Spirit

"You... you killed him..."

The woman, naked and covered in scars, stared in horror at the Celestial Dragon lying in a pool of blood. Watching the crimson fluid continue to spread, her voice trembled and her face turned deathly pale.

She felt as though everything before her was utterly unreal, like a waking dream.

"You... you killed a Celestial Dragon..."

She murmured the words over and over, reaching out to touch the blood flowing across the floor, feeling the warmth of it against her skin.

The corners of her mouth began to curl upward, bit by bit, into a smile.

"You killed him..."

The smile gradually twisted into madness.

"Hahahaha!!! You killed him!!"

"He's finally dead!!"

"Hahahaha..."

The woman laughed with wild abandon, though blood-red tears began to seep from her eyes.

"He's finally dead... sob..."

She choked on her words, eventually breaking down into uncontrollable sobs.

Darren watched the woman, who alternated between manic laughter and weeping, her expression twisted in madness, and his eyes lowered.

"You are free."

He said.

"Free?"

An indescribable bitterness surfaced on the woman's face. She turned slightly, allowing Darren to see her bare back clearly.

On her back, the blood-red brand of the Hoof of the Soaring Dragon was blindingly offensive.

"For me, where is there any freedom in this world?"

She lifted her head and smiled at Darren.

It was a smile of resignation, perhaps even relief.

"Thank you, Marine Captain."

She struggled to rise, then knelt on the floor and bowed her head sincerely toward Darren.

"I no longer have any reason to live. Everyone I cherished in this world has already died by his hands."

"Please, go and do what you must."

Darren looked at her deeply.

He saw a stubborn resolve to die in her eyes.

He did not know what she had endured, nor how long she had been tortured by Saint Childers.

But he had always lived by one principle.

Never judge another person's life if you have not personally experienced the pain they have suffered.

"I understand."

"Then, go in peace."

Having said this, Darren turned without hesitation and walked toward the exit of the cabin.

The woman remained on her knees, watching the Marine Captain's retreating figure, and reached up to wipe the tear tracks from her face.

Her eyes were no longer vacant, no longer numb.

A brilliant, warm smile slowly bloomed across her blood-stained face.

It was like a flower growing and blossoming with resilience on the edge of a sheer cliff.

"Thank you, truly thank you... Marine Captain."

"If I were to survive, it would only be an inconvenience for you, wouldn't it..."

She smiled, pressing her lips together.

Slowly, she picked up the golden pistol from the floor.

Bang! Bang!

Gritting her teeth, she fired two more shots into the corpse of the Celestial Dragon.

"Father, Mother, I'm coming to join you."

Her smile was as beautiful as a flower.

She pressed the muzzle against her own temple.

She had saved the final bullet for herself.

Bang!

A gunshot and the sound of a heavy body hitting the floor echoed from behind, but Darren did not pause his stride in the slightest.

He was no saint.

It was impossible to force someone who had resolved to die to find the courage to live on.

In the past, she had no choice.

But now, at the very least, she had the freedom to choose her own death.

Suppressing the emotions in his heart, Darren walked briskly toward the ship's hold where the slaves were imprisoned.

The locked hatch door was sent flying outward.

Without any obstruction, Darren stepped inside, one pace at a time.

A foul, damp stench rushed to meet him, and dim yellow oil lamps flickered in the murky air.

Lia, curled up in the corner of a cage, felt the commotion; a flash of panic crossed her small face, but when she saw it was Darren, the fear was quickly replaced by surprise.

Darren waved his hand.

The steel cage instantly collapsed, twisted, and then disintegrated, while the shackles on the little girl's body snapped and fell to the floor.

"Marine Brother!!"

As the gag that had sealed her mouth fell away, the little girl cried out through her tears, stumbling toward Darren and clutching tightly to his leg.

Darren ruffled her hair and smiled.

"Let's go, I'm taking you home."

Lia's eyes were red, and she nodded heavily.

And so, Darren took her hand and led her out of the hold.

However, When Lia stepped out onto the deck and saw the corpses strung together by steel, her small face turned deathly pale.

She instinctively looked back into the cabin.

That terrifying, ugly Celestial Dragon lay in a pool of blood.

Lia couldn't help but let go of Darren's hand, retreating two steps in terror.

Suddenly, she gritted her teeth and lunged toward a nearby mast!

Darren reached out, grabbed her by her clothes, and hoisted her up like a kitten.

"What are you doing?"

He frowned.

The little girl said through her sobs:

"I'm not supposed to survive, am I?"

"If I live, I'll only bring a lot of trouble to Marine Brother."

Darren was stunned, then sighed.

He recalled the little girl's father's attempt to smash his head against the wall, feeling a sense of helplessness.

They were truly a father and daughter cut from the same cloth.

He picked the little girl up and said sternly:

"Since you've survived, then live well."

"Your father is waiting for you to come home."

"Besides, I took your money, so I must protect you."

The little girl froze, looking embarrassed as she said:

"But... but the money... I gave you... it was very little..."

Darren laughed.

"It was enough."

A metal hoverboard floated over; he stepped onto it, and his figure began to rise into the air.

Hovering high above, Darren held the dirty little girl in one arm, looking down at the blood-soaked World Government ship below. He slowly raised his hand, spread his fingers, and made a grasping motion from afar.

Rumble...

Crack, crack!!

Driven by the metal of the ship's hull, the entire vessel began to compress, collapse, and twist under the influence of a strange magnetic field.

With a thunderous boom, the gunpowder and cannons stored in the hold were ignited, and a towering inferno shot into the sky, turning the entire ship into a massive fireball that engulfed everything.

A scorching, vast shockwave washed over them, causing the little girl to instinctively bury her head in the Marine Captain's chest, as if it were the safest place in the world.

The official ship gradually sank, and the flag of the World Government, representing the highest authority, turned to ash amidst the raging flames.

Billowing black smoke rose into the sky.

Between the thick, heavy clouds, flashes of lightning and rolls of thunder signaled that a long-brewing storm was finally arriving.

Within that hazy, flickering, and distorted firelight, Darren seemed to see faces appearing and disappearing, as if in a dream.

He saw Gion on the street, her eyes vacant, clutching a rose tightly in her hand;

He saw Gion's partner punching a wall again and again to vent his frustration;

He saw the man who had knelt before him, begging with a pile of coins;

He saw the woman who had smiled as she picked up a golden pistol to end her own life;

He saw the ugly, grinning face of a Celestial Dragon...

Face after face, scene after scene, flickered in and out of the soaring flames.

Darren let out a long breath.

The stifled, vexing feeling deep within his heart finally... dissipated completely at this moment.

As his thoughts cleared, an indescribable emotion and power surged within his chest, demanding to be released.

Rip!!

A pale bolt of lightning suddenly tore through the pitch-black sky, illuminating the entire world.

A torrential storm that threatened to swallow everything followed in its wake.

The winds rose and the clouds surged.

The Marine Captain hovered high in the air, his aura climbing steadily as his wide cloak danced behind him like a wild dragon.

A majestic, overbearing, and stern pressure, as if echoing the storm between heaven and earth, erupted violently from his body.

The world changed color because of it.

At the same time, Within Darren's perception, a new "item" slowly emerged.

Conqueror's Haki: 20

The spirit of a king... had awakened.

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