Trader In The World Of Pirates!!!

"No….stop..." 

"STOP!!!!" 

A hysterical roar, erupting from the depths of Kaneki's soul, pierced through the darkness, reverberating like a shockwave in the oppressive silence. 

The very next moment, the world was consumed by an eruption of boundless blood, painting the air with an eerie, crimson hue. 

---

"Huh?" 

Nishio froze, his instincts screaming that something was amiss. His eyes darted toward Kaneki, who now stood shrouded in a terrifying aura. 

The scene before him was otherworldly—a monstrous figure with a massive, scarlet tail looming over him, its presence suffocating. 

---

"What—?!" 

Before Nishio could fully comprehend what was happening, searing pain ripped through him. 

Kaneki, having awakened from the abyss of despair, now moved with speed and strength beyond human comprehension. 

In the blink of an eye, the scarlet tentacles emerging from Kaneki's back pierced through Nishio's body like jagged spears. 

---

"This..." 

"How... how is this possible?!" 

Nishio's eyes widened in sheer terror as he stared down at the gaping wounds in his chest, blood cascading freely. 

But the onslaught wasn't over. 

The tentacles writhed and coiled with ferocious intent, hoisting Nishio into the air as though he weighed nothing.

In an instant, the scarlet kagune enveloped Nishio entirely, forming a nightmarish web of destruction that left no room for escape. 

Then came the storm—a relentless barrage of attacks raining down on him, each blow more feral than the last. 

There was no mercy. 

No reprieve. 

The raw, unbridled savagery of a ghoul consumed Kaneki in this moment.

Within ten seconds, the once-proud Nishio was reduced to a mangled, bloodied heap, plummeting to the cold, unyielding concrete below. 

He lay in a grotesque pool of his own blood, his body battered and broken. 

Had he not recently fed on human flesh, replenishing his strength, survival would have been impossible.

The balance of power had shifted in an instant. 

Nishio, who had exuded arrogance and dominance mere moments ago, now lay pitifully defeated—a humiliating fall from grace. 

It was a cruel twist of fate, almost like a dark comedy playing out on a bloodstained stage. 

Kaneki now stood like a demon unbound, his left eye blazing with crimson rage. 

The monstrous tendrils behind him unfurled slowly, like living creatures, ready to strike again. 

Yet, Kaneki's steps didn't lead him toward the broken form of Nishio. 

Instead, his eyes turned to his unconscious best friend, Hideyoshi.

"So... hungry... so hungry..." 

The unleashed kagune had fully awakened the ghoul within Kaneki. 

His face twisted into a grotesque snarl, saliva dripping uncontrollably from the corners of his mouth. Every fiber of his being screamed with insatiable hunger.

In Kaneki's vision, the world had turned to a surreal dusk—a haunting, dreamlike moment, perfect for the hunt. 

And then, she appeared. 

The ghostly image of Rize Kamishiro—the ghoul whose organs now resided in Kaneki's body—materialized before him, her ethereal form hauntingly beautiful. 

She moved with the grace of a siren, her crimson eyes glowing as she drifted toward Hideyoshi.

Like a phantom, Rize reached out, her slender fingers brushing against Hideyoshi's face. 

"Hmm... he looks delicious..." 

"Such a treat... it makes your mouth water, doesn't it?" 

Her voice was like honey, sweet and intoxicating, dripping with temptation as it echoed in Kaneki's mind. 

Her words seduced, prodding him to cross the ultimate line—to shatter the taboo that tethered him to humanity. 

"No... no..." 

Kaneki's trembling voice broke the silence. 

"Hide... Hide is not food!" 

He clutched his head as if trying to suppress the monstrous urges clawing at his soul. His resistance, though desperate, wavered against the overwhelming force of hunger and Rize's insidious whispers. 

Kaneki's footsteps moved forward with unwavering purpose, inching closer to Hideyoshi's unconscious body. 

Scarlet veins of light glowed ominously, stretching from his abdomen and crawling across his entire form, casting a ghastly glow.

"Hehehe..." 

Rize's hauntingly sweet voice echoed once again. 

Whether it was a hallucination or a fragment of his fractured consciousness, her spectral figure reappeared, turning her gaze toward Kaneki with an air of teasing mockery. 

"Do you truly believe that?" 

Her ethereal voice was laced with dark amusement as she continued, her slender fingers gesturing toward Hideyoshi. 

"Look closely... That's not a person lying there. Doesn't it smell divine? Isn't it... delicious food?" 

Kaneki's body trembled violently, as though paralyzed by an unseen force. His mind screamed in protest, but his legs refused to obey. 

"You... you're right," he murmured weakly, his voice devoid of strength. 

The moment those words left his lips, a twisted smile crept across his face.

Kaneki's expression contorted into something monstrous—his breath came in sharp, erratic gasps, and his single ghoul eye glowed fiercely with madness. 

"You're right..." 

"It does look... delicious."

Under Rize's insidious influence, Kaneki's steps quickened, his ghoul instincts overtaking his fragile humanity. 

He inched closer to becoming a true ghoul—a predator driven solely by hunger.

Plop! 

Abruptly, Kaneki collapsed to his knees before Hideyoshi, his fanged mouth opening wide in anticipation. 

His trembling hands reached out, halting midair as though clinging to some faint shred of humanity. 

But this struggle was fleeting.

If it had been any other moment, Kaneki might have suppressed the monstrous ghoul factor within him. 

But after enduring Nishio's brutal assault, the fragile human side of Kaneki had been pushed to its limits. 

His mind, body, and very soul were now puppets to the ravenous ghoul instincts consuming him.

At last, the hunger won. 

Kaneki's trembling ceased, his body eerily calm. Greed darkened his features as he gazed at Hideyoshi's unconscious body, admiring it as though it were the finest delicacy. 

His hands, now steady, reached toward his best friend.

Meanwhile, on the overpass above... 

A figure with flowing purple hair watched Kaneki with an intense gaze, her eyes betraying a mixture of concern and resolve. 

Touka whispered to herself, the words barely audible: 

"It's almost time."

As the scene unfolded, Touka leapt forward, her movements precise and deliberate. 

She had followed Kaneki and the others from a distance, witnessing everything—from Nishio's violent attack to Kaneki's terrifying transformation. 

To be honest, what she saw shocked her. 

Kaneki's actions were raw, unfiltered savagery. 

She understood all too well what was happening—Kaneki had descended into the abyss of flesh, blood, and insatiable hunger.

This state was hell for any ghoul. 

A starving ghoul would lose all sense of reason, attacking and consuming even their loved ones without hesitation. 

Only after their hunger was sated would they regain clarity—though often, that clarity brought crushing guilt and despair.

There were only two outcomes for ghouls in this state: 

One, they became mindless slaves to their hunger, killing endlessly. 

Two, they succumbed to remorse and ended their own lives. 

Neither fate was one Touka wanted for Kaneki.

So she made up her mind: she would knock him unconscious and forcibly end his hunger. 

But just as Touka prepared to act, a chilling voice froze her in her tracks. 

"Little girl, now is not the time for you to interfere."

CRACKLE! 

A flash of electric blue lightning split the air before Touka's eyes, stopping her dead in her tracks. 

The next moment, Touka's eyes widened in astonishment. 

In front of her, the radiant lightning coalesced into a humanoid figure. Before her gaze, it transformed into a tall man wearing a casual sweatshirt. 

With a simple gesture, the tall man extended his hand. 

In an instant, Touka's body lifted off the ground, floating mid-air as though suspended by an unseen force. 

The scene before her was bizarre—so surreal that her mind struggled to comprehend it.

"You... who are you!?" 

The words spilled from her lips instinctively. 

Touka, a seasoned ghoul with a formidable reputation even in Tokyo's underground, had seen much in her life. Her experiences had broadened her perspective. 

But this? 

This level of power—effortlessly controlling her with a flick of the hand—was entirely beyond her understanding. 

The sheer abnormality of it sent a chill down her spine.

Despite her fear, the man showed no sign of hostility or madness. His calm demeanor was almost unsettling. 

He glanced at her indifferently and answered in a measured tone:

"My name is Enel." 

"As for my identity... I'll explain that later."

The explanation was brief, yet the implications were profound. 

This mysterious power—the dazzling lightning and godlike control—was not of this world. It belonged to an extraterrestrial being, a visitor from beyond dimensions: Enel, a merchant of worlds.

Enel had been observing Kaneki for some time, and as a result, he was well-acquainted with Touka's existence. 

Yet, despite knowing her story, Enel felt an instinctive revulsion for beings like her—creatures who survived by consuming human flesh. 

His experiences in the Demon Slayer world had left a lasting impression. There, he had encountered beings like Nezuko Kamado and Tamayo—entities who resisted their primal urges and upheld a boundary of morality. 

But the girl before him, Touka, was different.

Touka was a ghoul who had partaken in human flesh and blood to survive. 

Even if she hadn't killed her prey herself… 

Even if she struggled to live with the heart of a human… 

The fact remained: she had crossed a line, a line that Enel believed should never be breached.

Boundaries existed for a reason. 

They were meant to be upheld, not broken. 

This conviction caused Enel's view of ghouls like Touka to plummet to an all-time low.

Unlike the world of Demon Slayer, where he had seen sparks of humanity and redemption in demons, this world was devoid of such hope. 

Even Kaneki—the one in whom Enel had placed the greatest expectations—along with seemingly benevolent figures like the kind café manager and Touka, could not change his perception of ghouls. 

To him, they were creatures of instinct and appetite, lacking any true potential for redemption. 

As a dimensional merchant, Enel knew he wasn't supposed to meddle in the affairs of the worlds he visited. 

But the more he learned about this realm—about the ghouls and the horrors they represented—the more he was tempted to intervene.

On multiple occasions, he had entertained the thought of using his divine lightning to purge the ghouls and their corrupted existence entirely. 

This world, after all, was insignificant in the grand scale of dimensions—a small realm barely earning a D-level rating. Even if he obliterated every ghoul in it, the Transdimensional Chamber of Commerce wouldn't care enough to penalize him. 

For now, however, Enel's focus remained on Kaneki. 

Kaneki was the sole thread of hope left for this world and its inhabitants. 

Enel wanted to see if Kaneki—someone who, in his eyes, possessed a strong will—could rise above the ghoul's primal hunger and overpower the biological instincts that threatened to consume him. 

If Kaneki could achieve this... 

If he could resist his ghoul nature… 

Enel might reconsider his stance.

He would grant creatures like Touka a chance—a single opportunity to redeem themselves and rewrite their fate. 

But for now, Enel watched, his eyes cold and calculating, waiting to see if Kaneki could shoulder the weight of this world's hopes. 

  ...

  ...

Touka, suspended in mid-air and powerless, never imagined that the weak half-ghoul she had always looked down upon would come to bear the fate of their entire race.

Below her, Kaneki could no longer resist the allure of blood. 

The tentacle-like kagune behind him flared suddenly, spreading outward like a peacock displaying its tail feathers. Touka's breath hitched—she recognized this behavior immediately. 

It was a feeding ritual, practiced by certain ghouls. To avoid being seen consuming human flesh, they would wrap themselves in their kagune while eating. She had the same habit. 

The grotesque transformation unfolding before her eyes seized her attention. Kaneki's metamorphosis filled her with dread. Her eyes widened, trembling with internal conflict. 

"No! This can't happen! Absolutely not!" 

She screamed with all her might. 

Her carefully devised plans were unraveling, undone by the mysterious control of an unknown power. Having endured the unbearable hunger that plagued ghouls, she knew all too well the devastation Kaneki would face. 

Especially now... 

The person standing before Kaneki was none other than his closest friend. 

Though she had only known Kaneki for a short while, she could foresee the unspeakable despair he would endure upon realizing he had devoured someone dear to him. 

"No! I won't let this happen! I won't allow such a tragedy to occur!" 

With a sharp exhale, crimson wings erupted from Touka's back. Her ukaku kagune—a specialized ghoul weapon known for high-speed movement and long-range attacks—spread out menacingly. 

In that instant, her resolve solidified. 

Even at the cost of her life, she would confront the enigmatic Enel. Her goal wasn't to harm him, only to create a momentary opening—one chance to save Kaneki. 

Yet her desperate gamble was doomed from the start. 

Even if Enel's control over her body could somehow be broken, what came next was unimaginable. 

When the red ukaku pierced Enel's form, a miraculous sight unfolded. 

A flash of lightning. 

Touka's most formidable power dissipated as though it were nothing, absorbed effortlessly by Enel's body. The only effect was a faint tingling numbness in her being. 

Meanwhile, Kaneki had already grasped Hideyoshi's arm, bringing it dangerously close to his mouth. 

Enel didn't waste words on Touka. His gaze, calm yet commanding, warned her to stay still. Then he turned his attention back to Kaneki. 

What happened next stunned everyone present. 

As Kaneki inhaled the familiar scent of Hideyoshi's humanity, the kagune tentacles behind him swayed with an almost euphoric energy. But just as he was about to take a bite, every movement ceased. 

The tentacles twisted inward suddenly, their sharp points aimed at Kaneki's own chest. Without hesitation, he plunged them into himself. 

'Thud!' 

A horrifying spray of blood burst forth as Kaneki screamed in agony. His voice, once timid and soft, now rang out in anguish: 

"AHHHH!! I... I'm human!" 

Hideyoshi's arm slipped from his trembling hand as his other clasped over his left eye. 

It was a grotesque and harrowing sight, yet Kaneki's face bore an expression of peace. 

"I am..." he whispered weakly, "…Kaneki Ken…a human." 

With unsteady hands, he clawed at his own eye, trying to remove the source of his transformation. 

At that moment, a bolt of lightning flashed before him. 

From the electric blaze emerged a broad, steady hand. It clasped Kaneki's trembling palm, radiating warmth. 

"That's enough, young man," Enel said, his voice filled with admiration. 

For all his struggles, Kaneki had not entirely overcome the ghoul's insatiable hunger. 

But he had defeated himself. 

He had defied his instincts and, in doing so, defied the cruel world he had been thrust into. 

A boy who dared to pierce even his own flesh... 

Such a person would fear nothing in this world. 

Kaneki had passed the test. 

And, in doing so, he had unwittingly saved the ghoul race from the fate of extinction.