Chapter Fifty-Four: Pros and Cons

Mary Geoise, the Holy Land.

Within an extravagantly luxurious castle, Tiger struck down a masked Celestial Dragon with a single punch. As he watched that figure fall in disgrace, his bloodshot eyes flickered with hesitation. After a deep sigh, he still lacked the courage that Chu Yi possessed; he could not bring himself to kill the unconscious Celestial Dragon lying before him.

While silently lamenting, Tiger questioned himself in his heart: what exactly was he afraid of?

But the situation left no room for hesitation. Having spared the unconscious Celestial Dragon, Tiger glanced indifferently at the group of Celestial Dragon’s henchmen he had felled, then turned to Hancock and asked, “Young lady, are you certain your sisters are imprisoned here?”

“Yes, absolutely!” Hancock, just one step away from rescuing her sisters, was visibly excited, nodding eagerly. “Tiger, I know the places where they might be held. Follow me!”

“Alright.” Nodding, Tiger had barely taken a step forward when a cold sneer curled at his lips.

“Another bunch of lackeys willing to serve the Celestial Dragons, are you?” he thought. “To kill you, I don’t need the slightest hesitation!”

With that, Tiger unleashed a fierce punch—his signature Wild Grass Brick Fist.

A thunderous boom resounded, the force of his blow scattering like a storm. Wherever that gust swept through, not a single Celestial Dragon’s minion could withstand its terrifying power; none were left standing before Tiger and Hancock.

With a single Wild Grass Brick Fist, Tiger cleared the path of all obstacles. He hurriedly followed Hancock’s lead, and soon the two arrived before a sealed room.

A lock barred the door, but such a trivial impediment was nothing for Tiger. With a gentle squeeze, he snapped the lock with ease. Yet as Tiger stepped inside, his chest swelled with righteous fury at the sight of the room’s array of torture devices, his fists clenching tightly once more.

There was no doubt: this was the place where the Celestial Dragons unleashed their beastly nature, tormenting slaves with countless instruments of cruelty.

Within several cages in the room, slaves languished on the verge of death, tortured nearly to their last breath by the Celestial Dragons. As Hancock entered, concern filled her eyes—she clearly feared what fate might have befallen her sisters, fearing they would not survive the brutal punishments and perish in this haunted place.

“Don’t worry, young lady,” Tiger comforted, “fortune favors the worthy. Your sisters will be safe.”

“Let’s hope so.” Searching among the cages for the familiar figures she longed for, Hancock quickly cried out with delight, her eyes still clouded with worry:

“Sandersonia! Marigold!”

“Sister! You… you’ve come back!” Seeing her two sisters, battered and scarred, tears flooded Hancock’s eyes. For a moment, she forgot all else, rushing forward to struggle against the cage locks with her frail shoulders.

But it was Tiger who stepped up. Seeing Hancock unable to break the locks, he helped her release her sisters.

The three sisters, reunited after so long, were overcome with joy. Yet recalling the suffering they endured at the hands of the Celestial Dragons, their boundless happiness soon melted into bittersweet tears.

Tiger watched as Hancock and her sisters sobbed together. He intended to give them time to vent their emotions, but thoughts of Chu Yi still battling in peril pressed upon him. Anxious, Tiger frowned slightly and said, “Young lady, now is not the time for reunion and stories. Don’t forget, that boy is still buying us time!”

“Compose yourself, take your sisters, and leave this place first!”

“You’re right, Tiger.” Wiping her tears, Hancock urged her sisters, “Sandersonia, Marigold, hurry! We must escape this cursed place!”

“But sister…” Sandersonia, her green hair falling over saddened eyes, replied gloomily, “Even if we escape, won’t the Celestial Dragons just catch us again?”

“Don’t say such foolish things!” Hancock refuted her firmly. Thinking of that dependable figure, she smiled, “We are not the same as before. With him by our side…”

“No one will ever separate us three sisters again!”

As Sandersonia and Marigold wondered secretly about the identity of “him” in their sister’s words, Hancock took their hands and turned to Tiger. “Let’s go, Tiger!”

“Indeed. But before we leave, there is something I must do. Wait outside for me.”

“Alright!”

With that, Hancock led her sisters out of the castle. Minutes later, thick black smoke rose from the Celestial Dragon’s stronghold, billowing skyward.

It was obvious what Tiger had done: he freed the slaves and destroyed the nightmare castle that had imprisoned them.

Only when their chains were truly broken could these enslaved souls be reborn. Only then could those who escaped believe in life again.

After indulging himself in destruction, following Chu Yi’s example, Tiger returned to Hancock and her sisters with a faint smile on his face; clearly, he was in high spirits, and even the fear he once held for the Celestial Dragons had faded somewhat.

But just as Tiger emerged from the burning castle and rejoined Hancock and her sisters, ready to recount his deeds with a smile, he suddenly caught sight of a rolling white mist in the distance. It stunned him, making him stand frozen in place.

“That’s… that’s the boy’s aura!”

“But why is it so scattered now?”

Staring blankly for several seconds, Tiger narrowed his eyes, as if struck by a sudden realization. He turned to Hancock and the others. “Young lady, for now, let’s not join up with the boy. I suspect he doesn’t wish to be disturbed. While he fights desperately against the Navy, let us…”

“Liberate even more who yearn for freedom!”

With those words—and under the admiring gazes of Sandersonia and Marigold—Tiger and Hancock set out down the road ahead, beginning their mission of freeing the slaves.

Meanwhile...

When Chu Yi first used the power of his sixth awakening, creating tens of thousands of shadow clones and standing before the assembled Navy officers...

A chorus of astonished cries erupted. The Navy, which had previously enjoyed a numerical advantage, found their superiority instantly erased!

Not only were the Navy officers stunned that Chu Yi could use his abilities to neutralize their numbers, even Rob Lucci was utterly unprepared for the monstrous power Chu Yi possessed after his sixth awakening—able to summon a veritable army of clones in an instant!

Now, with countless shadow clones standing before the Navy, each officer stared in shock at the figures mirroring Chu Yi, and even Chu Yi himself felt his vanity swell, a faint smile playing at his lips.

But just as his legion of clones stood intimidatingly before the Navy—numbers alone striking fear into their hearts—Chu Yi was about to charge forward, unleashing a new wave of slaughter with his clones. Suddenly, a searing pain tore through his head, causing him to collapse and half-kneel on the ground!

“Is this… is this the price for creating too many shadow clones?”