"Stay close. The passage is about to collapse." Lorne stepped onto the crumbling basalt stairs, the silver dragon-patterned bracer on his wrist gleaming with a cool, clear light.
Kuina hurried along beside Lorne, while Olsen jogged after them, panting, afraid that falling even half a step behind would leave him crushed beneath a falling boulder.
The three passed through the dark, winding fissures in the rock, racing toward the wide-open exit above.
As the underground rumbling gradually faded, the crisp air of Wano Country rushed into their faces, and they finally stepped onto solid ground.
Ryan, who had been standing guard outside the Mouth of the Underworld, was pacing anxiously with half a smoking cigar clenched between his teeth.
When he saw Lorne emerge unharmed, he hurried forward to meet him.
"Captain, you're finally out! The tremors down there had the whole mountain shaking. We thought..." Ryan broke off midway, his gaze suddenly fixing on the silver bracer on Lorne's wrist.
The bracer radiated a faint yet heart-stopping pressure, and even the air rippled at its presence.
"Plop."
The cigar fell straight from Ryan's mouth, its glowing embers rolling twice across the dirt.
"Is... is that the thing? The core of the Ancient Weapon?" Ryan's eyes widened, and his voice sounded a little unsteady.
"That's right. It's my spoils of war now." Lorne raised his wrist, displaying the docile silver dragon pattern.
"A monster... Captain, you're an absolute monster!" Ryan sucked in a sharp breath, unable to keep himself from shouting.
"That's an Ancient Weapon that could destroy the world eight hundred years ago, and you actually subdued it with your bare hands?!" Ryan circled Lorne twice, disbelief written all over his face.
"It fought back fiercely at first. It even tried to pierce Lorne's body with spikes," Kuina added