Marineford War: I Will Stand in the Sky

Yone nodded first, then said something that made Judge's expression freeze. "Let's continue discussing the compensation issue."

???

Gaji.

At this moment, Judge's expression was priceless as he stammered, "Lord Hyōrinmaru, that... 'bloodline factor' technology, Sanji, didn't I already give it to you?"

“One thing at a time. I’m a reasonable and honest person. Sanji is part of the deal, that’s true, but as for compensation, you need to give me another person.”

As Yann spoke calmly, his expression beneath the mask actually turned somewhat flushed.

"This...this..."

Judge explained haltingly.

"Lord Hyōrinmaru, for research purposes, Sanji alone is more than enough. As long as he isn't killed on the spot and his blood is slowly extracted, he can be studied for at least several decades given his lifespan."

In an instant, Sanji's face, hidden by the iron helmet, turned completely pale.

Has it been studied for... decades?

What a despairing life that must have been!

How could that bastard Judge say something so casually?!

At this moment, Sanji stared intently at Judge with an unprecedented hatred in his eyes.

Without offering an explanation, Yann continued speaking.

"I don't understand research matters, but I'm a man of integrity. Since I said I would compensate, I will. If you're unwilling..."

Yaen's tone turned cold as he calmly said, "I can kill them all, and then slowly pick out one of their corpses."

In an instant, Judge, who fully understood that Arn possessed this ability, dared not utter a word of rebuttal.

Immediately, as if casually pointing at Reiju, Arn said, "Her it is."

When Yaen pointed at her, Reiju's face immediately turned pale.

As the eldest princess of Germa 66, Reiju has access to almost all of Germa 66's secrets, and naturally knows exactly what the so-called research is all about.

At least in Germa 66's research lab, the human body... is merely an assembly of a large number of materials, and it can be disassembled and reassembled at will.

Once someone is used as a research subject, drawing blood... is only the mildest form of treatment; more often than not...

However, before Reiju could plead with Judge, Judge directly gave the order.

"In that case, Reiju, you should also go with Lord Hyōrinmaru..." (To be continued)

[Chapter 405. Looking forward to tomorrow]

Immediately, under Judge's command, Reiju, whose "follow Judge's orders" had been implanted in her "bloodline factor," began to move almost uncontrollably, stiffly walking step by step to Arn's side.

However, unlike Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji, who had many emotions stripped away, Reiju possesses complete emotions, just like Sanji.

Therefore, Reiju's gaze towards Judge at this moment was also filled with anger and despair.

Judge, however, paid no attention to Reiju's gaze. Instead, he seemed to have suddenly thought of something and gave Reiju a command.

"Reiju, don't embarrass Germa 66. Cooperate with Hyōrinmaru-sama as much as possible. Remember, you need to cooperate in every aspect!"

Judge emphasized the words "in any aspect," subtly conveying a meaning that not only Arn understood, but even Reiju, who was only twelve years old and just beginning to show her beauty, realized it.

Immediately, Reiju's gaze toward Judge became even more furious.

Judge then turned to Arn and spoke, his words clearly intended to win him over.

"Lady Hyōrinmaru, if there's anything Reiju needs to do, just give the order, and Reiju will absolutely obey."

For a moment, Yann could hardly contain the contempt in his eyes for Judge.

Would I, Terfim Yarn, be that kind of man?

Could a beast prey on a twelve-year-old girl? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

However, Arn was too lazy to offer any pointless explanations to Judge, or rather, Judge simply didn't deserve Arn's explanations.

He's just a pathetic wretch, lost in the dream of his ancestors ruling the North Sea for sixty-six days. Or perhaps, having lost all moral compass, he doesn't even understand why his ancestors only ruled the North Sea for sixty-six days.

Immediately, Aon ignored Judge and tossed Sanji into Reiju's arms, saying, "Hold on to Sanji and don't let go."

Reiju's body moved instinctively, and she hugged Sanji tightly in her arms.

Immediately afterwards, the chain at the end of Hyōrinmaru wrapped around Reiju's waist.

As soon as Yan moved, Reiju and Sanji instantly vanished from their spot, turning into afterimages and disappearing into the horizon.

"Whoo~"

Watching Arn leave, Judge couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief, his body completely relaxing as he slumped to the ground, muttering to himself.

"Finally gone."

After a while, Judge, who had gradually regained his composure, looked around and couldn't help but show a look of heartache on his face.

The losses are enormous; even the important giant snails have died—a total of twenty of them.

As a result, Germa 66 lost more than half of its power almost instantly, and it will probably take several years to fully recover.

Not to mention that Reiju, one of Germa 66's greatest masterpieces and already difficult to replicate, was taken away, which made Judge even more heartbroken.

As for Sanji, Judge felt nothing at all. He was just a useless son who couldn't awaken his powers. Keeping him around was just an eyesore. Otherwise, Judge wouldn't have put an iron hood on Sanji and imprisoned him in a cage.

"Tsk, if I had known Hyōrinmaru was this strong, I wouldn't have cared about saving face and would have just handed Sanji over to him..."

Judge muttered to himself, and couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

……

Meanwhile, high above the North Sea, Yann, suppressing the fatigue of traveling for a day and a night, continued to use "Instant Step" to quickly carry Reiju and Sanji back to Sora and Hikari.

Of course, Yan could also choose to let Xiao Jin suffer the hardship of this long-distance flight, and Xiao Jin has accumulated a lot of experience in this area in the past, so crossing the North Sea should be a piece of cake for him.

However, compared to Arn's Instant Step, Xiao Jin's flight speed is relatively much slower.

Although theoretically Sora and Hikari are currently petrified, and delaying treatment wouldn't have any effect, Ahn subconsciously wanted to heal Sora and Hikari as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, Reiju, who was entangled by the chain at the end of Hyōrinmaru, gradually calmed down and began to think of a way to escape.

However, Judge's order to Reiju was to "cooperate with Aon," which meant that Reiju was unable to resist Aon and her body almost subconsciously catered to Aon in every way.

"Damn it..."

Reiju held Sanji tightly as she muttered angrily.

"Reiju, what...what should we do?" Sanji's weak voice rang out in Reiju's arms.

Clearly, inspired by Reiju's earlier words, Sanji rekindled his will to live.

However, Reiju is currently at a loss, and even if she wanted to secretly release Sanji, she couldn't do it.

Just then, a gentle voice rang out in front of them, causing Reiju and Sanji to pause in surprise.

"Don't worry……"

At this moment, Yann no longer feigned coldness and directly reassured everyone in his original voice, "Perhaps you can look forward to tomorrow more than you think."

Having deeply experienced the evil of humanity emanating from her father, Reiju wouldn't easily trust others, she said with a cold laugh.

"Are you looking forward to tomorrow, the tomorrow of having your blood drawn and biopsied?"

“Those were all words spoken by your father. I never said I would cut you into pieces,” Yann replied to Reiju, trying to alleviate his mental exhaustion.

"Ha, my value is merely the 'bloodline factor' sequence within me. Why bother with this pretense now? Do you want the poor wretch being studied to die gratefully to satisfy your own pathetic hypocrisy?" Reiju said sarcastically without any attempt to hide her sarcasm.

"I can't help but feel a little helpless," Ya'en said.

"Indeed, in a sense I need the 'bloodline factor' sequence in your bodies, but that's probably just asking you to help out, it's not as serious as you imagine."

For a moment, even though Reiju subconsciously questioned the intentions of the mysterious man in front of her, a glimmer of hope rose in her heart upon hearing that gentle voice she had never heard before.

As for the relatively simple-minded Sanji, his face, covered by the iron helmet, was already beaming with joy.

After a pause, Yann stopped discussing the issue and instead asked, "Speaking of which, if tomorrow were freedom, what dreams would you pursue?"

dream?

Reiju, who had always been forced to passively follow all of Judge's orders, had never considered such a luxury.

Sanji hesitated for a moment, then mustered his courage and asked the first stranger he had ever met.

"You...you've heard of 'ALL BLUE'? The legendary ocean that contains all kinds of fish!!" (To be continued)

[Chapter 406 The So-Called Dream]

Yann glanced back at Sanji, who was looking at him expectantly, and ruthlessly crushed the child's dream without hesitation.

"Never heard of it..."

Sanji's eyes immediately dimmed.

Meanwhile, Yann continued to explain common sense to Sanji.

"Furthermore, given the geographical structure of this ocean, with the red earth continent dividing it into east and west and the doldrums cutting it off from north to south, it is almost impossible for the so-called 'ALL BLUE' to exist."

Reiju looked at Sanji in her arms, her eyes growing increasingly dim, like a delicate little flower whose dreams had been shattered, and couldn't help but speak up in dissatisfaction.

"Hey, hey, hey, what makes you so sure that no one knows all the secrets of this ocean? Maybe 'ALL BLUE' really does exist somewhere in this ocean?"

After a pause, Reiju turned to Sanji in her arms and said.

"Sanji, I've made up my mind. My dream is to help you find 'All Blue' and show this guy that he's not right."

Hearing this, Sanji was both moved and excited, and asked, "Reiju... do you also believe that 'All Blue' really exists? That sea known as the Dream Sea?"

"Um……"

Listening to the conversation between the two siblings behind him, Yann couldn't help but let a slight smile appear on his face, hidden beneath his mask.

If you give up pursuing your dreams simply because they are denied by so-called authorities and strangers, then such an unwavering dream cannot even be called a fantasy.

Just like how Biacombe always dreamed of one day being able to pilot a "Gundam," dreamed of creating a new and wonderful era on this ocean, and dreamed of finding the strongest woman to be his wife...

Well, that last point isn't that Yann is still hung up on other women, but rather that he's starting to prepare to train Hancock to be the strongest woman in the sea.

Doesn't this also reflect Yann's dedication to his dream?

As for whether "ALL BLUE" truly exists, Arn doesn't know, or perhaps it's just something that doesn't matter, merely a way to amuse children...