[One Piece]

  [Ingredients obtained: Sea Ki]

  [Sea Ki: The meat of massive creatures living in the o. Highly nutritious. Long-term ption enhances physical fitness.]

  Staring at the massive pieeat that now cluttered her room, Kaguya was left speechless.

  "Is this really from a rge o creature? It doesn't seem like anything from Earth."

  From the start, she had assumed "rge" meant the Earthly definition, but the scale here was far beyond her expectations.

  Walking closer, she took a sniff. There was no trace of blood; instead, the meat gave off a stra pleasant aroma, almost as if the st itself came from the meat's essence.

  "No wo's said to enhance physical fitness after eating."

  Kaguya now fully uood that the things given by the diary were beyond the realm of normal prehension.

  "Hayasaka."

  Turning around, Kaguya's face immediately darkened with anger.

  "You. Take care of this today."

  "…All of it, alone?"

  "Once you've hahis, I'll sider fiving you."

  A way out was offered.

  Even though Kaguya was furious, she still left Hayasaka a path to redemption. But it wouldn't be easy.

  This massive pieeat erfect punishment.

  She didn't hesitate to toss the responsibility at Hayasaka.

  "…"

  Staring at the sb of meat, over three meters tall and six meters long, Hayasaka was momentarily stunned. However, what shocked her even more was Kaguya's attitude.

  She knew very well how much Kaguya hated betrayal. Normally, fiveness wouldn't even be an optio here was Kaguya, giving her a ce.

  This punishment, dealing with the absurdly rge meat, was not harsh at all pared to what could have happened.

  Years of uanding Kaguya allowed Hayasaka to see this clearly: Kaguya was her a lifeline.

  Though overwhelmed by guilt, she immediately bowed.

  "I uand, Miss Kaguya."

  "Hmph. Good."

  Kaguya couldn't stand the pitiful look on Hayasaka's fay longer ahe room with a huff.

  Left aloh the massive sb of meat, Hayasaka took a deep breath.

  "Fiveness… Miss Kaguya actually chose tive me."

  Tears welled up in her eyes as emotions overwhelmed her.

  "I thought… I thought she would hate me. I thought I'd be driven away…"

  Her owrayal disgusted her, yet even so, Kaguya had let her off.

  Perhaps… Kaguya felt the same pain she did.

  Wipiears, she looked up with renewed determination.

  "Miss Kaguya, thank you for your fiveness."

  "This time, I have a choice. I won't make the same mistake again."

  Taking another deep breath, she turned her attention back to the colossal pieeat.

  "Well, let's get started."

  ---

  While Kaguya and Hayasaka were repairing their bond, the Shinomiya family as a whole was being crushed under unpreted pressure.

  As the current ag head of the Shinomiya family, Shinomiya Oko was utterly bewildered.

  "What's going on?"

  "Why are we suddenly receiving so many warnings from both the political and business worlds?"

  One particur message left his scalp tingling.

  [As a businessman, Shinomiya should focus solely on business and refrain from meddling in politics.]

  The implications were chilling.

  In the world of politics, where power often exceeded the bounds of trol, this was a severe warning.

  In business circles, things were er.

  Allies who had previously worked harmoniously with the Shinomiya family now turheir backs, issuing veiled accusations of greed:

  [Shinomiya always wants it all, both sides of the pie.]

  The Shinomiya family's tradition of exploiting their allies had finally backfired. While their methods had been tolerated due to their immense power, today was different.

  Today, no one cared about being reasonable.

  Allies were now enemies, collectively pushing the Shinomiya family into a er.

  Oko tried to leverage the leverage he had over these allies, but the responses were shog.

  [Shinomiya Oko, if you want to expose those secrets of mine, go ahead. Let's see who falls harder in the end.]

  The defiance left him at a loss.

  Things quickly escated.

  Official sans began rolling in. Hotels and shoppiers uhe Shinomiya name were ordered to shut down for "safety viotions."

  Their prized real estate ventures faced gover sans, shipbuilding tracts were abruptly terminated, and orders for railways, mining, and oil projects were suspended.

  Every industry the Shinomiya family touched was being crushed simultaneously.

  Even procurement els were severed, with suppliers choosing to pay penalties rather than tinue w with them.

  This was no longer just a financial issue, this was survival.

  For Oko, who had never faced such opposition in his forty years of life, this was a nightmare.

  "Who wants to destroy the Shinomiya family?"

  His voice trembled with desperation.

  The full-scale boycott by both political and business circles was rapidly dismantling the Shinomiya family's empire.

  Forced to seek answers, Oko visited his father, Shinomiya Gan'an, in the hospital.

  "Father, who has the power to do this to us?"

  Hearing his son's plea, Gan'an immediately khe answer.

  "It's Mikado Sanzenin."

  "…Mikado Sanzenin?"

  Oko's face paled instantly.

  Less than half a day ago, the eldest daughter of the Sanzenin family and the eldest daughter of the Saginomiya family had met with Kaguya.

  Now, the Shinomiya family was being crushed.

  It didn't take a genius to ect the dots.

  Recalling Mikado Sanzenin's infamous ruthlessness, Gan'a a chill down his spine.

  "That old man… Don't be fooled by his gentle appearanow. In his youth, he was utterly merciless."

  "Only Mikado Sanzenin has the power to destroy the Shinomiya family so thhly."

  Gan'an looked at his son.

  "Oko, what did you do to offend Mikado Sanzenin?"

  "…"

  Oko eechless.

  What could he say?

  He didn't even dare think about offending the eldest daughter of the Sanzenin family, let alone Mikado Sanzenin.