CHAPTER 634: CHAPTER 153: WAITING FOR FIVE HOURS

As if he still didn’t quite believe it, Darren pinched Stussy’s tail again.

"Mmm..."

The soft, breathy sound slipped from her parted lips—husky, almost hypnotic—and tugged at something in him.

He did it again. And again.

His eyes lit with boyish mischief, as if he’d discovered a new toy. He kneaded the sleek, black appendage into different shapes, studying every twitch and shiver with blatant curiosity.

"N-no... stop..." Stussy flinched as if shocked. Color flooded her cheeks; her breathing grew ragged.

A sudden weakness took her, and her arms cinched around the Marine before her on pure instinct. Without his hand firm at her waist, she would have melted to the floor.

"So that’s how it is," Darren murmured, amused. "In a vampire’s true form, this devil’s tail is your gyroscope."

He leaned close, voice dropping to a playful whisper at her ear. "Packed with nerve endings. That’s how you hold a line at supersonic speed... Fascinating."

A beat; the smile in his voice deepened. "Which means it’s also... very sensitive."

Stussy went rigid.

Fury and humiliation flashed in her eyes. Her teeth caught her lower lip hard enough to draw a bead of red.

He’d found the tail’s secret.

Worse—his hands had a way of unraveling her composure, dragging her toward a traitorous surrender.

"So," Darren said lightly, "shall we honor the wager, Your Majesty?"

"No. I refuse to—mm! Mm! Mm!"

She froze mid-protest.

"Y-you... bastard..." The words were breathless, all strength leached from them.

"You’re not being very obedient," Darren said, smiling. "But you’re enjoying it, aren’t you?"

The unguarded ruin in the Queen’s poise filled him with an indescribable satisfaction.

"N-no, I—"

"Such a liar," he sighed, theatrically mournful. "Seems I’ll have to get serious."

"I’ve awakened my Devil Fruit. I won’t lose to you," she insisted through clenched teeth, fighting the flood of sensation.

"Oh? Awakening makes you tough?" His eyes flicked to the black flames trailing her form. "Then this should be interesting."

He bent to her ear and whispered a suggestion.

Her face blanched. Real fear stirred in her gaze. "N-no. That’s impossible."

"Let’s find out," he said—and pressed her back onto the banquet table.

His words fell away. Stussy went taut as a bowstring, eyes widening—

—and thought deserted her in a white rush.

"Giant..."

---

Outside the hall, security lined the corridor, faces set.

"Excellency, should we... intervene?" a man in a black suit asked under his breath.

The leader shook his head. "Her Majesty’s orders were clear. No matter what we hear, we do not interfere. It’s all part of her plan."

Faint sounds began to sift through the heavy doors—low, rough male breath like a beast’s growl; a woman’s voice, soft and unsteady despite the strain of restraint.

A slow smile crept over the leader’s face. As Stussy’s most trusted aide, he knew what she had poured into tonight: months of training and bloody trial—an awakening of her power that had carried her to new heights.

He himself had watched her tear apart a Great Pirate worth over 200 million in under five seconds, a blur of grace and ruin.

"Do you hear?" he murmured.

"Her Majesty has already won. The King of the North Blue, the Legend-ender, the future flying Admiral—one by one, they’ve fallen before our Queen."

"Soon Rogers Darren will join the rest as one of her loyal instruments."

Their eyes burned toward the doors.

"Magnificent."

"Her Majesty is unparalleled."

They burst into quiet, fervent cheers.

Truly, our Queen stands above all...

Even Rogers Darren has been subdued.

Give her time, and the entire sea will bow.

---

In another hall, Doflamingo sprawled into the leather, swirling red wine as he skimmed the day’s paper. Beside him, Senor Pink stood in silence, cigarette low at the corner of his mouth.

"Heh heh heh..."

Doflamingo’s laugh rolled out, dredged from some private joke.

"Senor."

"Young Master," Senor Pink answered.

"Curious about the ’friend’ that woman introduced me to?"

Senor Pink hesitated, then nodded. "This subordinate would."

"It’s my Godfather—Excellency Darren," Doflamingo said, relish curling his voice.

Senor Pink went still. Excellency Darren? Since when had he stepped into the Queen of the Pleasure District’s shadowed world?

"Shall I go pay respects?" he asked, then added carefully, "Or is now... not ideal?"

He knew the rules. The Young Master’s feelings for that man were complex, but his courtesy was ironclad.

"No, no." Doflamingo waved it off, lips quirking. "He’s probably occupied. Even I didn’t expect this. My Godfather... he’s something else. Quietly toppling the Underworld Empress and pocketing her empire—heh heh heh."

"We’ll wait. They won’t be long finishing their business."

Senor Pink inclined his head. Time, they had. Waiting cost nothing.

So they waited.

Five hours passed.

To be continued...