Chapter 163: The Kingdom of God, the Death of Satori
Kaito noticed that the Marine, whose nose he had just broken, wasn't giving chase. Instead, the man had just slumped to the ground in the sewage, completely dejected.
He followed the little girl, who called herself [Cindy], through the dark underground tunnels for several minutes until they reached a relatively dry, open passage. The ground here was higher, and the ceiling was blocked, preventing any sewage from dripping down. A number of people were hiding here.
"Big guy," Cindy said, "we can talk here. Above us is the marketplace. It's always noisy, so that man won't be able to hear us." She then held a finger to her lips and added, "But you still shouldn't say his name, just in case… heh."
Kaito tested his right arm. The charred flesh was beginning to hurt. This was a good thing. It meant his new bloodline was working. The [Secret Trove: Cursed Blood Origin]'s transformation wasn't yet complete; he hadn't fully gained the high-speed regeneration and immortality. But his body was not so easily killed. Even if he had taken a full-power lightning strike from Enel, as long as he wasn't specifically targeted and finished off, he would likely have revived after his bloodline had fully settled. Even if he had been cut into pieces, as long as he wasn't completely carbonized and every one of his cells destroyed, he would have been hard to kill. At this point, of all his abilities, his survivability was by far his strongest.
The sight of his blackened arm immediately drew the attention of the others in the passage.
"Ah, another unlucky bastard who pissed off that guy?"
"Lucky you, it's just your right arm. You can still wipe with your left. Not like Old Hank."
Someone spoke, and the others all broke into laughter.
Almost everyone in this group was missing a body part—a hand, a leg. One man's head was half-blackened. It was a mystery how any of them had survived. It seemed that in the world of One Piece, there was no shortage of people with superhuman vitality and constitution.
The man they were teasing, who was missing both hands, was a mess of tangled hair and beard. He stood up from the bottom of the passage, walked into the dirty water, and wiggled his butt. "No hands? No wipe! Just wash!"
The group roared with laughter again, slapping the floor. This chaotic, stinking environment didn't seem to affect their mood at all. The little girl also laughed, clutching her stomach. She patted Kaito's leg. "See, big guy? You have to be optimistic. Don't just stand there with a long face."
Kaito took a step back in disgust. The girl was covered in filth. He was still not used to this kind of unprompted kindness.
After a while, a huge man who had been sitting on a two-meter-wide drainage outlet stood up and walked toward Kaito. The girl, seeing him, grew nervous and stood by Kaito's leg, whispering behind her hand.
"That's Captain Orkins. They say he used to be a bounty hunter with a bounty of over 80 million Berries. He's strong… and mean… and smelly…"
The man with the messy blonde hair, Orkins, heard her last comment and raised an eyebrow. "Cindy. If you're going to talk bad about someone, you should… whisper." His voice was a low growl, like two stones grinding together. His right arm was missing from the wrist down, the end of it still blackened.
Cindy jumped and hid behind Kaito. She was tiny, a stark contrast to Orkins's nearly three-meter-tall frame. The moment he stood, the underground space felt cramped.
"Kid. Who are you? Marine or pirate?"
Kaito noticed that the others had all quieted down. Orkins was clearly the one in charge here.
"Marine? Pirate?" Kaito's voice was full of mockery. He had already scanned the group. Besides Orkins, everyone else's muscle mass was quite average, about two or three times that of a normal person—weaker than Kaito had been when he'd first entered the Nexus. He could kill them all in under ten seconds.
His condescending gaze and the faint killing intent he was emitting were instantly picked up by Orkins. He sneered, took another step forward, and slowly raised his left hand. "Lost an arm and still haven't learned your lesson?"
Seeing the tension, Cindy, no longer afraid, jumped between them. "No fighting in here! This is Petty Officer Cindy of the G-51 Branch's temporary task force's secret base! No one is allowed to fight in here!"
She glared at Kaito, and seeing no reaction, she turned and glared at Orkins.
Orkins looked at the girl, who was trembling but still standing her ground. He saw the other Marines and pirates in the passage staring at him. He sighed and sat back down.
Cindy let out a breath of relief. She was just following Captain Coby's last orders: to save as many people as she could from that man. Then, one day, when he returned with reinforcements, they could all rise up and defeat… God.
Kaito was a little disappointed that Orkins had backed down. The girl, however, seemed not to have noticed his murderous thoughts. She just pulled him to the other side of the wall. "Good thing Captain Orkins wasn't in a bad mood today. You're lucky, big guy."
She then began to introduce him to everyone in her "base": former famous bounty hunters like Orkins, scoundrels like Old Hank, and Marines from different branches like Master Chief Petty Officer Leo and Petty Officer Barnaby. Yes, Cindy always referred to herself as a Marine.
Kaito could already tell that this "Captain Coby" of hers had likely not met a good end. From the dejected Marine's reaction when she'd said his name, Kaito was inclined to believe he had died in some action the girl didn't know about. But in the face of this outcome, while some had lost their will, others had just resigned themselves to their fate. Of all the people here, only the bounty hunter Orkins and the little girl Cindy still wanted to fight. The only difference was that Cindy was putting her hope in reinforcements, while Orkins was relying on himself.
As the girl chattered on, Kaito learned the recent history of this island. Two years ago, an island had fallen from the sky, causing a massive tsunami and killing thousands. Then, a golden ark had descended. This place, which had been called Skuld Island, was forcibly renamed the [Kingdom of God].
In the first month, all the local law enforcement and any passing pirates had been killed. After that, terrifying lightning would fall from the sky almost every day. Under the threat of constant death, the islanders had accepted their new status as citizens of the Kingdom of God and had begun to treat the white-winged people as divine messengers. The entire nation had fallen under a reign of terror.
Some had secretly contacted the nearby Marines, but as one warship after another was sunk, the island had become a mystery, and no one knew when, or if, help would ever come. Skuld Island had never been affiliated with the World Government, and now it was even more isolated. Most of the citizens had fallen silent.
But one year ago, a new Marine team had infiltrated the island in small groups on rafts. Their leader, Captain Coby, had learned of the situation and had promised to return with reinforcements. He had granted Cindy, a girl who had lost her entire family in the "divine punishment," the title of [Temporary Task Force Member].
In the past year, Cindy had saved over ten people, hiding them in this sewer system and cleverly using the marketplace above to mask their presence. As long as no one was foolish enough to say the keywords "God" or "Enel," they were likely safe.
Kaito looked at Cindy and understood. She was the Nexus's intended starting point for the Reincarnators. The normal mission flow would have been for the players to gather information, realize they had to unite, and then, after a conflict with the God's Guard, they would have entered the town and been helped by Cindy, who was always watching for outsiders.
But, thanks to the actions of a certain Reincarnator, the entire group had opened fire on the beach, and the loud noise of their high-powered weapons had immediately drawn Enel's attention, leading to a disastrous battle and their near-total annihilation.
"Okay, big guy, you can rest here. That arm… I'll try to steal some medicine for you!" Cindy said, pumping her fist, whether to cheer herself up or to comfort him, Kaito couldn't tell.
Orkins and the others, hearing the little girl's words, said nothing. A group of once-proud men, now being fed by a ten-year-old girl stealing for them. It was both absurd and pathetic.
After Cindy had disappeared down the tunnel, Orkins stood up again. Kaito leaned against the wall, a smile on his face as he watched the man whose physique was far beyond that of a normal human. In the world of One Piece, a two-meter-tall man was nothing. There were non-giants who grew to over three meters, and some prodigies even surpassed six. The special races were even more exaggerated. And the people of this world, after training, grew far stronger than normal humans. Kaito guessed that in the Nexus's judgment, the humans of this world were definitely not the [Native, Black-Iron] type.
"Hey, forget it, Orkins. We're all in this mess together…" the former Master Chief Petty Officer, Leo, said, trying to dissuade him. His right leg was gone from the hip down. Barnaby, his head still blackened from a burn, was helping him stand.
Orkins turned, his eyes full of a vicious light. "You fool! Have you all been hiding in this sewer for so long that you can't even smell it?! This guy… the stench of blood on him is so thick it makes me want to puke!"
His massive body took a step forward. Kaito looked at his currently-equipped [Rakshasa Demon] milestone. He looked at the ferocious Orkins. He hadn't expected this man, a bounty hunter, to be a "Lawful" alignment character. [Rakshasa Demon] inherited the effects of both [Villain] and [Genocider], causing Kaito to radiate a killing intent and gain an extra affinity with evil-aligned characters. And this Orkins, despite being a criminal, was the most sensitive to it.
It now seemed that his earlier actions had also been motivated by a desire to protect Cindy and the others.
The others now also noticed the young man who hadn't spoken much. They realized that he had never once backed down from Orkins. His eyes were wild and cold. Leo and Barnaby also sensed the danger and stood up, their backs to the wall.
"Look out!"
A sharp warning, followed by a girl's pained cry. A long spear shot through the air. Old Hank, who had been standing in the dirty water, cried out as his shoulder was impaled. The spear continued, unabated, heading straight for Kaito's back.
Orkins, who was standing in front of him, instinctively reached out to push him out of the way, but when his hand made contact, he found the man was an immovable wall.
SPLAT!
Orkins's pupils contracted. He saw the young man, whose body was radiating a dangerous aura, extend his arm backward at an impossible angle and catch the flying spear with his bare hand.
Kaito's hearing was extremely sharp. He had heard that the little girl had opened the manhole cover but had not closed it. Then, he had heard the heavy footsteps. He knew someone had found them. But because this place was a filthy sewer, he knew Enel himself wouldn't come. So he had calmly waited.
"Watch out! It's the Priest Satori! That spear shoots fire!" Leo shouted the warning, his basic combat instincts still intact. Barnaby raised his rifle but hesitated to fire.
The priest, [Satori], wearing an aviator's suit, goggles, and with two white wings on his back, held Cindy in one hand. He sneered, and his right hand, which held the other end of the spear, gave an imperceptible tug. The tip of the spear in Kaito's hand instantly grew red-hot, and a jet of flame erupted from it.
But Kaito just squeezed his left hand.
*CRUNCH-POP!
With a sickening sound of twisting metal, the [Heat Dial] hidden inside the spearhead was instantly destroyed. As the flames died, the smile on Satori's face had not yet faded. The next moment, the air in front of him was violently displaced, and the intense pressure made his face distort.
He looked down. His vision had gone blurry. A figure had appeared in front of him. A long, slender left hand was resting gently on his chest, as if in a caress.
The next moment, a terrifying force exploded.
SPLAT!
A spiraling force instantly pierced Satori's body. His chest muscles were twisted and torn, but before he could even feel the pain, the terrible, surging power had shattered his heart. Blood shot from every orifice of his face.
[You have killed the Priest, Satori. You have gained 500 Dimensional Points.]
[You have triggered the Side Quest: The Fall of the God's Guard.]