Back at the camp, the rabbit had turned pretty quiet. The weight on his shoulders was crushing him, making it hard to even breathe.
He kept replaying that moment at the savage end-station—Little Sakura's attitude, and every word she'd said.
"Can we really fight the world?"
The white rabbit boy muttered the question to himself in a hoarse whisper, his eyes clouded with confusion.
When it came down to it, carrying the future of an entire kingdom was way too much for a kid who wasn't even thirteen.
He found a spot on a high shed roof and sat down, staring out over the settlement.
All kinds of people turned into animals were weaving between the stalls—some shopping, some selling. The stalls were stocked with nothing but scraps scavenged from garbage dumps.
There were probably a few thousand citizens still clinging to their sanity. Trapped in this dream, they couldn't die, but they still got hungry. They still felt pain.
They experienced everything a human should… except they were locked inside animal bodies.
"Mommy!"
A kid's voice rang out. Two little white squirrels scampered on all fours, throwing themselves excitedly at a squirrel walking upright.
The two babies chased and played around their mother. It should've been a heartwarming scene.
But to White Rabbit Helmud, it sent chills down his spine.
"Those kids were born right before the dream started, right? They must be forgetting what it even felt like to be human."
The old white cat, leaning on his cane, climbed onto the roof and slowly settled beside the rabbit.
"Yeah… you're right, Teacher."
The rabbit's eyes half-closed, tears welling up and glistening.
"Sigh… it's this old fool's fault. I promised your father I'd protect you and this country, and I've failed at both."
The white cat gripped his cane hard, trembling as he sat, then covered his mouth and coughed a couple times.
"It's not your fault, Teacher. It's… those people's fault!"
The rabbit hugged his knees, resting his rabbit head on them, those emerald eyes filled with sorrow.
"That pirate, Haruno Sakura—she's strong. You thinking about betting on her?"
Even on his aged face, the old cat's fighting spirit hadn't dimmed. The fire in his eyes still burned.
"She's a pirate, Teacher!"
The rabbit frowned, the implication clear: pirates can't be trusted.
"But she's freed slaves before. She's got that bold, larger-than-life vibe—she's no sneaky rat in the gutter!" the white cat sighed.
How could he not know pirates were untrustworthy? But their enemy was the World Government.
That left precious few allies. Pirates—natural enemies of the government—were about the only option.
Politics isn't a game of good friends and bad friends. It's the art of interests and compromise.
"Let me think about it some more, Teacher."
The rabbit let out a deep sigh, so soft it was barely audible.
Down below, a commotion caught their attention. Both pairs of eyes turned to the ground.
"Hey, mister, this hemostatic agent looks pretty good! How'd you whip up something like this with barely any resources?"
Sakura's eyes sparkled as she grabbed a white bear's paw and shook it excitedly.
"First off, I'm a lady. Second, this isn't a hemostatic—it's an anesthetic mixed from toxic stuff. The blood-stopping is just a side effect of the toxins making the muscles contract!"
The white bear—insulted twice in one breath—glared with red eyes and roared at Haruno Sakura.
"Whoops, my bad."
Scratching her head, Sakura bowed in apology.
Up on the roof, the rabbit stared at Sakura's goofy grin, took a deep breath, then leaped down and walked over.
"Hey, pirate!"
He tapped her shoulder from behind.
"What's up, kid?"
Her total lack of manners made a vein pop on the rabbit's forehead. "You're seriously rude, you know that?"
Sakura planted her hands on her hips, chin tilted up proudly. "Heh, mind your own business—we pirates do what we want."
The rabbit didn't reply. He just raised a paw and drew a circle on the ground beside them.
Once the lines connected into a perfect sealed ring, the ground inside slowly sank, forming a hole just big enough for one person to slip through.
"Follow me."
The rabbit tilted his head at Sakura, then dove into the rabbit hole he'd dug.
Curious, Sakura followed. The instant she entered, gravity flipped. The tunnel that should've dropped straight down now required her to climb upward.
"Huh, so this is your power?"
She trailed behind the rabbit, getting no answer for a while. Feeling mischievous, she reached out and pinched his tail.
"Gah! It's metal!"
Furious, the rabbit covered his butt. He really wanted to punch her, but the gap in their strength stopped him.
"I ate the superhuman-type Hole-Hole Fruit. I'm a Hole Human. I can dig tunnels through anything—even dreams!"
Afraid the pirate behind him would pull another stunt, the rabbit patiently explained.
"Whoa, that's awesome! So where are we headed?"
The farther they climbed, the more it felt like Sakura was passing through a thin membrane, like the coating around the Leviathan when it dove.
"Hmph. Didn't someone brag about taking on the world? I'm gonna show you just how terrifying those guys are. And remember—in the Colorless Realm, no talking!"
Worried Sakura might pull the same stunt she did when they landed on the island, the rabbit drilled the warning into her.
"Yeah, yeah, Mama Rabbit!"
Sakura's eyes turned playful; she puckered her lips and huffed.
"You little—"
The rabbit snapped his mouth shut mid-sentence.
Light started filtering in from the tunnel ahead. One more step out of the rabbit hole, and Sakura stood atop the massive wall at the island's center.
The whole island was pure white. Only the giant beasts prowling the forest made any noise when they hunted.
Looking down, Sakura saw the residence of the gods—or maybe the heavenly kingdom on earth?
In a world of blinding white, marble spires rippled with flowing light.
One magnificent cathedral after another lined the ground in perfect rows, every inch dripping with extravagant decoration that screamed solemn grandeur.
Around the hundreds of massive churches, unfinished buildings were still under construction. Some people even polished the bricks and foundations until they gleamed spotless.
This place is filthy.
Sakura narrowed her eyes, her Observation Haki spreading out. She saw the truth beneath the beauty.
Countless animals in tattered clothes, chains around their necks, eyes empty like puppets, hauled building materials back and forth. They scrubbed every speck of dust from the pristine white tiles, pouring their bodies and souls into preserving this flawless paradise.
When a small pure-white creature burned itself out and collapsed, a cloud of flame would drift from the central cathedral, wrap around it, carry it outside the city, pass through a pitch-black hole, and transform it into a massive beast to join the slaughter beyond the walls.
The malice that turned the citizens of Elshahe into puppets, and the colossal fighting force built from their fallen husks—it all formed the Celestial Dragons' iron rule over this island.
A dazzling, beautiful nation built on top of hell.
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