As is customary on these seas, after they achieved victory, Viktor and his crew had a banquet. While everyone was partying, Viktor did a headcount and to his astonishment, he realized that they didn't lose anyone in the previous battle!
While there were several people wrapped in bandages, no one was seriously injured. Viktor called Blitzo over and asked him how everyone managed to come away from the battle relatively unscathed.
" Well, the Butcher pirates only had about 50 people to begin with and you and Raven took out over a dozen of them pretty quickly and they were the only ones with guns. We outnumbered them over 2:1 and they only had swords, so we didn't suffer any immediate losses."
" Then you and Raven managed to take down the captain and vice-captain in quick succession in only a couple of minutes. This caused the rest of the Butcher pirates to panic, and they tried to run away. This made them easy targets and we managed to wipe out the rest."
" Oh, it all makes sense now. I was thinking that you guys were actually badass warriors, but it turns out you were just cleaning up after me and Raven's MVP performance."
With his question answered, Viktor joined in the banquet once again and they partied all night long.
Viktor and his crew then departed on the Butcher pirates ship as their previous ship was filled with cannonballs and was barely seaworthy.
As is customary on the sea, they had a funeral for the ship, although since they were only aboard it for a short time, there was no crying like there was for the Going Merry. Their ship was in fact, just a ship, unlike the Going Merry, which any One Piece fan will tell you, wasn't just a ship bro.
Since there was only half a day's journey to the Hell Kingdom, Blitzo explained the situation of the Hell Kingdom to Viktor and the rest of the crew.
It turns out that the Hell Kingdom is divided into three main sections: the mortal world, he'll, and heaven. Blitzo, Moxie, Millie, and Luna were from the hell region, while everyone else was from the mortal region.
The three regions are separated from each other by a massive wall that puts the Berlin Wall from the cold war Era to shame. As the wall suggests, unless you have a permit, which is extremely difficult to get, travel from the hell region to the other regions is illegal.
It was only by chance that Blitzo and IMP managed to find a hole in the wall and escape from there. However, they weren't able to enjoy their freedom for long and were captured by slave traders.
As the name suggests, the hell region is inhabited by sinners. Once someone commits a crime, they are banished to the hell region, never to be seen in the mortal world again.
Once they arrive in the hell region, a sinner will be chipped with an explosive similar to the explosive collar employed by the celestial dragons. Once a sinner leaves the boundaries of the hell region, his or her head will be blown to smithereens and die. There's not a single sinner that's managed to escape the hell region, at least to Blitzo's knowledge.
Aside from the sinners, there are the hell spawn, which includes the entirety of IMP. Hell spawn are the offspring of sinners and aren't chipped, so they won't die if they leave the hell region.
For visitors of the Hell Kingdom like Raven and Viktor, they have to pay a small fee of 10000 berries in order to have temporary citizenship and have access to all of the mortal realm. Unfortunately, if you get into conflict with a citizen, the police won't be on your side, to say the least.
If you want to have the privilege of being a citizen, then you'll have to spend 1 million berries to do so. However, there is an upside to doing this. In the Hell Kingdom, money can buy you almost anything. It doesn't matter who you are, as long as you spend the 1 million berries, you'll be given citizenship immediately with no background check. Also, because you spend money, you'll have more rights than the average citizen. The more money you spend, the higher your status.
In other words, as long as Viktor and Raven bought citizenship, they'd be safe from persecution from the law, within reason of course. If Viktor or Raven were caught killing someone in broad daylight, they'd be marked as sinners and sent to the hell region.
If Viktor or Raven wanted to enter the hell region, their status as civilians would allow them to. However, this would be a limited pass for only a couple days. If they wanted to extend their stay, they'd have to spend more money.
As for the heaven region, not much is known about it. Supposedly, it's populated by the righteous and they live in the lap of luxury. However, their criteria for judging who's righteous is unclear.
As for all the other crew members, they were already citizens to begin with, so they wouldn't need to pay for citizenship. Unlike other countries where paper documents are proof of citizenship, the Hell Kingdom employs a practice similar to the celestial dragon's slave seal and tattoo their citizens with the national flag when they turn 5. It's only to distinguish those of different classes that paperwork is required. The hell spawn have a similar mark to identify them as hell spawn.
Eventually, Viktor and crew arrived at the Hell Kingdom, and they entered customs. Blitzo and the rest of IMP showed their hell spawn markings, and they were immediately escorted back to the hell region. Blitzo left an address to meet him when Viktor and Raven visit the hell region.
The rest of the crew showed their citizen markings, and they were cleared for entry into the mortal region. It was only when Viktor and Raven tried to apply for citizenship that a problem arose. They tried to give their total fee of 2 million berries to the customs official, but the customs official saw they were kids and tried to extort them.
" I'm so sorry to tell you this, but the fee for citizenship has gone up. It's now 1.1 million berries per person. You can pay for that, right? " The customs official said to them with a greedy smile.
While this may have worked on ordinary kids, Viktor and Raven were far from ordinary. Raven tried to unleash her devil fruit ability on him, but Viktor stopped her before she could finish chanting. Then Viktor used a feint and used his enhanced body to put his hand on the customs official's shoulder without his movement being seen.
Viktor whispered into the customs official's ear menacingly while unleashing his murderous aura he accumulated from the lives he took, " Are you sure the fee has gone up? You wouldn't be trying to scam us, would you? Because that would be very bad for you. After all, I could kill you within a blink of an eye; you wouldn't even realize it happened until you died. Even if you tried to use a gun, your reaction time would simply be to slow. "
Raven copied Viktor's example and put her hand on the customs official's other shoulder while releasing her murderous aura.
" Cmon Viktor, why are you being merciful with this guy. For daring to screw us over, he deserves the severest of punishments. To start with, I suggest slowly severing all his limbs, including his fifth limb. "
" Why are you always obsessed with cutting off male genitalia? It always makes me sorry for the guy."
At this point, the customs official was sweating buckets and about to faint because of Viktor and Raven's murderous aura and their threats. He stammered, " There's no need to be so hasty. I just remembered that I was mistaken. The fee is still 1 million berries per person. "
Upon hearing this, Viktor and Raven stopped their murderous aura, and Viktor told the customs official, " Oh really, that's great. You know what, you don't seem to be looking too good. Why don't I give you an extra 1000 berries for your troubles? That sound good to you Raven? "
Raven reluctantly agreed and the customs official relief was evident on his face and quickly let them into the mortal region, hoping to never have to deal with those little demons ever again.
Once they were in the mortal region with the rest of the crew, Raven asked Viktor, " Why did you give him a tip? For trying to scam us, he should've covered part of the costs of citizenship at the very least? "
Viktor sighed, " You still need more experience dealing with other people. That customs official was clearly greedy and corrupt. While he was scared by our threats, his greed may outweigh his fear of us if we tried to extort him ourselves and cause a commotion. He is after all part of the government and any government is concerned about its face, so it would take a lot of time and money to smooth the incident over. This way, he won't exacerbate the situation and instead want to steer clear of us from now on. "
Raven pouted, " Alright, I see your point. It just leaves bad taste in my mouth that the customs official got off scott free like that. "
" Oh, sweet summer child, he didn't get off scott free. He definitely considers us little demons and I doubt he'll get much sleep tonight. He'll probably even have nightmares about you carrying out your threats. Does that thought make you feel better?
Raven nodded and they joined their crew in the mortal region. Once they got settled in their temporary housing, Raven and Viktor set off to visit Blitzo and IMP in the hell region. They needed money and the hell region offered quick money to those strong enough to keep it.
Viktor and Raven went back to the customs office to get a permit to visit the hell region. And as luck would have it, they meet the same customs official from before.
When the customs official saw Viktor and Raven again, he almost peed his pants.
' What the Fuck?! Why are they back here so soon? Oh God, please don't tell me they're here to finish the job. I don't wanna die, I'm still young!' The customs official thought in a panic.
However, as a corrupt official, he was used to controlling his facial expressions and not acting on his emotions. He then relaxed a bit when noticed that Viktor and Raven didn't appear to be hostile and managed to enter his customer service mode.
" Hello, how may I be of assistance to the young master and young mistress?"
" Wow, didn't expect you to call us that. Most people don't make the connection as we usually don't act like nobles, especially Raven."
Raven took obvious offense to this, " Hey, what do you mean I don't look like a noble? I'm the spitting image of excellence, right, uh, what's your name customs official guy?"
The customs official saw this as an opportunity to ingratiate himself with Raven, the scariest of the two demons and pounced on this opportunity.
" It's Justin young mistress and I would like to say that you are indeed the spitting image of excellence. If one were to search excellence in the dictionary, your picture would be all that's shown. After all, you are all that's needed to define the word excellence-"
" OK, OK, we get it, Raven's awesome, you can stop it with the ass- kissing already. In fact, not gonna lie, it looks kinda sus that you're kissing her ass this hard. "
Viktor then gasped in horror, " Oh my god, are you actually into little girls? I knew you were corrupt, but I didn't know you were this corrupt."
" What the hell are you talking about kid? I may be a corrupt government official, but I have standards. I personally prefer women with a more mature, sexy body. Honestly, I think those guys that like little girls are compensating for something if you know what I'm saying."
Viktor began to look at Justin in a new light as he realized Justin was a fellow man of culture. However, before Viktor could talk with Justin about culture, Raven stopped him.
" Don't do it Viktor. I see that look in your eyes. You want to talk with Justin here about your so called "culture". We have business to attend to after all."
Viktor relented and they went through the registration process to enter the hell region. They used the basic permit that comes with their citizenship for a 3- day visit that refreshes every 3 months. To extend the visit, they'd have to pay more.
As Viktor and Raven left the customs office to go to the hell region, Justin breathed a sigh of relief.
' Thank God, they're finally leaving and I'm still in one piece. I even managed to score some brownie points with them, and it seems they don't want to kill me anymore. Still, I hope I never have to see them again. I can't actually be that unlucky to see them again, right? '
As Viktor and Raven went towards the address Blitzo gave them, they saw firsthand the reason it was called the hell region. There were people being gunned down in broad daylight with no one batting an eye and people taking clearly illegal drugs without a care in the world.
Strangely enough, no one tried to mug Viktor and Raven. It seems that the locals can tell who's an outsider and since those coming to the hell region are those of higher social standing than common street thugs such as themselves, the locals steer clear of them.
In the Hell Kingdom and the hell region in particular, there is a huge degree of classism and anyone that tries to attack someone of a higher class is purged with extreme prejudice. Of course, you'll always have idiots that think they'll get lucky, but even those idiots after living in such a hellish environment have survival instincts.
Despite the fact that Viktor and Raven are children, any that calls his/her self a criminal could smell the blood on their hands and knew that they were dangerous.
Eventually, Viktor and Raven reached the address Blitzo gave them, and it turns out it was some rundown office that said IMP on the front. They entered the office and saw Loona working the front desk.
Upon noticing Viktor and Raven entering the office, Loona immediately screamed in joy and rushed to hug Raven.
" Hey girlfriend, how you doing? You didn't encounter any trouble on the journey did you, because if you did, I can round up the boys to take care of whoever dared threaten my dear Raven. "
" I'm alright. In fact, I'm doing great. Your fur is so soft. I could just lay in your embrace forever. "
" Awh, thanks. You're welcome to pet me fur anytime you wish. However, that only applies to you and not to Viktor. I appreciate everything he did for me, but he's still a stinking boy, and I won't let any boy pet me. That honor is reserved for you Raven. "
Viktor cooked his eyebrow, " Wow, didn't know you guys were so friendly. "
Raven gave him a smug look and Viktor shelved the matter as he didn't want to get into yet another argument with her on how awesome she is. Thankfully, Blitzo and the rest of IMP showed up, so Viktor immediately greeted them while Raven and Loona were off into their own world.
" Hey Blitzo, how you doing man? Sorry for being brash, but you said you had a business opportunity for me? "
" Yeah, come into my office and we'll discuss it. "
Viktor entered Blitzo's office with Blitzo, Millie and Moxie.
" So Blitzo, what do you got for me?"
" I know you're probably looking for some work, so I could introduce you to my employer that handles assassination requests. Fun fact, he was Millie's former boss."
" Yeah, he's a fucking asshole, but he does provide opportunities to those able and you're certainly able. " Millie said in her southern accent.
Ever the contrarion, Moxie put in his two cents, " Uh, Blitzo, are you sure you want to do this? Our finances are in the red and we need every job we can get. I know and appreciate Vikror saving us and if he asked us to assassinate someone for him, even for free, I'd be okay with that."
" Shut your fucking mouth Moxie. I don't give a flying rat's ass about that. My literal fuckint savior wants help, I give it to him, no questions asked. "
" Woah guys, take it easy. I don't plan on simply being an assassin. I'll only start off with assassin work and after proving my startling efficiency, I'll showcase my talents in business management and become a boss myself. "
This bold statement stunned Blitzo, Moxie and Millie and they couldn't respond at first.
" Hey, what's that look for? I know it would be difficult for you guys given your social status, but you gotta remember that I already have a higher social status than you guys. While being an outsider might make things difficult, some social networking and showcasing my strength via assassinations will help my case. "
Blitzo responded, " See Moxie, he won't take away our business for that long. In fact, once he becomes a boss of his own, we could get get even more work. Right, Viktor?"
Viktor nodded and Moxie sighed in exasperation. Millie, the ever dutiful wife, took Moxie away to comfort him in the best way she knew. Viktor finally got an address to meet up with Blitzo's contact, and he and Raven left to meet with Blitzo's contact.
When they got to the address, Viktor and Raven had to go through a weapons check. However, it seems that Viktor and Raven's status as children caused problems for them yet again.
" Ha ha ha ha! What are you kids doing here? You guys can't actually be the professional assassins the boss said we're coming. You guys don't look like you could hurt a fly, much less kill people. "
Viktor stopped Raven before she could teach the guard his place.
" Are you sure that's how you want to play this? I can sense that most of your Boss's defenses are inside the building, so it really wouldn't take much effort for me to kill all of you guys out here. "
Viktor then looked at the hidden Transpoder Snail that was recording him and said, " You should stop with these petty tricks. I know Blitzo told you how skilled we are. If you want to do business, then show us the proper respect. I have other ways of making money, this is just the easiest. "
The guards got a signal from inside and they brought Viktor and Raven inside after confiscating all their weapons.
Viktor immediately went into the Boss's room with Raven right behind him and said, " So, are we doing business, or are you wasting everyone's time here?"
The boss, who identified himself as Angelo nodded and negotiations began with Viktor getting straight to the point.
" So, how would you like me to kill this person. Loud and proud with all his guards dead as well? Or perhaps silently with nobody noticing until after the deed is done? Do you want people to know it was you who ordered the hit, or frame it on someone else, or leave it anonymous? Is there a timeframe? Tell me your requirements, otherwise I'll do it the easiest way possible. "
" Which way is the most expensive?"
" Depends on the job. If the target has lots of guards, it'll be easier to silently kill them, thus I'd charge more for going loud and proud rather than silently. "
" Alright, I got the gist. This time, I want the target killed loud and proud as you call it, and I want it to be known I ordered the hit. The sooner it's done, the better and I'll pay you accordingly. "
Angelo handed the target's information to Viktor and Viktor and Raven set out to complete the mission. The target was a former member of Angelo's crew named Aaron who got greedy and stole some product. Viktor and raven were to kill him and recover the stolen product.
— Bab baru akan segera rilis — Tulis ulasan
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