"That's because you're too weak, boy."
Hearing him, Momousagi smiled.
"I've been standing up here for ages. If you knew even a little Observation Haki, you wouldn't have failed to notice me."
Noah gave an "uh" and felt that she had a point.
It was just that Zephyr had not begun teaching Observation Haki yet. For a boy who had been in the Elite Training Camp for less than a year, expecting him to teach himself and master it seemed like asking a bit too much, didn't it?
"Commodore." Noah wisely brought the conversation back on track. "Where did Mr. Kuzan and the instructors go?"
Momousagi pointed toward the lone peak in the northern part of the island.
"There. Catching a cold breeze on the mountaintop."
Noah looked up at the mountain and realized that from its summit, one could take in the entire town to the south at a glance. It was an ideal location for monitoring and observing the Elite Training Camp recruits in battle.
He immediately understood and stopped asking about it, instead asking,
"I didn't get back too late, did I? How long has the assessment been underway?"
"It started around nine o'clock the night before last. It's been about thirty hours now."
Leaning against the railing, Momousagi lazily stretched, her graceful figure fully displayed beneath the moonlight.
"So, boy, you only have a dozen or so hours left. If you don't hurry up, you'll probably end up at the bottom this time..."
Only a dozen or so hours left?
A sense of urgency rose in Noah's heart. Though spending time alone with Momousagi beneath the moon was pleasant, business came first. He did not dare linger any longer.
"Here's your sword."
He took out Kompira and handed it to Momousagi above him. "I'll be going now. You can stay here and keep enjoying the sea breeze. Remember to contact Mr. Kuzan and file a report for me. See you."
"Hm?" Momousagi seemed slightly surprised. "You're returning it already? I was planning to lend it to you for the practical assessment."
"I've got my own now."
Noah smiled and pointed at the two swords at his waist. "Here. When I was buying strawberries for Major General Shizi, the fruit stall owner saw that I was buying a ton and that I was handsome, so he specially gave them to me."
"You're spouting nonsense again."
Momousagi could not be bothered with him anymore. She waved a hand irritably. "There are fewer and fewer truthful words coming out of your mouth. Fine, get going before I get angry and kick you into the sea."
"Ha, nonsense? That part was indeed a little fake, but Commodore, there was still some truth in it, right?"
"What?" Momousagi looked at him suspiciously. "That you bought strawberries for Major General Shizi?"
"No, the second-to-last sentence."
"..."
After a long silence, Momousagi expressionlessly raised her right leg. Under the moonlight, the momentum of Rankyaku gradually gathered.
The invincible Lord Noah sensed danger and, with a single stride, leaped off the warship and fled wildly into the night once more.
More than ten minutes later.
Upon entering the town, Noah slowed his pace, his right hand gripping the hilt of his sword as he walked through the streets and silently observed both sides.
Along the way, he saw plenty of signs of fierce fighting. Ruined walls and collapsed buildings were everywhere, and now and then he could spot one or two pirate corpses that had long since gone still.
"No townspeople in sight..."
He looked at the empty houses thoughtfully. "Were they evacuated in advance, or did they all find places to hide when the fighting started..."
As long as they had not been slaughtered by the pirates, that was a good thing.
Otherwise, even if Marines like them were as careful as possible while fighting the pirates, the aftershocks of battle would inevitably harm innocent people.
After walking another two streets, Noah still had not seen a single living person. Even the sounds of fighting and killing he had heard at the harbor seemed to have suddenly vanished.
The surroundings were deathly quiet, leaving him unable to pinpoint their location by sound and quickly close in.
"Could someone give me some directions or something..."
He was so bored that he scratched at his hair. Fortunately, it was thick enough that he did not have to worry about going bald no matter how much he tugged it. "I can't be that unlucky, can I? Did all those pirate officers happen to get taken care of right when I arrived?"
According to what Aokiji had said earlier, only a little over five hundred pirates from the Capone Pirates were stationed on this island, with just over a dozen officers. The highest bounty among them was only a little over twenty million.
Enemies of that scale could certainly force the Marine Headquarters Elite Training Camp recruits into a hard battle, but that was all.
As long as his fellow recruits performed normally and made no mistakes, they would hold the upper hand from beginning to end, and there would be no suspense regarding the final outcome.
But did it have to end so quickly?
He had rushed back from so far away to feast on meat and gnaw on bones. How was it that he now seemed unlikely to get even a mouthful of hot soup?
As he reached another intersection, Noah suddenly caught sight from the corner of his eye of a building to the northwest blazing with fire. His eyes lit up, and he hurried toward it.
Yet after only a few steps, he ran head-on into three broad, burly figures at the corner of the street. Unable to dodge in time, he crashed heavily into the one in the middle.
Thud!
The man instantly flew backward like a kite with its string cut, screaming as he smashed through a glass display window by the street and crashed into the shop.
The other two men, one to the left and one to the right, stared at their companion who had been sent flying for two or three whole seconds before recovering and turning in unison toward Noah.
Damn, what a handsome kid. His looks were outrageously good. Why the hell couldn't I have been born that handsome?
That was the first thought that flashed through both brawny men's minds.
But when their gazes dropped and they made out Noah's white Marine uniform in the dim moonlight, their eyes instantly sharpened.
The burly man on the right even let out a savage laugh. Barely concealing the wild delight on his face, he drew his blade with a swish.
"A Marine?"
"I thought you were townspeople, but seeing that reaction puts my mind at ease." Noah drew his sword as well, looking even more delighted than they were. "Pirates from the Capone Pirates?"
"Obviously!"
The one who spoke was the man Noah had sent flying. He sprang up from the ground littered with glass shards, staring at Noah like prey as he grinned strangely and approached step by step.
"Ha, we've searched all this time without finding anything, and now we run into one here! Hey, Dia, Passat, looks like our luck isn't too bad after all!"
"That it isn't." The burly man on the left clenched a cigarette between his teeth and exhaled a plume of smoke with a dark chuckle. "Tell us, kid, where are the rest of your companions hiding? Give us a few names, and maybe we'll consider letting you keep..."
Swish!
Before he could finish speaking, he heard a sharp rush of wind beside his ear. At some point, cold swordlight had suddenly flashed before his eyes.
The next instant.
Under the moonlight, amid blood spraying across the wall, a head flew high into the air. After spinning several times, it rolled to the ground, revealing a face filled with terror.
A cigarette still hung from the corner of his mouth, unextinguished and continuing to curl smoke into the air.
But he was destined never to take another puff from the remaining half of it. It could only be left to the sea breeze blowing through the night.
Thanks to Goulegeidai for the 5,000-coin donation, and to Mr. Yue for the donation and support. A humble request for votes.
PS: I'm sleepy and exhausted. Not sure whether I can write a second update...
Before you continue