Because thoroughly extinguishing Im's soul still required time, Drake and Sabo joined forces to forge an enclosure infused with the Divine Flame.
They locked Im firmly within its radiant bars.
All they had to do was wait for the clock to run out, and Im's soul would be scattered to the winds, erased permanently from the face of this world.
After a brief consultation, the four sworn brothers decided to pay a visit to everyone in Foosha Village together.
Accompanying Drake and the others was the detachment of local fighters who had followed Sabo here.
Listening to Sabo's explanation, Drake came to understand the origin of these men.
In truth, they were a defeated force Sabo had encountered shortly after arriving in the kingdom, having rescued them from the brink of slaughter at the hands of their oppressors.
Throughout the Goa Kingdom, these fighters were branded as rebels. The reality was that most of them hailed from the impoverished common folk, who had fervently rallied behind the groundbreaking decree recently promulgated by the New World Government:
The abolition of the nobility!
When that decree was first proclaimed, it was as though a sacred beam of golden light had broken through the clouds to shine upon ordinary mortals.
Having endured lives of grueling suffering practically since birth, they viewed this decree as the New World Government's salvation.
Upon learning of the proclamation, they had stepped forward en masse, enthusiastically backing the measure to strip the aristocracy of its privileges.
Yet the ruling nobles of the kingdom immediately slapped them with the label of treasonous insurgents.
A merciless campaign of extermination was launched against them.
Naturally refusing to submit, the commoners took up arms and fought back with everything they had.
In the span of mere days, the land was soaked in blood.
The rebel forces were nearly slaughtered to the last man. Only scattered survivors driven to the outermost fringes of the kingdom managed by sheer luck to escape the butchers.
Yet the royal army harbored no intention of letting them live. A sweeping dragnet was initiated, authorizing the summary execution of anyone who aroused the slightest suspicion.
And this small unit was precisely one such remnant that had been pursued across the wilderness until Sabo intervened.
Before long, the party arrived at a rocky stretch along the coast. Before heading inland toward Foosha Village, Drake needed to rendezvous with Kenshin and the others aboard the ship.
While awaiting the Demon Warder's arrival, the group made camp on the spot, gathering firewood to prepare a meal.
The four brothers sat encircled together, laughing and talking with unrestrained cheer.
"Captain Dorde, are they really the legendary four brothers?" On the detachment's side of the camp, a young fighter leaned in, whispering with eager curiosity to the burly middle-aged man leading them.
The renown of the four brothers thundered like lightning across the seas; even in an isolated, backwater corner like the Goa Kingdom, their names were known to all.
"That's right! It's them!" The burly man nodded heavily. "What's more, I'll let you in on a secret—but you'd better swear not to breathe a word of it to anyone else, understood?"
"Understood!" The entire squad nodded like chicks pecking at grain, crowding tightly around their captain.
Every man sat up straight, settling into attentive postures as if perching on wooden stools, listening with absolute seriousness to their leader.
Seeing his men so captivated, the captain discarded his earlier hesitation and decided not to hold back.
Lowering his voice, he told them, "I heard this from someone else as well, but it ought to be true. Listen closely... in fact..."
"The legendary four brothers aren't just sons of the East Blue—they hail from our very own Goa Kingdom! All four of them grew up right here as boys!"
"In other words, this land is actually their home!" The captain spoke with solemn conviction.
"What?!" The soldiers were struck dumb with shock.
The legendary four brothers were men of the Goa Kingdom?!
That single revelation detonated like a thunderclap among the exhausted fighters.
The captain flinched in terror, hurriedly bringing a finger to his lips as he frantically hushed them: "Shhh, shhh, keep it down...!"
"Keep your damn voices down! If you lot have a death wish, I'd still like to live a few more years!"
"If you go and disturb them..." The captain cast an anxious, cautious glance toward the brothers.
Seeing that they were still engrossed in heated, merry conversation, seemingly oblivious to the whispers over here, he breathed a deep sigh of relief.
Though nervous, the captain knew in his heart that figures who stood at the very summit of the ocean wouldn't concern themselves with the idle chatter of common foot soldiers.
Surveying his men's thunderstruck expressions, the captain nodded in smug satisfaction. He had worn that exact same face when he first learned the truth.
Without dragging it out any further, he shared everything he knew.
The more the fighters listened, the wider their eyes grew, the expressions on their faces becoming richer by the second.
To think that the unbreakable bond shared by the four brothers had been forged right here in the Goa Kingdom.
It filled the soul with boundless longing!
Brothers who could truly stand shoulder to shoulder at the pinnacle of the world—men who, no matter what trials they weathered, never held each other's faults against one another, offering only heartfelt understanding and unreserved devotion.
To rescue their eldest brother, Ace, Sabo, Drake, and Luffy had dropped everything, converging from across the seas on Marineford, the epicenter where the greatest combat power in the world had assembled.
Back then, they were merely promising rookies who had barely made a name for themselves.
Neither Sabo nor Ace could yet be considered titans carrying the destiny of an entire faction.
They were simply powerful young men of exceptional talent.
A vast, daunting gulf still separated them from the apex of the world. As for Drake and Luffy, they were even further behind, completely untested greenhorns.
Yet even so, they had plunged without hesitation into that living inferno—the Summit War!
Then came Charlotte Linlin's Whole Cake Island, Beasts Kaido's Onigashima, and the great war upon the sacred soil of Mary Geoise.
Every single one was a world-shaking campaign, and they had stood shoulder to shoulder through them all!
Boundless admiration shone within the soldiers' eyes. Who in this world wouldn't yearn for brothers who would bleed for them like that?
In an era as chaotic and fractured as this, finding a companion to whom you could entrust your back was an extraordinary blessing.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"
Just as the men were losing themselves in awe of that enviable brotherhood, a startled cry suddenly tore from Drake across the clearing.
Startled, they turned to look, only to see Drake—the invincible warlord known far and wide—staring wide-eyed at his eldest brother, Ace.
"Ace! Are you telling the truth? Luffy..." Drake's frame trembled with slight, uncontrollable tremors. He took several deep breaths to steady himself before managing to speak again: "Luffy... has he truly become the Pirate King?!"
Moments ago, Ace had casually dropped the news that Luffy had ascended to the absolute peak of the world's pirates, reigning as the Pirate King of the new era!
Meanwhile, Sabo and Luffy sat nearby, beaming with quiet amusement, offering no interruption.
How could Drake possibly remain calm? Seeing his stunned disbelief, Ace and Sabo exchanged broad, satisfied smiles.
In this world, nothing brought them greater joy than seeing Luffy achieve his dream and claim the title of Pirate King.
"Luffy! Is what Ace said true?!" Drake pressed, demanding confirmation.
"Shishishishi..." Luffy broke into a wide grin, nodding with heavy conviction. "Yeah!"
"I..." Drake parted his lips, but no words would come. His frame shook with emotion, a tearful, joyous smile spreading across his face.
Ace and Sabo looked at one another and burst into uproarious laughter.
That small, stubborn silhouette from years ago remained vivid in their minds—the boy standing beneath his straw hat with an ear-to-ear grin, shouting a shocking dream toward the vast, open sea.
And years later, on this very day, that same laughing boy stood before them.
The only difference was that today, he had ascended the throne!