Spirit, an Unreachable Promise

Bai Cangshu had not expected that this girl was not as naive as he had imagined. On the contrary, she knew everything, whether it was Leo and the other Marines’ attitudes or Old Hank’s occasional slips of the tongue.

She had vaguely guessed that Captain Corey might have encountered something terrible and dangerous.

Just like her father and mother, who had once fallen in these streets.

Those pitch-black corpses had shattered all over the ground at the slightest touch. They were the nightmare Cindy often remembered.

She was terrified that one day, in some corner of this island, she would see Captain Corey appear, his entire body blackened.

"Do you know where he is?"

Cindy nodded, then quickly shook her head.

"I… don’t know."

"But I heard that everyone who resisted that lord and didn’t die was locked up by God’s Guard, hidden inside the forbidden zone."

"The aunties at the market also said that, aside from the current temple, that lord demands a great deal more food."

Hearing this, Bai Cangshu’s gaze shifted. He suddenly thought of a way to break the deadlock.

The root of his current predicament was that Enel’s abilities were simply too powerful, while he himself was effectively trapped on this island.

Unlike in The Boys World, Bai Cangshu could not move around freely or find enough room to leverage outside forces.

Even though Bai Cangshu knew that Enel was powerful, his martial arts and physical constitution were not truly insurmountable.

As long as he could bring in elite Vice Admirals from Marine Headquarters to lead the charge, or elite pirates roaming the New World, there was a considerable chance that a joint ambush by Haki experts could eliminate Enel before the other reincarnators entered this world.

Moreover, as long as other forces intervened, Bai Cangshu would have plenty of room to maneuver. Although Enel was not an ideal target to exploit, the man might be stupid, but he believed from the bottom of his heart that he was a god. That arrogance meant he would never treat anyone else as an equal to communicate with.

Even when the four priests who had followed him from the beginning were defeated, he showed not the slightest bit of sympathy.

"Hey, big guy, are you listening?!"

Cindy kept jumping and waving her hands. Bai Cangshu casually lifted her up and set her on a nearby chair before speaking.

"I can’t save everyone. But if I run into your Captain Corey, I’ll save him while I’m at it."

Bai Cangshu felt no guilt whatsoever for deceiving a child. In fact, he had never experienced guilt in his life.

Cindy was overjoyed and promptly told Bai Cangshu where the tough figures in town usually operated.

Bai Cangshu noted them down one by one. There really were still some people left in God’s Country.

The first people to stand up against Enel had not been pirates or any organized groups, but ordinary people led by Public Order Officers.

After Enel slaughtered them all with his invincible power, neither pirates nor anyone else had the courage to resist again.

They could only secretly try to contact the outside world or flee.

But the terrifying part of Enel was that his Mantra actually used radio waves to perceive additional information.

Thus, anyone who sent out communications was immediately subjected to Divine Punishment.

Crackle!

As they spoke, a bolt of Blazing White lightning fell from the sky.

Bai Cangshu turned his head and saw the lightning strike several kilometers away. A four- or five-story building instantly vanished into ash.

Cries of alarm and panic followed.

Cindy covered her mouth as well.

"That’s City Hall!"

"Big guy, be careful! I have to go see whether anyone needs Cindy’s help!"

The girl pushed open the door and swiftly disappeared around the corner.

Bai Cangshu sat by the window, experiencing for the first time from an observer’s perspective Enel’s strength and the fear of this world’s Plot Characters.

He saw it clearly. That Thunder Dragon-like flash of light had completely destroyed a building over ten meters tall and covering more than three hundred square meters in less than a fraction of a second.

The people inside probably had no chance of survival. And among those passing nearby, how many had been carbonized by the high voltage simply because they happened to be there?

The lucky ones might survive, only to lose limbs. The unlucky ones died outright.

In Enel’s hands, human lives truly were nothing more than numbers.

Enel had attacked from who knew how far away. He likely felt nothing at all as he killed them.

That was probably why the people of this world were too afraid even to speak his name.

A so-called god…

Bai Cangshu recalled Shen Wulong’s unique Yoga Breathing Method.

He had never been able to do it before, because the essence of that breathing method was actually a special ability that allowed cells themselves to begin breathing, transforming a human into a peculiar life-form.

No breathing was needed, nor was a heartbeat. All nourishment was obtained by the cells themselves, and consumption was extremely low.

Even without using that special reincarnation ability, Shen Wulong’s lifespan was probably far longer than that of an ordinary person.

Bai Cangshu’s body had now completely surpassed the realm of ordinary humans as well.

Whether it was the quantity, density, and strength of his muscles, or the number of bones, the number of joints, the strength of his joints, the strength of his internal organs, the resilience of his cells, the strength of his blood vessel walls…

Everything had completely exceeded the bounds of ordinary humans.

Bai Cangshu pressed his left hand against the artery in his neck. Intense pressure appeared, and then the blood supply from his heart slowly stopped. His heartbeat gradually slowed, while his breathing faded until it was almost nonexistent.

Bai Cangshu felt darkness creep into his vision, but he restrained his body’s instinctive urge to breathe. The force in his hand grew stronger and stronger, as though he were trying to kill himself.

Bai Cangshu kept recalling the sensation after Bloodline Refinement, when he had been immersed in dense vitality and every cell in his body had awakened, greedily breathing.

He continuously tried to activate that special "sense."

Hoo…

In this unusual state, Bai Cangshu’s vision and other senses weakened somewhat. In exchange, his breathing and heartbeat dropped to the exaggerated frequency of roughly once every two minutes.

But Bai Cangshu was still dissatisfied. He had not managed to master Shen Wulong’s special Yoga Breathing Method. What he was displaying now was merely his body entering something similar to a power-saving mode in response to these unusual conditions.

His physical capabilities were greatly reduced, correspondingly lowering all forms of bodily consumption and producing the effect of nearly eliminating his breathing and heartbeat.

Naturally, Bai Cangshu was not doing this merely to demonstrate his physical traits.

He pushed open the door, walked into the streets outside, then turned directly toward the collapsed district covered by enormous leaves.

Enel’s Mantra was an extraordinarily powerful form of Observation Haki created by combining the Observation Haki naturally awakened by some Sky Island residents with his Rumble-Rumble Fruit ability.

Generally speaking, Observation Haki allowed its user to perceive enemies’ movements beyond their field of vision and, in battle, read their opponent’s next move.

But in the hands of the Sky Island priests and Enel, Observation Haki had been developed further. The ability to detect enemies beyond one’s field of vision had been enhanced into a kind of long-range sight.

The priests could all "see" the traces of enemies throughout God’s Island.

Enel, meanwhile, could perceive the entire country formed from several Sky Islands. His ability was more terrifying and more precise than the priests’, who had to deliberately use their powers to "see."

Enel’s Mantra was like an all-weather sensor automatically activated at all times, capable of detecting unusual movements and the people who spoke badly of him.

This allowed Enel to completely control the entire territory no matter where he was, making him a true god in a certain sense.

If Bai Cangshu wanted to move about freely, he had to ensure that he could hide from Enel’s Mantra.

That was why he had performed this seemingly pointless act of "self-harm."

Bai Cangshu’s footsteps were light, and he moved quickly. At this moment, he was like a ghost that did not exist within Enel’s Mantra. So long as he did not create a disturbance that drew Enel’s attention, he had, to a certain extent, escaped Enel’s threat.

Bai Cangshu arrived at the side facing the sea. The refined Western-style houses here had completely collapsed. The cause was not only lightning strikes, but also the overturning of an entire mountain. Earth and rock had poured down from a slope hundreds of meters high, filling the sea itself.

Above that slanted mountain, a vine so enormous it nearly inspired a fear of giant objects had crashed crookedly onto the hillside.

Its leaves alone each covered nearly one hundred square meters. It resembled the legendary vine that could allow people to climb into the sky.

And atop the fallen mountain lay an equally enormous snake. A gigantic golden fork had firmly nailed it to the ridge.

Bai Cangshu guessed that during the battle that day, the huge python known as the Lord of the Sky had gone berserk after falling from the heavens, so Enel had killed it.

Hiss…

Bai Cangshu heard a sound like the wind. His pupils contracted. This snake was still alive?!

According to Cindy’s description, that terrifying fall from the sky had happened two years ago.

This snake had likely fought Enel only after the Golden Ark fell from the sky.

It had been nailed here for nearly two years, yet it had not completely died?

Bai Cangshu’s gaze flickered. With a light step, he ascended the ruined hill mixed with soil from the former Jaya Island.

At this moment, Bai Cangshu’s heartbeat and breathing had almost completely vanished, and his movements were as weightless as air. He stepped into this forbidden zone like a creature that did not exist.

With another light step, Bai Cangshu suddenly spread his arms. The brief flight ability granted by Rakshasa Ghost allowed him to launch himself upward with a push of his feet, floating high into the air and flying directly toward the mountain.

A moment later, Bai Cangshu landed near the giant python’s neck. He could now see clearly that the Lord of the Sky, which had lived for more than four hundred years, truly was not dead yet. Like all snakes, it clung tenaciously to life.

Bai Cangshu raised a hand and pointed at the snake from afar. Intense qi began to gather.

"Could you not kill it?"

A voice suddenly rang out, and Bai Cangshu’s pupils contracted.

His perception might not have rivaled Observation Haki, but he could clearly hear even a needle hitting the ground within ten meters.

Yet at this moment, that voice had clearly come from less than two meters behind him.

And Bai Cangshu had not heard any breathing, pulse, or heartbeat.

He did not believe there could be a Plot Character in this world capable of such a thing. Every muscle in Bai Cangshu’s body tightened as he slowly turned around. A thick fog had unknowingly spread across the sea behind him, and within it stood a faint, indistinct figure less than two meters away.

A peculiar sensation emerged. Along with the fog, the temperature had unknowingly dropped considerably.

Bai Cangshu’s thoughts stirred, and he immediately understood what he had encountered.

A spirit…

"This is the first time I’ve met someone who isn’t afraid of me…"

A gust of wind blew in, and the thick fog completely enveloped Bai Cangshu. Yet somehow, he could clearly see the man’s appearance.

He had a brown ponytail and wore a Marine cap at an angle. He did not have the Cloak of Justice unique to officers of commander rank and above, so it was obvious that his actual rank was not high.

"You are… Officer Corey, the one Cindy mentioned?"

Bai Cangshu’s calmness and sharpness seemed to catch the Ghost Marine off guard. He spread his hands with a bitter smile.

"Ha… so you met that little one."

"Is she healthy? I hope she’s been living well…"

Just as Bai Cangshu had anticipated, and just as the girl had feared, the Marine captain whom she believed would one day return with reinforcements to save everyone had already died long ago.

Bai Cangshu lowered his eyes.

"She’s doing well."

Just as the ghost’s expression began to ease, Bai Cangshu continued.

"Following the orders Officer Corey left behind, she has kept helping those crippled by lightning strikes. She hides them in the sewers, steals food from the market every day, and keeps them alive."

"At this very moment, she is still doing that."

A violent wind suddenly swept in from the sea, churning the white fog behind the man until it nearly lost its shape. His form became unstable too, as though he might be torn apart and scattered by the gale at any moment.

"She…"

"I only wanted… for her to live well…"

In the violent wind, the ghost covered his face. He seemed to be sobbing bitterly, but no sound came out.

Something cold was carried by the wind and landed on Bai Cangshu’s hand.

"She said it was Captain Corey’s promise to Team Member Cindy."

Bai Cangshu added expressionlessly.

Corey remembered his previous actions. He had truly been weak and naive.

He had merely detected some abnormal signals during a patrol mission, yet he had been inexplicably drawn closer to these waters. Then, just as inexplicably, he had led his teammates onto this island.

In the end, while fleeing for his life, he had still tried to play the hero. With a promise he could never fulfill, he had made a girl risk her life and struggle through endless days of waiting.

"I… was so weak!"

"I was too full of myself."

He recalled how, due to his modest talent, he had been given the chance to train at Marine Headquarters. Yet he had become complacent, missing the opportunity to learn real skills. He had returned to his branch with only superficial knowledge, still dreaming of becoming a hero.

Only now did he dare admit that it had never been some inexplicable impulse. At every moment, he had fantasized about finding a great crisis, stepping forward, saving everyone, and becoming a hero like Vice Admiral Garp.

But the result… was that all his friends had become charred corpses…

He looked at Bai Cangshu, then suddenly stepped forward and raised both hands.

Bai Cangshu’s arm turned cold as an extremely peculiar sensation appeared.

You have completed the Milestone: Spirit Toucher (Rare)

Spirit Toucher (Rare): You can sense the existence of spirits and freely touch them. Your attacks can no longer be ignored by spirit creatures, and your spiritual strength increases slightly.

"Can you help me?"

"Please!"

You have triggered the Hidden Side Quest: Unfulfilled Promise