?No one would probably believe it if word got out.
Yet on reflection, it made sense: with the Red Count's mastery of Observation Haki, covering the entire island took no more than a breath.
But what if that power was forever passively receiving the malice, fear, schemes, and desires of thousands upon thousands of people?
Day after day, the mental noise of hundreds of thousands thundered in his ears.
Anyone else would probably have gone mad long ago.
As a pirate who stood at the pinnacle, he could neither hide deep in the mountains nor deign to seek shelter.
So he could only drift alone at sea for years on end.
Only those top-tier powerhouses who could use Haki to block his perception qualified as "silence" to his ears.
As he crossed the Pale Long Bridge spanning the strait, Rossi could feel the faint tremors traveling through the threads beneath his feet.
Wind swept up from deep within the gorge, carrying the salty tang of seawater and a certain scorched smell.
The group moved in silence, everyone still bearing traces of their recent encounter-bloodstains, dust, or the faint scent of medicine seeping through bandages.
On the opposite shore, Dressrosa's soldiers knelt on one knee in two rows.
Their armor gleamed cold and hard in the slanting afternoon light, their eyes lowered beneath their helmets, not daring to look directly at the approaching group.
Only Scarlet rushed out of the crowd, her gaze passing over everyone else to fix on the figure in their midst who stood straight despite being drenched in blood.
She did not cry out, merely clutching her skirt tightly in both hands until her knuckles turned white. Only when Kyros gave her an almost imperceptible nod did she slowly release the breath in her chest, letting it