Join Forces and Strike Back!

Under the moonlight, Noah's expression turned a little strange after hearing that.

Cold toward others? Arrogant by nature?

Monica had no reason to deceive him, so was this what Shiya was really like in everyday life?

But that night...

Just as confusion rose in Noah's heart, he suddenly saw Shiya standing behind the two short-haired girls, staring straight at him with eyes as clear as a lake.

When she saw him looking over, the blue-haired girl not only failed to avert her gaze, but playfully blinked and silently formed a heart shape in front of her chest with her slender hands.

Damn!

Noah jolted inwardly.

Sure enough, it had all been an act. His original judgment hadn't been wrong at all—this girl was a genuine stalker!

No normal person would take a telescope to the dormitory rooftop and spy on him for an entire year!

He swallowed and instinctively stepped half a pace back. Monica and Loran noticed his odd behavior and looked behind them in confusion, only to see everything was normal—

Shiya had already lowered her hands and resumed her cold, expressionless look.

"Why are you looking at me? Is there something on my face?"

"No, no..." Monica and Loran hurriedly shook their heads.

"..."

Noah watched it all unfold, dumbfounded.

There was no shortage in this world of people who showed completely different faces in public and private.

Colonel Bako, whom he had dealt with twice at the 329th Branch, was a prime example.

But someone who only showed that other face to him... that was truly his first time encountering one.

"Something's wrong over here! There are Marines!"

"Surround them!"

Just then, a mass of footsteps suddenly came from the alley on the other side. Everyone turned toward the sound, only to see a large group of pirates who had discovered their fallen comrades flooding into the alley with murderous momentum.

The crowd was dense, their numbers astonishing. A rough estimate put them at least two or three hundred strong.

"This is troublesome..." Monica's face went pale. "So many showed up all at once."

Shiya's expression darkened slightly as well, but she said nothing.

"Noah, what do we do?"

Loran turned to ask him, looking tense. "Our stamina is almost at its limit. With just you, there's no way..."

"Who said he was alone?"

Before Noah could speak, a familiar voice suddenly came from overhead. The group looked up in astonishment and discovered that two figures had appeared on the roof of the four-story building at some point.

Shiryu and Rosinante.

The two crouched on the ridge, each with a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. They looked somewhat tired, but their spirits were still decent, and there were no obvious injuries on them.

After glancing at the mass of pirates rushing over in the distance, the two jumped from the rooftop at the same time and landed in front of the group.

"Damn it, I thought you weren't gonna make it."

Shiryu punched Noah hard in the chest and laughed as he cursed.

"Never expected it. You bastard really are lucky, huh? You actually managed to catch up!"

"Haha, I've always thought I was pretty lucky too."

Finally seeing his friends, Noah couldn't help smiling. After embracing the two, he asked curiously, "Why were you on the roof? When did you get here? And..."

He looked strangely at Rosinante. "Hey, hey, hey, when did you start copying him and smoking too?"

Rosinante scratched his head sheepishly.

"We just got here. We chased those pirates all the way here and didn't expect to run into you."

Shiryu took out a lighter and, with a click, lit another cigarette. "I gave Rossi the cigarettes. He's been under a lot of pressure these past few days, and I could see him getting more and more tightly wound. Had to teach him how to relax."

"Want one?" He glanced at Noah, then thought for a moment before pulling out a thick cigar from somewhere. "A man can't go without this stuff. Relieves stress, keeps you alert."

"I don't need it."

Noah's eye twitched as he firmly refused. He disliked the smell of smoke and had never been able to stand it, either in his previous life or this one, much less cigars.

In fact, Shiryu had been scorned by him more than once for making him breathe secondhand smoke.

While the three of them leisurely exchanged pleasantries, the two short-haired girls beside them were left staring in disbelief.

"Hey, at least pay attention to the situation when you're chatting, you bastards!"

Monica was both anxious and angry, glaring fiercely at the men—except Noah, of course. Who could possibly get angry at a beautiful boy she had admired for so long? "The pirates are already closing in, and you're still standing here chatting?"

"Don't say that. This is part of the tactical discussion too," Shiryu said slowly, cigarette in his mouth.

"Oh? And the result? The encirclement has already closed. What can we do now?"

What could they do?

Shiryu exchanged a look with Noah, then glanced at Rosinante.

The next moment, all three grinned. The tacit understanding they had built over time made them draw their weapons and step forward together, shielding the three girls as they looked up at the pirates surging toward them.

"What else can we do?"

Noah turned his head and smiled, holding the Wind Sword horizontally in his left hand and Yone's Sword in a reverse grip in his right. One red, one white, both reflected a chilling gleam beneath the moonlight.

"Kill all these pirates, and won't that solve the problem?"

"...Huh?"

Moria's attention was completely drawn to Noah's profile.

By the time she came to her senses, she discovered in astonishment that the three had already charged toward the pirates together at incredible speed, leaving behind only blurred afterimages in the girls' vision.

Meanwhile, atop a mountain in the northern part of the island.

In the howling night wind, Aokiji stood quietly atop a massive boulder, his gaze constantly sweeping over the entire island below.

This was the highest point on the island, offering almost no blind spots in the town below.

Even in dark alleys obscured by buildings, he could roughly sense what was happening through his spread-out Observation Haki.

Several Marine soldiers were busy in the temporary communications command post behind him. Den Den Mushi calls from the various instructors rang out from time to time, relaying the latest detailed information about the trial.

"Mr. Kuzan."

A somewhat balding lieutenant from Marine Headquarters put down the Den Den Mushi he had just finished speaking into, hurried to Kuzan's side, saluted, and reported.

"Brigadier General Gion just sent word that Romanov Noah, the recruit who was previously absent, has arrived on the island and joined this live-combat assessment."

"That kid..."

Aokiji's gaze shifted toward a spot in town, and he suddenly smiled. "I saw him a few minutes ago. Oh, right. How many recruits are still holding out now?"

"There were 203 people in this assessment. Since last night, a total of 78 have been defeated and lost their qualification to remain in the field."

The balding lieutenant took out a record board and answered in a methodical tone. "Including recruits who requested rescue voluntarily for various reasons, fewer than eighty are still in the town now!"