One Piece : Start As Celestial Dragon And Take Down Hancock-Chapter 172: Shank’s despair, jealousy, hatred, and helplessness.

Chapter 172: Shank’s despair, jealousy, hatred, and helplessness.

Lakeman felt the waves of Shanks’ fury — the jealousy, the helpless rage boiling in his blood — and it amused him.

With a faint smile, he tightened his hold on Makino, one arm snaking firmly around her waist and pulling her against him.

Her soft breasts pressed into his chest, the trembling of her sobs shuddering through him. His other hand slid downward without hesitation, cupping the curve of her ass. His fingers kneaded the flesh shamelessly before he gave it a firm slap, the sound sharp against the hushed air.

Makino flinched but did not resist. She ignored the humiliation, ignored the way his touch claimed her body, and continued to cry openly, her voice cracking as she begged again for Luffy’s sake.

"Please... please, spare him... I’ll do anything. Just let Luffy go."

Shanks, crushed beneath Lakeman’s conqueror’s haki, saw everything. His nails tore into the dirt as he tried to push himself up, his body quaking under the invisible weight.

But no matter how much he strained, his limbs refused him. He could only glare upward, veins bulging, watching the man’s hand roam freely across the woman he admired.

’Damn you... stop... I’ll kill you... I swear I’ll kill you!’

He writhed like a worm pinned under a boot, his hate blazing in his eyes, his killing intent flooding the air. But Lakeman only chuckled.

His hand kneaded Makino’s plump ass slowly, possessively, as if mocking Shanks with every motion. Then he leaned down, brushing his lips across Makino’s tear-streaked cheek before licking away a single drop.

"In truth," Lakeman said with a soft laugh, his words sharp as knives, "Luffy, the villagers... all of you are innocent. But tell me—who told you to surround yourselves with scheming pirates like Shanks?"

"No!" Luffy roared, his muffled voice breaking with fury despite his face being crushed into the dirt beneath Mirana’s high heels. Blood ran down his cheek, but his eyes still blazed.

"Shanks is a good pirate! He’s not scheming! Don’t slander him!"

Mirana only pressed her heel harder, grinding his face deeper into the ground until more blood seeped out. She smiled cruelly at his defiance.

"Haha..." Lakeman’s laugh rang out, rich and mocking. He let it hang in the air before lowering his tone, his sarcasm dripping like poison.

"Oh, Luffy. The only reason Shanks gave you the Devil Fruit... the only reason he cares for you at all... is because your grandfather is the Navy Hero, Monkey D. Garp."

Luffy’s eyes widened, his body jerking against the weight pinning him.

’Grandpa...? What does he mean...?’

Lakeman’s crimson eyes gleamed as he went on.

"The Devil Fruit you ate is no simple fruit. It is the Nika Fruit. The world government, desperate to erase its legacy, renamed it the Rubber Fruit — hoping the world would forget. Because its last wielder... was the single greatest enemy they ever faced."

Makino froze in his arms as his hot breath ghosted against her ear.

Lakeman inhaled deeply, savoring her scent, before brushing his lips over her skin and giving her ear a teasing bite. She shivered but still pressed her forehead to his chest, whispering broken pleas for Luffy.

"Think about it, Makino," Lakeman whispered, his voice curling into her thoughts.

"The world government kills anyone who dares wield this fruit. But Shanks... Shanks saw an opportunity. He found your precious Luffy, grandson of Garp - the marine hero. That bloodline is a shield. With it, the government wouldn’t slaughter the boy outright as they had with other Nika users. They would bide their time, ignore him... until he became a threat worth crushing."

Makino’s tears fell faster. Her hands trembled at his words, though she said nothing, her pleas caught in her throat.

Shanks’ eyes widened at every word. His heart clenched, his teeth grinding together until they bled.

’He... he knows everything. If I admit it... maybe he’ll let them live... maybe he’ll spare them...’

The thought flickered like a dim, desperate light. But then his eyes shifted back to Makino — to the way Lakeman’s hand roamed freely across her body, to the way she was being claimed before his very eyes. His chest ached with helpless rage and shame.

’No... I can’t. If I speak... she’ll hate me. Luffy will never forgive me. He’ll lose his dream before it even begins. No matter the cost, Luffy has to inherit Roger’s will. He is my last hope... my captain’s last hope.’

His nails dug into the earth until blood ran from his fingertips. He kept his silence, even as his conqueror’s haki rippled uncontrollably from his battered body — sparks and cracks of energy lashing out, wild and unfocused.

But still... he could not break free.

His rage gave him no strength. Still, the weight of Lakeman’s will pressed him flat, immovable, a lion brought low and forced to crawl.

Yet even in that humiliation, he refused to scream. He bit down hard, lips trembling, his red eyes fixed on the man who toyed with Makino so brazenly.

But Makino herself had already fallen into silence. Her tears had dried against Lakeman’s chest, her sobs stilled.

She told herself she could not afford to keep crying. Instead, she clung to the fragile hope that Lakeman’s words about Garp were valid, Luffy might be spared if she endured.

Her head stayed pressed against Lakeman’s chest, her face hidden. But inside, her heart churned with new, ugly feelings. She could no longer look at Shanks the same way. His silence, his refusal to deny Lakeman’s accusations, made her chest twist.

A seed of hatred, faint but real, sprouted in her heart — hatred not only for Lakeman, who held her now, but for Shanks, who might have deceived them all along.

Lakeman chuckled, his gaze sliding toward Shanks.

"How about it, Shanks? Still don’t want to admit it?"

He smirked, savoring the other man’s silence before going on, his words dripping with mockery.

"After all you’ve invested in them. Leave aside your little crush on Makino. Just to make this boy a pirate, you even sacrificed your arm. Who would have thought one of the Four Emperors — the great Red-Haired Shanks — would lose an arm in the weakest sea of all, East Blue. To a pitiful Sea King, you could have killed with a look."

Shanks shut his eyes. His jaw quivered as blood ran from where he bit down on his lip.

’Stop... stop dragging her into this... I won’t give you the satisfaction.’

Lakeman’s voice only grew sharper, more mocking.

"You’ve calculated well, haven’t you? If Luffy becomes Pirate King and topples the World Government, you bask in glory as his mentor. And if he fails, if he dies, then your identity as a Celestial Dragon will carry you comfortably for life. Isn’t that right, Shanks?"

Shanks said nothing, his silence heavier than words. His mind churned desperately, searching for any path to escape.

Makino stiffened. Her heart thundered in her chest, her throat tightening. Slowly, as if pulled by invisible strings, she lifted her face. Her watery eyes locked onto Lakeman’s crimson ones.

Her lips trembled.

"Is... is Shanks really a Celestial Dragon?"

Her voice cracked, and the question left her breathless.

She couldn’t even bring herself to look at Shanks. Her mind spun with everything she’d ever heard — Garp’s drunken rants about the filth of the Celestial Dragons, the burning of Gray Terminal, the senseless death of Sabo at the hands of a Celestial Dragon’s ship. She had loathed them all her life, every vile rumor proving true with every new cruelty.

And now... Shanks? The man who had been kind, who had laughed with them, who had seemed so gentle and human?

Her stomach turned. She wanted to deny it, to scream, but doubt gnawed at her heart.

Lakeman’s arm tightened around her waist. His other hand slid down her curves, fingers sinking into her ass with a sharp squeeze that drew an involuntary moan from her lips.

"Mmmhh"

Her face burned with shame, her nails digging into his chest — but still, she did not resist.

He smiled, his crimson gaze boring into her.

"As for whether Shanks is a Celestial Dragon or not," Lakeman murmured smoothly, "why don’t you ask his sister... Saint Mirana Figarland?"

He gestured lazily toward Mirana, who still stood over Luffy, grinding her haki-coated heel into the boy’s face. Blood smeared the dirt, but the boy still roared weakly, muffled against the ground.

"Shanks... isn’t like that!" Luffy spat blood, his voice breaking but defiant. "He’s not scheming! Don’t listen to him, Makino!"

His small body shook violently, steam rising as his will struggled against the weight.

’I don’t care... even if I die here... I won’t let him take away what Shanks means to me!’

But his words, his pain, only twisted the knife deeper in Shanks’ chest.

’Luffy... damn it... I can’t protect even you. And Makino... she’s already starting to hate me. If I admit it, I’ll lose everything. If I deny it, he’ll still crush me. What choice do I have...?’

Yet when his eyes flickered back to Makino — her body trapped in Lakeman’s arms, her moan of shame still echoing in his ears — Shanks’ heart twisted. His pride screamed at him to stay silent, but guilt devoured him whole.

’Captain Roger... was this the will you wanted me to protect? Or have I damned us all?’

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