"Take me there."
At Yas's calm yet unquestionable command, a small, fast landing craft was soon lowered from the Leviathan, carrying Yas, Bullet, and a squad of fully armed elite Marines toward Bakira Island, which had already been reduced to scorched earth.
When Yas set foot once more on the island he had destroyed with his own hands, the thick smell of blood in the air, mingled with sulfur and scorched flesh, brought a flicker of pleasure to his ice-blue eyes.
This was the scent of war.
With Brannew leading the way, the group soon reached the center of the island.
A mountain range of massive rock had once stood there, but Yas's earlier "Divine Punishment" thunderstorm had razed the entire range, revealing an enormous, bottomless opening.
Traces of metal that had melted in the heat and then solidified still clung to the opening's edges. Clearly, an incredibly sturdy, massive gate had once stood there.
"Vice Admiral Yas, this is the place!" Brannew pointed at the pitch-black opening, his expression excited. "Our scouts discovered an unimaginably vast underground space down there. It's piled high with... with gold, silver, and treasure!"
"Oh?"
Yas wasted no words and strode straight into the deep opening.
A cold breath of metal, mold, and the accumulated years washed over him.
An immensely broad staircase paved with bluestone spiraled downward, as though leading into the depths of the earth's core.
Huge, extinguished candle stands stood at ten-meter intervals along both sides of the stairs. Reliefs of hideous sea beasts and vicious pirates adorned the walls, proclaiming the arrogance and tyranny of this place's former master.
Yas and his group followed the stairs down for nearly a thousand meters before the space suddenly opened up before them.
An enormous underground chamber, several times larger than the plaza