The next morning, Eli Winters woke to find Big Pan sitting silently on the deck, staring toward the distant island. His face was blank, his eyes hollow. No one spoke.
Eli sighed. Some wounds couldn't be healed with words. He simply turned to Dortai and gave a quiet order. The Silver Dragon began to glide toward the island through the morning mist.
As they neared, the villagers spotted the ship and rushed to the shore. Cries of joy and disbelief rose in waves
"We're saved! We're finally saved!"
But when Eli and his companions disembarked with Big Pan beside them, the lively dock fell into a deathly silence. Then, suddenly, panic erupted.
"He's back! The murderer's back! That monster Big Pan has returned!"
Terrified screams filled the air as villagers stumbled backward, eyes wide with horror. Some even fell to their knees, trembling uncontrollably.
Yet amid the chaos, a few men stopped running. Their jaws clenched, eyes red with rage. Without hesitation, they sprinted to their homes, grabbed weapons rusty spears, fishing knives, anything they could find and hurried back. Their hands shook, knuckles white, but still they stood their ground, blocking the path with all the courage they could muster.
Eli could feel it the turmoil inside Big Pan's heart. It was like standing before a volcano moments before eruption, grief and guilt boiling beneath the surface. His spirit was a withered leaf in a storm, clinging to life by the thinnest thread.
"Everyone, listen to me," Eli said firmly. "You have nothing to fear. Big Pan was under a curse, controlled by another. He's free now. He won't hurt anyone again."
"You're with him, aren't you?" someone shouted.
"No," Eli answered calmly. "I defeated him and brought him here."
"Then kill him!" a villager yelled, voice cracking with emotion. "He murdered my uncle's whole family seven people!"
"And my cousin's family too! My little niece was only three years old!" another wailed.
Soon the crowd was screaming for blood. Their grief had become a storm of fury.
"Everyone, please just listen!" Eli raised his voice, but it was useless. The villagers were already stepping forward, weapons trembling in their hands.
Eli frowned. They were about to act as if he weren't even there. He took a slow breath, ready to release a bit of his aura enough to remind them who they were dealing with.
Then, a voice rang out from the crowd.
"Wait! Stop! This man isn't a villain he saved my family last night!"
Heads turned. A man stumbled forward, breathless, covered in sweat. Eli recognized him immediately it was the fisherman whose child he'd rescued the night before.
"Zhang! You're alive?" someone gasped.
"Yes! Thanks to him!" the man said, pointing at Eli.
The crowd faltered. Many of them had heard the commotion at that man's house last night but had been too afraid to help. They'd assumed the whole family was dead. Now, seeing him alive, they hesitated.
Eli waited until the noise subsided, then spoke again this time, his voice low but powerful.
"Killing him won't change anything. The one truly responsible is still out there the creature that controlled him. If you kill Big Pan now, you'll only make it harder to end this once and for all. Let me destroy the source. Only then can your island truly be safe."
The villagers looked at one another. Finally, an old man stepped forward, his face lined with years of hardship.
"Can you really kill that thing?"
Eli nodded once.
The old man dropped to his knees. "If you can end this nightmare, we'll be in your debt forever."
Eli helped him back up. "No need for that. I'll take care of it."
He turned to Big Pan. "Show me where it is."
They followed the path through the forest until they reached a cave a dark, damp place that reeked of decay.
The moment they entered, a foul stench filled the air. Bats hung in clusters from the ceiling, and when the intruders' footsteps echoed, the creatures shrieked and scattered, their wings stirring the heavy air.
Felina and the others flinched back in fear, but Big Pan charged ahead, his voice echoing through the tunnel.
"Demon! Today, I'll end you myself!"
They rushed after him. Suddenly, a shadow swooped from above a bat the size of a wolf, its eyes glowing an eerie crimson. Waves of dark energy pulsed through the air.
Big Pan froze mid-step, his face twisting. His pupils dilated, and he turned on his companions with a roar.
"Wake up!" Eli shouted, his voice reverberating like a clap of thunder. The energy shattered instantly.
The giant bat screeched, its eyes blazing. Eli met its gaze and felt a brief, sharp pain stab through his head but he steadied himself and smiled coldly.
"So, you ate a Devil Fruit," he murmured. "But your brain's too small to use it properly."
He raised a hand. Space rippled, and the bat froze in midair, pinned like an insect under glass.
Big Pan gaped. "Boss, this thing's so weak what even is it?"
Eli replied, "It must've eaten some kind of Illusion-type Devil Fruit. But because it's just a bat low intelligence, tiny brain it could only use a fraction of the power. You were unlucky to fall under its control."
"So what now? Do we kill it?" Big Pan asked.
Eli looked at him, then at the trembling creature. Slowly, he handed Big Pan a knife. "You decide."
Big Pan's eyes darkened with vengeance. With a guttural roar, he lunged at the immobilized bat and slashed wildly until nothing remained but a pile of shredded flesh.
Eli reached out his hand, and as the body fell apart, a Devil Fruit materialized its strange pattern swirling with a faint glow.
"Big Pan!" Felina cried suddenly.
Everyone turned. Big Pan had driven the same knife into his own chest.
For a moment, Eli said nothing. He could have stopped him but he didn't. Some men were already dead inside long before their hearts stopped beating.
He sighed quietly and sealed Big Pan's body in a storage space. "Let's take him home," he said softly.
Before leaving, Eli searched the cave thoroughly. Something still felt off. The bat alone couldn't have made Big Pan that powerful. Then, in a shadowed corner, he found it a small tree bearing three dark red fruits.
"So that's it," Eli murmured. "He must've eaten one of these."
He collected the tree, as well as the remains of the villagers who had perished here. The bones were mixed beyond recognition, their clothes long decayed. One by one, he stored them away to return to their families.
When they returned to the island with the bodies and Big Pan's corpse, the people wept openly. Tears streamed down faces hardened by grief and fear. For a month, they had lived under terror, waiting for death at any moment.
Now, that nightmare was over. The weight of despair lifted, replaced by sorrow too deep for words.
Eli laid the remains gently before them. Many searched desperately among the bones for traces of loved ones, but there was no telling who was who.
When they learned that Big Pan had taken his own life, their expressions turned complicated. He had killed many of their kin but he had also been a victim himself.
Eventually, one by one, they chose forgiveness. "The dead should rest," someone whispered.
The villagers gathered to bury the remains properly, crafting wooden markers for the nameless. For Big Pan, they raised a small stone, unmarked but clean.
Eli didn't stay for the ceremony. He accepted their gratitude with a nod, then turned back toward the ship.
Felina glanced at him. "Are we leaving already?"
"Yeah," Eli said quietly, glancing at the horizon. "There's nothing left for him here."
And as the Silver Dragon sailed away, the cries of mourning faded into the sea breeze soft, mournful, but finally at peace.
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