Reunion

And then, at that very moment.

A burst of commotion suddenly came from the mouth of the alley, growing louder and louder. The clash of blades mixed with the pirates' furious, startled roars.

"Someone's attacking from behind! Watch out, brothers!"

"Where did this little brat come from? You're asking for death!"

"Turn around! Kill this guy first, then go after those female Marines!"

What was going on?

The two short-haired girls, who had already been prepared to send out a distress signal, froze for a moment and instinctively turned toward the source of the disturbance.

At that moment, the clouds in the night sky happened to part.

Under the faint moonlight, they could vaguely make out a handsome black-haired youth amid the huge group of pirates. His expression was cold as he darted nimbly through the crowd.

Wherever he passed, blood sprayed and pirates screamed as figures continuously fell beneath his sword.

Just a few minutes later, the commotion gradually died down. The entrance to the alley had become completely empty, with dead or wounded pirates scattered across the ground.

The only one still standing was the black-haired youth.

"Whew, done..."

Noah let out a long breath. He glanced at a pirate nearby who was clutching the wound in his thigh and howling in pain, casually gave him another stab, and only then noticed the three figures in the distant alley.

They were somewhat far away, and the depths of the alley were dimly lit, so he could not clearly see their faces. But the white Marine uniforms were unmistakable. They had to be his comrades.

"Finally found my people."

Noah grinned happily, quickly sheathed his sword, and strode deeper into the alley.

Earlier, he had rushed all the way toward the building engulfed in flames, thinking he might find something there. But when he arrived, the place was already empty, and he found nothing.

Just as he was feeling frustrated, he turned around and saw a huge group of pirates charging through the nearby intersection.

The battle merits had practically been delivered to his doorstep. Only an idiot would pass them up.

With that mindset, he had followed them all the way and wiped out the entire group. He had not expected to save several comrades along the way either. That was an unexpected bonus.

As the distance closed, the faces of the three people opposite him gradually became clear.

Noah recognized the two short-haired girls standing in front at a glance. One was Monica, while the other seemed to be... Loran, was it?

He was not entirely sure. He knew Monica fairly well; he remembered that she had arrived at Marine Headquarters on the same day as him, and they had spoken quite a few times. As for Loran, his impression of her was rather vague.

But he vaguely remembered that these two girls had both been among the targets Momousagi had initially conquered while using his body.

In other words, like Shiya, they had secretly admired him as well... huh?

Noah abruptly stopped in his tracks.

Only then did his gaze pass through the gap between Loran and Monica, allowing him to finally see who stood behind them.

A beautiful blue-haired girl with waist-length hair stared coldly at him without expression.

"..."

Noah rubbed his brow with a headache.

At that moment, he genuinely wished he could turn back time by a dozen seconds, finish off those pirates, and leave immediately.

But now... he had practically walked right up to them. Turning around now would be impossible to explain.

"Noah!"

Fortunately, Monica took the initiative to speak then, breaking the awkward atmosphere. She rushed forward, her face full of undisguised delight. "Weren't you still on Gulu Island? How did you get here?"

"The moment I got my body back, I immediately set sail." Noah shrugged. "I was worried the trial might already be over during the journey, but it looks like I got lucky."

"We're the lucky ones. If you hadn't arrived in time, we would've been in serious trouble."

Monica stared at Noah's face, her eyes sparkling.

"There were twenty or thirty pirates, and several of them were officers with bounties worth several million Beli. Yet you took them all out so quickly. Hey, what happened to you? Since when did you become this strong?"

"There were officers among them?"

Noah was somewhat stunned. He rubbed the stubble on his chin and frowned in thought. "That can't be right. They all died in one strike. I didn't feel any difference at all..."

Monica and Loran clicked their tongues simultaneously, both wearing contemptuous expressions.

"Alright, enough about that."

Noah also felt that he had sounded a little too smug, so he gave a light cough and changed the subject.

"Let's talk business. What exactly is going on with this assessment? Why are all the pirates I saw on the way here acting so arrogant, while you guys are the ones at a disadvantage?"

This question had been bothering him the entire way.

Two hundred recruits from the Marine Headquarters Elite Training Camp were losing to over five hundred pirates from West Blue?

Did that make any sense?

"There's no helping it. There are simply too many of them."

Monica sighed. Seeing that Noah still looked confused, she explained:

"At first, we had been completely in control. Even split into small groups, the pirates on this island were no match for us. In less than a day, more than half had been killed or injured, while the rest could only hide in the alleys and barely cling to life."

"But starting today... oh, it's already dawn now. I should say starting after nightfall last night, a huge number of pirates suddenly appeared in town. Conservatively speaking, there are at least two thousand of them, with twenty or thirty officer-level fighters among them."

"If we were at full strength, we might barely be able to handle them. But after fighting continuously for an entire day and night, everyone's stamina has been heavily drained. We simply can't deal with that many enemies at once."

Monica spread her hands.

"So, just as you saw, under these circumstances, most people can only fight while retreating. Some who have completely exhausted themselves have already been forced to request assistance and have been ruled out."

"Two thousand pirates? That many?"

Noah could not help but freeze in surprise. "Didn't the information Mr. Kuzan announced say there were only a little over five hundred pirates on the island? Where did they all come from?"

"Who knows?"

Loran smiled bitterly from the side. "But Vice Admiral Kuzan and the others probably knew about it. Since they still haven't announced the end of the combat assessment, I suppose they want to see how long recruits like us can hold out in this unexpected situation."

"I see..."

Noah's eyes darkened in thought. After considering it for a moment, he asked, "What about the others? Did you run into anyone else on your way here?"

"No. This town isn't small, and everyone spread out widely from the beginning." Monica shook her head. "That's why, if you hadn't suddenly stepped in, the three of us wouldn't have been able to hold on any longer. We would've had no choice but to request assistance and leave the battlefield."

"You two would have."

A cold voice suddenly came from behind her. "I never intended to do that, and I don't need anyone else's rescue."

"Shiya!"

Monica shot her a reproachful look, then turned back to Noah with an apologetic expression and lowered her voice.

"Sorry, Noah. Shiya has always been rather aloof and doesn't like talking to outsiders. On top of that, she's consistently ranked near the top in these assessments, so she's always been a little proud and doesn't fit in well with others."

"But once you get to know her, you'll realize she's actually a good person. She definitely didn't mean anything by that, so please don't take it to heart."