One Piece: The World King Who Emerged from the White Town

The newcomer gestured with his eyes to the cigarettes beside Abel.

Abel simply pushed it over, telling him to do as he pleased.

So the scene turned into two silent men smoking cigarettes and a drunk woman asleep.

"My name is Hayakawa Aki, and I'm Himeno-senpai's partner."

"I guessed it, it's that guy who has a crush on Machima..."

"Cough cough cough..."

"Don't force yourself to smoke if you don't know how."

"You choked by accident. What's your name?"

"My full name is too long, just call me Abel."

"Then Abel... tell me, what is your purpose in deliberately getting close to Himeno-senpai?"

Hayakawa Aki's expression suddenly turned extremely serious, and even his eyes showed a murderous intent.

Abel showed no fear whatsoever. While smoking, he casually said, "Someone hired me to protect this woman. If she dies, my payment will be gone. So you don't need to worry about me harming her. As for how quickly we met, it was really just a coincidence."

This unexpected answer made Hayakawa Aki frown.

"Who commissioned you?"

"Sorry, it's a secret."

"Do you think I'll believe you with just those two sentences of explanation?"

Chapter 239 The Endless Eighth Floor

"Do you think I'll believe you with just those two sentences of explanation?"

Upon hearing this, Abel immediately laughed. "I don't care about anyone's opinion. Everything that prevents me from completing my 'mission,' whether it's a person or a demon, will eventually be wiped out by me."

"As for what I said before, don't misunderstand. It wasn't an attempt to gain your trust. It was just that I hoped you wouldn't cause me any trouble because this woman likes you, that's all."

"Otherwise, I'm afraid that if I accidentally kill you, this woman won't cooperate with my work."

Hayakawa Aki remained expressionless. "It seems you're very confident in your abilities."

Abel used a rather modest way of putting it, "At least now, if I wanted to, you would have died at least ten times over."

As soon as he finished speaking, Hayakawa Aki's clothes were torn in various places, as if they had been cut open by some kind of sharp weapon.

A cursory check revealed more than ten instances.

Hayakawa Aki's pupils contracted instantly, and he instinctively reached for the weapon behind his back.

But his body froze halfway through his hand.

A tremendous sense of impending death was warning him that if he didn't stop, he would die!

"Very good, it seems we have finally reached a preliminary consensus."

Abel put down his knife and picked up a tissue to wipe his mouth.

“I don’t want to see this woman in any danger before I leave this country. If you can do that, I won’t show up.”

"But if you can't do it, I will complete this task in my own way."

"Then, Hime, I'll trouble you to take her home. Oh, by the way, I've already paid the bill, and this pack of cigarettes is for you too. Good luck."

After saying that, Abel got up and left the restaurant.

"What kind of demonic power is that? Why can't I see anything?"

Hayakawa Aki slumped back in her chair, her mind replaying what had just happened.

This was the first time he had ever felt that sense of powerlessness and fear in a human being.

But seriously, was that guy really human?

Could it be some kind of demon in disguise?

Or perhaps a demon?

The term 'demon' refers to a demon that possesses a human corpse.

They have human appearances, but demonic personalities, with only a few exceptions who can maintain rationality.

The Demons were present in the Special Exorcism Division 4, where he was assigned.

"Hime-senpai really did date someone extraordinary..."

Hayakawa Aki gave a wry smile, then hoisted her onto his back, preparing to take her home.

Meanwhile, the already drunk Himeko was still unconsciously calling his name.

……

The next day, Hayakawa Aki reported the events of the previous day to her superior, Machima, early in the morning.

Makima is a demon hunter directly under the Cabinet, and also leads and trains the official Special Operations Against Demons Section 4.

That is, the pink-haired woman who made eye contact with Abel that day.

Compared to a guy of unknown origin, Hayakawa Aki naturally had more faith in the power of the authorities.

“Abel…the person entrusted to protect Himeno…is very strong…his origins are unknown…”

Machima immediately sent people to investigate, but the results of the investigation surprised her greatly.

Because there is absolutely no information about this person.

It was as if it appeared out of nowhere.

But obviously this is impossible.

So, the fact that such a person could bypass Tokyo's official authorities and be sent in without anyone noticing means that such a force is definitely not simple!

But what could their purpose be?

Was it really just to protect Hime?

Machima went through all of Hime's records from childhood to adulthood again, but still couldn't find any connection.

"Then we'll have to test the waters."

……

In the afternoon, all six members of the Anti-Magic Special Division 4 set out.

The target is a demon who is hiding in a hotel and has eaten the flesh of the Gun Demon.

The evacuation of personnel has been completed; all that remains is for them to handle the situation.

After they entered the hotel, Abel followed them inside.

After all, he wasn't sure what kind of danger Ji Ye would encounter. If the 'side quest' couldn't be saved either, given that the 'main quest' wasn't progressing, that would be a real headache.

But when he got to the 8th floor, he found that there were 6 pairs of eyes staring at him!

"Hi, what a coincidence."

Abel greeted everyone, feeling somewhat puzzled.

He had already used his Observation Haki to sense that there was no aura on the entire 8th floor before he came up, which is why he hurriedly came up.

But the fact that everyone was there actually exposed him.

What is going on here?

"Abel?! What are you doing here?"

Hime appeared very surprised.

The others were somewhat excited; had the infinite loop here been broken?

The blond-haired woman and the horned woman that Abel saw that day immediately ran up and down, respectively.

Then, to Abel's surprise, the person running upstairs appeared behind him, while the person running downstairs mysteriously came down from upstairs.

"No, it seems that it's not that the rules have been broken, but rather that new innocent people have just entered."

Hayakawa Aki glanced at Abel and calmly analyzed the situation.

He roughly knew why the other party was here; it was simply because they had been implicated in this demon's territory while protecting Senior Himeno.

The man in the suit, whom Abel had never seen before, and the other frail-looking girl immediately lost hope and sat down on the ground.

"Um...can anyone help me explain what's going on? Was that some kind of magic show?"

"Ugh!"

Ji Ye sighed, but still explained what had happened.

Simply put, they fell into the devil's trap.

The entire 8th floor is the demon's true form. Time does not flow here, and no matter which way you go, you will eventually return here, endlessly.

So even if they wanted to wait for rescue, they couldn't.

After hearing this, Abel finally understood why these people were so excited when they saw him appear.

But he felt that 'time does not flow' was a paradox, otherwise how did he get here?

If 'time really doesn't flow,' then when the second person steps into the 8th floor, the first person will already be dead.

Therefore, he suspected that time here was not static, but rather that its flow rate was magnified countless times.

For example, if you stay here for a whole day, only a second might pass in the outside world.

Even so, it won't do anything to change the current situation.

If we don't find a way to break free from here and escape, we'll be trapped and die.

Then something even worse happened.

The 'demon' that Hime had killed earlier began to multiply infinitely, turning into an indescribable entity composed of numerous heads, chunks of flesh, and other debris. It had already blocked the other end of the corridor and was beginning to surge toward them.