So much had happened in the past few days.
In a recent battle, Trebol and Sugar, who had relied too heavily on their Devil Fruit abilities, were killed in short order once they faced an opponent with Haki.
Their deaths immediately broke the curse of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit, restoring all the citizens and pirates on Dressrosa who had been turned into toys.
However, many of them were killed in the chaos that followed.
Kyros was among the fallen.
He had managed to reunite with Rebecca, and together they had carefully navigated the hordes of the dead, struggling to survive.
Now, their only hope was to seek the aid of the Tontatta Tribe and rescue King Riku from the royal palace.
If they waited until the King's Plateau was overrun, King Riku would surely be killed.
But upon seeing Ryuuto and his crew, Rebecca suddenly had a new idea. Instead of relying on the Tontatta Tribe, whose help might not be enough, she could appeal directly to the Tenryu Pirates.
They were, after all, one of the Four Emperors.
As these thoughts raced through her mind, Rebecca's eyes darted about, a plan clearly forming.
"Captain Ryuuto, I beg you to save the kingdom of Dressrosa!" Rebecca suddenly cast her longsword aside, threw herself to the ground before Ryuuto, and knelt in desperate supplication. Her plea was earnest, her expression pitiable.
"I will do anything you ask, anything at all, if you will just save Dressrosa!"
As she spoke, Rebecca seemed to brace herself for what was to come, turning her face to the side with an air of grim determination.
"We will. We also want to find out what's happened here," Ryuuto said, immediately agreeing. He quickly helped Rebecca to her feet.
"Yes, leave it to us!" Nami added, patting her chest with confidence.
Kyros, however, watched Ryuuto's crew with caution. In his eyes, all pirates were villains. He couldn't believe this group would help them out of the goodness of their hearts.
"Alright, first, tell me everything that's happened here," Ryuuto said softly, patting Rebecca's shoulder twice.
From Rebecca's explanation, Ryuuto and the others learned that these undead beings grew significantly weaker under the sun but became far more vicious at night.
"Captain Ryuuto, it's almost dark!" Rebecca advised from her perspective. "I know a safe place. We can hide there for the night and attack tomorrow during the day!"
Ryuuto had originally planned to end the battle today, confident in his own strength.
Hancock, Van Augur, and the others couldn't help but smile when they heard Rebecca's plan. It was clear she had no idea of their true power.
Hancock and Nami both turned their gazes to Ryuuto, waiting for his decision.
"Hmm... alright, we'll follow your lead. It'll give us a chance to rest and regroup," Ryuuto said after a moment's hesitation. He had wanted to act immediately, but Rebecca's words and the bizarre nature of the situation made him reconsider. He could use the night to investigate why there were so many of these undead.
"Great! Then follow me!" Rebecca exclaimed, her voice filled with surprise and excitement.
She began to feign the movements of an undead, shambling slowly toward Lovers' Lane.
Based on her observations, the undead had mostly abandoned that area, leaving only a few weak stragglers. It was safe now.
Under Rebecca's guidance, the group moved cautiously toward their destination.
The reason for their "caution" was mainly due to Rebecca's own furtive demeanor.
Before long, they arrived at the commercial street known as Lovers' Lane. The street was lined with all sorts of shops themed around couples.
Of course, it was also littered with corpses.
"This is just horrific," Vivi murmured, shaking her head with a pained expression.
By now, the sky had darkened, casting a grim and terrifying pall over the entire island of Dressrosa. The group found a clean inn and each chose a room.
"Captain Ryuuto, we shouldn't wander around tonight!" Rebecca instructed the crew before quickly slipping into her own room.
Ryuuto, for his part, was more curious than concerned.
But since night had fallen, he decided to rest for a while.
"I'm a little scared. I want to sleep with you," Hancock said, speaking up before Ryuuto could even open his door.
"Damn her!" Nami muttered under her breath, clenching her fists.
Vivi was equally annoyed.
'Hancock, how can she be so shameless!' both women thought simultaneously.
But Hancock was prepared. She swiftly pushed Ryuuto into the room, then used her ability to instantly turn the door to stone, firmly blocking Nami and Vivi outside.
Frustrated, Nami and Vivi could only stomp off to their own rooms.
Crocus, Van Augur, and the others exchanged glances before retiring to their quarters as well.
The room Ryuuto had randomly chosen happened to be furnished with a large, round bed.
The moment Hancock entered, her demeanor changed completely.
"Ryuuto, I feel so hot all of a sudden," she purred.
"I'm a little frightened. Can you check on me?"
As she spoke, Hancock began to remove her clothes.
Ryuuto was clearly ready for this and immediately leaned in to kiss her.
In an instant, the room was filled with an amorous atmosphere.
A night of tangled passion ensued.
Pleasant moments always seem to fly by. Ryuuto lay on the soft, round bed, gazing at the moonlit sky. Beside him, Hancock slept soundly.
A faint, satisfied blush still lingered on her cheeks.
'I almost forgot what I was supposed to be doing!' Ryuuto suddenly remembered, slapping his forehead. He had planned to investigate the King's Plateau tonight.
*Crack!*
Just then, a strange sound came from the window.
Hearing the noise, Ryuuto immediately extended his Observation Haki. He was shocked by what he found.
It was Rebecca.
She was clinging to the window ledge with one hand, about to fall.
Her situation looked precarious.
'What is Rebecca doing?!' Ryuuto wondered, utterly confused. But he couldn't just leave her there. If she made any more noise, she would wake Hancock, and that would be difficult to explain.
Without another thought, Ryuuto's figure flickered and vanished from the room.
*Zzzt!*
With a crackle of lightning, both he and Rebecca disappeared from the window.
"Rebecca, what are you doing?"
Standing on the roof of a nearby building, Ryuuto gripped Rebecca's arm and demanded an explanation.
"Didn't you tell me to find you at two in the morning?" Rebecca asked, her voice turning委屈 as she saw his stern expression.
"Me?"
Ryuuto's mind went blank. He was sure he had never said such a thing.
Could it have been when he tapped her shoulder twice?
While Ryuuto was still processing this, Rebecca made her move. She stared at his face for a moment, then lunged forward, tackling him to the rooftop.
*Thud!*
The two of them fell heavily to the ground.
'It doesn't matter! I'll do anything to save Dressrosa! Tonight, I will give Captain Ryuuto my most precious possession! As long as Dressrosa is saved, it's worth it!' Rebecca had thoroughly convinced herself, her logic reaching a perfect, self-contained conclusion.
Of course, her plan showed absolutely no consideration for Ryuuto's own thoughts on the matter.
Before Ryuuto could react, his lips were covered.
'What... what is happening?!'
Ryuuto was completely stunned.
But being a man who respected the wishes of others, he responded to Rebecca's intentions with a powerful feedback of his own.
Under the gentle light of the full moon, a rooftop breeze whispered past as two young people became entangled in the threads of fate.
The location no longer mattered.
The sky was their blanket, the rooftop their bed. It was a moment of pure, primal need.
Another night of passion unfolded.
After some time, Ryuuto finally relaxed, lying flat on the roof and staring up at the quiet sky. He found the day's events to be incredibly surreal.
Beside him lay Rebecca, her skin glowing white in the moonlight.
"This damn misunderstanding!"
'I can't delay any longer. I have to get to the King's Plateau and see what's going on.'
Ryuuto forced himself to rally, shaking his head to clear the chaotic thoughts.
"Can't keep looking."
Muttering to himself, Ryuuto transformed into a bolt of lightning and vanished into the night sky.
*Zzzt!*
With a clap of thunder, the streak of lightning that was Ryuuto appeared almost instantly at the King's Plateau.
A massive battle was raging.
Countless tattered Marines and pirates, their eyes glowing with a green light, charged fearlessly toward the plateau. In the middle of the horde, Ryuuto recognized three familiar figures.
The first was Vice Admiral Onigumo, whom Jean Bart had encountered earlier.
Next was Shiliew of the Rain, his entire body covered in stitched wounds, a sinister green light flickering in his eyes.
The last was the towering figure of Little Oars Jr., standing a full forty meters tall, a conspicuous presence in the crowd. The massive hole in his chest remained.
Seeing this, Ryuuto immediately deduced that these undead were all from the Summit War.
'Could it be Blackbeard?' he wondered. In Ryuuto's mind, Blackbeard was the most likely person capable of such a feat.
*CRASH!*
Before Ryuuto could reach a conclusion, Little Oars Jr. swung his massive blade, colliding with Pica's giant stone golem.
An intense burst of Armament Haki erupted.
The air crackled with black lightning, the power of the impact astonishing.
Nearby, Diamante and Lao G weaved through the battlefield, locked in a struggle with Vice Admiral Onigumo.
Diamante constantly waved a steel sheet that rippled like a flag in front of him. He was a user of the Ripple-Ripple Fruit, a Paramecia-type that allowed him to make any non-living thing he touched become as pliable and flowing as cloth.
Lao G, meanwhile, repeatedly struck with his "G" Stamp.
But their attacks seemed insignificant against Vice Admiral Onigumo, who was using Life Return.
Under the relentless assault of Onigumo's eight-sword style, Diamante and Lao G could only barely defend themselves, forced to retreat step by step.
Elsewhere, Machvise was swimming through the ground, launching attacks at Shiliew of the Rain.
As a user of the Swim-Swim Fruit, a Paramecia-type, Machvise could turn his surroundings into a liquid-like substance that he could swim through freely.
But it was clear his situation was dire.
Not far from him lay the corpse of Dellinger. The chest of the proud half-fish-man youth bore a piercing wound from a sword, and he was well and truly dead.
Although Machvise moved like a ghost beneath the earth, Shiliew's Observation Haki rendered his movements completely transparent.
*CLANG!*
With a sharp ring of steel, Shiliew swung his blade, Raiu, unleashing a terrifying slash that crackled with black lightning, aimed directly at Machvise.
"Not good!"
Machvise immediately dove deeper into the ground, hoping to evade the attack.
But it was too late.
The azure slash arrived in an instant. Before Machvise could fully submerge, he was struck and sent flying. He crashed through countless buildings before finally landing in a heap, motionless.
Next, Shiliew turned his gaze toward another executive of the Donquixote Family: Gladius.
Gladius, a user of the Pop-Pop Fruit, a Paramecia-type, could cause his own body or any inorganic object he touched to swell up like a balloon and then detonate.
The ground, weapons, even the air itself could become his arsenal.
He was currently amidst a crowd of ragged Marine soldiers, setting off a continuous stream of explosions. Each blast took out a swath of the undead, which made Shiliew see him as a major threat.
Baby 5 was also fighting nearby, but she was in a pitiful state, wrapped in bandages, clearly having been injured in a previous fight.
Baby 5 was a user of the Arms-Arms Fruit, a Paramecia-type that allowed her to transform parts of her body into any weapon. She also had a desperate need to be needed.
In other words, she was a terrifyingly devoted romantic.
As for the other executives, they had already perished in the battle.
"Ground Spike Jungle!" Pica's voice rang out, unnervingly high-pitched and comical, a stark contrast to his massive form.
But the attack itself was incredibly powerful. Countless enormous, sharp stone spikes erupted from the ground, shooting toward Little Oars Jr. like a dense forest.
As a user of the Stone-Stone Fruit, a Paramecia-type, Pica could assimilate with and freely manipulate any stone he touched.
However, Little Oars Jr. was unfazed.
He swung his black longsword with immense force. Streaks of Armament Haki, like flashes of lightning, tore across the ground, shattering the stone spikes into pieces.