1594 Leaving Again!

Like the fleeting summer, time went by in a flash.

Lucius kissed mother Kim and the sleepy Kora in her arms.

Though Kora was now 2 years and a few months old, her little body prevented her from keeping a good wake-up stance after knowing her father was leaving for some time.

She tried to pry open her eyes, but it was too heavy.

Alas...

Blame it on this baby body.

She was very aggrieved, knowing she was limited in several matters. All she could do was pray for her father's return, as well as her big brother's.

Her big brother was one of her favorite people, who always snuck her away for fun.

She had been to the zoo, the aquarium, the fun house, the trampoline hall, and several other places that made her very happy.

Her parents were always too overprotective. And though they did take her out very often, the fun activities mostly involved her running around in some Park or playing with several other little kids.

Augh~

Sometimes, Kora felt it took much of her energy to deal with their sense of logic. Mind you, she died as an adult in her former world, though she didn't reach 13.

Nonetheless, dealing with their logic always made her speechless.

She once comforted a crying child. And all of a sudden, that child began calling her his wife.

'_'

She once fixed a girl's hair, and that girl dumped her 'boyfriend' to be with her.

'_'

Forget it... The world of toddlers was too confusing. But oddly enough, she somehow understood mumblings from a young age, as though babies and very young children had their own unique universal language.

It was all very interesting. But from what her brother once said in passing, when seeing her take care of everyone, she knew she would forget this secret language.

That's right. Everyone forgets their baby language. Who remembers that?

Kora wanted to remember it forever but knew the heavens might not allow it since it went against the natural flow of things.

Once passing a certain stage, she would forget all this and become like one of the many adults around her --- Clueless.

"Be safe."

"I will," Lucius replied, pecking Kim's lips and giving the sleepy Kora a light kiss so as not to wake or disturb her.

Everyone around the scene was used to the couple's display of affection, so they gave the family ample time to say their goodbyes.

"Little Landon, you be safe too."

"Really, mother. Now you remember me?"

Kim didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Cheeky brat. Come here for your mother."

Of course she loved him as dearly as she loved Kora. With how long they've grown and been together, do you think her love for him can diminish?

It was just that she also gave him time to say his good eyes to Lucy first. And now, he was teasing her?

Mother Kim gripped his hand and kissed his lowered forehead lovingly.

"I know you head out on these emissions very often and have more experience under your resume... But I still worry for you because you will always be my little boy... The one that peed his--"

"Mom, mom, mom!" Landon was desperate to stop her. He was monarch. So why bring out his embarrassing moments, especially in front of his woman?

Landon felt aggrieved. How can it be his own mother that 'burns his cable?'

"Mother, mother... We have to leave. I love you; I'll miss you... Goodbye."

Mother Kim chuckled, seeing Landon's fast reaction.

"Hey.m. now, you're getting old, and you don't want your mother anymore."

"Impossible. Don't talk nonsense, mother. It's just that if we don't leave now, we'll be running late." Landon replied, shoving Lucius into the back of the vehicle.

4 vehicles were standing in straight lines, tasked with taking him to the Coastal region.

A soldier had already opened the door, and Landon just shoved Lucius in without a word.

Bam!

The door was shut, and the vehicle took off with the duo watching the waving gang standing outside the main Palace building.

Gone.

They left the glamorous building and speeded through the open highways.

Lucius sat cross-legged, thinking of the current matters involving Pyno. He had a document handed to him when he got into the limo. There were also 2 others waiting inside, seated opposite Landon and himself.

"Prisoner Marlo no longer bellows for human flesh."

"Really? Could this be another trap of his?"

Everyone thought so.

Who was Marlo Jones? A pirate nicknamed the Baker, the one they apprehended on Magoon island.

First, he seems to have some special identity, as other pirates feared the mere mention of his name. And from what they gathered from White Beard's overly loud mouth, it seems the 2 are blood brothers.

It seems they have a 3rd brother who was some very, very high member of the pirate organization. (Heh... He was the head of the organization!).

It's been several years since the famous baker was apprehended. They apprehended him just after dealing with Nopline's matters.

It has been a long time since that happened. Yet, for these many years, he had been clamoring for human flesh.

At first, he refused to eat, starving himself for weeks, only drinking water.

But though it was a little harmful to do so, Landon told them not to intervene yet.

What a joke!

They sent food in, and he refused to take it. What? Do you want them to also force his mouth open every mealtime?

This was likely a trap to get a guard closer and bite chunks of meat off.

Moreover, Landon had seen people fast for weeks in his former world.

So if you want to fast, drinking water alone, then that's fine by him. The only thing he requested was that the water should have electrolytes to keep this guy going.

In case he might not know it, water-fasting was a thing. So by all means, go ahead. At least the guy still worked out daily while fasting.

He began his journey by starving himself for several weeks before finally grabbing the meal they continuously sent him.

At the start, he probably felt their emphasis on his life, banking they wouldn't let him suffer too much since he hadn't gotten any form of torture.

In this world, how rare was it for someone to imprison you and never inflict physical pain on you?

It was like a dream, which led Marlo to think he was some top-priority person they dared not touch. They should be afraid of his big brother's wrath.

With these thoughts in mind, he schemed for what he wanted, thinking they would meet all his needs and demands.

But for weeks and weeks, everything remained normal, as though they didn't care so much for him.

Marlo gritted his teeth, knowing to keep his worthy body build, strength, and everything else, he needed to eat the meals sent his way.

There was even meat in his meals which was what almost every warrior in this world relied on.

Vegetables were good, but meat would really get one's strength and punch force up there. And that's how he ended up biting the bullet and eating what was given to him, though a stronger part of him only desired raw human newt.

He felt even if they three him here with his most trusted aid Ratcliffe in with him, Marlo knew he would devour the guy without mercy.

Of course, all these were his thoughts during the first year in Baymard's prison.

The following years after that, Baymard managed to eliminate his cannibalistic instincts to a certain extent, allowing him to put other meats on the same lime with human flesh.

Before, Marlo would have sworn human flesh was the best. But after having various other types of meat in Baymard's style, he was dissuaded, though there were still dark thoughts on human flesh.

Of course, there were also psychological means and conditioning he passed through to get him out of the cycle of eating human flesh.

It's been several years since then, and though he no longer hammered for human flesh, they still couldn't be sure if he was faking it or not.

"We'll have to put him through a series of tests... But we can't let him know or sense our ideas. Besides, even if he fails the test now, his sentence is still far from complete. So they still had a long time to figure things out."

He had 63 years more to go. And if he behaved well, then it might be shortened.

Hmmm...

Everyone agreed with Landon's thoughts.

Landon chuckled, listening to the many matters surrounding Pyno.

Like so, the gang made their way toward District K.

In no time, they boarded the ships after roll call was conducted.

Landon looked at the open waters, which had now become his 2nd home.

Alright.

It was time to meet his newly found friends, the Giants!

Time to go to war.

1, 2, 3...

The ships took off in formation.