Deafening silence filled the room as everyone waited for Cassandra's reaction. Her arms ached as she forced herself not to tie Oya's long neck into a knot. "You're wrong."

Oya glanced around and shrugged. "Can one of you also sense the Truth? The bisected star shining too brightly for its sunspots to be visible, so desperate to avoid drowning in opaque warmth even with the knowledge of its futility, doomed to be snuffed out by the darkness it illuminates? The pebble who can see paradise through a glass-bottomed boat and curses fate for going over waterfall after waterfall despite having full control of the wheel and is now out of its depth? Or maybe the continually counted globule that would freeze if the blowtorch that separated it from its source were pulled away?"

"I don't have time for this," Cassandra snapped. "If you-"

"The withering tree watches every grain of sand as closely as a newly-breached sprout, and the tallest walls and deepest moats are mere wisps compared to blindfolds. One blow is all it takes to knock a stone from mortar before it crumbles to dust. A third hand to count, or perhaps just your open palms, is the fee for the correct prescription spectacles for even monomolecular vision."

Cassandra snorted incredulously when she deciphered Oya's sentences. "Absolutely fucking not. Why the fuck would I do that?"

"Only a beat was necessary for a padlocked book to become a garrulous vermin, ratcatcher."

She unfortunately couldn't deny that. "You're in a wheelchair."

"A torch, a lantern, and a candle in a cellar can all cast light with the same fuel reserves."

Or that. "You know I'll take that literally."

"My breaths are precious."

"So you also know I'll kill you without a second thought if I want to. And I really badly want to."

"What are nooses compared to cliffs?"

"Fine. Any idea where my nakama might be?"

"This is the last star in a dead galaxy."

She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Okay, everyone, meet the new probationary Black Glove Pirate." Cacophonous noises of confusion and disbelief sounded out. "Put her inside, Theo. I'll explain as we go."

"EPIONE Online." Theo lowered herself until her suit was just above Oya, then a bed emerged from just above its pelvis. Two normal-sized arms carefully lifted her out of her wheelchair and onto the bed that was large enough to accommodate her elongated neck, securely strapping her in.

"What is that?" Lyn gushed, agitation temporarily forgotten.

"Triage If One Of You Gets Too Hurt," she explained as the bed retracted. "It's Gyroscopic, So You Shouldn't Feel Much When I Move, And I Made It Big Enough To Accommodate Miserie. Cain's On His Own, But He'll Be Fine."

"Such A Refined-"

Theo correctly interpreted Cassandra's motion across her throat and muted her passenger. "I'll explain on the way." Cain and TITANIDE pushed the ornate gates open to reveal they were inside a colossal glass dome. Another dome rose from the ground some distance away, and another one inside that one. She was pretty sure there were even more domes, but the thick glass made it difficult to determine if she was right.

"Okay, let's try that building over there. To answer your questions: I don't know what she's doing, exactly, but she is correctly determining things about us that nobody could possibly know. Her motivation to join was to get out of here before she dies, and in exchange she will do her part in information gathering. She isn't a real probationary member, though. I have no intention of protecting her or devising plans with her safety in mind."

"How was that at all what she said?" Morgan said.

"Gods, I'm going to hate having her on board," Cassandra grumbled. "Theo, play back what she said sentence by sentence starting with 'the withering tree'."

"The withering tree watches every grain of sand as closely as a newly-breached sprout, and the tallest walls and deepest moats are mere wisps compared to blindfolds."

"What she's saying is how she is running out of time like we are, and we shouldn't ignore what's in front of us."

"One blow is all it takes to knock a stone from mortar before it crumbles to dust."

"She wants to get out of here before she dies."

"A third hand to count, or perhaps just your open palms, is the fee for the correct prescription spectacles for even monomolecular vision."

Cassandra smiled slightly. "I get her Sight if she becomes the eleventh Black Glove Pirate and my tenth crew member."

"Only a beat was necessary for a padlocked book to become a garrulous vermin, ratcatcher."

"She knew so much about me with a single look and knows how much I need personal information about everybody around me."

"A torch, a lantern, and a candle in a cellar can all cast light with the same fuel reserves."

"She's dying anyway, so she'd rather not be stuck in one place. She doesn't care if I protect and shelter her, only that I take her away."

"My breaths are precious."

"Duh." Theo didn't immediately continue the playback. "Really, that's all she was saying: 'duh.'"

"What are nooses compared to cliffs?"

"Once more, death is coming for her soon, and me jumping the gun a bit doesn't matter."

"This is the last star in a dead galaxy."

"She knew nothing outside of that room because she was stuck there. Hey, why are you so sure you're dying soon?"

Oya was unmuted mid-cackle. "-h Eh. Recount Another Whose Heart Has Beaten Over Half A Year Of Years."

Cassandra's eyes widened. "There is absolutely no way you're more than 183 years old."

"Hang on," Alexander's voice cut through the outburst of noise. "You were alive during the Great Age of Pirates? You sailed the same seas as King Roger?"

"King Roger? Eh Eh Eh Eh Eh! 'The First Pirate Monarch' Claimed He, Ignorant That The Crown He Wore Had Been Sanitized Of Any Trace Of Granny Mally. No, The Waters Gol Demarcated In Crayon Were But Clouds Obscuring The Sun."

"Make no mistake, I will be known as the first Pirate Queen. You've obviously been behind bars for decades."

"The World Government Reneged Upon Their Hundred Year Agreement And Forwent Purgatory To Hasten My Ascension."

"Yeah, criminals aren't actually expected to complete hundred year sentences."

"I believe there is a pressing issue that needs to be resolved before we go inside." They slowed to a stop in front of doors to the building at Aisha's words. "How the fuck did you do that?"

"That is actually not a pressing issue. I'm guessing a Devil Fruit." Cassandra kicked one door off its hinges. "Everybody stay alert. Theo, Doc, Lyn, get me something. Anything."

Theo took off in NYMPHE while Lyn collapsed into Aisha's arms. Seconds ticked by before Cassandra felt a slight pressure in her temples. There was a brief exchange of memories before Lyn flew away again. "The land around us looks like your average countryside," Cassandra relayed to her present crew members, "if your average countryside were sectioned off by colossal concentric domes. Heavens Above isn't exactly a facility built in Lustrate, is it? It is the country of Lustrate."

"Eh Eh Eh. Your Stringing Pinned Photos To Blank Pieces Of Paper Befits Your Imagined Self."

"Flattery? Astounding. Government places like this are completely self-sufficient, so somebody has to grow the food and produce raw materials. I was right earlier; at least some prisoners are working to help the island. Even the worst of the worst will think twice when a bit of freedom's on the line. That's why you were at the Nacre Gates instead of locked up in a cell."

"Horizontal Bars Induce As Much Claustrophobia As Constructed Cuboids."

Cassandra recalled how Oya was wearing everyday clothes. "But that still means they don't have a huge military. They still need time to meet up and determine exactly what our objectives are. We're obviously here for a jailbreak, but-"

"Cap! Cap!" Theo landed beside her. "I Found Miserie! Her Whole Situation's Effed Up, So We Gotta Go."

"Lead the way," she ordered. "Doc, keep looking but stay close enough to provide back-up. Or ask for it." Her crew hung onto TITANIDE as it charged towards the entrance to the next dome. "What about Damien?"

"I Still Have No Idea. Are You Sure He's Here?"

That very thought had haunted her since she had learned about Heavens Above. "No. The World Government has more isolated places like this, but I only found one other. I know Miserie was here and Heavens Above sounds an awful lot like Impel Down's counterpart, so I'm just really hoping he is."

"And if he isn't?" Alexander asked, an edge to his voice.

They both knew her answer; he just wanted her to say it out loud. "I'll make a decision if it comes to that," she said evasively. "Right now, we need to focus on what's in front of us. Theo, define 'effed up.'"

Theo thankfully knew now was not the time for a play on words. "They Experiment On Prisoners In The Next Area, The Sphere of Knowledge. We're In The Sphere Of Craft. They've Been Trying To Figure Out How To Replicate Her Voice."

"I fucking knew it!" Cassandra shouted. "No wonder I couldn't find any more information about it. Sorry, keep going."

"They Keep Her Semiconscious If She's Not Asleep And They're Not Doing Experiments So Her Vocal Chords Don't Atrophy, And It Looks Like They've Figured Out Some Way To Keep Her Muscles Active Too Because Her Voice Suffers If She's Not Healthy."

Cassandra sighed, keeping her temper at bay. "I don't really know what I expected. I guess it could be worse. Once we find the lab, everyone but me, Doc, and Theo are going to wait outside. I know it's a risk, but I have to be there. Alexander, you're in charge if I lose my mind."

"Time to see how much you've grown," he joked.

"My immunity to Miserie's emotional manipulation was due to my inability to feel, not my ability at controlling my emotions," Raven droned. "From that perspective, I am the most at risk because I have the least experience doing so. Despite this, my medical knowledge is necessary, and my lack of sensitivity should minimize the possibility of becoming too emotional to function."

"I still need you to gather information," Cassandra told Theo. "Download as much data as you can. Cain will go with HEROINE to relay anything to us."

"Okay."

Cassandra clenched her jaw as they arrived at the deserted gates to the Sphere of Knowledge, experimentally rapping her knuckles against them. "Theo, give me the approximate time needed to open them electronically if you can. Lyn, check if there's an opening mechanism. Morgan, Alexander, check how hard it would be to go through glass. Cain, try pushing one open, but I doubt it'll work so don't strain yourself."

Aisha sidled up as her crew went to work. "I said I wanted to be involved."

"I want to be involved too, but there's nothing we can do at the moment. Those gates are painted Grade A seastone, which hurts us if we force ourselves against them. We can't get through glass fifty meters thick, know how to hack into computer networks, or fly through gatehouse walls. You didn't see it because you were mostly away from us when we were on land, but it's quite rare for all of us to be doing something at all times. There's a fair amount of waiting around."

"And I assume Doc is monitoring us from somewhere."

"She doesn't sleep, so she literally never rests. The only times I've seen her eyes close for more than a blink were when she was seriously injured. Then we have Damien, who does what he wants and makes planning things incredibly frustrating. If I don't find some way to interest him that lines up with my goals, he might help me, but he also might do his own thing and get in my way."

She nodded slowly. "So for Itret…"

"Crossing a featureless desert with the only stars as directional markers while pulling a ship with you, Cain, KYKLOPS, and Miserie's tank on it, not to mention free reign to fight whoever he wanted whenever he wanted, and all he had to do was to behave for a couple hours at an event with tons of food and booze? He was totally on board with that. Then there was the time I promised him a thirty second period where I would give Doc permission to kill him, but only if he didn't fight anybody. He let himself get kidnapped as a result, ruining every plan I had set in motion."

Aisha glanced at Cain as he backed up to scrutinize the gates more carefully. "Were you really going to give them those thirty seconds?"

"Of course not. I knew there was no way he was going to last that long, and he didn't: five days, three of which were at sea. I got a bit worried when he went with the bounty hunters so as not to break the promise, but he got into a fight more or less as soon as I found him. Then there's Miserie, who can't really do anything on dry land. She went inland to get revenge for Lyn once and to Itret because she needed to, but I haven't come across a situation where a plan wouldn't have worked without her. That said, we try to stick to the coastline so she-"

A surge of water spewed from the base of the dome out over the fields, but the droplets vanished before they hit the ground. The pirates waited for the horizontal geyser to eventually subside before poking their heads around the corner. "Our progress is remarkably hastened when I wrap the water away," Morgan explained. "Shall we?"

Once they reached the correct building, Theo shed her suits down to NYMPHE when everyone was ready, a dress for Miserie held in one hand. "ARTEMIS Online. HOMONOIA Online."

Her two largest suits stood up straight, and their faceplates descended to reveal the automated rotary cannons within. HEROINE, on the other hand, started hovering on its own and moved next to Cain. "I thought you hated using multiple bodies at once," Morgan said. "Has that changed?"

"HOMONOIA Is-"

"We need to move," Cassandra interrupted as she kicked the front doors off their hinges.

"-Basically A Partial Digital Copy Of Me!" Theo shouted over her shoulder. HEROINE and Cain ran down one corridor while Cassandra used her senses to determine the most likely path to Miserie's room. The scuff marks indicating foot traffic led her down the busiest hallway, and Theo made short work of any electronic lock that impeded their advance. They adjusted their course when Cain updated them on the building's floor plans and were soon standing in front of a door bearing a big yellow warning sign.

"'EAR PROTECTION IS REQUIRED,'" Theo read. "'UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES CAN SUBJECT BE ALLOWED TO REGAIN FULL CONSCIOUSNESS.'"

She quickly unlocked the door and ran into a room much smaller than expected. Cassandra noticed the shuttered windows in the wall and slammed the button that seemed most likely to open them. Sure enough, the metal plates gradually rose, revealing a larger room. Foam wedges covered every surface, a fine mesh suspended above the ones half a meter below floor level. An illuminated cylindrical tank dominated the center, the thick glass making its nude inhabitant no less recognizable.

Cassandra's cry of fury vanished into the foam as she pulled the wall open. The curve of the glass cylinder indicated it would take her more time than she wanted to spend getting through it, but the domed top suddenly rising towards the ceiling indicated somebody had found the controls. Theo flew over the lip and into the water. Activating her plasma blade, she severed all of the wires and tubes attached to Miserie before jetting back out and landing by Cassandra.

Tears came to Cassandra's eyes as she looked over her nakama. Miserie stared unseeingly upwards, her jaw slack enough to show the sharp triangular teeth she was so insecure about. Her artless fighting style had earned her her share of scars, but countless tiny ones now dotted her skin, their sources obvious as Raven carefully removed the embedded probes and needles. Once her skin was clear, they worked the dress onto her limp body and laid her on the mesh floor.

Seconds ticked agonizingly by until Raven returned with a syringe to counteract the drug keeping her in her stupor. They held their breath as Miserie's muscles - larger than before - twitched here and there. The usually undetectable abrasion scars on the sides of her mouth stood out as blood rushed to her face. Her beautiful dark gold eyes gradually regained their luminosity, focusing a little more with every slow blink. Her face contorted into a frightening grimace, and she opened her mouth wide.

Cassandra had never felt true terror before. She had never experienced true despair. It was impossible to form a coherent thought. Her muscles were tense enough to snap apart, to shatter into countless pieces. Helplessness coursed through her body, washing her energy away cell by cell and leaving emptiness behind. Anguish squeezed her heart until it burst. Loss drained every molecule of air from her lungs, and loneliness filled them with suffocating water.

Blinding, deafening, all-consuming fury, on the other hand, she was an expert in.

It never ended. This was her life now: being killed again and again every fraction of a second without dying. Wait. Had her life ever been different? No. No, it hadn't. That was all she had ever known. She had popped into existence experiencing unbearable agony and would vanish without knowing anything but unbearable agony. Worse than any pain, though, was that tiny indestructible mote of dust called hope, hope that something might be different. It kept her from wanting to die and prolonged her suffering because maybe, just maybe, something would happen and change things.

Somehow, mercifully, the vortex of devastation within her began to ebb. Her return to reality was anything but smooth. She was crying too hard to move, the sobs wracking her body disrupting every attempt she made to get off the floor. Even opening her eyes was an arduous task. An electrifying feeling shot through her head, heart, and left hand as a pair of arms wrapped firmly around her. She clutched Raven with all her might, burying her face into her Sister's shoulder in an appeal for comfort. Theo leapt out of her battlesuit and joined the embrace, wailing at the top of her lungs.

Some time passed before Cassandra's ears stopped ringing and she brought her breathing under control, calming down with each mostly steady breath. Wiping her face on her arm, she gave Raven a thankful squeeze. Her itchy eyes shifted to the trembling mermaid, and she smiled bitterly. "Nice to see you too."

"Those were very negative emotions," Raven stated. "I do not understand how she could tolerate such intense negative emotions."

"That's Miserie for you." Cassandra exhaled shakily and sniffled. "I sure fucking underestimated how strong she'd be. This is what she can do in a soundproofed room? We are totally fucked if she wakes up screaming again. Did you sedate her?"

Raven shook her head once. "As we will not have access to proper medical care or the time to administer it until we return to the Blue Sea, introducing yet another drug into her system is unnecessarily risky. Although I discovered a list of chemicals and determined which ones are currently inside her, I do not know the full effects of that combination when considering her physiology. She cried herself to sleep."

Her galvanized emotions finally settled, Cassandra rubbed her thumbs along Theo's cheeks. "Get in NYMPHE and go straight to Lyn. We'll follow behind you." Once Theo left, she climbed to her feet and gave her face one final wipe before lifting Miserie off the ground. "I hope HOMONOIA got something good after wiping the cameras."

They emerged to find Theo being held by Aisha, Lyn and Alexander at her side. "We could faintly hear her from here," Morgan informed them.

"Cain, I need you to take her. Leave Oya in TITANIDE. I will not have Miserie waking up in an enclosed dark space. She's gone through more than enough."

Cain knelt and carefully gathered Miserie into his arms. "I won't let anything happen to her."

"Doc, be by her side the instant she regains some degree of consciousness. Prioritize that over everything else. I really don't want her doing that again. I'm so sorry, Theo. I wouldn't have taken you if I had known she could do that, but I need to know what you found out."

Although Theo continued to cry, NYMPHE turned to face them. "Damien's In The Middle Sphere, Which Is Called Eutopia. It Gets Two Food Shipments Twice A Week And One With Sundries Every Two Weeks. Those And The Prisoner List Are The Only Digital Information Available. The Rest Must Be On Pen And Paper."

Cassandra climbed TITANIDE, spotting several distant groups of people converging on their location. "Ready up! We've got company!" She retrieved a bandolier of ammunition from a compartment in TITANIDE's head and swapped Haruspex's usual barrel with its larger counterpart. "Fumus Mefitis."

The round burst as it neared one group, raining pale phosphorus upon them. She derived sadistic satisfaction from them staggering to the ground and screaming as the chemical burned their bodies. Instead of continuing their attack, however, the prisoners broke ranks and fled. Cassandra gnashed her teeth. They may have once been fearsome enough that they needed to be erased from history, but years of peaceful living had evidently taken their toll.

"Get back here!" she shouted, continuing her phosphorus barrage. She had another shell in her hand when something blasted through her chest. The sound of the shot reached her as she fell to one knee, and several more rounds bounced futilely off TITANIDE's armor. Her heart and lungs quickly repaired themselves, her ribcage fused back together, and her skin and clothes covered the wound as if it had never existed. "Visum Providentia."

Time slowed to a crawl as she forced her system into overdrive. Although the bullets were traveling too fast for her to shoot them all out of the air, the muzzle flashes still gave away the snipers' positions. Her muscles screamed in protest as she switched Haruspex's barrel again, the larger one drifting slowly downward, and started counter-sniping. She barely faltered when more bullets tore through her, gunning down the shooters until they stopped. Her chest heaved as her perception of time returned to normal, exhaustion fading from her body. She briefly checked her tank top, admiring how blood soaked the fabric except for small circles directly over her former wounds, before monitoring her surroundings once more. "Everyone okay?"

"Like you don't already know," Aisha shouted back.

Cassandra's irritation overrode her amusement. "Theo, I don't mean to be insensitive, but we don't have the luxury of time and HOMONOIA isn't enough right now. I need you to keep it together, move forward, and be ready to fight. What is between us and him?"

"The Remaining Spheres Are Power, Sustenance, Recycling, And Life," she responded shakily.

"So electricity, crops, waste disposal, and… where the good prisoners live?"

"Yes."

She scanned their surroundings again. "So we shouldn't be bothered too much unless we go after those areas. I'd imagine there wouldn't be any near the path between the domes as prisoners are transported-" Everyone froze as the distant gates to the Sphere of Power creaked loudly. Cassandra kept her face impassive when they gradually opened inwards, but a dark chuckle escaped her lips. "I think they want us to stop breaking their stuff."

"Do we go in?" Morgan asked.

"As opposed to what, staying here until they bring Damien to us? Keep moving." The eeriness of the silence in Bed was nothing compared to their unopposed run in the tunnel through the enormous glass dome. "Thought so," she commented as the gates creaked shut behind them and the ones connecting the hallway to the lands beyond swung open. "Why should they fight to subdue us here if we're making a clear beeline to the place they're trying to keep us? Getting back out is going to be the interesting bit."

"And how are we doing that?"

"The simplest way we know how: fighting." Lyn's boredom kept conversation flowing as they traveled inward. Once the gates behind them were fully closed, the gates to the next area opened up. Clumps of prisoners kept well away from the main path, gossiping with one another without a single aggressive movement.

Cassandra gagged and put her hand to her face as they entered the Sphere of Recycling, the stench of landfills, burning trash, and feces being composted into fertilizer. She was all too glad when they were running through the tunnel to the Sphere of Life, air fresheners spread across the walls like they had in the previous tunnel.

She gripped Haruspex as the gates slammed shut. Although the pirates were initially left alone, several prisoners approached when it was clear they weren't affiliated with the prison. Cassandra fired a shot into the air to gain everyone's attention. "Listen up and spread the word! I am Cassandra Libera, captain of the Black Glove Pirates, and I'll kill anyone who gets in my way! I fully intend to walk back out of here, and I couldn't give the slightest fuck about what you do so long as it doesn't impede my escape. If you're thinking of capturing us to get brownie points, don't. If you have questions, keep them to yourself. I would appreciate it, however, if the person who most recently left Eutopia came forth."

The prisoners gave them a wide berth, agitatedly talking amongst themselves. Cassandra kept her ears open as the gates to Eutopia's tunnel began moving. She knocked on TITANIDE's head when they made it to the gates, enhancing her senses to their limits. "Lyn."

Lyn returned a few minutes later. "I didn't see Damien. There's a drawbridge and moat like the one between Bed and Heavens Above. Eutopia itself looks like an urban battlefield split between two sides. It's weird though; none of the prisoners are chained in any way. They all have seastone cuffs, but there aren't any cells."

"Pardon me." The man with virtually black skin didn't blink as a round skimmed his cheek. "If I may shed some light on the situation."

Cassandra dropped to the ground and pressed her rifle against his forehead. "Continue."

"Eutopians are freer than any of us," he said with a deep voice as smooth as expensive alcohol. "They have no rules or restrictions. They do what they like, and what they like to do is fight. The Hybodonts against the Lignites for all eternity unless they are chosen to join the rest of Heavens Above."

She stared down the hallway. "Why were you chosen?"

"I was able to forestall an oncoming crisis determined by which prisoners were being taken."

"How long ago were you chosen?"

"23 years ago."

She pressed her rifle a little harder. "I said I wanted the most recent."

"That person is being located as we speak."

A wire-thin woman soon ran up to them, her hand on her chest as she got her breathing under control. "I'm Bridtah. I got out eight months ago. Everyone newer is out working."

"I'm looking for a man yea tall, has dark brown hair, green eyes, dark skin covered in scars, metal wings, often on fire, never wore a shirt or identified himself by name."

Bridtah goggled at her. "You mean Caltrop?"

"Sure. Is he still alive?"

"Is he still alive?" Bridtah repeated incredulously. "Yeah, I'd put all my money on him still being alive, if I had any." Alexander heaved a sigh of relief. "What do you want from him?"

Cassandra resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Theo, try to keep the gate from closing. Cain, Alexander, Morgan, work on an alternate route so I don't get trapped. KYKLOPS will come with me and stall the interior gate for a bit." Her crew withheld their protests. "Immortality needs a word with him."

"Oh, he's got that covered." Cassandra paused to look at Bridtah. "Everyone's been trying to kill him non-stop since he got here. Literally."

"Sure sounds like Damien," Lyn said.

"His name-" The woman cut herself off when she found herself staring down Haruspex's barrel. "If you're going in there, don't say you're with him. You'll be immediately attacked by both sides."

Lyn nodded sagely. "Yup, definitely Damien."

As much as Cassandra wanted to know more, time was of the essence. She set off down the tunnel with her rifle at the ready. KYKLOPS stomped after her, and the sounds of TITANIDE straining against the gates reverberated all around her. Instead of gates, the far end was sealed with a thick door. When it remained resolutely shut, she analyzed her surroundings. "Let it close!" she shouted back.

Only after the gates fully shut did the door begin to sink into the ground. The chains on the drawbridge rattled loudly as it rotated downwards and the small city inside was revealed. Countless eyes peered at her from the tall buildings, a wide boulevard separating Eutopia into two halves. "Amplify my voice," she told the battlesuit, lifting Skipper's receiver to her mouth and covering one ear. "HEY, DIPSHIT! TIME TO GET OFF YOUR ASS AND BE USEFUL TO ME AGAIN! The Rest Of You, Here's Your Chance To See The Blue Sea Again If You Stay Out Of My Way!"

A brittle silence hung in the air following her announcement. Then, thankfully, a section of the dome nearby turned to water and poured into the endless abyss beneath her feet, growing larger and larger with every passing second. Light blue gas spewed from the vents behind her and ten meters below the edge of Eutopia, prompting a stampede from the prisoners across the bridge. She remained in the tunnel, ready to deal with any maniac who decided attacking her was a better idea than escaping.

As she expected, they veered away en masse and into the growing hole, holding their breath as best they could. She released a small amount of Conqueror's Haki to further dissuade any potential troublemakers. Some remained undeterred, but their throats were slit open and holes were punched into their hearts the instant they separated themselves from the crowd. It wasn't long before a familiar naked figure could be seen ambling unhurriedly along, the prisoners making sure to keep space between themselves and him. He yawned and scratched the back of his neck, and she smiled happily when he stopped in front of her. "Took ya long enough, shitsnorter."