Cold seawater slapped against the reefs with a steady washhh.
Rain drew in a breath of icy air, shook his head, and forced the last trace of dizziness away.
The chaotic fall hadn't hurt him much—only the brief head-on exchanges with Squard had left his blood churning.
He looked down at Rosinante, unconscious on the rocks by his feet.
The "big golden retriever" was ghost-white, lips tinged purple. A cut from flying debris split his forehead, and he was soaked through, looking miserable.
Rain checked his breathing. Still alive—just knocked out by seawater and impact.
"Tch. As long as you're alive." Rain shook his head, bent down, and hoisted the nearly three-meter-tall Rosinante onto his shoulder.
He couldn't just leave him here. If pirates patrolled by—or if something in the sea dragged him away—he'd be finished.
With Rosinante slung over his shoulder, Rain spread his Observation Haki and swept the fog-shrouded island.
It wasn't big, but the terrain was complicated.
"About thirty pirate presences… scattered all over. None of them feel impressive—just grunts."
Rain frowned.
"The officer-level ones are probably still with Squard on those boats?"
He tried extending his sense out over the sea, but the earlier battle zone was now completely swallowed by fog. He couldn't pick up Dal or the other Marines.
"…Odds are they're in trouble," Rain halted for a moment, a trace of regret flickering through him.
He'd had a decent impression of Commander Dal—ruthless but fair. I was almost fighting at full output back there, but I still lacked experience in chaotic naval combat. I couldn't finish Squard before the boat broke apart… If I had, maybe I could've saved them.
He took a deep breath and let his gaze go cold again.
"Since that's the case…" he murmured, almost to himself, "I'll collect some interest here first."
More importantly…
"Squard is absolutely an SSR-class monster."
Rain recalled the crushing force in their brief clash. With my current physique, trading blows head-on is still a bit forced. Maybe among these grunts there's one or two a little stronger—enough to be the trigger to push my physique into [Top-Tier]?
He knew he'd meet Squard again. It was only a matter of time.
Carrying Rosinante, he flickered deeper into the island and quickly found a dry cave hidden behind curtains of vines.
After settling Rosinante in the back of the cave, Rain didn't waste a second.
He drew his sword. In the dim light, the blade glinted with cold intent.
His figure blurred—and he vanished into the foggy forest like a ghost.
The hunt had begun.
…
On the island's western side, inside a watchtower near the sea—
Two pirates on sentry duty sat around a campfire, drinking and whining about the miserable weather and boring assignment.
"Damn, the fog's getting thicker. I can't even see the boss's ships anymore."
"What're you worried about? Once the boss butchers those Marines, we'll get our share! Wonder if there were any female Marines on that boat…"
They laughed obscenely, never realizing a black shadow had already appeared in the watchtower's darkness.
Rain's Observation Haki had locked them in long ago.
He stamped forward, closing the distance instantly.
Shnk! Shnk!
Before either could react, the cold blade traced across their throats.
Their smiles froze. They didn't even have time to grunt before collapsing into blood.
Two R-rank pirates—worth a combined nine hundred-plus Sin Points.
Rain sheathed his blade calmly, glanced at the numbers flashing on his panel, and disappeared back into the mist.
…
On the island's eastern side, a five-man pirate patrol trudged along a muddy path, cursing, barely alert.
As they passed a pile of rocks—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Five pebbles coated in black Armament Haki screamed through the air from different angles.
"Ghk—!"
"What the—?!"
They never even saw the attacker. The stones punched clean through throats and temples, dropping all five instantly.
Five more R-ranks—another fifteen hundred-plus Sin Points.
Rain stepped out from behind the rocks, dusting his hands.
"Still too slow…" he frowned.
"I need to go faster—clear the small fry before Squard finds me, and see if I can force a breakthrough trigger!"
…
Over the next half hour, Rain became the most efficient reaper the island had ever seen.
He stopped caring about perfect stealth.
Instead, he moved through the fog like a phantom at terrifying speed, killing every pirate his senses picked up.
Snipers in trees, gamblers hiding in caves, scavengers searching the shore for wreckage—
Anyone Rain locked onto died almost instantly.
+420
+580
+1350
+610
…
The pirate count plummeted at a frightening rate. Only a few clustered around a temporary hilltop stronghold remained.
The scent of blood in the fog thickened, dark as ink.
Just as Rain was about to finish the last few—
His Observation Haki caught a familiar presence.
"Hm?!" Rain stopped dead, turning toward the signal, eyes sharpening instantly.
"That aura… no mistake."
"Maelstrom Spider—Squard."
"He came back."
Rain could clearly sense Squard had just stepped onto the island's shoreline—alone. Their ships had likely taken damage in the chaos.
"Perfect timing." A cold battle intent flashed in Rain's eyes, and beneath it… excitement.
His figure flickered. He slipped past the final stragglers like a wraith—
A few soft sounds later, the last small fry were gone.
"Trash cleared."
Rain shook the blood from his blade and looked calmly toward Squard's approaching direction.
Unfortunately, there had been no SR-level officers on this island. These grunts alone weren't enough to push him through the final barrier.
But he wasn't waiting anymore.
The naval battle, the uncertain fate of Commander Dal and the Marines… and the blood he'd spilled here had lit something long dormant inside him.
Hide and evade? That wasn't the path he wanted.
And he needed a truly heavy opponent to test whether his road was right.
"I'll use you as my stepping stone."
Rain flashed forward, no longer hiding his presence, striding straight toward Squard's landing point.
A real deathmatch was about to begin—on this fog-choked island, under a sky with no moon.
~~~
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