Reunion

However, at this very moment.

A commotion suddenly erupted from the mouth of the alley, growing increasingly intense, punctuated by the sound of clashing blades and the furious, startled roars of pirates.

"Someone's ambushing us from behind, brothers, watch out!"

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

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

What was going on?

The two short-haired girls, who had already been preparing to signal for help, froze in place, subconsciously turning to look toward the source of the disturbance.

Just then, the dark clouds in the night sky parted.

By the faint moonlight, they could vaguely make out a handsome, black-haired youth among the large group of pirates, his expression cold and stern as he moved with agile, vigorous footwork, weaving through the crowd.

Wherever he passed, accompanied by splashing blood and the wails of pirates, figures continuously fell beneath his blade.

After only a few minutes, the commotion gradually died down, and the entire alley entrance became empty, with dead or wounded pirates scattered everywhere.

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

"Phew, done..."

Noah let out a long breath. He glanced at a pirate clutching a leg wound and wailing incessantly, finished him off with a casual strike, and only then noticed the three figures in the depths of the alley.

The distance was a bit far, and the light in the depths of the alley was dim, so he couldn't see their faces clearly, but the white Marine uniforms were conspicuous—they were definitely his colleagues.

"Finally found the organization."

Noah grinned happily, quickly sheathed his sword, and walked briskly toward the depths of the alley.

He had rushed all the way to that building engulfed in raging flames earlier, hoping to discover something, but upon arriving, he found the place deserted and came away empty-handed.

Just as he was feeling frustrated, he turned to see a large group of pirates charging past from a nearby street corner.

Military merit had been delivered right to his doorstep; he'd be a fool not to take it.

--Holding this mindset, he had followed closely behind and wiped out the entire group of pirates, never expecting to accidentally rescue a few colleagues as well, which could be considered a pleasant surprise.

As the distance closed, the appearances 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, and the other seemed to be... was it Loran?

He wasn't entirely sure. He was somewhat familiar with Monica, remembering that she had arrived at Marine Headquarters on the same day as him and they had spoken many times. As for Loran, his impression was a bit hazy.

But he vaguely remembered that these two girls seemed to be among the targets that Momousagi had initially "conquered" while using his body.

In other words, these two, just like Shiya, were both secretly admiring him... huh?

Noah's footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

At this moment, his gaze crossed the gap between Loran and Monica, and he finally saw who was behind them.

--The beautiful girl with blue hair reaching her waist was expressionless, staring at him coldly.

"..."

Noah rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

At this moment, he really wished he could turn back time by a dozen seconds and just slip away after dealing with those pirates.

But now... he had almost walked right up to them; it would be impossible to turn back now.

"Noah!"

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

"As soon as my body switched back, I set sail immediately," Noah shrugged. "I was worried the trial had already ended on the way here, but it looks like I was quite lucky."

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

Monica stared at Noah's face, her eyes shining brightly.

"There were twenty or thirty pirates, and among them were several officers with bounties of several million Beli. To think you took them all out so quickly—hey, what's up with you? When did you become so strong?"

"There were officers among them?"

Noah was slightly stunned, rubbing the stubble on his chin and frowning in thought. "That can't be right. They all died in one strike; I didn't feel anything at all..."

Monica and Loran both let out a "Tch" simultaneously, looking at him with disdain.

"Alright, let's not talk about that."

Noah also felt he was being a bit arrogant, so he coughed lightly and changed the subject.

"Let's talk about the real business. What is going on with this assessment? How come the pirates I've seen along the way have been so arrogant, while you were the ones on the losing end?"

This question had been bothering him the entire way.

Two hundred recruits from the Elite Training Camp couldn't beat five hundred pirates from the West Blue?

Does that even make sense?

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

Monica sighed, and seeing Noah still looking puzzled, she explained:

"We were completely in the upper hand before. Even when we split up into small groups, the pirates on this island were no match for us at all. In less than a day, more than half of them were killed or wounded, and the rest could only hide in the alleys, clinging to life."

"But starting from today... oh, it's past midnight now, so I should say starting from after dark last night, a large number of pirates suddenly appeared in the town. A conservative estimate would be two thousand, and there are at least twenty or thirty at the officer level."

"If we were at our peak, we might have been able to barely handle it, but after fighting for a day and a night, everyone's stamina is severely depleted. There's just no way to deal with such a large number of enemies at once."

Monica spread her hands:

"So, as you can see, under these circumstances, most people have no choice but to fight while retreating. Some who have completely exhausted their stamina have even been forced to request assistance and have been judged as eliminated."

"Two thousand pirates, that many?"

Noah couldn't help but be stunned, asking in surprise, "Didn't the intelligence released by Kuzan earlier say there were only about five hundred pirates on the island? Where did they pop out from?"

"Who knows."

Loran, standing to the side, gave a wry smile: "However, Vice Admiral Kuzan and the others must be aware of it. Since they haven't announced the suspension of the field assessment, they probably want to see just how long we recruits can hold out under these unexpected conditions."

"I see..."

Noah's eyes showed he was deep in thought. After a moment, he asked again: "What about the others? Did you run into anyone else on your way here?"

"No, this town isn't small, and everyone was quite spread out from the very beginning." Monica shook her head. "That's why, if it weren't for you suddenly stepping in, the three of us wouldn't have been able to keep going either. We would have had to choose to call for help and leave the battlefield."

"It's just you two."

A cold voice suddenly came from behind. "I never planned on doing that, nor do I need anyone else's rescue."

"Shiya!"

Monica gave her a reproachful look, then turned her head and whispered apologetically to Noah:

"Sorry, Noah. Shiya has always had a cold personality and doesn't like talking to outsiders. Plus, since she's always been ranked near the top in the assessments, she's a bit arrogant and doesn't fit in well."

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