The mist gathered toward the castle, allowing Lily and the others on the shore to see the island clearly. It was a mountainous island, but not as large as Gares.
"Let's go in and take a look."
Lily glanced in the direction of the battle and said to the group, "Everyone below the rank of High-Ranking Officer, stay here. The rest of you, come with me."
No one raised any objections, and as for whether the mist would reappear like before...
Sage will definitely win!
Hawkins and Urouge jumped off the ship, following Lily and her team as they ventured deeper in.
The entire island was not small, and without any prior information, it might take quite some time to explore.
Lily was well-prepared. She had learned a bit about this place, Celent, through the merchants and Pirates traveling within the Kingdom.
It used to be Whitebeard's territory, but after his death, the mist suddenly appeared and prevented anyone from approaching. Everyone who entered the mist lost contact.
In just six months, this place had become off-limits to the living.
However, previous information was still useful. Lily roughly knew the direction, and near the port they approached, aside from the castle Sage was heading to, there should be a town nearby.
"Moon Step."
Lily stepped into the air, her figure flickered with white Thunderbolt as she ascended to the high sky.
Looking down, she quickly spotted the town. After rapidly descending, she led the group toward it.
Soon, they reached the town. It was a small-scale place, the buildings interwoven with taverns and shops, but it was not lively at all, even a bit dead.
Because there was no one in the town.
No, one couldn't say there's no one...
"They've hidden..."
Hawkins' eyes flashed with Observation as he surveyed the area, frowning as he said, "Everyone is hiding in their homes, are they aware of our arrival?"
"It doesn't matter..."
Lily thought for a moment, then said, "These people aren't threatening, just civilians. Except for that Ability User, there's nothing noteworthy about them. Once Sage wins, this place will be ours."
Just as she said that, she suddenly felt something was off, and her Observation senses unconsciously made her glance toward a corner on the side.
There, a purple-haired boy, about twelve or thirteen years old, was huddled against a wall, peering out with half his head.
The gaze looking back was timid, yet carried a courage from some unknown place.
The boy saw Lily's gaze and his first reaction was to hide, but a moment later, he peeked out again.
He hesitantly reached out his hand, beckoning them over with a cautious voice, "Come quickly, don't be discovered."
"Oh...a kind-hearted child."
Urouge gave a quirky smile, pointed a long salute, "Child, come over without worry, we won't hurt you."
"It's not like that, not you..."
The boy urgently said, "They're coming back soon, find a place to hide quickly, or it'll be too late!"
They?
Before everyone could react, a flash of red appeared in each of their eyes as they all looked toward the street ahead.
In the streets that connected the entire town, a group of figures staggered, appearing in the forefront like zombies.
As they got closer, it was clear that this was a group of raggedly dressed people, lifeless in their stride, their hands dusty and filthy.
Most importantly, their eyes were dull, just like Gin before.
The entire group numbered no less than three hundred people.
"That one is..."
Hawkins saw someone in the group, his eyes flashed as he said to Lily:
"Something's not right. I know that guy; I've seen his Wanted Order. He's a Pirate with a bounty of sixty million."
"I recognize another guy over there."
Urouge looked toward another person, "I saw him during 'Paradise,' his bounty was forty-nine million. Didn't expect he'd come to the New World and end up like this."
Lily fixed her gaze ahead, "So, they should all be Pirates... they're charging at us."
The zombie-like Pirates seemed to notice Lily's group. They froze for a moment, then bloodlust filled their dull eyes. With hoarse roars, they rushed forward, baring their teeth and claws.
"Pointless."
There was no need to perform Divination; Hawkins knew what the outcome would be. He drew his Long Sword, pointing it forward.
The blade was wrapped with rice straw, transforming into several Rice Straw Whips that strung the Pirates into several clusters, piercing them through the chest and spraying blood. Supported by the Rice Straw Blade, one by one, they leaned against the backs of those in front of them, falling silent.
Until the straw was retracted, only then did they fall to the ground.
Hawkins sheathed his Long Sword, saying, "The eyes aren't right, just like Gin before, it seems to be the influence of an ability."
If they hadn't arrived in time, would Gin have ended up like this too?
That Ability User...
Everyone looked toward the direction of the castle, visibly relaxed.
With Sage there, they were guaranteed victory.
However, Lily clenched the thin sword in her hand, showing obvious discontent.
Not enough...
Not enough training!
For someone they don't even know, and they still lack the ability to resolve it, needing Sage to personally intervene, it's too much of a humiliation!
"You, you're amazing!"
The boy's cheerful voice echoed in the alley as he stepped out, revealing his appearance.
This was a hybrid of the Long-armed Race and the Long-legged Race, with both his hands and feet being particularly long. Earlier he was clearly squatting with his head tucked down, but now standing up, despite being a child, he was already a bit taller than Lily.
"Those 'zombies' actually failed, you guys are amazing! Hey, everyone, come out! The zombies have been defeated, someone saved us!"
The boy shouted to the surroundings, and as he spoke, the doors and windows of the buildings around were opened, revealing one face after another full of disbelief and fear. But upon seeing a group of people collapsed in the street, joy replaced their expressions.
"Thank you so much!"
The boy bowed deeply to Lily and the others, then raised his head with a hopeful expression, "Are you here to save us? If possible, you must defeat the Duke of Fear here!"
Lily's eyes flickered, first scanning the civilians who peeked their heads through their windows, then looking at the boy, she said:
"Don't get confused. We are pirates, and we came here to rule you. As for saving you..."
"Whether it's a country on the brink of bankruptcy or a defeated, extinct territory, I don't care."
"If you want to be saved, first ask yourself this: Do you have the courage to save yourselves?"
Lily said coldly, "If not, it's simply changing who rules over you."
People must rely on themselves!
Solving oppression isn't just about Sage ruling over a territory, because that is destined to be a long process.
Moreover, if Sage were gone, would these people stop saving themselves?
Lily's dream indeed is linked with Sage, but it's only a link, not the main objective. The true main objective remains these people.
Constantly hoping someone will save them will forever leave them oppressed!
"No, it's okay..."
The boy was scared by Lily's icy gaze and took a step back, shook his head, and stammered:
"Anyway, thank you again for saving our town... Someday, I will definitely overthrow the Duke of Fear!"
The boy clenched his fists, his face fearful, but his eyes were full of determination, "I can definitely do it!"
Lily's lips curled, "Okay, tell us what happened here then."
Celent Island is a place where ordinary people and the Long-armed and Long-legged Races live together.
The boy's name is Heinrich, a native of Celent, who originally lived under Whitebeard's protection. This place isn't particularly peaceful, as it exists in the New World and is under the Whitebeard Pirates.
Many want to grow up and join the Whitebeard Pirates, Heinrich included. He had always thought this since he was a child, but half a year ago, news of Whitebeard's death came, leaving no time to grieve before the Duke of Fear took over and turned the island into mist.
Inside the mist, no one can resist. If they disobey the Duke of Fear, illusions appear before their eyes, they experience fear, and some even turn into the zombies seen before.
Without intelligence, only following the Duke of Fear's orders in the mist, though they can live normally, being unable to speak or respond to surroundings makes them no different from zombies.
No one wants to become like that, so they must submit to the Duke of Fear's rule, whose orders are strange, not allowing anyone to leave.
The edges of the island are enveloped in mist; once close to the mist area, one turns into a zombie. Besides not being allowed to leave the island, they must also work and train, or be transformed into zombies.
Under this fear, no one dares disobey the Duke of Fear's orders, only after hard work must they find ways to get stronger.
Because the Duke of Fear will inspect them; if unchanged in strength compared to before, they are thrown into the mist.
Some left the town, hiding other places on the island, but that's useless. The mist acts like eyes, able to find them anytime and anywhere.
As Magnetic Field Island, it's quite noticeable, not requiring navigation to find this island, and when trouble arises, it's not that no one comes to help.
A captain from a subsidiary pirate group under Whitebeard came to rescue, because besides the 16 main battalions, Whitebeard had 43 subsidiary pirate groups.
A captain did come here intending to defeat the Duke of Fear. But after entering the mist, they vanished.
This made people completely give up.
But not everyone, like Heinrich… he secretly resisted all along.
"Life is too hard for everyone, with only the most basic food every day, working without money, enduring brutal training, or turning into zombies! Even if we train behind, we still turn into zombies, there's no choice, only living one day at a time!"
Heinrich grit his teeth, saying: "Someday, I'll defeat him, the Duke of Fear... Maroni!"
"Who?" Hawkins looked in disbelief.
"Maroni." Heinrich repeated.
"Do you know him?" Lily asked.
Hawkins thought for a moment, "Well, he's kind of a predecessor, debuting even before Moriah, my countryman... He's famous in the North Sea, not some Duke of Fear, nicknamed 'Fear of the Mist' Maroni, with a bounty of 320 million 25 years ago."
"Twenty-five years ago?" Renedia counted on her fingers, raising her head, "Sage wasn't even born then!"
Sage went to sea at age 22; It's been barely half a year, not even a year.
"Yes, very long ago. He's known because of North Sea's frequent tales, whenever mist appears, it's accompanied by 'Fear of the Mist.'"
"But I heard he was later captured by Garp. How is he appearing again…"
"Garp captured..."
Lily said, "The sixth level, Teach also went to Impel Down, and his followers were released from the sixth level. Naturally, some escaped opportunistically. I see, remnants of an era..."
She looked toward the castle direction, "An old era on the verge of ending, even now, persisting wicked desires?"
"What's good here?"
Renedia curled her lips, "Seems there's nothing here, why occupy this place, being so old, they should go to Paradise, that's better for retirement."
"Well..."
Heinrich raised his hand, saying what startled everyone present, "Mainly, there's a gold mine here, that's how we survive on digging gold."
Gold… mine?
Lily immediately turned to leave, "I'm going to notify Sage."
A gold mine...
That mustn't be missed!