Chapter 339: Living Purgatory

Seven days later, the East Blue.

The Demon Warder cut across the Calm Belt, forging steadily ahead under the System's navigation.

At last, an island emerged on the horizon.

"Drake, an island has been spotted ahead. Is our destination..."

"That's the place!" Drake's eyes narrowed slightly. The System had just confirmed it moments ago.

A massive concentration of the anomalous energy unique to Im had surfaced up ahead, making the likelihood of her presence on that island exceptionally high.

"Everyone, prepare for combat!" Kenshin called out, blurring into motion as he landed on the deck.

The crew snapped into action, checking their weapons and gear.

Having witnessed Im's terrifying strength firsthand, none of them dared to be careless; the slightest lapse in focus could prove instantly fatal.

Even Kuzan shed his usual languid demeanor, his posture visibly sharpening.

"Something is wrong with that island!" Drake murmured, his eyes narrowing further.

As the distance closed, they noticed the sky above the island was drenched in an unnatural, fiery crimson hue.

How could such a bizarre crimson firmament manifest beneath an overcast sky completely devoid of sunlight?

Even in the chaotic and unpredictable weather systems of the New World, such a phenomenon was practically unheard of.

"It's fire," Kuzan said flatly.

Before long, the Demon Warder pulled up to the island's coastline, and the sight that met their eyes left the entire crew struck dumb with horror.

The entire landmass had been reduced to smoldering rubble. That expanse of crimson sky looked like an open wound, silently recounting the apocalyptic devastation the island had suffered not long ago.

"What on earth... happened here?!" Bell's pupils contracted violently, his lower lip trembling as he spoke.

Even after surviving the blood-soaked nightmare of the Holy Land, facing a scene of such utter desolation made his stomach churn.

It was horrifying beyond words.

A living depiction of the end of the world.

"Let's go down and see what's going on!"

Leaving those words behind, Drake vanished on the spot, reappearing directly on the shattered earth of the island.

Kenshin and the others followed close behind.

Drake and his crew walked forward with stiff, heavy steps. Desolation stretched in every direction, with severed limbs, shattered bone fragments, and charred meat strewn across the landscape like garbage.

Skulls, severed arms and legs, spilled viscera, and mangled corpses lay scattered haphazardly across the cracked earth.

The surrounding forests had been scorched down to bare, blackened branches—not a single green leaf remained across the entire island.

Just what kind of massacre took place here?!

"Damn it all!!" Bell suddenly collapsed to his knees, hot tears streaming down his face.

Though they still didn't understand the full picture, why had they traveled all this way?

Im!

Since their pursuit had led them directly here, this atrocity was almost certainly her handiwork.

No coincidence could be this cruel.

"Is this place... hell?!"

A suffocating silence hung over the group. Kenshin walked up to Bell's side and gently patted his shoulder, but the boy kept his head bowed low.

"I'm fine..."

Seeing this, Kenshin slowly withdrew his hand, letting out a quiet sigh.

No one had foreseen a tragedy of this scale, though deep down, they had all prepared for the worst.

Given Im's terrifying power, almost no one in this world could contest her, let alone the inhabitants of the East Blue—revered as the weakest of the four seas.

Here, Im could rampage with absolute impunity without encountering a single obstacle.

They had anticipated this grim reality long ago, but had simply refused to voice it aloud.

Now, the carnage laid bare across this island ripped away whatever delusions they had harbored, forcing them to confront the horror they had dreaded most.

Kenshin tightened his fists. To them, letting Im escape might have been a tactical misstep.

Yet for the innocent people of this island, that misstep had ushered in living purgatory.

"Kenshin-aniki!" Bell suddenly lifted his head, his eyes brimming with tears. "Why... why would she do something like this? Wasn't she the supreme leader of the World Government?!"

"Was all that talk of justice a complete lie?! Even the lives of these innocent people..."

Bell choked on his words, his voice breaking into silent sobs.

This went far beyond mere bloodshed—it was pure, unadulterated savagery.

The sheer brutality of these deaths was sickening.

What had these people ever done wrong?

Justice!

That word had always been the proud banner of the Marines. For Im, the ancient sovereign behind the World Government, to commit such atrocities was incomprehensible.

Kenshin pressed his lips into a tight line, remaining silent.

"True justice exists only in the hearts of those who genuinely uphold it," Drake spoke, breaking the heavy quiet.

"The word 'justice' cannot be realized through empty slogans alone. In the former Navy, there were always righteous souls alongside the corrupt—that was an inevitable reality."

"People are fundamentally different from one another, after all; a righteous heart is not something granted to everyone."

"Besides, don't we have a righteous soul from the former Navy right here on our ship?"

Everyone's eyes immediately shifted toward Kuzan.

"Uh..." Kuzan blinked lazily, momentarily caught off guard.

Bell stood up, wiping his tears, and walked over to Kuzan with an apologetic look. "Aokiji-aniki, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to insult the Navy, and I wasn't talking about you..."

"Now, now, don't worry about it. I don't think you said anything wrong," Kuzan waved his hand dismissively. "None of us expected that woman Im to act with such sheer brutality."

In truth, Kuzan knew all too well that Im was someone who stopped at nothing to achieve her goals.

She held not an ounce of mercy for anyone.

That was a truth he had grasped the very first time he laid eyes upon her.

"Who's there?!" Drake's eyes suddenly flashed with sharp intent.

In the next instant, his silhouette vanished, reappearing above a patch of ground in the distance.

Channeling immense spatial force that vibrated the surrounding air, he hammered a devastating fist into the earth.

"Come out!"

BOOM!

Shattered rock and debris exploded outward in all directions.

A figure vaulted nimbly out from the underground cavern, landing defensively on all fours. "Who the hell are you people?!"

"Why did you destroy this place like this?!"

The crew of the Dragon Flag Pirates stared at the creature that had just burst from the earth, completely dumbfounded.

Shouldn't we be the ones asking you that?!

To turn around and accuse us right out of the gate...

How completely absurd.

The creature before them had bent legs and palms planted firmly on the ground—it was unmistakably a giant frog.

Seeing the beast, Drake stepped forward, intending to subdue it immediately.

SWISH!

Bell, his emotions still running high, blurred forward in a flash of speed that surpassed even Drake's initial movement.

His sword cleared its scabbard in a heartbeat, materializing beside the giant frog's neck with the gleaming edge pressed directly against its throat.

"GAAAH!"

"Don't kill me!" The giant frog immediately threw both front legs into the air, its massive mouth hanging wide open in sheer terror, nearly wetting itself on the spot.

The sheer absurdity of its panic was almost comical.

"Speak! What is your connection to Im?!" Bell demanded coldly, nudging the blade closer to the frog's flesh.

The frog stiffened, its bulbous eyes bulging in absolute panic.

"W-What are you talking about?! I don't understand! I don't know anyone named Im!"

"Oh? Looking to die, are you?" Bell's gaze turned icy as the razor-sharp edge bit lightly into the frog's skin, drawing a thin bead of crimson.

"Eep! E-Easy there! Wait... You're..." The frog alternated between terrified shrieks and utter bewilderment.

"It seems you really are begging for death!"

Bell wasted no more breath, preparing to cleave the beast back into its original form.

He could tell this was merely the beast form of a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user.

"Young Master Bell! You're Young Master Bell! Stop, stop! I'm on your side! We're on the same side!!" the frog suddenly screeched at the top of its lungs, sounding as though it were about to tear its vocal cords to shreds.

At that razor-thin precipice, Bell froze his blade in mid-air.