Queen tossed his bowl aside with a clatter. "I don't wanna die! I'm way too young to meet my end!"
King took a deep, heavy breath. "We don't have a choice... We crossed the captain this time. If we want to survive this mess, there are only two paths left. Either we slip away in secret, or..."
"Or what?" Queen and Jack leaned in closer, eyes wide with curiosity.
"Or we overthrow him," King said flatly.
Jack immediately recoiled. "Brother... Lord Kaidou has treated us pretty well over the years. Doing something like that—don't you have a conscience?"
"A conscience won't keep us alive when he orders our execution..." King retorted coldly. "Besides, that man operates purely on ruthless ambition. He took the three of us in and made us Lead Performers strictly for his own gain. At the end of the day, it's nothing more than mutual exploitation."
Jack fell silent, unable to refute the harsh reality.
Queen pondered for a moment before chiming in, "You do have a point... I'm fine either way, depending on what you guys decide."
As Queen finished speaking, Jack frowned. "Still... none of us are a match for Kaidou in a fight... How about we find Ryuma first? If we beat him and bring him in, we might still stand a chance..."
Before they could process their thoughts further, they were stunned to discover a man in a traditional white kimono standing right in front of them!
It was none other than the legendary dragon-slaying samurai himself—Ryuma!
"You've been searching all over for me," Ryuma said with a casual smirk. "Well, here I am. What did you want to say?"
The moment Jack spotted Ryuma, his face twitched violently. "It's you... You're the reason we can't go back to the Beast Pirates! Men, take him down!"
"Hold on a minute," Ryuma interjected smoothly. "Today is already the third day. Do you really think you can go back at this point?"
Suddenly, a realization struck Ryuma like a bolt from the blue!
Wait a second!
The deadline was BEFORE tomorrow!
Dammit, how did I forget that part?!
If he had stayed hidden just a little longer, they might have let it slide. But showing himself right now meant brushing it off was out of the question.
"Hmph... Today IS the third day, which means we still have time! Capture him!" Jack ordered!
Caught completely off guard, Ryuma's mind went blank!
This is a massive blunder! This makes no sense at all!
Ding! System Mission Triggered: Host must survive until midnight!
Just then, the cold mechanical voice of the system echoed in Ryuma's head.
Survive...
Right! As long as the objective is just to survive, anything goes—whether it's fighting or stalling for time, as long as I don't get caught!
Ryuma let out a cold snort. "Fine then! You want to catch me? Come and get me!"
The instant the words left his mouth, Ryuma's body dissolved into a vast swarm of shadow bats, scattering into the air in every direction!
Watching the bats disperse, the three Lead Performers exploded in rage!
What the hell?!
How many times is he going to pull this exact same trick?!
"Quick, catch that bastard!" Jack yelled, staring helplessly at the sky filled with fluttering bats. In sheer desperation, he shouted orders to split up their forces: "Search in all four directions—East, South, West, and North!"
In this world, using Devil Fruit powers for mobility rather than direct combat consumed surprisingly little stamina. Coupled with the legendary physical endurance of the ancient samurai Ryuma, holding out until midnight on the fourth day was well within his reach!
IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN MORE CHAPTERS, I HAVE 60+ STORED IN MY:
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