Lao G’s internal alarm bells were ringing wildly.
He couldn’t help but take half a step back.
In all his years of fighting, he had rarely seen anyone achieve a breakthrough mid-battle — and never one of this magnitude.
On top of that, Goluseus’s death had dispelled the Evil Eye Domain.
The sudden loss of the amplification left him feeling hollow and unsteady, his aura thrown into disarray.
Kane walked toward him.
The Second Ghost God, Phantom Shadow Kaija, loomed behind him, shrouding his body in shadow that made him hard to read.
The pressure on Lao G was immense.
He cast aside all hesitation and forced himself to gather power for one final strike.
There was no other choice.
In this situation, if he didn’t go all out, there would be no future.
He couldn’t even run.
Everything hinged on this single attack.
Kane was fully focused as well, staking everything on this one move.
Succeed, or perish!
Though he had successfully awakened Armament Haki, his opponent had honed his Haki for decades — its strength was absolutely superior.
With his current battered body, he couldn’t afford a head-on clash.
But he still had the Ghost God’s help.
Kaija’s shadow power possessed a technique called Void Form — similar to a Logia’s elementalization — that could ignore a portion of enemy attacks.
The drawback was a long cooldown and a duration of only an instant.
So he had to find the perfect opportunity to seize and deliver a fatal blow.
His Observation Haki pushed to its absolute limit.
His Armament Haki began to condense — no longer coating the entire blade, but gradually shifting toward the edge, finally concentrating around the tip, that short section of the blade.
Lao G finished his charge.
The shadowy blur drew closer and closer.
He unleashed the most ferocious attack of his entire life.
“Goken Secret Technique: G’s Imprint!”
A devastating wave of ki energy shot forth, reaching Kane in an instant.
Now!
Shadow power activated.
Kane transformed into a blur, passing through the ki wave completely unscathed.
Together with the Ghost God Kaija behind him, he swung his blade — right before Lao G’s stunned eyes.
“Phantom Shadow Secret Technique: Ghost Shadow Slash!!”
Kane flashed past Lao G in an instant.
The tip of his blade, condensed with all his Armament Haki, crossed with Kaija’s edge to form a devastating X-shaped slash — striking Lao G’s heart directly.
“GAAAH…
I must tell the Young Master…
tell the Young Master…
about Law…
G…”
Lao G collapsed to the ground, muttering in resignation.
His breath grew shallow, his gaze dimming until all light faded from his eyes.
“We won!
We won!”
Bepo jumped for joy.
Shachi and Penguin grabbed him in the middle, whooping and hollering.
The allied pirates laughed heartily.
Others collapsed onto the ground, too exhausted to get up.
The red-haired woman dismissed her blades and stood silently, gazing at Kane.
She wanted to speak but didn’t know how to start.
Law kept his eyes fixed on Lao G’s fallen body.
After a long moment, he let out a deep, relieved sigh.
By the shattered backstage entrance, the freed slaves had gathered without anyone noticing.
They watched as the villains fell one by one, struggling to believe that what they were seeing wasn’t a dream.
They exchanged glances, slowly casting aside their fear.
Light returned to their eyes once more.
Without any signal or leader, they all moved of their own accord, gathering around Kane.
“Thank you!
Thank you for saving us!”
“Hero!
You’re like Sora, Warrior of the Sea — straight out of a comic!”
“I will never forget your great kindness!”
“Sir, what’s your name?
I’ll remember it forever and pass your story down to my children and grandchildren.”
Kane kept his head down.
The Ghost God behind him had already retreated into his demonic hand.
He stood motionless, not saying a word.
It wasn’t that he was being cold or trying to look cool — he was simply too badly injured.
Law, that brat, had no situational awareness at all.
No sense of what it meant to be a ship’s doctor.
Good thing Kane had the foresight to make him an apprentice pirate.
If Law wanted to become a full crew member, he’d have a long wait!
It took a long while before Kane felt even slightly better.
He raised his head, putting on a warm, reassuring smile.
He was about to say something — when a flurry of footsteps came from the entrance.
A large group of people stormed into the hall.
The man at the front wore oversized sunglasses.
He cleared his throat theatrically.
“You’ve got some nerve!
Causing trouble on my turf!
But I’m in a good mood today — drop your weapons and surrender, and I might just spare your lives.”
“Hey, stop it!”
The big-bearded man beside him poked him in the side, making the Sunglasses Man flinch.
“Alright!
What I said wasn’t accurate.
Let me clarify — listen up!
This island, Dark Sail Island, is one of the territories of the Underworld Emperor — the Shipping King.”
“And I’m the manager of this island, in charge of all transport operations in these waters.
In short — I’m the boss here!”
“I’m in a good mood right now, so surrender while you can and save yourselves the pain.
Otherwise, when my partners get here, you’re dead!”
The Big Beard poked him again.
Touch me one more time and I’ll hit you, I swear!”
The Big Beard poked him again.
Seeing the Sunglasses Man raise his hand, he quickly pointed: “Boss, shut up and look over there!”
The Sunglasses Man turned in confusion — and saw the bloodthirsty Kane.
His gaze shifted downward, and he saw Lao G lying on the ground.
He froze for a moment, then pushed down his sunglasses and blinked hard, confirming he wasn’t seeing things.
Kane stepped forward.
Ghostly aura erupted.
Killing intent swept toward the Sunglasses Man’s group, suffocating them.
Law, Bepo, Shachi, Penguin, and the pirates stepped forward as well, further crushing the enemy’s morale.
The liberated people, caught up in the atmosphere, also stepped forward.
Their eyes were fixed firmly on the enemy, ready to fight.
They refused to stand on the sidelines any longer — they wanted to contribute, to fight for themselves.
And with the great hero Kane by their side, they had nothing to fear!
The Sunglasses Man kept a straight face, calmly pushing his sunglasses up.
“Ahem!
That said — these bastards are truly despicable.
None of them ever did anything decent!”
“I’ve always looked down on them.
I’ve wanted to take them out for a long time — I just never found the right opportunity.”
“Now, with you heroes stepping in to rid Dark Sail Island of this cancer, I’m eternally grateful.
I’ll prepare gifts and a feast right away — please do us the honor.”
The Sunglasses Man bowed — but received no response.
Cold sweat began to form on his forehead.
“Since you all have more important matters to attend to, I won’t intrude further.
Farewell!”
The Sunglasses Man turned and fled.
His men followed with their heads down, not daring to utter a single word.
“Hey!”
The Sunglasses Man shuddered and broke into a sprint.
His men followed suit — several even lost their shoes in the scramble, disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Kane’s fingers twitched.
He silently lowered his hand, a wave of relief washing over him.
He’d been caught off guard — the Shipping King’s influence ran deeper than he’d realized.
He hadn’t uncovered that connection.
Fortunately, it ended without incident.
He’d thought the newcomers would be formidable — the true ruler of Dark Sail Island, Donquixote Family partners, associated with the Underworld and its Emperors.
But that was all they had to offer.
Then again, they were in the transport business.
A manager’s skills were administrative and commercial by nature — so it made sense.
And with the Donquixote Family as partners, they didn’t need to worry about military strength.
Kane had been barely holding himself together.
In his current physical state, letting them go was the wiser choice.
The monk may run, but the temple won’t.
He would find them sooner or later.
With Lao G dead and the slave traders wiped out, there was no one left on Dark Sail Island who could threaten the Ghost Hand Pirates.
They could finally rest and recover properly.