No One Understands the Dangers of Pirates Better Than Me

A month later.

North Blue.

An island so tiny it was almost negligible on the map was now being torn apart by war and wailing. Smoke, like a filthy burial shroud, wrapped around the once-peaceful villages and forests.

The defenders' flags had long since been trampled into the mud. The remaining resistance fighters fell in droves beneath the invaders' cold blades, like wheat being harvested. Victory was complete and cheap for the invaders.

As the final gunshot of symbolic resistance faded away, the rules of war vanished completely.

The victorious soldiers' eyes gleamed with bestial greed and desire. They let out excited howls and surged toward the nearest defenseless town like floodwaters bursting through a dam. The massive crowd instantly swallowed the fragile streets and peaceful daily life.

In an instant, the town became a living hell.

Cries, pleas for mercy, manic laughter, and the sounds of destruction intertwined into a symphony of despair. Houses burned, and blood wound its way through the cracks between the cobblestones.

Men were slaughtered at will. Women let out shrill cries amid the tearing and dragging. Children curled up in corners, their pupils reflecting a world falling apart.

Amid the chaotic, despairing crowd, a young girl clutched her younger sister tightly and fled against the tide of disaster with all her strength.

Monet's emerald-green hair was smeared with soot and tears. Her once-clear eyes were filled with fear, but even more so with a desperate resilience.

Sugar buried her little face deeply in the crook of her neck, her tiny body trembling without stop.

"Big sister... can we... can we get away?"

Sugar's voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz, nearly drowned out by the surrounding chaos, but the unease in it struck clearly against Monet's heart.

Monet swallowed the sob in her