Chapter 340: Volleyball Match, Three Parties Gather
"It seems my charm has completely captured Eric's attention," Kurumi flashed a victorious smile.
"Stop joking, little kitty." The lifelong enemy approached, and Esdeath threw down the volleyball in her hand.
Her full chest was wrapped in smooth blue fabric, her abdominal muscles outlining a perfect, slender waist, and her long legs were taut with muscle. Her cold and enchanting aura brought a refreshing chill to the scorching summer heat.
Her pretty, fair feet stepped on the scorching yellow sand, and in an instant, a layer of crystalline ice covered it. When she lifted her foot, the ice quickly melted under the strong sunlight.
If Kurumi is the spirit of time, her manipulation of time's black hole deeply captivates your gaze, then Esdeath is the Queen of Ice and Snow, with ice and snow acting as a prism that refracts all light, bursting into dazzling brilliance.
At that moment, Scáthach , who had been trailing behind, gradually appeared in Eric's line of sight.
Purple floral ornaments adorned her hair, the web-like pattern tightly wrapping Eric's gaze. Around her healthy, soft waist, she wore a purple, translucent beach towel.
With each step, the towel fluttered like a butterfly, sometimes revealing and sometimes covering her treasures, not allowing Eric to glimpse their secrets.
How many gazes could be attracted on the beach? Scáthach 's simple walk could already stir chaos on the shore, but luckily, only members of the Dawn Pirates were here.
"It's a rare opportunity to take a break at the beach. We should enjoy it," Scáthach said as she glanced at Eric's abs with ill intentions.
"W-what?" Eric took a step back, though Scáthach spoke about enjoying herself, her gaze clearly had other plans.
"It's a rare chance, how about we practice some long-distance running on the beach? It will feel great."
"Uh… the next training project won't make me swim long distances, right? Both you and I are terrible swimmers."
After a brief pause, Scáthach shifted her gaze away, "…Hmm, even I wouldn't make such a ridiculous decision."
"Your gaze shifted! You changed the subject!"
"So, how about a volleyball match?" The round volleyball spun on Scáthach 's fingertips, "The winner gets to have the captain grant them a wish."
"Huh? My abilities are limited, don't make decisions for me..."
"Then it's decided." Esdeath cracked her knuckles loudly.
"Ah, I won't lose."
Completely ignoring the voiced concerns, they treated the speaker as a prize...
Not far away, Wendy and Yoshino, wearing dark blue swimsuits, were squatting on the beach building a sandcastle, while a girl dressed in shorts and a t-shirt swung a bamboo sword at the air.
"Kuina, do you still practice when you're resting?" Yoshino, careful not to dirty her doll, raised her left hand and kept Ichina away from the beach.
"As long as I finish today's sword training..." Kuina made one last swing of the bamboo sword, the swish of the bamboo cutting through the air with a sharp crack. The bamboo swayed back and forth as the vibrations traveled from the handle to her palm.
Storing the bamboo sword in the sword bag, she wiped the sweat off her forehead with a towel around her neck, and eagerly joined in, "How should we build this castle?"
Wendy pointed at the basic shape of the castle, "The main structure is built. Yoshino froze the water inside with her powers. We just need to carve the details."
Kuina flexed her not-so-visible biceps, "Leave it to me!"
Elsewhere, the volleyball match had already reached a fever pitch, turning the beach into an intense battlefield.
Lacking exercise, Miku was the first to fall, lying on Eric's lap, enjoying the unique experience of a lap pillow. Eric acted as her servant, holding a fan to cool her off.
"Captain Eric, please have some." The sweet queen and Baby-5, dressed in swimsuits with maid aprons, brought over two plates of cold drinks.
Eric had just taken a cold drink, "Thank you, you should go enjoy yourselves too."
"No, serving Captain Eric is the greatest relaxation exercise for me!" Baby-5 replied firmly.
"Too bad, your future husband is probably gone." Eric didn't dare speak the truth.
"Our job is not tiring." Sweet Queen's eyes wandered, "If we hadn't boarded the Fearless, I wouldn't have realized how vast this world is."
"Sometimes you need to relax. We've been running around so much lately; who knows when we'll get another chance to rest?" Eric advised, "This is an order from the captain~"
The two maids exchanged looks and nodded, removing their maid aprons and lying on nearby lounge chairs to sunbathe.
"Eh? Don't you need to apply sunscreen?" Eric began thinking too much again.
Lying on his lap, Miku gradually grew restless.
"Hiss... Miku , we're outside, don't do anything weird!" Eric threw his fan aside and held Miku 's increasingly bold movements in check.
Miku winked, "Darling, it's fine~"
"There's definitely something wrong, in every possible sense!" Eric whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, "We're a company of death! And yesterday, I almost encountered the river crab divine beast! I barely brushed past it, and it made me shiver!"
Miku 's antics immediately caught Kurumi's casual glance from across the area.
"Ha!"
A loud shout instantly captured everyone's attention.
Esdeath suddenly jumped, her proud body arcing through the air. Her right arm, leaning back, struck the volleyball mid-air, sending it like a cannonball crashing toward the opposing ground with a loud "bang."
"Heh, this attack isn't nearly enough," Scáthach smiled lightly, bending down. Her hands interlocked, and with a diving save, she blocked Esdeath's dominating attack.
The volleyball shot into the air, and Scáthach quickly got up from the ground, leaping high, her long purple hair cascading down as she executed a reverse hook. The soles of her beach slippers exploded with tremendous force.
Eric sarcastically remarked, "Aren't you playing volleyball?!"
The volleyball cut through the air in a perfect arc, and no, dozens of volleyball illusions appeared in the air, distracting Esdeath's vision.
Eric couldn't help but comment again, "Why are you using Rune Magic?!"
"Ha, nice feint." Esdeath quickly created countless ice balls, smashing them into the volleyball illusions, one by one, until they vanished. Esdeath retreated, her agile body twisting as she used a backhand punch to hit the volleyball's side. The ball's trajectory was altered, spinning rapidly as it flew across the field.
"Ha..." Eric sighed, covering his forehead, "I've run out of energy to comment."
Putting aside the surrealistic spectacle, the volleyball match between Esdeath and Scáthach was truly exciting, with dramatic movements everywhere. As they used all their strength, their bodies bent and flexed in mesmerizing ways. Eric focused and closely observed.
"Darling, is something poking my head?"
"..." Eric silently picked up a cold drink and poured it over his head, "Miku , you've rested enough, get up now."
"I won't~ Lying on your lap is so comfortable~" Miku said, pressing her head down harder.
"Poof!" Eric bent over as an important part of his body was attacked.
Miku quickly sat up and asked, "Darling! What happened?"
Eric twitched his cheek, "I'm fine."
Miku didn't lie back down, instead cuddling up beside Eric and watching the match.
"Crunch, crunch."
The overwhelming thoughts began to calm down, but the crisp sound of ice being chewed came from beside him.
Eric looked at the scattered ice cream sticks and wrappers and asked, "...How many ice creams did you eat?"
"I don't remember the number," said Artoria, licking the last of an ice cream stick before ripping open another package to grab a new ice cream.
Her pure black swimsuit accentuated her pale skin, and Artoria, having removed her crown of kingship, wore the adorable white crown — a white headband, complemented by a maid apron around her waist, signaling her current identity.
"Then what does wearing this outfit mean?"
"I'll clean up this mess myself."
"No, I mean the clothes…"
"I just put on a swimsuit. What's the big deal?" Artoria stated, "Leaving aside the swimsuit posture, I am now a maid."
"But you haven't done any maid duties," Eric commented with a hint of sarcasm.
Artoria explained, "A maid serves the master, but that's not the point. A maid's service should be voluntary…"
"Maybe this country, AmEric a, is more suited to you..."
"So a maid's work is voluntary and should not be forced," Artoria firmly stated her misguided belief, "For that reason, I won't spare a lazy, decadent master."
"What does this have to do with me?!"
"At the moment, I should be educating those two!" Artoria declared, pointing to Perona and Polji, who were doing sit-ups, both of them trembling.
Under the strict, cold household teacher's training in the past few days, the awareness of correcting errors had been instilled in them, and due to the Spartan nature of the training, both had suffered significant mental and physical strain.
"Waah... It's too scary."
"Ugh~ I think I'm a bit sunstruck?"
The two tried to feign weakness to avoid further training, but under Artoria's cold gaze, they continued with the day's training plan.
"Crunch." The last ice cream stick was finished, and Artoria got up to pick up a mop to clean, "Wait a moment, I'll clean it up right away."
"Boom!" With a loud explosion, the few who had been seriously watching the volleyball match (battle) let out a sigh of regret.
"The volleyball made by Da Vinci with special materials has been broken." Esdeath said with a regretful expression, holding half of the volleyball, "It seems this volleyball match's result will have to be left for next time."
Scáthach nodded and picked up the other half of the volleyball, "I think that's best too."
"No, no, no." Eric shook his head as if it were a rattle drum, "No ball could withstand both of you attacking at the same time!"
After such an intense match, neither of the Valkyries had broken a sweat. Their skin remained as smooth and pale as before, leaving Eric's hopes of seeing their bodies drenched in sweat unfulfilled.
"How was it? Did you enjoy yourselves?"
The two exchanged a glance and spoke in unison, "Being able to compete in a fun way is simply wonderful!"
"…If you're happy, that's all that matters," Eric genuinely felt a headache.
Artoria suggested, "I have another competition event."
Eric tried to shut her up, "Hurry up and be quiet!"
The women gathered around, "What is it?"
Artoria slapped her beloved ride, "It's—Racing!"
In the end, after the thrilling race, Artoria claimed victory. At her request, a large amount of fried snacks and carbonated drinks were bought as supplies.
For some unknown reason, even though Eric had rested the whole day, he felt even more exhausted, both mentally and physically.
And on the way to the Navy Headquarters, Vice Admiral Tsuru and Vice Admiral Momousagi also received reports of the Dawn Pirates' sighting.
"They went to Sassou on the seventh route?" Vice Admiral Tsuru frowned, "Do they know the Navy has stationed surveillance ships in Konashton? Or…"
"Tsuru -," Gion entered, "The headquarters sent an order for us to change course to Sassou, to monitor the Dawn Pirates."
"Sigh…" Tsuru sighed, "Always following behind them, we'll never catch up. Why don't those higher-ups understand?"
"This is unavoidable. Sengoku- is under a lot of pressure, and the higher-ups of the World Government are furious about the Dawn Pirates openly slapping their faces. All the pressure is on Sengoku-."
"The position of Fleet Admiral is indeed difficult," Tsuru said as she stood up and issued a command to the female sailor outside, "Change our course, destination is now Sassou!"
"Yes!" The female sailor saluted and turned to leave.
Meanwhile, on the first half of the Grand Line, a former Supernova, now a member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, was also heading toward Sassou.
"Iron Man" Duke, after consuming a Devil Fruit, had never been hurt in the various battles in the first half of the Grand Line. After reaching the Shambody Archipelago, the World Government invited him to join the Seven Warlords.
Leaving behind the realm of low-level pirates, this Warlord also craved more attention and higher status.
The Dawn Pirates, wandering in the "Paradise," were the only shining big Hachi in the fish pond, a major opportunity for SSR exposure.
Is there anything more eye-catching than defeating a pirate group that even the World Government can't handle? So, after receiving the Dawn Pirates' newspaper, he set sail immediately for the seventh route.
"Boss..." One of his subordinates cautiously spoke, "The Dawn Pirates have defeated two of the Seven Warlords, shouldn't we avoid causing trouble for them?"
"Afraid?" Duke, encased in layers of armor, only revealed his desire-filled eyes.
"What's the point? Fighting them brings us no benefit..."
"How's that not beneficial?" The heavy armor clanged as Duke raised both arms, "A louder reputation! A bounty in the billions! With that money, I can build more pirate crews!"
"But…"
"Enough!" Duke's breath was heavy, his foul-smelling breath seeping from his mask, "You're messing with my morale!"
"Uh…" The uneasy pirate's throat was grabbed, and his body was effortlessly lifted.
Unable to speak any pleas, the pirate's legs kicked frantically in the air.
"Snap!"
The sound of bones Breaking echoed as the pirate's neck twisted into a knot.
Duke casually threw the pirate onto the ground, the pirate's body hitting the deck with a loud "bang."
The poor pirate, still not dead, drooled uncontrollably from his mouth, his limbs twitching faintly.
"Throw him out for the fish to eat!"
"Yes!" Two pirates emotionlessly tossed their former comrade into the sea, the pirate's body rolling in the waves before disappearing.
(END CHAPTER)
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