Kenshin and the others stared in stunned silence, their pupils constricting at the scene unfolding on the sand.
Without the slightest hesitation, the three boys dropped straight to their knees, bowing deeply toward the Demon Warder.
"Noble benefactors! We know this is selfish and insolent of us, but the three of us have a desperate favor to ask! Please, we beg of you—grant our request!"
"We beg you... please bring Miss Kaya back safe and sound!"
"Please!"
With that final cry, the three children pressed their foreheads firmly against the dirt in unison.
A gentle sea breeze swept across the coast, carrying the heavy silence with it. Whether it was Kenshin or Kuzan, every soul on that vessel felt deeply moved by the sight.
They were just young children.
Yet they had shown a courage and conviction that most grown adults could never muster.
"Piiman, Tamanegi, Ninjin..." Bell parted his lips, but the words caught in his throat.
In this moment, not a single person viewed them as mere boys—they were true, unyielding men!
Even Kuzan, having lived through decades of hardened worldly cynicism, was struck by the raw spirit of these three boys.
No one could have expected three children from a remote, forgotten village to perform such a staggering act of devotion.
The crew remained silent, their gazes naturally drifting toward Kenshin. With Drake away, Kenshin had naturally assumed command of the Dragon Flag Pirates.
They were waiting for his answer.
Kenshin's hand had already closed around the hilt of his blade, his frame trembling ever so slightly.
He drew a long, deep breath to settle his surging emotions, but the faint vibration traveling through his scabbard betrayed the storm within his heart.
After a long pause, Kenshin parted his lips, his voice ringing with absolute, unshakeable resolve:
"We... promise you!"
Before this, he hadn't overanalyzed their mission to stop Im; he had simply viewed it as an absolute necessity, the core objective laid out by Drake.
As such, the Dragon Flag Pirates would carry out their captain's command to the end.
Yet now, he finally understood the deeper conviction driving them forward. It was for these three children!
No—for these three men!
"Is everyone ready?!" Kenshin shouted, turning toward the rest of the crew.
"Ready!"
"Then we set sail!"
The Demon Warder's propulsion systems ignited in a concussive roar, throwing up a towering wall of white foam as the ship vanished from the shoreline in the blink of an eye.
All that remained was a fading speck on the horizon.
Up on the coastal cliff overlooking the bay, the figures of Brother Hu and his operatives materialized.
Watching the Demon Warder vanish in seconds, the Dark Clan members looked down at the three little members of the former Usopp Pirates, simultaneous smiles spreading across their faces.
"Xiao Kai, take a good look at them—those three are role models you should learn from," Brother Hu advised warmly from the side.
"Yeah..." Xiao Kai nodded heavily.
Out on the open sea, the Demon Warder tore a surging wake across the horizon. Standing on the foredeck, Kenshin and the others wore expressions of unprecedented solemnity.
The headwind whipped their hair into wild frenzies, yet it could not shake their iron focus in the slightest. Their eyes were locked onto the monstrous expanse of black mist blanketing the sky.
Though the mist appeared close, a vast distance still separated them. Its sheer scale had far outstripped anything seen during the Battle of the Holy Land.
It spanned nearly a third of the entire East Blue!
When they had first received the tactical report from the Dark Clan, they had found it hard to believe.
A third of the East Blue?!
Are you joking?!
Do you have any idea how vast this ocean actually is?!
Now they realized the intelligence was undeniably true.
The only reason Im had delayed her final assault was that she truly intended to obliterate the East Blue in a single, apocalyptic stroke.
The black canopy above was expanding visibly with every passing second.
At this rate, engulfing the entire East Blue was entirely within the realm of possibility. Only now did they truly comprehend why the "Heaven-Burying Dark Tempest" was hailed as the end of the world.
Wiping out the entire East Blue in one fell swoop—if she pulled off such a monstrosity, the heavens themselves would never forgive it!
Across the East Blue... how many kingdoms and innocent souls would be lost? The casualty count would be an astronomical figure beyond comprehension.
If that hour arrived, describing it as an apocalyptic extinction would be an understatement.
And right now, their sole objective was to stop this cataclysm.
"We cannot engage her in a battle of raw attrition—we have to outmaneuver her," Kenshin declared. "With our current strength, meeting Im in a direct clash is unrealistic. Based on my calculations, Drake should be arriving shortly."
"Our mission is to stall Im and prevent the Heaven-Burying Dark Tempest from detonating before Drake gets here!" Kenshin turned his gaze toward Ain. "Ain, your vitality hasn't fully recovered yet. Sit this clash out and remain safely inside the Demon Warder."
They harbored absolute confidence in the Demon Warder, born from their shared history with the vessel.
No matter what violent storms or world-ending attacks they had weathered, the Demon Warder had never sustained a single scratch.
And the reason they possessed the confidence to stall Im today was entirely because of the ship.
Before departing, Drake had entrusted Kenshin with their ultimate trump card.
This time, they had nothing to fear!
"Understood," Ain nodded. She had witnessed Im's terrifying might firsthand.
Let alone her currently depleted state, even at her absolute peak, without Drake anchoring the spatial perimeter, she wouldn't be able to achieve anything.
Aside from her Soul-Sealing Secret Art, none of her other offensive techniques could breach Im's defenses.
"Demon Warder! Ascend!"
The crew retreated inside the inner sanctum. In that very instant, the ship's hull underwent a rapid, mechanical reconfiguration: Combat Mode!
Indeed, the current Demon Warder was fully capable of engaging its Combat Mode even in Drake's absence—one of the most breathtaking rewards granted by the System in their prior mission.
Today marked its maiden deployment.
Piloted collectively by all five crew members, while its offensive output could not match Drake's direct synchronization, it provided an impenetrable fortress for their survival.
The ship's absolute defense was second to none.
Because the crew was handling the activation, the energy drain was significantly lower, allowing the ship's existing reserves to sustain the form comfortably.
Two hours later, the Demon Warder pierced directly into the swirling vortex of black mist dominating the heart of the East Blue. Fierce atmospheric turbulence slammed relentlessly against the hull, producing deep, metallic vibrations.
The multi-layered energy barrier wrapping the vessel blazed with brilliant azure luminescence, gleaming like a solitary star piercing through the dark void.
A radiant rainbow cut clean through the shadow, descending like a shooting star that brought new light and salvation to humanity.
"What is that?!"
Across the entire East Blue, countless eyes gazed skyward in utter disbelief as that piercing azure beam tore through the darkness.
It brought the dawn of a new hope.
East Blue, Foosha Village.
A crowd of patrons burst out of the village's solitary tavern, staring in shock at the towering pillar of light piercing the heavens.
Every single one of them had believed that the drinks they had just shared were their final toast before doom.
Earlier, Im's chilling voice had broadcast across the entire sea. They had learned that the entity looming above the dark clouds was the ultimate sovereign behind the Holy War.
A monster whom the pinnacle powerhouses of the world had failed to eradicate even in a united assault.
Now, she had descended upon the East Blue, declaring her intent to butcher every living soul.
At first, many had refused to believe it, yet moments ago, the expeditionary force dispatched by the New World Government had been utterly annihilated.
Including their newly appointed Marine Admiral, Fujitora.
They had believed there was no longer any power beneath the heavens that could turn the tide!
Yet now, a blazing azure light had pierced straight through the black mist, carrying the undeniable momentum to shatter the darkness—allowing them to witness the radiant glow of survival once more!
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