Seeing the old man behind the guards carry the little girl into the captain's cabin, the Holy Light Clerics all breathed a sigh of relief.
"Captain, should we pull out?"
The captain nodded in agreement, then escorted Krieg and Gin aboard the destroyer.
They then cleared away the traces of the fighting around them.
The Holy Light Cleric captain walked slowly toward the captain's cabin. The guards tensed all over as they saw the armored warrior approaching.
"Gentlemen, where are you headed?"
Hearing the cleric's gentle tone, the chief guard paused briefly. "We're heading to the Goa Royal Capital!"
"Perfect. If you trust us, why not come along? We're heading back to report anyway."
"Are you Holy Light Clerics from the Holy Church?" the chief guard asked, his eyes widening.
"Of course! We came because we received your distress signal." The cleric captain smiled faintly.
"That's wonderful!" the chief guard said with a sigh of relief.
Afterward, the Holy Light Clerics cleared out the remaining pirates on the sea and swiftly escorted Vivi and the others' merchant ship toward the Goa Royal Capital.
Farther away, Kuro of the Black Cat Pirates watched the ironclad fleet slowly recede through his telescope, remaining silent for a long time.
"Just like that, the largest pirate crew in the East Blue was wiped out?"
"Captain, let's set sail!" His deputy approached and spoke softly.
Kuro nodded silently, his heart heavy. The Marines had left, only for an even stronger Holy Church to take their place. It seemed piracy no longer had much of a future.
That thought reminded Kuro of his own plan. It seemed it was time to put it into action as soon as possible.
The next day, the Holy Church responded to the chaos.
It issued its strictest Sea-Cleansing Edict yet