Chapter 169 Anger
The coffee shop door was pushed open from the outside.
The bell above the door frame chimed along with the movement.
This sound made Pudding, who was cheering for the completion of a new coffee variety, subconsciously look toward the entrance.
"Welcome—" A smile beamed on her face, but the greeting died in her throat halfway through.
"Aren't I welcome, my kin?"
The third eye on his forehead was open without any attempt at concealment.
The golden luster it emitted gave off a natural majesty.
Yet, under Zane's gentle smile, it looked like a god's love for the world, reflecting a different kind of benevolent radiance.
"You—" Pudding's three eyes all widened in unison, her face filled with shock and a sense of trance.
Was she dreaming? Why was she suddenly seeing this man she thought about day and night?
Yes.
It wasn't just Zane who was watching Pudding, his only clansman.
Pudding had also been silently following him through the newspapers ever since Zane's identity as a member of the Three-Eye Tribe was exposed.
He...
A fellow tribesman...
Pudding's legs trembled involuntarily, and her breathing quickened.
Fine beads of sweat faintly appeared on the tip of her nose.
It wasn't fear, but rather trepidation, unease, and an uncontrollable excitement.
Step by step.
As Pudding stood in a daze, Zane walked to the counter with a gentle expression.
He glanced down at the coffee she had brewed and then reached out to pat her head.
Pudding didn't know what she was thinking, but facing the approaching palm, she instinctively lowered her head and let him stroke it.
"So beautiful. Your coffee is as lovely as you are, my kin. Pudding, I've come to take you away. Are you willing to come with me?"
Zane's voice and movements were soft, as if he were afraid that if he used too much force, the girl before him—who looked like a porcelain doll—would break.
The trembling in her legs grew more intense, eventually sweeping through her entire body until her small frame began to shake.
"Wh-What nonsense are you talking about? I'm Mama's child! How could I go with you? You should just get out of Totto Land!"
Flustered, she felt joy, but even more so, fear.
Finally, Pudding took a deep breath, and a fierce expression appeared on her exquisite face.
'Right, I can't leave.'
'Mama is invincible.'
'If I leave, he—my kin—will definitely be hunted down by Mama.'
'Instead of getting him killed, it's better to drive him away.'
"Sob..."
'Forgive me.'
'I really... I really want to leave!!'
Beneath that fierce expression, tears flowed uncontrollably.
Droplets splashed.
Tears fell into the coffee in front of her, blurring the latte art.
Zane lowered his hand and gently wiped away the tears.
"My kin lives in self-loathing and fear; how could I ignore that? It's alright. These will be the last tears you shed out of sadness. From now on, I will make you happy forever!"
After wiping the tears away, Zane placed his hand in front of her, palm upward, and looked at her with an encouraging gaze.
"I..."
Pudding stared blankly at the palm before her. She tried to speak several times but couldn't find the words, until her body's instinct made her lift her right hand and place it on his.
So warm.
The last trace of hesitation in her heart was melted by the warmth coming from his hand.
Her small hand, which had been placed lightly, suddenly gripped his firmly.
Pudding clutched Zane's palm tightly, as if she were afraid she would lose him if her grip were too light.
Fortunately, Zane also gripped her small hand in return.
Holding her hand like that, Zane led Pudding out from behind the counter and then out of the coffee shop.
Out on the street.
All the pedestrians seen were wandering in place blankly.
Neither Zane's nor Pudding's appearance drew any attention.
"What happened to them?"
Pudding looked at the pedestrians outside in surprise.
From the moment she grabbed Zane's hand, she had clearly abandoned everything from before and accepted her new identity.
That of a member of the Three-Eye Tribe, Zane's kin.
"It's nothing. I just used a special ability to keep them quiet for a while so that seeing you wouldn't cause a commotion." Zane smiled.
The abnormality of the pedestrians came precisely from the hypnosis of the Window to the Soul.
"Alright, next I'm going to perform a farewell for you. Stay inside my ability first, so you don't get caught in the crossfire!"
Zane tapped the air in front of him with his other hand, manifesting a Space Door.
A farewell?
Although she was only fourteen, Pudding's heart possessed a maturity far beyond her years due to Charlotte Linlin's violent and high-pressure rule.
She understood Zane's meaning and immediately gripped his hand even tighter.
"Let's just leave directly!" Pudding said uneasily.
Although she knew from the newspapers she never missed that her clansman was very powerful, Mama was invincible.
"It's fine. I'm very strong. Since I'm taking you away, it won't be a secret escape. I'm going to take you away openly and honorably." He patted her head with the left hand that had opened the Space Door.
Under Zane's reassurance, Pudding tentatively walked into the Space Door.
The Space Door closed. Located within the Door-Door Space, Pudding could clearly see the scene outside through the pale green spatial barrier.
"BIG MOM! GET THE HELL OUT HERE!!!!"
After sending Pudding into the Door-Door Space, the gentle smile on Zane's face faded. He turned to look in the direction of Whole Cake Island.
He took a deep breath, his chest swelling high. As Nen aura gathered frantically in his throat, a world-shaking roar erupted in the next second, echoing through all of Totto Land like a bombardment.
BOOM!!!!
Amidst the sweeping sound waves, there was also an overwhelmingly powerful Conqueror's Haki.
The world resonated.
The sound waves combined with the pressure to form a terrifying shockwave. It not only sent the hypnotized pedestrians flying but also shattered the streets and nearby buildings.
Even the clouds in the sky began to dissipate.
His uncontrollable rage made his Conqueror's Haki exceptionally intense.
It traveled along with the sound.
Starting from Cacao Island, it was like a spreading bolt of lightning, crossing multiple islands all the way to Whole Cake Island at the center of Totto Land.
BOOM!!!
Charlotte Linlin, who was devouring delicious desserts as usual, felt as if she had been struck by lightning, her entire body stiffening on the spot.
"Conqueror's Haki?"
During that brief moment of stiffness, Charlotte Linlin suddenly looked up toward the direction where the Haki originated. Her eyes were bloodshot, filled with intense murderous intent.
Her obese frame showed no signs of sluggishness.
The desserts she had been enjoying were sent flying along with the table.
Charlotte Linlin leaped up like a giant cannonball, crashing directly through the palace ceiling and appearing in the air above the castle.
"Zeus! Prometheus!"
Amidst her roar, a thundercloud and a fireball quickly flew out from the castle.
"Mama, did something happen?"
"Is there an enemy? Watch me burn them to death!"
The thundercloud Zeus flew beneath Charlotte Linlin's feet, carrying her.
The fireball Prometheus merged into Charlotte Linlin's left hand.
Both displayed personified faces of anger.
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