The words of the Flevance survivors moved Yahn deeply—yet also left him with a lingering sense of absurdity.
After all, they were speaking so earnestly to a "corpse" he had crafted from nothing more than stone under Kyōka Suigetsu's illusion. It gave him the bizarre feeling that, though he stood alive among them, he was already being mourned as if long dead.
Even more surreal, the citizens had begun treating his false body as a sacred relic, a banner of hope to cling to.
At the head of the column, several of the strongest men carried the "corpse" high on their shoulders, leading the endless procession forward into the unknown.
Yahn muttered dryly to the local Revolutionary commander, "Fine. Let them carry it for now. Once we reach the destination, bury it in a pit somewhere."
"Yes, Lord Yahn."
But just as Yahn resigned himself to this strange spectacle, the unexpected happened.
One of the men stumbled, losing his balance. The "corpse" toppled from his grasp, tumbling down a slope.
To the eyes of the Flevance survivors, it looked like their hero's body, flawless in every detail. But to the earth itself, it was just a heavy stone pillar.
Gravity took hold.
The false body rolled faster and faster, bouncing down the incline like a runaway cart. In the blink of an eye, it vanished over the edge of a cliff, gone without a trace.
The citizens stared, wide-eyed, their faces frozen in horror.
Yahn, meanwhile, felt a sharp pang in his chest. What the hell…? Is this how my corpse would be treated after death—tossed around like firewood?
In the castle, Robin witnessed it all. She stifled a laugh and asked, "Brother Yahn, should we retrieve the body and continue using it?"
"No!" Yahn snapped, irritation breaking through. With a wave, he dissolved the hypnotic veil around the stone. Even if the citizens searched the ravine below, all they would find was shattered rubble.
But soon, the mountain air was filled with weeping.
"Forgive us, hero… we couldn't even protect your body in the end…"
"It's my fault. I'll go down and join you."
"I swear, as long as I breathe, I will recover your remains and honor you properly!"
Robin, her mood brightened, burst into laughter. "Brother Yahn, look—so many people are coveting your body."
Yahn scowled. "Hmph. My body isn't so easily given away."
"Oh? And under what circumstances would you hand it over?" Robin teased, her dark-blue eyes gleaming.
Yahn raised two fingers, solemn. "Without question—only if I had no choice… or if I simply couldn't resist."
Robin tilted her head, baffled. Did that answer anything at all?
Before she could press further, her gaze caught a sudden flare of light on the horizon.
Flames.
In the distance—though far from their current position—the entirety of Flevance was ablaze, the inferno painting the sky blood-red.
The citizens below fell silent, transfixed by the sight.
Had they delayed even a little longer, had they not fled when they did… they would have been buried not by bullets, but by fire.
"Never again… we can never return," one of them whispered bitterly.
"No," another voice rose, firm despite the pale scars of Amber Lead on his skin. "Ahead of us… lies a new life!"
"Come on, everyone! We must not waste the hero's sacrifice!"
Hearing their rallying cry, Yahn allowed himself a faint smile. But when the man spoke again, the smile faded.
"Once the children and the weak are safe, I swear—we will return to recover our hero's body and enshrine it forever."
Yahn clenched his jaw. Can't you people let my body rest already? Damn it!
---
The fire of Flevance raged for a full day and night.
The once-beautiful "White City" was reduced to ash, its last embers smoldering out as the survivors reached the hidden basin prepared by the Revolutionaries.
There, supplies awaited them—medical equipment, food, shelter—and more would be delivered in the days ahead to sustain their lives.
Research into Amber Lead Sickness would continue here, in secret, and under Yahn's orders, the Revolutionaries were already scouring the North Blue for one hope: the Ope Ope no mi, the legendary "Operation Fruit" said to hold the power to cure the disease.
From here on, it would be a race against death itself.
---
Back in the ruins of Flevance, amidst the charred remains, Barak methodically scouted the area before contacting Mary Geoise through his Den Den Mushi.
"Barak. Is the mission complete?"
"Reporting, Chief: all citizens of Flevance have been executed. The city has been burned to the ground."
"There were no complications?"
"Two unidentified fighters interfered. One was a Flevance native who tried to stop the invasion midway, but after witnessing the massacre, he returned to fight me. He was killed. The second wielded a strange crow ability—an outsider, likely summoned for aid. He was defeated and fled in panic."
Under the illusion of Kyōka Suigetsu, Barak remembered each false detail vividly, without the slightest doubt.
"Well done," came the flat praise from the other end.
Barak hesitated, then added, "Also, all intelligence agents deployed to this mission perished in action."
A dismissive hum was the only reply. Moments later, the line went dead.
---
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