Just then, Dr. Clover came over on his cane, supported by several scholars.
He bowed deeply to Rain.
"Thank you for saving our lives," he said sincerely. "But… the World Government has issued a Buster Call on us. Across the entire sea… there is nowhere left for us to stand. You saved us, but where can we go now?"
Despair still weighed on everyone.
"No."
Rain shook his head. "I know a place. A place that's absolutely safe—and perfect for you to continue your research in peace."
He lifted his gaze as if piercing through smoke and fire to look into the sky.
"Once Lady Olvia's wounds are stabilized, we move."
For the first time, a faint light of hope truly reached the scholars' hearts.
Rain turned back, wasting no time, and began issuing orders to Smoker and Rosinante.
"The plan is simple. Smoker—you create a wide smoke screen and wrap everyone in it. Rosinante—you erase all sound. We have to break out to the port without being noticed."
He paused, then added, "I'll handle any 'small problems' we run into."
Hearing this, Rosinante felt like his ability was finally going to matter. He nodded hard, eager to prove himself, and immediately activated his power.
"Silent Zone!"
An invisible circular field expanded in an instant.
Wind, fire, cannon blasts, the scholars' voices, crying—everything was hit with a mute button.
The scholars who had been talking suddenly realized they couldn't make a sound. They opened their mouths in panic, seeing only silent lip movements.
A fresh wave of fear spread.
Rain tried to speak too—and realized no sound came out.
Veins bulged on his forehead.
Thud!
He swung around and hammered Rosinante in the back of the head.
"Ugh—!" Rosinante's eyes rolled.
Rain mouthed a furious silent roar: "I-DI-OT!! A-LEAST LET ME EX-PLAIN TO THEM FIRST BEFORE YOU TURN IT ON!!"
"Ah—sorry!" Rosinante finally realized what he'd done and hurriedly shut the ability off.
Noise crashed back in.
The scholars froze, then erupted into even louder chaos, staring at Rain and Rosinante and instinctively backing away.
"W-what just happened?"
"Why couldn't we speak?"
"Is… is that a Devil Fruit ability?"
That fear of the unknown only lasted a few seconds before it was swallowed by something bigger.
"Ah—!!"
An elderly scholar suddenly turned toward the burning Tree of Knowledge. Tears streamed down his wrinkled face as he charged over and grabbed Rain's sleeve, begging in despair:
"The Tree of Knowledge is still burning! Please—help us! Everything we've built is in there!"
"Yes! I have to go back—those manuscripts weren't copied!"
"Let us go back!"
"Death isn't what matters—knowledge must survive!"
His words lit the fuse. Other scholars grew frantic too, trying to rush back without thinking. To them, the burning tree hurt more than their own deaths.
"Everybody, stop right the hell there!"
Rain's shout was loud enough to cut through even the distant cannonfire.
"Books?! You're still thinking about books?!"
"Books are just containers for knowledge! They're dead! You're alive!"
"If you live, knowledge lives! If you die, even if those books survive, they're just scrap paper for future generations to stare at!"
He pointed at the burning tree, voice hard with unquestionable authority.
"Human wisdom and legacy live in your heads—not on paper! If you survive, you'll create ten times, a hundred times what was in there!"
"Now listen to me!!"
The scholars froze under his roar. Their faces were still twisted with grief, but the madness drained away, replaced by the will to survive.
Rain quickly explained the smoke-and-silence breakout plan and sternly warned them not to fall behind no matter what happened.
Faced with death and a sliver of hope, the scholars showed astonishing discipline.
"Smoker!"
"White smoke!" Smoker turned his arms into smoke and generated a massive fog bank, like a moving white wall that swallowed dozens of scholars inside.
"Rosinante!"
"Silent Zone!" Rosinante activated his power again—this time wiser, carefully keeping the field inside the smoke.
"Move!"
Rain waved, taking the lead. The group advanced in silence, hidden by smoke, toward the port.
By the way… Rain scanned the chaos with Observation Haki. Where's Vice Admiral Saul? Why isn't he showing up like he should? Whatever. If I remember right, even though Kuzan freezes him later, he doesn't actually die…
The combo worked frighteningly well.
Ohara was already in total chaos. Marines were busy with bombardment and containment. A "silent mass of smoke" moving through the confusion didn't stand out—if anything, it looked like smoke stirred up by shells.
After ten-plus minutes, the port was finally visible in the distance.
Just as relief began to rise—
Rain suddenly stopped.
Smoker and Rosinante halted too, looking at him in confusion.
Rain didn't answer. He only lifted his head, looking toward the rear of the group.
The temperature… was dropping.
Rain's powerful Observation Haki spread like a radar net over the island.
Behind them, not far away—coming from the opposite side of the island—a strong, icy presence was racing along the coastline at an unbelievable speed.
Cold. Powerful. No doubt about it.
"Kuzan."
Rain went numb.
I knew it wouldn't be this easy.
That presence is aimed straight at us—like he knew from the start we were here. Rain could feel it clearly: Kuzan's chilling aura was moving directly toward their smoke cloud with no deviation at all.
Where the hell is Saul?! Rain screamed internally. This is the part where you're supposed to show up and stall him!
Realizing no help was coming, Rain's mind ran at full speed.
If I don't stop him, at his speed he'll catch us in under a minute.
What do I do…
He hesitated less than a second.
Damn it. He hardened his resolve and glanced at his status panel.
So what if it's Kuzan? He's "only" a vice admiral right now! My blade isn't dull.
If he really pushes me, I'll break a leg twenty years early!
He grabbed Rosinante and motioned for him to drop the ability.
Rosinante didn't understand, but obeyed instantly.
The moment sound returned, Rain spoke as fast as he could:
"You two keep moving. We've got a tail—I'll deal with it. Get everyone to the port, find the biggest ship you can, and try to leave Ohara. I'll catch up. Trust me."
"Rain?! You—" Smoker blurted, shocked.
Rain didn't give them time to argue.
He turned and, without looking back, flickered away—running alone into the smoke, straight toward the incoming presence.
~~~
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