"What do I do, what do I do…"
Xiao Kaka whispered under her breath as the stream erupted.
[ Oh come on—how unlucky can she be?! ]
[ She just found a crew that vibes with her, and boom—runs into the Hild Pirates again. ]
[ Kaka's luck is actually cursed. ]
[ This is ridiculous. ]
[ Sea Breeze, get out here. Did you set this up on purpose? ]
[ Or is the map tiny and you had to make Red Hair collide with Hild? ]
[ We were enjoying wholesome vibes and you throw drama at us?! ]
[ @SeaBreeze—show yourselves and take your licks! ]
The chat scrolled in a fury. Beauty was what everyone wanted; nobody accepted seeing it shattered.
"What's on your mind, little girl?" The bald sub-captain closed in, step by step—less than a meter away now. Kaka could smell the sour sweat on him. She turned and saw the cruel grin splitting his face.
In that split second—she didn't know where the courage came from—she flung her arms wide and planted herself in front of Benn Beckman.
"Beckman, go—get Shanks and the others off the island. Now!"
"Go! Please, go!"
She was frantic. She could die here—she was a player; she'd respawn. But the Red Hair Pirates? She refused to lose a single one.
"Beckman, move!" She twisted to glare at him when he didn't budge.
Benn looked from her to the bald thug. He couldn't even think of smiling. Something else welled up instead.
Moved.
Kaka didn't know the Red Hair Pirates; the Hild Pirates were the first she'd met at sea, and their evil had carved itself into her bones. Especially this sub-captain—he terrified her from the marrow. And yet she stood in front of Benn and told him to run.
"This girl…"
Benn had no words.
Footsteps pounded up behind her. Shapes filled her peripheral—Shanks at the front, with Lucky Roux, Yasopp, Hongo, and the others at his shoulders.
Kaka spun around. They stood there with gentle smiles, planted like stakes behind her. Her eyes brimmed and finally overflowed.
"I told you to go! Get out of here!"
[ Damn it—why is this suddenly a tearjerker? ]
[ From Kaka's POV, she can respawn. NPCs can't. If they die, that's it. ]
[ Why do I suddenly want to cuss the devs out? ]
[ Same. Curse this Sea Breeze company. ]
[ I found the boss's name: Gu Feng. ]
[ Make it precise then—damn you, Gu Feng! ]
[ Damn you, Gu Feng! ]
Watching the wall of abuse, Li Jing quietly logged out of the official account and switched to a personal one. Anger aside, the numbers made her whistle. Kaka's peak concurrent had been around a million. Tonight, in minutes, they'd rocketed to 1.3 million and were charging toward 1.5.
Gu Feng's rebuild… actually worked?
She kept watching, nerves taut.
On-screen, crowds gathered on both sides. The Hild captain and his men arrived, squaring off against the Red Hair Pirates. Headcount swelled into the hundreds.
Kaka's panic crested. She faced the Red Hair crew and snapped, voice cracking. "What do I even have to do with you? I just hitched a ride!"
"I was going to disembark on this island anyway! We have nothing to do with each other!"
"You idiots—leave! Now!"
No matter how she raged, they didn't move. Heads bowed slightly—not in submission, but in quiet resolve.
Tears streamed down her cheeks. She grabbed Benn's hand. "Vice-captain, please—give the order to pull out. I'm begging you. I'll find you again later. I'll be fine—okay?"
All her hope hung on Benn Beckman. In a single day she'd seen it: the steadiest voice on this ship was his. Even Shanks listened.
But this time… Benn didn't answer. He stood there, cigar in his teeth—then drew the flintlock at his waist, cocked it, and leveled the barrel at the bald sub-captain.
"Hey, you. You're the one who laid hands on our Kaka, right?"
The thug didn't flinch. Pirates got guns pointed at them all the time. He stepped up, pulled his own flintlock, and aimed it right back.
"So you're stepping up for this little girl?"
"She belongs to the Hild Pirates. My prey."
"You dare cross us?"
His bluster made Kaka fall silent. Tears didn't stop, but words did. She knew it had passed the point where she could stop anything.
"Heh." The thug smacked Benn's barrel aside—yet didn't fire his own. A brawl with another pirate crew meant casualties, and he only wanted the girl back. He reached for Kaka, pale hand stretching out, slick with malice.
The chat filled with Don't you dare! and Noooo—!
Bang!
A gunshot split the air.
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