Emporio Ivankov froze. He was the backbone of this small team; when he stopped, the others stopped with him.
He looked up at the man radiating Holy Light. To the slaves, York looked like a descending angel. To the pirates, he looked like a demon.
"You... who are you?!" Ivankov stammered.
"Me? I'm a Pirate."
York smiled. He reached into his burlap sack and pulled out a fruit. It was grey, shaped like a bear's paw.
"Are you going to the central plaza for this?"
"The Paw-Paw Fruit!!"
Ivankov gasped. Behind him, Ginny and Kuma stared with wide eyes.
"That's it!" Ginny whispered. "That's the hope of leaving this island!!"
York tossed the fruit gently in his hand. Ivankov lunged for it, but York sidestepped effortlessly.
"Want it?"
Ivankov hit the dirt, gritting his teeth. The other children swallowed hard, fear and desire warring in their eyes.
"If you want it," York said, his voice smooth as silk, "you have to come with me. I can take you off this island."
The children hesitated. They had just escaped one master; were they trading for another?
Ivankov's eyes flickered. He looked at his terrified friends. He made the call.
"Alright! We go with you! As long as you get us out of this hell!!"
York nodded, pleased. 'Decisive. As expected of the future Queen of Kamabakka.'
He scanned the group, his gaze landing on a massive, shy boy with bear ears.
"I heard there's a rare Buccaneer survivor among the escapees. Who is it?"
"I... I am..."
Bartholomew Kuma raised a trembling hand. He stepped forward, shielding the smaller kids.
"If... if you're going to kill someone... kill me. Please let the others go."
York chuckled.
"Who said I was going to kill anyone? What's your name, boy?"
"Kuma... Bartholomew Kuma..."
"Excellent! Kuma Boy! This fruit is yours!"
York threw the legendary fruit. Kuma caught it, stunned.
"Of course, it's not free," York added, his eyes narrowing.
He pointed at Ivankov and the pink-haired girl.
"After you eat the fruit, you can save everyone here. But you, big head. And you, the girl who leaked the intel... Ginny, right?"
Ginny stepped forward, trembling. "It was me..."
"Good. You three belong to me now."
York grinned.
"I save your lives. You give me your loyalty. Is that a fair trade?"
The future founders of the Revolutionary Army looked at each other.
"Alright!" Ivankov shouted. "We accept!!"
He turned to Kuma.
"Kuma! Eat it! Quickly! Use the power to send everyone away! As long as one person escapes, we win!!"
Kuma didn't hesitate. He bit into the swirling gray fruit.
"Ugh~~~ It's disgusting..."
He gagged, but swallowed it down.
He looked at his hands. Soft, pink paw pads had appeared on his palms. He gently patted a nearby rock.
POP.
The rock vanished, shot into the sky at light speed.
"Amazing..."
"No time for awe!" Ivankov yelled. "Save them!"
Kuma began to work. He tapped slave after slave.
POP. POP. POP.
Men, women, and children vanished, sent flying toward safe islands far away from God Valley.
York watched with satisfaction. He had just secured three of the most talented individuals of the next era.
"Let's go," York ordered. "Take me to the other hideouts. I'm looking for a specific child."
As they moved, Shakky walked beside York. She had been silent until now.
"I didn't expect you to have such a side," she murmured. "Saving children? It doesn't fit the 'Villain' image."
"Good and evil are matters of perspective, Shakky," York replied without looking back. "I have many secrets. You have a lifetime to discover them."
Shakky fell silent.
She was conflicted. She had hoped Rayleigh would be her savior. Instead, it was this ambitious, complex monster.
She feared becoming another Gloriosa—a woman defined by her devotion to him. But looking at his back... she wondered if she had a choice.
Guided by the trio, they found dozens of hiding spots. Kuma sent them all away.
York asked every group: "Do you know a child named Teach?"
No one did.
Suddenly.
RUMBLE...
A terrifying, heartbreaking wave of Conqueror's Haki swept across the entire island. It wasn't aggressive; it was pure grief.
"AHHHH!!! ALICE!!!"
Rocks D. Xebec's scream tore through the sky. It was the sound of a man whose soul had just been ripped out.
York froze. His eyes narrowed.
"Something happened."
He looked at Shakky. She nodded firmly. "Rocks took care of me. I won't run."
York turned to the three children.
"You three. Run. Hide on the coast. Wait for my signal."
"The battle coming up... is not for children. Even I might die."
He grabbed Ivankov's shoulder.
"Remember. You accepted my deal. Even if you run to the ends of the earth... I will find you."
York grabbed Shakky and vanished, sprinting toward the source of the scream.
Ivankov watched him go.
"Save people first!" Ivankov commanded, shaking off the fear. "We owe that pirate. We pay him back later!"
Meanwhile, near the canyon entrance.
The Rocks Pirates felt the Haki wave. They heard the scream.
Whitebeard stopped fighting the traitorous pirates. He looked toward the center of the island.
"Rocks..."
He knew that scream. It was the sound of a father losing everything.
Whitebeard's eyes hardened. He gripped Murakumogiri.
"Get out of my way."
He swung the bisento horizontally.
CRACK.
The air itself shattered like glass.
A massive shockwave erupted, tearing through the forest, the buildings, the Marines, and the pirates.
Everything in a 180-degree radius was obliterated, clearing a straight path to the Captain.
"MOVE!" Whitebeard roared to his crew. "TO ROCKS!"
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