The next morning, sunlight poured through the thin curtains of the ship.
The pilot woke up, stretching and yawning loudly, until his eyes widened in annoyance.
The dining area was a mess. Plates were scattered, cups tipped over, and the three boys, Yamato, Shingo, and Fate, were fast asleep on the dining table.
"Hey! Boys!" the pilot shouted, voice echoing through the ship. "We're here already!"
Shingo was the first to lift his head, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Huh?... we're here?" he muttered, then nudged Yamato and Fate awake.
Soon, all three were up, dressed, and ready for the day.
The pilot guided them to the deck and pointed toward the misty horizon ahead. "This is where you get off," he said, waving lazily. "Safe travels, boys."
Yamato gave a small wave back.
"Thanks for the ride, old man."
"Try not to wreck another city this time!" the pilot barked jokingly before the ship drifted away, disappearing into the white fog of the sea.
The three stood quietly for a moment, gazing at the mysterious island that stretched before them.
The air was calm, the ground moist beneath their feet, and the sound of distant waves rolled like thunder.
As they started walking, Shingo's curiosity broke the silence. "Umm… Yamato?"
"What's up?" Yamato replied coolly, hands in his pockets, walking ahead without turning around.
"I've been wondering," Shingo said thoughtfully. "Back in North Korea… how were you able to use lightning, and even control time and space?"
Yamato smiled faintly. "Well… my ability, the Blue Eyes, it's for learning. I can learn another person's power just by seeing or sensing it."
Shingo stopped for a moment, stunned. "You can copy powers…?"
Before Yamato could answer, Fate whistled loudly. "No wonder! That's such a cheat power, man. Total hack!"
Yamato finally turned slightly, one blue eye glowing faintly. "Says the guy who fires light beams from his hands."
Fate crossed his arms smugly. "At least mine's original."
Ignoring him, Yamato's gaze shifted to Shingo. "By the way, I saw you put your sword into some kind of box that disappeared instantly back in the fight.
What was that?"
Shingo smiled.
"Oh, that? I got it during my time in the Koruzan. It's a Tech Box. It stores weapons and equipment in another dimension. Fate's got one too, but he doesn't really use weapons because of his light powers."
He reached into his coat and tossed a small cube toward Yamato.
"I've got an extra one. You can register it to yourself. Just touch the core and enter your name."
Yamato caught it, pressed his thumb on the glowing center, and entered his details. "Alright, let's try this out."
He placed his sword over the box. The blade dissolved into shimmering fragments of light, then vanished completely.
Yamato grinned wide. "Awesome!"
Fate groaned. "Stop acting like you're from the 1900s, you dork."
Yamato glared. "What do you know, you smartass?"
"Oh, you wanna go?" Fate shot back immediately, standing up.
"Bring it on!" Yamato replied, cracking his knuckles.
Shingo sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead. "Not again…"
He walked a little ahead of them, ignoring the argument, until he saw movement in the distance. A group of people was working the fields.
"Hey, guys!" Shingo called out. "I think I see people here!"
Yamato and Fate instantly stopped bickering and rushed to his side.
Excitement turned into confusion as they got closer.
The figures were men and women, but their wrists and ankles were bound with iron chains.
Their faces were tired, hollow. The sound of metal dragging across the dirt filled the air.
Yamato's steps froze. His eyes widened as realization hit. "They… they're slaves?"
The weight of those words hung heavy in the silence.
They slid down from the ridge and hurried toward the nearest tent.
One of the farmers, an older man with weathered skin and the steadiness of someone who'd carried too many years of shame..... spotted them and waved frantically.
"Quick, boys! Come inside before you get seen!"
Inside the cramped tent the air smelled of dust and boiled rice.
Yamato bowed his thanks and peered at the chained laborers through the tent flap, then asked the question that had been burning in his chest.
"Why are the workers all in chains?"
The old man's face folded like a map of sorrow.
He sighed and sank onto a low crate, folding his hands in his lap. "Koruzan buys slaves from bounty hunters.
They use them to run the island, the fields, the workshops, everything.
If you don't learn a trade, if you're useless, the owner kills you. The man who rules this place is Draken. He's with the Adams, First Core."
"Same rank as that Hyung guy," Yamato muttered.
The old man's jaw tightened. "Draken's personal assistant was my eldest daughter."
Yamato looked at him. "What happened to your first daughter?"
The old man was silent for a long moment.
He moved to the small window and stared out at the chained men and women bending under the sun.
When he spoke, his voice was thin. "She died. They raped her.... Draken's men… because she tried to help my little girl escape. I told them not to try, but there was no stopping them. Now everything's a mess. There's no hope of leaving."
Shingo stepped closer, voice low and urgent. "Tell us everything. Start from the beginning."
The old man inhaled, and the story spilled out in a rough, broken cadence.
"Twenty years ago they brought my family and me from our hometown in northern Asia. Back then Draken was only a boy; his parents ruled this land.
I worked hard to be close to them... to survive."
His hands trembled in the dim light.
"Then one night, the boy, Draken.... killed his parents. He used us all. He forced the slaves into endless work and put me in charge because I obeyed him."
He clenched his fist as if to squeeze the memory shut. "He made me do terrible things. He forced me to… to commit such cruelty in front of my daughter Heline. She gave birth to my second daughter, Kate, because of what he made her suffer. He made me overseer because I bowed to him."
The old man's face crumpled.
"I thought I was protecting them by staying close. Instead I helped build his rule. I even watched a husband die while his own eyes saw me do the worst to his wife."
His voice broke. Tears mixed with dirt on his cheeks. "Now he's supreme ruler. He has tag force men, five special Super Tag Force members… he's untouchable here. If I could go back.... if I'd known..."
He pressed his palms to his face.
"I would have died instead of my daughter. I would have chosen death over obeying him. Maybe then Heline would have lived."
For a long while there was only the sound of the old man's broken breathing. Shingo and Yamato moved to either side of him and placed their hands on his shoulders, steadying him.
Fate's anger showed differently: he cut the inside of his palm with a small motion and squeezed until blood welled, a private, furious oath.
Yamato's voice, quiet and steady, cut through the tent. "Where's your second daughter now?"
"To the road..... first house on the left," the old man whispered.
They waited in the tent as the sun crawled toward evening, listening to the low groans of the fields beyond.
When dusk fell they went together to the house the man had named.