17:45, evening.
On Island 21 of the Sabaody Archipelago, sea breeze swept across the land as black smoke curled into the air.
At the island's coastline, an ordinary sailing ship was moored, rocking gently with the waves. On the deck, Mu Yang leaned against the railing, his gaze fixed on the island.
Inside the Sabaody Archipelago was a scene ravaged by bombardment. Several Yarcheman mangrove trees had snapped in half, collapsed across a ground pocked with craters. What was once a prosperous town had become a field of ruins—charred traces of flames everywhere, not a single person in sight.
As for why the Sabaody Archipelago had been blasted flat, the cause was the aftermath of the "Mariejois Incident."
With the mindset of being a good person to the end—"if you send the Buddha, send him all the way west"—Obito and the others decided to escort the rescued slaves back home. So Obito and the others each led squads of over a thousand people and headed to different parts of the archipelago to seize pirate—or Navy—ships.
The movement caused by several thousand to over ten thousand people passing through could practically be described as earth-shattering. Heavy, chaotic footsteps echoed through the empty streets, the vibrations traveling through the ground and into houses. Tables, chairs, pots, and pans clattered and shook, playing a chaotic symphony. No matter how deep one slept, such noise would wake them.
The awakened residents flocked to their windows, curiosity in their drowsy eyes as they looked out upon a scene of ragged groups fleeing in panic.
Some elderly people found the scene familiar. Frowning as they dug through their memories, they gradually recalled the "Mariejois Assault Incident" from over ten years ago.
As those memories resurfaced, their aged expressions changed dramatically, and they hurried to call their families to escape.
Back then, some of the people tasked with capturing slaves were far from disciplined. Whether it was because hunting slaves was troublesome or for other reasons, they directly grabbed random civilians to make up the numbers. Countless civilians became Celestial Dragon slaves overnight.
Seeing that tonight's situation resembled what happened more than a decade ago, many frightened residents didn't dare stay in their homes. They started shouting, gathering groups of people to flee together.
Whatever was happening, it was best to avoid the danger first.
Humans have herd mentality—when a group does something, others instinctively follow. Thus, the fleeing crowd ballooned like an inflating balloon.
Of course, not everyone ran. Some hid inside vaults or other highly secure rooms.
Yet the fluctuations in population caused no change to the overall situation.
Most Sabaody residents fled toward islands where merchant and private ships were docked. This was entirely different from the direction the slaves took when they fled toward the shipyards, the Navy base, or the lawless areas.
The process of seizing pirate ships went unusually smoothly. Pirates on the archipelago had long since been cleared out by the successive waves of group members coming ashore. Most pirate ships docked across the islands were now ownerless. And since they were all awaiting coating, they had varying amounts of supplies stored in them—ready to set sail immediately.
As more and more ships of all shapes and sizes departed, the World Government's pursuers also arrived at Sabaody. Over a hundred warships appeared—some bearing Navy flags, others flying the flags of the World Government.
Very few people could mobilize such a large naval force and personnel from both CP and Navy at once. The Five Elders were among those few.
Although the "Super Shinra Tensei" had completely destroyed the buildings of Mariejois, it did not manage to eradicate all its inhabitants.
Within that mountain-shattering blast, some powerful individuals survived through their own strength—such as the Five Elders. Aside from them, a small number of extraordinarily lucky individuals also survived.
Seeing the sea packed with warships, Obito and the others did not hesitate and initiated the attack. On one hand, to see their good deed through; on the other, to earn points.
There was no need to elaborate on what happened next—after racking up enough points, how could Obito and the others waste more time? Of course they ran away.
Naturally, the World Government did not want to let the enemy escape. But Obito and the others could fly—and more importantly, they were fast.
Once they lost track of the enemy, the warships had no reason to remain in Sabaody's waters.
The mission changed: they were to escort the Five Elders and the survivors to Marine Headquarters.
Sabaody was on the edge of the battlefield; being reduced to ruins by stray attacks was hardly surprising.
"...Let's go onto the island and take a look."
Mu Yang stared at the archipelago for a moment. As if he had seen something, the corner of his mouth lifted in a faint smile.
Yugi Mutou had no objections. Compared to aimlessly drifting on a sailing ship, he much preferred staying on a stable island.
White Yasha also raised no objections. She found the bubble-blowing Sabaody Archipelago quite interesting.
As the three disembarked, the sailboat dissolved into glittering starlight that drifted away with the wind.
Heading toward the giant root of Tree 21, they smelled no gunpowder in the air, and saw no living people along the way—but they did see corpses of pirates. Their fatal wounds varied: some died from a single sword strike, some were burned into charcoal, some frozen in ice, some shot…
White Yasha's expression remained unchanged—she had lived long and seen much. Yugi, being younger, had experienced many strange events, but not many corpses. Seeing so many at once, his brow immediately furrowed into a "川."
But that was all. His mental resilience had long been tempered by the demons he encountered in his early years. A few corpses weren't enough to shake him.
After walking a while longer, they entered a field of collapsed buildings. The smell of blood in the air was replaced by a strong, spicy aroma.
"...?"
Yugi took several deep breaths, carefully identifying the scent. When he finally recognized it as hot pot, his head tilted in confusion, his expression practically sprouting a question mark.
What the hell?
Someone… eating hot pot in the ruins?
Though confused, Yugi continued walking with Mu Yang. The closer they got, the stronger the aroma became. Voices reached their ears.
Following the sound, they saw six or seven tables of people—presumably the ones eating hot pot.
"Yo! Boss Mu!"
They waved enthusiastically and called out, "Wanna join us?"
"Sure."
One reason Mu Yang came ashore was precisely to freeload dinner, so he naturally accepted with pleasure.
Time: 18:05.Perfect timing for dinner.
Obito used Wood Release to create a set of tables and chairs. Minato entered the shop interface to buy pots, bowls, chopsticks, vegetables, meat, and hot pot base. Everything was set up within one or two minutes.
Mu Yang sat down, and Minato and Obito took their seats as well. Five people sat around a yin-yang hot pot—half spicy red broth, half clear broth.
While waiting for the broth to boil, they began chatting casually.
-----------------------
Completed English PDF of this fan-fic on my Patreon shop if you want to support and own the full fan-fic in one go. Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!
Guys, I've uploaded some High Quality english translated fanfic on my Patreon shop! Feel free to check it out-if you're interested, you can grab a copy and support me there.
Here are a few titles of recently uploaded fanfics:
New Addition
"Living in Marvel: Starting by Building 2B Missy (18+"
" Marvel: Glory of the Sun God (18+) "
" Marvel: This Position of Authority, I'm Taking It for Sure "
" Marvel: Zaun Captain America, Villains Call Me Ancestor-Man (18+) "
"Marvel Summoning Villains "
"Marvel: Weekly System Refresh, King of S.H.I.E.L.D. "
many more are available 47+
Your support means a lot-thanks in advance, legends!
patreon.com/SuperTL
(End of Chapter)