One Piece: Chaos Kong

Chapter 17: Tenacious Will

'Hehe, she's crazy for actually jumping into boiling water, yet that's all the more reason why I'm interested in her sudden change.' Thought Diddy with a slight grin as he watched the woman erratically thrash around in the tub of boiling water while screaming in pure agony.

I didn't drive joy from seeing her writhe about in pain; no, I found her mentality exciting; how many people would be willing to do this? Let alone ordinary people who've never experienced hardship, like her, how many hardened veterans would willingly jump into a tub filled with boiling water that can cook them from the inside!? If it were the past me before I reincarnated here and was allowed to embrace my true nature, I wouldn't have done something this suicidal, never in a million years; of course, now, it would be a different story.

While looking at her, I just shook my head and entered the tub of boiling water, which to me, merely felt like warm water, before sitting down and attempting to relax; however, I should've known that would've been futile. Looking at the clock in the distance, covered by a dense layer of steam, I noted it's only been ninety seconds since she first jumped into the tub. Focusing on the woman, I could discern her skin was already burning, and it was even beginning to bubble; her eyes were closed, probably from having constantly been splashed with water, though I could feel her gaze had never once left me.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but it's only been about 2 minutes; you're ⅕ of the way there, and only 8 more minutes." Remarked Diddy with a grin as he closed his eyes and waited for the time limit to end.

The first three or so minutes were probably the worst for both her and me; she kept constantly screaming and thrashing about in the beginning, but once it neared the four-minute mark, she started to quiet down while her movements slowed as well. By the five-minute mark, she was nearly immobile and was just floating in the tub while her skin began to burst as steam came off her body. Once it hit the seven-minute mark, she was completely immobile, and if it weren't because I could still hear her beating heart, I'd have thought she died; just like this, for the remaining three minutes, she stayed precisely like this.

Her previous white skin was now like charcoal and burnt to a crisp; any hair that used to be on her body had disappeared, and other than that, there wasn't anything else to mention, well, except for the fact her face never once veered from my direction.

'There go the 10 minutes; let's see if you're still alive, though, from the lack of a beating heart, you didn't manage to survive; a pity, I was curious how the Devil Fruit worked.' Thought Diddy calmly as he glanced at the clock before approaching the floating corpse and picking it up.

Exiting the tub, Instead of throwing her on the ground, I gently set her down; she may have been a pathetic weakling, but her determination was something that had earned my respect, even if it was just for a fleeting moment.

Giving one last glance at the charcoal-like corpse, I turned around and headed toward the door, pondering how I would get stuff down now that she was dead.

'Should I just kill all the wealthy people? I don't know; probably shouldn't, at least not yet; I'm pretty sure she said Karate Island has some connection with the World Government.' Pondered Diddy as he grabbed a towel and dried himself off.

It's not that I was scared of offending the so-called world government; it's more like this island still had things I could benefit from, so I found it more logical to wait a few more years before finally deciding to cause severe chaos among the residents. Besides, I may be slightly crazy and a little battle hungry, but I wasn't suicidal; thanks to that woman's help, I've gotten a great deal of information about how this world works, and going against the world government before I believe myself to be ready isn't the smartest thing to do, in my opinion.