Chapter 457 The inner demon is at work

This quickly made Arthur understand its good intentions. Having experienced a lifetime of suffering, he had to remember the feeling of powerlessness when facing a new life.

Bullied, spitted upon, framed.

Perhaps it was just his subconscious that prevented him from relaxing for too long, otherwise the tragedy would happen again!

Inadvertently, Amazon Lily was detained for a few days without training.

That unyielding will told him that he couldn't slack off like this, as his body had not yet reached a bottleneck where he had to fight to improve.

Over the next few days—

Arthur repeated the swing of the knife over and over again, letting his body gradually become familiar with the feeling of swinging the knife.

Apart from the three daily meals and a short chat with Rayleigh, all the time is spent on training.

September 1483, 2 in the Haiyuan calendar.

Puqi Town is a civilized island located in the northeast of the Seven Water City. It is one of the three major islands that will be the connection points for the future sea train.

The town is world-famous for its cuisine and has many luxuriously decorated high-end restaurants.

There also lives the Celestial Dragon family from the lower world.

It was cloudy in the morning.

A gray, hazy drizzle enveloped the town, and surging waves at the seaside kept crashing against the shore.

"I'm so sleepy. Who can you find here?" Arthur sat cross-legged on the side of the boat listlessly, letting the raindrops soak through his patterned shirt.

Rayleigh and Leia have already landed.

Rayleigh prepared to go to the town to inquire about his companions.

Leia took the little money left on the ship and prepared to go to Well City to replenish supplies for the next voyage.

Fat Tiger lay behind Arthur without showing his head to avoid causing panic.

Cooper, who had been training with Arthur these days, felt weak all over and did not leave the captain's room. He was sleeping soundly on the bed.

"We have to find companions." Rayleigh greeted Arthur on the boat and said, "Puchi Town, Saint Poplar Town, and Saint Falde Town. After finding these three towns, take me to the Seven Waters City. I won't bother you with the rest of the journey."

"No problem, I'll give you a ride wherever you want to go for free." Arthur yawned, his lazy eyes fixed on Leia, and replied indifferently.

Hearing about the Water Seven City, he could probably guess that after the conflict with the Rocks Pirates, the Roger Pirates' ship was probably damaged.

Going to the Seven Water City is most likely to repair the ship.

Stared at by Arthur's lazy and indifferent eyes, Leia's face turned a little red, wondering what bad plans he was making in his mind.

Whenever Arthur looked at her so hard, nothing good would usually happen.

"Why are you blushing?" Arthur suddenly spoke to Leia below.

Leia got excited and replied, "No, nothing."

Arthur stared at her for a long moment before turning and heading towards the captain's cabin.

As he opened the door and entered the room, a loud snoring sound came into his ears.

Arthur glanced at Cooper, who was lying on the bed with his feet up in the air. Instead of going up to disturb him, he walked towards the desk seriously.

Through Rayleigh's connections, he has obtained a lot of intelligence these days.

The "Thunder God Island", an island that is the only way to enter the New World, and the "Sabaody Archipelago", a paradise, are two places where a large number of Rocks Pirates members gather.

Thunder God Island is an island where thunderstorms often occur. There are many small villages and towns around it.

It is a lawless zone and an island without naval jurisdiction.

The experienced Arthur naturally knew that no world-famous pirate group would deploy a large number of its members in a certain place for no reason.

In the first half, the passage to the new world must pass through a large cave ten thousand meters below the Red Earth Continent, and there must be many people blocking the way there.

"I slaughtered... one... two... five... about seven of their strongholds, right?" Arthur counted with the newspaper in one hand.

"Was it really necessary to make such a big fuss? It even alerted the navy and made the news."

He said this with a sneer, not worried about who would come to kill him.

Bulu Bulu

On the desk in front of Arthur, an inconspicuous Den Den Mushi rang.

He reached out to answer the call, put the microphone to his mouth, and said in an extremely cold tone,

"what happened?"

"Arthur! I called you so many times! You finally answered!"

Hank's voice came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi.

"Don't chat, get to the point." Arthur said again.

"I've always wanted to tell you about expanding the department store group's business to the Grand Line, and then opening up plans to the West Sea, North Sea, and South Sea!"

Hank tells Arthur the message he's been wanting to convey.

After all, the origin of this corporate group was Arthur's idea. Even though Hank is the chairman of the group, he deeply understands that the real person behind the scenes is Arthur, this unfathomable guy.

If there was any big plan, he felt it necessary to report it to Arthur.

Arthur sighed while lying on the sofa when he learned that Hank was eager to expand his business.

"Old man, there are so many countries and islands in the East China Sea, can't we stabilize them all first?

This group is currently in a fragmented state, are you in such a hurry to expand it?"

Hank had long been accustomed to Arthur's cold voice, and said to him,

"But if we want to expand into other countries' territories, we need their permission! They won't accept things from outside, so what can we do?"

"Then attack them!" Arthur's tone turned fierce. "Monopolize their foreign trade resources! Privately send some trustworthy people to block the shipment of supplies to their homeland! Force them to sign a contract!"

"Uh..." Hank was stunned when he heard Arthur's words.

"If that happens, won't it... cause the same disturbance that caused us to be investigated by the Navy in the first place?"

"Slavery, a gray industry, is permitted by the Celestial Dragons. It exists in every country around the world. What can the Navy find out?" Arthur continued, "Besides, you brought this company to other countries in the East China Sea to increase social and economic development and improve people's well-being.

There are only benefits, no disadvantages. It can also provide jobs for a large number of unemployed people!

In short, old man, if someone is unwilling, then we will do it until they are willing! First, we must establish a solid foundation in the East China Sea!

"Have you messed up your brain playing with women? Why do you have to ask me about everything?"

Arthur immediately hung up the Den Den Mushi and lay limply on the sofa.

"I really want to sleep in your arms."

He didn't want to bother with these little things.

His mind was now full of Gion, Gion, Gion.

"Hmm?" Arthur suddenly thought of something and picked up the newspaper again to read the marginal content.

Soon I saw reports related to the Department Store Group.

"It's in the newspaper, which means it has a good reputation among the people of Donghai. Do they like the emergence of this kind of industrial chain that benefits society?" Arthur smiled slightly.

“When everyone is content with the present, has a job, a better quality of life, and no worries about food and clothing, who would still want to go out to sea and become a pirate?

Are you satisfied with this? It seems that it is not bad to continue like this. "

Arthur stared at the ceiling in thought, slowly closed his eyes, and then saw his adult face.

Staring at him intently in her mind.

"Uh..." Arthur, who didn't want to see it, suddenly opened his eyes, but found that the whole world had turned dark blue.

Everything around, the waves outside the cabin, the raindrops, and the lightning flashing in the clouds.

Everything stopped and time stopped flowing, as if it was frozen.

"I still have things to do, and I don't want you to waste such an unknown and precious chance to start over."

Next to him, a deep, trembling, and even slightly crazy voice entered Arthur's ears.

He looked over and when he looked closely, another self appeared in his eyes.

This time, its voice became less cold and felt a little more vulnerable in contrast.

"Whenever you have time, you should train continuously and forever! Look how weak you are now? Are you comparable to a vice admiral?"

It was squatting in front of the desk in the room, trembling all over, covering its face with one hand and clenching its fist with the other hand, gritting its teeth.

Arthur realized that he couldn't hurt himself, and he seemed much calmer. He replied calmly,

"If you want to compare me with a Vice Admiral like Garp, I'm naturally no match for him now."

"What if I get caught off guard and am attacked again... and injure the nerves in my neck, causing me to lose control of my body? How can you... just lie on the couch, sipping wine and enjoying a leisurely moment?"

"We are not wanted! The world is not against us!" Arthur stood on the desk, pointed at its head and shouted angrily,

"Haven't you learned the consequences of continuing to kill?! The world is destroyed!

That kind of behavior can't even keep your closest relatives! You still have things to do, and so do I!

Isn’t what you want to do what I want to do? "

When it heard these words, it turned its head and stared into Arthur's eyes.

There are three claw scars on the left side of the face and a cross scar on the right side of the face.

The battered wound under the black robe began to ache slightly.

Just seeing those scars, the feeling of phantom pain instantly spread throughout Arthur's body.

The pain was unbearable, as if my limbs were being pulled away.

"You feel it, right? These scars? Hard to forget, right? Your internal organs, blood vessels, and nerves are aching all the time!" Its words seemed to be plucking Arthur's nerves, and every word was engraved in his mind and bones.

Phantom pain is a kind of pain that exists in memory even if there is nothing wrong with the body or any scars.

Arthur, who was only 6 years old, had a low tolerance for physical pain. The pain was unbearable and he lay on the sofa gasping for breath.

"Grow up! Don't go astray again!" Arthur closed his eyes and said to it with difficulty, enduring the pain.

"It's a whole new world! We're just nobody!"

It walked to the bed in the captain's room, its hands trembling as it tried to touch Cooper, its eyes full of guilt.

"No one can completely let go of the past. I just want to tell you, don't forget the pain just because you relax for a moment!"

When its hand was about to touch Cooper, it suddenly pulled it back.

Endless despair and guilt made him stop.

It walked to the desk and its body began to split rapidly, standing in front of Arthur in three forms.

One is a pure devil, covered in thorns.

One is him who has no light in his eyes after he grows up and only yearns for darkness.

The other one is him after his gender change, standing in front of Arthur with great beauty.

The moment the pain disappeared, Arthur slowly opened his eyes and looked at his former self.

"She's gone! Don't forget what you wanted to do! Don't forget how unscrupulous you were! You even killed your own grandson!"

The three figures symbolize what he used to be like, each representing an unforgettable experience of despair.

"I haven't forgotten!" Arthur's emotions exploded when he heard its last words.

"You're not as mature as I am now. In my eyes, you're even childish!"

But it smiled coldly at Arthur, and then replied, "Without me, how can you exist? You will need me sooner or later. No, you will need me every moment."

The three shadows disappeared, and Arthur suddenly woke up from the sofa, his whole body soaked in sweat.

"Cooper?" (What have you been mumbling about for half an hour?) Cooper stood on the desk in front of him, looking at him with his head tilted.

Arthur woke up in shock, his whole body trembling, the phantom pain engraved in his bones.

He suddenly looked at Cooper and asked, "I took a nap. When did you wake up?"

"Cooper!" (I just had a nightmare! A black creature tried to get me! I stopped it and woke up!)

Arthur looked out the porthole and saw that the rain had stopped.

Outside the window, a colorful rainbow appeared over the island, and the sun shone brightly, covering the entire town of Puchi.

"I think I want to catch you!" Arthur hugged it fiercely, pushed it onto the table and tickled it hard.

Cooper laughed so hard that he couldn't breathe and kicked his feet wildly.

"Yeah!" Arthur thought as he scratched himself, "Without you, where would I be?"

He was still thinking about the dream he had just had. To be precise, it was not a dream, but a space where he communicated with another self.

When the other him appeared, Arthur realized that what he had longed for was never light, but eternal darkness.

Light cannot contain everything, but darkness can.

After going through so many things, Arthur will always hate those hypocritical people who claim to be righteous.

"Okay! Come with me to town for some shopping!" Arthur stopped tickling Cooper, patted his eagle butt, and walked out of the cabin with a knife.

It’s a town of gourmet food, how can you not try the local delicacies?

After the rain stopped, the dock was already bustling again.

After a good sleep, Arthur felt refreshed and stood on the deck, stretching and looking at the town below.

"You'll be in charge of the boat, Fat Tiger." Arthur ordered Fat Tiger behind him.

It uttered a low "ow," agreed lazily, and turned around to lie on the deck and wait.

"You want me to repeat the painful journey?!" Arthur opened his arms, facing the town ahead, and suddenly laughed ferociously.

"No way this time! Hahaha...hahahaha!"

Cooper was used to hearing Arthur's uncontrollable laughter again.

He leaped onto the dock and walked towards the town with an arrogant smile on his face.

"What the hell is going on in the middle of the day?! What are you yelling about?"

"Shut up! You little brat!"

Hearing the sound, Arthur looked back.

On another ship docked at the pier, many sailors were leaning over the side railings and shouting at him.

Arthur smiled even more ferociously after seeing this, and a large amount of extreme icy power instantly gathered in the palm of his right hand.

"Uh…what are you going to do?"

Everyone on the boat was startled when they saw the blue light quickly condensing in Arthur's palm.

The breath of extreme ice power quickly compressed and condensed in Arthur's palm like a vortex.

While catching his breath, Arthur quickly drew his sword and slashed at the ship in the air, then quickly put the sword away and walked towards the town.

The blue crescent slammed into the ship.

The instant the slashing blow came out, the ship that was more than 20 meters long was immediately frozen into an ice crystal sculpture.

None of the dozens of people on the ship survived and all turned into frozen human specimens.

The sword was drawn so quickly that the people at the dock couldn't see what was happening.

However, everyone was sweating as they watched Arthur's back as he walked towards the town. They all had a rough idea of ​​who did it, but they didn't dare to confirm it.

He didn't even need to draw his sword; all he needed was a thought to slowly freeze the ship and destroy it.

Influenced by his dark side, he became quite violent and murderous, and he really wanted to kill people.

I really want to hear those miserable howls. My body is shaking with excitement, but I am trying my best to restrain myself.

"I have never forgotten the pain in my body! I just cherish everything I have now! I will not give it up easily!" Arthur said to himself.

What Arthur didn't know was that it wasn't some clone or a demon in his body, but the root of his mental illness.

Sometimes I would burst into laughter for no reason, become furious, and lose control, all because of trauma from my past life.

The so-called other him in the dream is nothing but his own talking in his sleep, a conversation with himself, about the past and inner demons that he cannot forget or abandon.

One thought is freedom, one thought is hell.

……

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