Drake never expected to run into Arashi here, much less see this traveler become involved in the war.
However, recalling everything he had learned at Marine Headquarters about Arashi's actions in the East Blue, combined with Vice Admiral Tsuru's evaluation of him, Arashi's appearance here wasn't entirely surprising.
After all, Tsuru had described him in a single sentence despite never meeting him personally:
A traveler with a benevolent heart.
Looking at the figure holding a sword in one hand, effortlessly slaughtering pirates throughout the street, Drake finally seemed to understand why Marine Hero Garp valued Arashi so highly.
He also understood why Arashi had rejected Garp's invitation and chosen to remain a traveler, living as he pleased.
Before Drake could fully gather his thoughts, Arashi had already walked up to him.
Without stopping, his gaze cold and murderous, Arashi stared ahead while striding forward.
"Drake."
"Come with me and kill every pirate in this city."
"Yes, Mr. Arashi!"
The answer came without hesitation.
Nor did Drake feel the slightest discomfort at Arashi's almost commanding tone.
Quickly catching up, the two rushed toward the areas where pirates were still brazenly looting and slaughtering civilians.
Before long, they encountered another group of retreating pirates.
Arashi didn't enjoy fighting and killing.
But once he truly became serious, he disliked wasting words even more.
The moment he saw the pirates, he didn't hesitate.
He drew his blade and charged straight in.
Following behind him, Drake had not expected Arashi to be this ruthless.
No warning.
No speech.
Just drawing his sword and killing.
And when Drake saw pirates falling in droves under Arashi's merciless assault, he was once again shocked by the man's terrifying strength.
Even so, when he noticed one pirate escaping, Drake immediately roared and gave chase.
"Stop!"
Just as he was about to catch the pirate, Drake accelerated and appeared directly in front of him.
Turning around, he fixed the pirate with a murderous stare.
"Where do you think you're going?"
The words had barely left his mouth when a sharp sword slash swept across the street.
A head flew into the air.
Blood sprayed upward.
The pirate's severed head rolled across the ground.
Caught completely off guard, Drake took an involuntary step backward.
Then he instinctively turned toward the source of the attack.
"Don't waste time talking."
Arashi walked past him with his sword in hand.
"Drake, if someone deserves to die, just kill them."
"What's the point of wasting breath?"
Hearing this, Drake blinked awkwardly.
A trace of embarrassment appeared on his face.
But what truly shocked him wasn't Arashi's criticism.
It was the scene spread out before him.
The pirates who had been alive and screaming only moments ago had all been slaughtered while he'd been chasing that single man.
Not one remained.
Some had been decapitated.
Others cut cleanly in half.
Still others hacked into pieces.
Corpses covered the street.
The smell of blood filled the air.
The entire place looked like hell itself.
Even as a Marine Headquarters Brigadier General who had participated in countless battles, Drake had never witnessed such a gruesome scene.
And from the condition of the bodies, he could easily tell one thing.
Arashi was genuinely furious.
These pirates had completely ignited his wrath.
Before long, another series of miserable screams echoed from a nearby street.
Drake immediately snapped out of his daze.
Turning around, he saw Arashi already charging toward a new group of pirates that had appeared there.
The slaughter had begun again.
Seeing this, Drake no longer hesitated.
He rushed forward as well.
Like Arashi, he silently vented all the anger burning inside him onto the pirates.
Soon, every pirate on that street was dead.
After killing the last one, Arashi glanced toward Drake and smiled slightly.
"Good work, Drake."
"Now take off that Marine uniform."
"Otherwise those cowardly rats will flee the moment they see you."
"I understand."
Drake was momentarily stunned before immediately realizing Arashi's intention.
It was obvious.
Arashi intended to wipe out as many pirate crews as possible.
If Drake continued wearing his Marine uniform, countless pirates would turn and run on sight.
No matter how powerful Arashi was, he wouldn't be able to catch every single one.
Understanding this, Drake immediately removed his uniform.
Bare-chested and sword in hand, he followed Arashi deeper into the city.
While Arashi and Drake relentlessly harvested pirate lives throughout the capital, Perona and Robin had completed a circuit around the city as well.
After eliminating several groups of pirates, the two suddenly had an idea.
Instead of continuing their blind search through the city, they headed directly for the harbor where pirate ships were docked.
Then they simply waited.
Any pirate group returning from the city carrying large amounts of treasure would be ambushed.
Perona would strike first.
Her Ghost-Ghost Fruit powers instantly incapacitated the pirates.
Then Robin would use the Flower-Flower Fruit to snap their necks one after another.
Working together perfectly, the two girls had already destroyed eight pirate crews.
Even so, despite Arashi and Drake hunting pirates throughout the city and Robin and Perona guarding the harbor, some pirates still managed to escape.
There were simply too many of them.
At least twenty pirate crews had participated in the chaos engulfing the Kingdom of Hauting.
Clearly, this wasn't a coincidence.
The rebel forces fighting the kingdom army had obviously reached some kind of agreement with these pirate crews beforehand.
The plan itself had been excellent.
Unfortunately for them, none of the pirates involved had anticipated a traveler named Arashi suddenly appearing in the middle of everything.
The sounds of battle coming from the palace gradually weakened.
It was obvious that with Marine assistance, the kingdom's army had successfully defended the palace.
The rebels, who had once held victory firmly in their grasp, were quickly suppressed after the Marines entered the battlefield.
Realizing the situation was hopeless, many chose to retreat unwillingly.
The war lasted an entire day.
Only after darkness fully covered the sky did the conflict finally come to an end.
Yet even though the fighting had stopped, the smell of blood still hung over the capital.
It lingered stubbornly in the air.
In this single day of war, at least ten thousand innocent elderly people and children had been killed.
More than half the city's buildings had been destroyed.
A third of the residential districts had been reduced to ashes by fire.
Over a hundred thousand people were left homeless.
Walking slowly through the shattered streets filled with rubble and ruins, Arashi and Drake eventually stopped before two young women.
They had been dead for quite some time.
Even in death, however, neither had loosened her grip.
Both mothers were still desperately shielding the children in their arms.
Yet despite sacrificing their lives, they had failed to protect them.
The two toddlers, no older than two or three years old, lay quietly in their mothers' embrace.
Before they could ever experience the warmth or beauty of the world, their lives had already ended.
After silently gazing at the two mothers and their children for a long moment, Arashi let out a quiet sigh.
"Drake."
"Go find your troops."
"If possible, make sure these innocent civilians are buried as soon as possible."
After speaking, Arashi turned around and walked away alone.
No matter which world it was.
No matter which era.
It was always the innocent people who suffered most when nations rose and fell.
When a nation prospered, the people suffered.
When a nation fell, the people suffered even more.
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