The ocean stretched endlessly before them, the waves shimmering under the fading sunlight. Raiden stood at the edge of the ship, staring out into the horizon, lost in thought. His expression was unreadable, but a mischievous grin crept onto his face, almost as if he had figured something out—something only he knew.
Ash, standing nearby, watched him closely. "Oi, Captain," he called, tapping Raiden's shoulder once. No response. He tapped again. Still nothing.
Frowning, Ash clenched his fist and smacked Raiden hard on the head.
"Ow! What the hell, Ash?!" Raiden snapped, rubbing the fresh bump on his head.
"You were standing there like an idiot, grinning like you just pulled off the greatest scheme in the world," Ash said, arms crossed. "I called you, but you ignored me. What were you thinking about?"
Raiden blinked a few times, still rubbing his head. "Was I really grinning like that?"
Ash scoffed. "Why would I lie to you, Captain?"
Raiden shook his head and sighed. "Forget it. What do you want?"
Ash's expression turned serious. "What now? What's our next move? Where do we go from here?"
Raiden exhaled, his gaze returning to the sea. "First, we find more members—loyal ones. People we can trust. Then, we get ourselves a base. A real headquarters on an island. After that, we train. Harder than ever. Because when the time comes, we're going to beat the hell out of the gods and the Rikoru. Every last one of them."
A heavy silence followed after his words. Astrid, who had been listening quietly, finally spoke. "That's... a dangerous dream," she said softly. "We're with you, Raiden, but you know they could crush us in an instant, right?"
Ash nodded. "Right now, we can't even handle one god. We're just insects compared to them."
Raiden clenched his fists. "I know," he admitted. "That's why I need to get stronger. Stronger than anyone. I don't want anyone to suffer because I was too weak to protect them. I want people to be able to depend on me."
Astrid stepped closer and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "We do depend on you, Raiden. But you're not alone in this. That's why we're all going to get stronger together. We're not just following you—we're fighting with you."
She paused for a moment before adding, "By the way, you never told us. Why do you want freedom so badly? What drives you to do all this?"
Raiden was silent for a moment, staring at the floor of the ship. Then, he took a deep breath.
"I'm a failure," he said finally. His voice was quiet, but his words carried weight. "I was never strong. When I was a kid—six or seven—my parents died. My father… he was one of the people who fought against slavery. But at the same time, he was part of the system. He told me everything about it—how his own parents were slaves. It disgusted me."
His fists tightened.
"The idea that someone can be owned, treated like trash, just because someone more powerful decided it should be that way... It made me furious. My father had lightning powers. My siblings too. But I was the weak one. My powers never awakened, no matter how hard I tried. Until one day, I drank something I wasn't supposed to. Some kind of… acidic, burning liquid. It was the blood of a giant ape or some monster like that."
Both Ash and Astrid's eyes widened.
"It nearly killed me," Raiden continued. "I felt like my body was dissolving from the inside out. But somehow, I survived. My father healed me, and after that… my powers awakened. My green lightning was born."
He reached into his shirt and pulled out a small, green necklace. "Before he died, my father gave me this. He said it would help me one day. I don't know how, or why, but I kept it."
He let the necklace drop against his chest. His voice grew quieter.
"Then one day… our house burned down. My parents didn't make it. My uncle saved me, my brother, and my sister. After that, he trained us. But even then, I was the weakest. Out of all of us, I was the only one who cared about stopping slavery. My siblings… they had their own goals, their own dreams. They didn't care about this fight."
He lifted his head and looked at Ash and Astrid. His eyes were sharp, filled with fire.
"If I don't do this, then who will? Who's going to stop it? Maybe a hundred years from now, someone else will rise up. Maybe a thousand years from now. But how many people will die waiting for that person? How many lives will be destroyed?"
His voice hardened.
"I have to do this. Not because I want to. Because no one else will."
Silence.
The only sound was the waves crashing against the ship.
Then, Ash grinned and punched Raiden lightly on the shoulder. "Damn, Captain. You really are crazy."
Astrid smiled. "But we're with you. All the way. No matter how impossible it seems, we'll help you make it happen."
Ash nodded. "Yeah. We're going to build the strongest crew this world has ever seen. And when the time comes… we'll beat the hell out of the Rikoru."
Raiden looked at them, his expression unreadable. Then, a slow grin spread across his face.
"Then it's settled," he said. He turned back toward the ocean, the wind ruffling his hair. "From this moment on… this is our journey to freedom."
End of Chapter 47