The Last Remaining Kindness

East Blue, Oykot Kingdom, royal capital.

The gloomy sky was like a filthy canvas soaked in ink, hanging heavily over the shattered ruins.

The once-prosperous streets were now nothing but scorched earth and rubble. The smoke mingled with the stench of blood, congealing in the damp air without dispersing.

Amid the ruins, battle cries, the thunderous roar of muskets, and the piercing scrape of colliding blades intertwined into a symphony of despair.

A band of vicious pirates was locked in a brutal tug-of-war with a group of bloodstained Marines. Every flash of gunfire was accompanied by lives being lost. Members of both sides fell one after another like wheat cut down by a scythe, their blood soaking into the blackened ground.

At the center of the Marine formation, Commander Bellemere was shouting herself hoarse, trying to steady the line on the verge of collapse.

The bandages around her left shoulder had been completely soaked through with blood, and her face was pale as paper. Every breath tugged at her wound, bringing waves of tearing pain that inevitably left her voice weak and trembling.

"Hold the line! For the civilians behind us, we must not retreat!"

Her cry carried determination, but lacked strength, sounding so feeble amid the chaotic battlefield. Severe injuries and blood loss were steadily consuming her will and stamina. Her vision had already begun to blur, and the shadow of death quietly closed in.

Above the clouds, on the deck of the Herman Revenge.

"What a coincidence again. My luck really is something else."

Dawn lowered his telescope and rubbed the space between his brows, his face full of mixed emotions. Not long ago, when he had intended to snatch Perona away, he had run into Moon Moria.

Now that he planned to take Nami and Nojiko, the