly over her lap, stated, "Greetings, Straw Hats, and associates. I am Venelana Bael, a representative of the Intertwining Dragon's Palace. This isn't our first time meeting, but allow—"
Before Venelana could finish her introduction, Sanji, who had initially been on high alert, abruptly performed a sliding spin into a one-legged kneeling posture with his left hand extended and his right atop his left breast, his eyes full of hearts as he exclaimed, "Venelana-swaaaan! That dress looks even more amazing on you than your previous one!"
"Thank you for the compliment..." responded Venelana, offering a slight nod before turning her attention to the rest of the crew, producing eight bronze keys, and revealing, "These are typically reserved for Ascendees, but Vahn-sama has made an exception. They will crumble to dust after a single use, but if you encounter especially dire circumstances during the raid and feel you have no choice but to retreat, we have medical staff and relief personnel waiting to receive you back at the palace."
"Allow me, Venelana-swan~!" exclaimed Sanji, accepting the keys from Venelana and passing them out to everyone but Nami and Robin as they possessed golden keys of their own.
"I didn't expect to see Venelana-sama here," remarked Robin, placing her right hand over her left breast and offering Venelana a courteous bow as the flaxen-haired woman was the one to reincarnate her as a Devil. They didn't have the typical Master/Servant relationship, but Robin recognized Venelana as her superior.
Exhaling faintly from her nose, Venelana revealed, "Vahn-sama couldn't rest knowing you and Nami-san would be risking your lives. Despite what some might believe, he's a compassionate soul who is frequently troubled by his knowledge and capabilities. There are many injustices he wishes he could rectify, but he understands that it is through their interpersonal and internal struggles that people awaken to their true potential. I believe you and Nami-san understand this well."
"Indeed..." muttered Robin, exhaling a faint sigh of her own. The pain she had endured would have broken most people a hundred times over, but it was their pasts and struggles to overcome adversity that formed the glue between her and the other Straw Hats. They had each endured a trial that would have broken practically anyone else in the same situation, but like a group of phoenixes, they arose from the ashes—stronger, wiser, and with convictions that far surpassed those who had lived comparably safer and simpler lives.
"How much longer are we planning to stand around talking? That Vahn guy can't keep the Marines distracted forever..." stated Zoro, still feeling restless after Grayfia's attack.
"It's not polite to interrupt women when they're speaking..." hummed Venelana, causing every nerve in Zoro's body to tense as she gazed at him with a narrow-eyed smile. He had never been particularly good with women, but when Venelana looked at him, he felt like a field mouse being gazed at by a lioness.
'This woman could kill me without batting an eye...' Zoro realized, every instinct in his body telling him to flee. Despite this, he stood his ground, his right hand grasping the white hilt of his Wado Ichimonji, more willing to fight and die rather than turn his back or retreat.
'Ara? He would make a fine Rook...' thought Venelana, the smile on her face becoming marginally more prominent as she returned her gaze to Nami and conceded, "But your friend is correct. Let us meet and speak freely once this matter has been resolved."
"It would be my pleasure," responded Robin, closing her eyes and offering another slight bow.
Seeing Venelana and Robin exchange bows, Nami couldn't help feeling somewhat uncomfortable. She knew Venelana was Vahn's first wife and a pureblooded Devil with presumably extraordinary strength, but part of her refused to acknowledge another woman as superior, even if all her senses were telling her she was outmatched.
Sensing Nami's competitive spirit, Venelana gave her a narrow-eyed, knowing smile before turning to leave through a door that had appeared and opened out of thin air. Unfortunately for the orange-haired pirate, the only two people who could compete with her for the position at the center of Vahn's heart were Grayfia and Yasaka. Every other woman was fated to stand beside their podium, even her daughter...
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'Alright, now what...?' Vahn pondered to himself, having just finished destroying the paddle wheel of the final Marine battleship, ensuring they wouldn't be able to pursue the Thousand Sunny through the windless and currentless Calm Belt. The Marines onboard the ships constantly assailed him with guns, cannon fire, and even themselves, but they all got stuck in his domain before being teleported elsewhere.
Interrupting Vahn's deliberation, Venelana's voice appeared in his head, stating [I need you inside me...] in a sultry tone that sent shivers through his body. Before that, he had an impassive, almost bored look on his face, but after, every Marine preparing to pounce at him promptly had second thoughts as they saw how serious his expression had become.
Startling one of the higher-ranked Marines present, a Captain based on his insignia, Vahn appeared right before the man, paralyzing him with his domain as he stated, "You will pass a message from me to your superiors. Tell them to print the reality of what happened at Sabaody and retract my bounty, or else they will have to contend with a teleporter who can erase Marineford from the map with a single attack."
Punctuating his words, Vahn raised his right hand and flicked the Marine Captain in the forehead, leaving him with a severe case of whiplash but causing him no significant harm, as even completely ordinary civilians in One Piece had borderline E-Rank Constitution or higher. Marine Captains were well within the realm of superhuman, so even being sent flying tens of meters through several layers of reinforced steel-like wood wouldn't do more than knock them unconscious.
'This will either increase my bounty exponentially or have it rescinded publically...' thought Vahn, ignoring the bullets and cannonballs striking his wings from behind, reminding him of heavy but harmless raindrops. Then, as Venelana wouldn't reach out to him in such a manner unless it were an opportune moment for them to have sex, he cast a warning look at a Lieutenant Commander who attempted to slash his neck with a sword before exhaling from his nose, shaking his head, and disappearing without a trace...
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After a brief, six-day break, Vahn was once again in the darkened viewing theater with Grayfia and Venelana, this time considerably more relaxed as he sat slouched in his chair with the flaxen-haired Devil deepthroating him and her silver-haired counterpart massaging his scalp in a topless version of her skimpiest Maid outfit. Every so often, a wound would briefly appear on his body, but thanks to his A-Rank Pain Tolerance and his borrowing of Ravel's Phenex heritage, he healed nigh-instantaneously without so much as flinching, permitting the Straw Hats to continue fighting no matter how seriously they were injured.
[Nami is requesting a telepathic link]
Having just finished a bout with Sadi, the sadistic Chief Guard of Impel Down, Nami, after catching her breath, immediately attempted to contact Vahn.
[Moshi moshi, Vahn-desu...] responded Vahn, prompting Nami to roll her eyes in the display before asking [That was you, right? No matter how much damage I took, I immediately recovered. It was just like when we Party together in the Tower.]
[Whips tend to leave scars. There's no way I could allow your beautiful skin to be blemished...] responded Vahn, holding Venelana's gaze as she turned her eyes up at him and redoubled her efforts with a smiling gleam, causing his toes to curl and compelling him to clench his jaw.
[Obviously...] responded Nami, exhaling from her nose before glancing around her as she questioned [But does this mean you're watching me from somewhere? If you were, you could have lent me a hand instead of watching me be whipped and attacked with spikes...]
[I am] confirmed Vahn. [But you looked determined, and I was confident you would win. You might not be a battle junky like Luffy, but unlike him, you've spent a full eight months increasing your parameters in the Tower. You wouldn't lose to someone who spends most of their work and leisure time torturing people who can't fight back or defend themselves.]
[Well, I can't argue with that...] conceded Nami, using the tip of her red and gold staff to poke the head of her opponent, a scantily clad woman with unkempt orange hair, bangs that covered her eyes, faux devil horns, and a hot pink outfit reminiscent of a dominatrix. The woman's weapons were a forked trident and a spiked whip, but as Nami had been swapping her Strength, Intelligence, and Wisdom Enhancement Crystals to bolster her Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma, she was able to evade nimbly and even endure a direct stab to her abdomen without the trident's barbs piercing more than a centimeter into her flesh.
[Alright, I need to hurry up and destroy the monitors in the Surveillance Room so they won't be able to track us as easily, so I'll talk to you later] said Nami, brushing off her partially exposed abdomen before cutting the telepathic link. She had several questions about Vahn's apparent ability to spy on her, but since her crew was relying on her, she decided to focus on her assigned task.
'There she goes...' thought Vahn, closing his eyes and leaning his head back as he unleashed a tremendous quantity of semen into Venelana's throat, prompting her to grab his shaft and focus on guzzling it in several large, audible gulps. Then, so as not to block his view of the displays, she stood up, turned around, guided his cock to her visibly dripping entrance, and then sat down in a hunched-over posture, prompting him to support her waist as she milked him with her vacuous pussy next...
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