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"Come on, grab her!" Shields Saint laughed triumphantly and ordered his two CP guards.
"No, I don't want to..." The little girl was crying so much that her eyes were swollen. She looked at the two men in suits approaching her and struggled in fear.
However, the CP members stepped forward without expression, grabbed the little girl's hands and shoulders, and acted violently. They ignored her gasping cries, and soon bloodstains appeared on her arms.
Other civilians kneeling on the ground turned their faces away, unable to watch the cruel scene.
Gion and the other Marines stood with livid faces. Anger in their hearts burned, but they felt as though their limbs were encased in cement, heavy and immobilized.
Darren took a deep breath and said, "Master Shields Saint..."
"What is it, Governor Darren? Do you have any objections to my decision?" Shields Saint interrupted Darren mockingly, giving him a half-smile.
Darren's eyes narrowed, but he suddenly smiled even more enthusiastically. "Of course not. It's her good fortune that Lord Shields Saint has noticed her, and it's the glory of the North Blue people. I just worry that your men might injure your new companion, so I would like to assist you."
With those words, Darren vanished from sight like a ghost and reappeared in front of the little girl in the next second. He didn't show any movement, but the CP members were pushed away by an invisible force.
Darren casually beckoned, and a CP member's sword flew out, transforming into liquid metal mid-air. Most of it solidified into shackles, binding the little girl's hands and feet. The rest formed a gag, silencing her cries and leaving only her tearful, frightened eyes exposed.
Darren squatted down, met the little girl's hateful gaze, and said emotionlessly, "It is your honor to serve the great Lord Shields Saint."
He took her hand and, with her eyes expressing desperation and dullness, presented her to Shields Saint. "Master Shields Saint, this should make your journey quieter."
Shields Saint glanced at Darren and burst out laughing. "Hahaha! How amusing! Your Marine is so amusing!" He looked at Darren with a mixture of admiration and amusement. "You're quite clever, Darren. I'll make sure to mention you favorably to the government elders."
Under the seething glares of the civilians, Darren bowed slightly and replied with a smile, "Thank you, my lord."
Shields Saint laughed again. "Then, let's set off and return to the port."
A CP member moved with agility, kneeling on all fours like a docile hound. Shields Saint stepped onto his back and left arrogantly. Another CP guard pulled the dazed little girl, appearing lost and frightened, and followed behind.
Suddenly, a hoarse voice cried out, "No, I don't want this..."
Everyone was taken aback.
The little girl's father, trembling, climbed up from the blood-stained ground and stretched out his hand in despair toward the Celestial Dragons.
It was as if he was trying to grasp something.
But in the end, he caught nothing.
Gion looked on with sadness and walked over, intending to help him up.
"Sorry..." she whispered.
She couldn't bear to look into the man's heartbroken eyes.
I watched as the team escorting the Celestial Dragons boarded the lavish official ship, which then set sail and soon disappeared on the sea.
A stiff smile suddenly appeared on the man's blood-stained face - a smile so filled with sadness, despair, and absurdity that it was unbearable to witness.
"Leah, she might have a pretty good life," Gion muttered, a comforting word she didn't even believe herself.
"You also live well—"
Suddenly, the man slammed his head against the building's wall.
"Boom!"
Blood spattered on Gion's face.
Her vision became blurred, filled with the dazzle of red, and everything she saw seemed upside down, like hell itself.
She glimpsed the man's blood flowing down the whitewashed walls of the city hall that had welcomed the Celestial Dragons.
The blood red and snow white intertwined, distorting the colors in her world.
The dull impact reverberated in her mind, buzzing incessantly.
Panicked screams for a doctor, curses, and footsteps broke the deadly silence of the street.
"Hurry up and save him!"
"He's still alive!"
"We can still save him!"
"..."
Gion knelt there blankly, feeling weak.
In her hand, she clutched a delicate, blooming rose, its thorns piercing her flesh, with blood flowing out.
Yet she did not feel it.
'Live well'...
She realized the absurdity of her comforting words.
The little girl's mother had died from illness, and this man's only true love was her.
Now she had been taken by the Celestial Dragons.
This man, with hands caked in mud, was now utterly alone.
What reason or courage did he have to continue living?
In a daze,
She remembered her words to the little girl.
"Don't worry, my sister is a Marine; she is protecting you..."
'Of course, it's a Marine's responsibility.'
Gion suddenly shivered.
She raised her head and looked blankly at the sky.
It was gloomy, very dark, the light seemingly obscured by something.
Boom—! A thunderclap flickered and exploded from the dark clouds.
Snowflakes, gentle as goose feathers, began to fall.
"It's snowing... It's still midsummer," she murmured blankly.
In the year 1492 of the Sea Circle Calendar, the tropical island of Bardia in North Blue saw its first snow in decades.
Snow, unexpectedly warm, landed on Gion's body.
In a daze, she turned her head and saw the silent silhouette of Admiral North Blue not far away. Her mind seemed to freeze, incapable of any thought.
Then it dawned on her.
She finally understood what Sengoku had said.
"This sea... is too vast, and it is impossible for the light of the Seagull Flag of Justice to shine into all the dark, dirty, and gloomy corners."