Hearing Daren's shameless words, Stussy felt her whole body go stiff, the pair of charming eyes beneath her mask widening in disbelief.
Was that even something a human would say!?
The Queen of the Pleasure District, Stussy, and CP0's senior agent, Fox—weren't they the same person!?
This two-faced bastard!
"You... you can't do this..."
Feeling the Vice Admiral's approach, the heat of his masculine scent washing over her, Stussy's cheeks under the mask flushed with a shameful redness.
Her body grew weak as she tried to back away, but without Daren making a move, several metal strips suddenly shot out from the darkness of the abandoned warehouse, twisting like snakes around her wrists and ankles, forcefully pinning her to a table.
Stussy lay face-down across the table, unable to move, her breathing growing erratic.
"You damn bastard..."
She cursed lowly, but then suddenly sensed something, her body stiffening and her pupils dilating.
"Hehe, Miss Fox, your body's very honest..."
The Vice Admiral's devilish whisper reached her ears, a teasing mockery lacing his tone.
Stussy gritted her teeth and snapped back fiercely.
Her heart pounded wildly, her flushed face burning under the mask.
She didn't know if it was an illusion, but under the suppression of the Seastone, her body felt more sensitive than ever, and she was growing weaker by the second.
Especially in this quiet, dim, unfamiliar environment, an unprecedented sense of thrill and tension filled her heart.
The abandoned warehouse, the cold iron restraints, the roughness of the man, the unfamiliar surroundings, the humiliation of being bound, the shameful position, and the mask that concealed her expressions...
Under Daren's teasing, it felt as if a fire had been lit within her, making her feel utterly strange.
Daren chuckled and said,
"Then how about we stop here?"
Stussy gritted her teeth hard, refusing to answer, her eyes brimming with moisture.
She simply shut her eyes tightly.
Silently, she told herself:
It's fine. Right now, I'm not Stussy. I'm just CP0 agent Fox...
Yes, that way it doesn't count.
Time passed, second by second.
Marineford, Marine Headquarters, military port.
"Why hasn't Fox come back yet? This isn't right..."
The CP0 member codenamed "Lone Wolf" stood with his hands behind his back, his expression beneath the mask growing increasingly anxious as he paced back and forth on the World Government's official ship.
It had already been a full hour since Fox had gone to gather intelligence, yet there was still no sign of her return, filling him with unease.
"Could something have happened?"
Lone Wolf frowned, muttering to himself.
He had long been infatuated with Fox, which was why he had applied to his superiors to team up with her for this mission to Marine Headquarters—creating more opportunities to be by her side.
This was also why he had acted so arrogantly in Sengoku's office.
Although his superiors suspected the Marines, they had no intention of starting a conflict. According to orders, his mission was simply to pressure Admiral Sengoku into dispatching forces to investigate the murders of the Shichibukai candidates.
But Lone Wolf had gotten carried away.
With the woman he admired standing beside him, he had wanted to use CP0 and the government's authority to crush Sengoku's momentum, hoping to earn Fox's admiration.
Everything had been going smoothly.
Even Sengoku, the famed Admiral of Marine Headquarters and one of the World Government's strongest assets, had been left speechless under his questioning.
At that moment, he had felt like he was standing at the peak of his life.
But Lone Wolf never anticipated that just as he was basking in his triumph, that damn Marine would appear! ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel⦿fire.net
Disregarding reason, ignoring protocol, more arrogant and domineering than anyone—and he attacked without hesitation!
Every time he recalled the image of those three legendary Meito swords simultaneously locking onto him, cold sweat would break out on his back, and his scalp would tingle.
There was no doubt: if that madman had struck, he would already be dead.
Although his own strength was decent within CP0, compared to the First Sequence—the monsters known as the "strongest shield of the Celestial Dragons"—he still fell far short.
Against that Marine's full-force attack, there was no way he could have survived.
If Sengoku, that cautious old fox, hadn't intervened in time, his corpse would already be sinking into the depths of the sea.
"Should I go back and check?"
As time passed and Fox still hadn't appeared, Lone Wolf grew more and more restless, the thought gnawing at him.
But the image of that mad Marine immediately crushed the idea, sending a shiver through his entire body.
A petite figure suddenly flashed in from the distance and quickly leapt onto the official ship.
Lone Wolf rushed over in delight, but his face quickly changed as he asked with concern,
He immediately sensed something was wrong—Fox's aura was weak, her steps unsteady, her breathing disordered.
Fox hesitated for a moment, then said hoarsely,
"I ran into that Marine... and fought him."
"That bastard! How dare he!"
Lone Wolf's anger exploded, his face twisting with rage before he gritted his teeth and growled,
"I'll report this the moment we get back!!"
Fox glanced at him calmly and said,
"It's nothing. I'm just tired. I'll go rest in the cabin."
"Alright, alright. Get some rest. I'll have the chef prepare you some hot soup."
Lone Wolf quickly offered with a flattering smile.
Fox nodded and turned, disappearing into the ship's cabin.
Seeing the cabin door slam shut, the smile on Lone Wolf's face instantly disappeared, replaced by a twisted, furious expression as he roared:
"Rogers Daren... I won't let you get away with this!"
He took a deep breath, calming himself, and ordered his subordinates to prepare for departure.
Just as he was about to step away, he suddenly paused, his nose twitching under the mask.
"Huh... What's that smell?"
He frowned, looking toward the cabin.
"It must be the smell of blood... Looks like Fox really did get hurt. That Marine bastard!"
Lone Wolf clenched his fists tightly.
The flickering oil lamp cast wavering shadows.
Stussy leaned heavily against the cabin door, her body slowly sliding down as if she could no longer support herself, collapsing limply to the floor.
Trembling, she lifted her hand and removed the mysterious fox mask, revealing a breathtakingly alluring face flushed with a misty hue. Her delicate red lips were slightly parted, her breaths turning into faint white mist in the air.
Her gaze was dazed and unfocused.
Grinding her teeth, she muttered bitterly:
"He even made me keep the mask on... That shameless, despicable bastard!!"
Beneath her, the floor of the cabin gradually darkened.
It seemed to be forming into a small puddle.
p@treon com / PinkSnake