dmims Chapter 270 Azrael Appears, Everyone Has Their Own Hidden agendas
Chapter 270 Azrael Appears, Everyone Has Their Own Hidden agendas
Chapter 270 Azrael Appears, Everyone Has Their Own Hidden agendas
The wound on Hassan's waist was not deep, but it precisely severed her point of leverage.
The deadly poisonous magic spread with the strike, turning the surrounding seawater an eerie purple, before being quickly diluted by the water flow.
She groaned, staggered, and almost lost her grip on the short blade.
Kojiro did not pursue, but stood firmly in place, the tip of his sword hanging down, his gaze as calm as an ancient well.
"The battle is over," he said. "If you surrender, you may escape death."
"Heh—heh—" Silent Hassan let out a low, cold laugh, which looked particularly eerie through the skull mask.
"Death? You think the Assassins fear death?"
She knelt in the water, her hand covering the wound on her side. Blood seeped from between her fingers, mixing with the venom and turning into wisps of silk that drifted in the water.
"But you are indeed afraid," Kojiro said calmly. "If you weren't afraid, why would you flee? Why would you fight for your life?"
"What do you know!" Silent Hassan suddenly looked up, his eyes beneath the mask gleaming crimson in the dim water.
"The First Lord—he spared us not so that outsiders like you could humiliate us!"
Before she finished speaking, she suddenly reached into her bosom, pulled out a small, black bone vial, and crushed it without hesitation!
A dark substance, far denser than any poisonous fog before, gushed from the broken bottle.
It was neither like a liquid nor a gas, but more like a living shadow, instantly swallowing up the surrounding light and completely enveloping the tranquil Hassan!
Kojiro's eyes sharpened, and he instantly unleashed a horizontal slash!
"Secret Sword - Swallow Return!"
This time, the three sword lights simultaneously blocked all escape routes of the shadowy mass from above, below, left, right, front, and back!
However, when the sword light slashed into the shadow, it was as if it had slashed into the void. There was no real feeling, no sound. The shadow only rippled slightly before continuing to collapse inward.
Then, it disappeared.
Along with the tranquil Hassan, it vanished completely into the harbor's waters.
Only traces of venom that had not completely dissipated in the water remained, along with a floating fragment of a broken bone bottle.
Kojiro did not immediately give chase.
He sheathed his knife, swam closer to the area, and observed it carefully.
"Spatial transfer? No—it's more like some kind of sacrificial escape technique."
He picked up a piece of bone, which was engraved with intricate runes, and even in the water, he could feel the eerie magic contained within it.
He had seen this technique before; there were similar records in the Assassin class knowledge.
Forcing a short-distance transfer at the cost of some of one's life force usually comes with a strong curse backlash.
Hassan was willing to sacrifice himself to escape.
The First Lord she mentioned was undoubtedly King Hassan. Kojiro recalled that scene from not long ago.
With a wave of his hand, King Hassan wiped out dozens of Hassan clones, leaving only the purple-haired female Hassan—
Was this woman present at the time?
"What is the purpose of keeping them here?" Kojiro muttered to himself.
Is it a test? Or a trap?
Or is there a complex bond between King Hassan and these younger generations that even the Assassins themselves are not fully aware of?
Luffy's booming voice echoed from afar: "Hey—Kojiro! Are you here?"
Kojiro put away the bone fragments and turned to swim towards the source of the sound.
In the main port area, the Straw Hat crew has already caused quite a stir.
Luffy stood on the gun turret of a merchant ship, craning his neck to look around.
"Strange, didn't you say there was something wrong here? Why is there nothing here?"
"Idiot, if you were yelling like that, even if there were enemies, they would have run away by now!" Nami punched him on the head.
"But I really do feel uncomfortable—" Luffy rubbed his head, looking down at the water below. "Ah! Kojiro!"
Kojiro surfaced and nimbly leaped onto the dock, his clothes miraculously remaining almost completely dry.
"What did you find?" Zoro also came over. He had originally led another group to the Coral Forest, but received a communication halfway there saying that there might be an ambush in the port area, so he rushed over.
"We encountered a Hassan," Kojiro said succinctly, "who is skilled in using poison and has escaped wounded."
"Escaped?" Robin asked thoughtfully. "To escape from you, you must be quite strong."
"Some kind of sacrificial ritual was used," Kojiro said, taking a bone fragment from his pocket. "This is what she left behind."
Kojiro examined them closely: "These runes—they are not ordinary magic markings. This kind of spell usually requires a sacrifice, not just the life force of the caster."
"A sacrifice?" Nami's expression changed. "Could it be that she—"
"Have there been any reports of missing persons in the port area recently?" Robin asked, looking at the fishmen around him.
The fishmen looked at each other, and a shark fishman who looked like a port manager hesitated before speaking.
"Indeed—three workers haven't come to work these past two days, and their families say they haven't gone home either. But we thought they were drunk at some bar—"
"Send people to their residences and the taverns they frequent immediately to confirm," Jinbe said in a deep voice.
"Report any abnormalities immediately."
"yes!"
The fishmen hurried away. The atmosphere immediately became heavy.
"So Hassan used living people as sacrifices to perform magic?" Usopp's voice trembled slightly.
"Most likely," Kojiro nodded. "She said something before she escaped: 'The First Lord spared us not so that outsiders like you could humiliate us.'"
Everyone was taken aback.
"The First Lord—does that mean Mr. King Hassan?" Brooke tilted his head.
"So what do we do now?" Luffy clenched his fist. "Now that we know they're harming people, let's find them all and beat them to a pulp!"
"The problem is we don't know how many of them there are, or where they're hiding." Sanji lit a cigarette.
"And the one Kojiro encountered just now was only one. What about the other one? That beautiful woman with purple hair."
"Tescatlipoca mentioned that Blackbeard is looking for Davy Jones's secret," Robin recalled the intelligence from Naval Headquarters.
"What exactly is that?"
"Davy Jones—" Jinbe pondered, "That's a name that only exists in the ancient legends of Fish-Man Island."
"It is said that he is the guardian of the deep sea, who holds the secrets of all sunken things, and lives in the deepest part of the ocean, a place that even fishmen cannot reach."
"The deepest part of the ocean?" Luffy's eyes lit up. "Is it deeper than the Abyss where Noah is?"
"Much deeper," Jinbe said seriously.
"Legend has it that Davy Jones's dwelling is at a depth of 20,000 meters or even deeper. At that depth, even sea kings rarely appear, and the water pressure is enough to crush everything instantly."
"How is Blackbeard going to get there?" Usopp asked.
"I don't know," Jinbe shook his head, "but anything that can interest someone like Blackbeard must be extraordinary."
"Even so, it's still troublesome—" Nami sighed.
Just then, the fishman who had gone to investigate the missing workers rushed back, his face pale.
"Boss Jinbe! Something terrible has happened! We've been to the homes of those three workers, and there's no one there! Moreover..."
And they all have this in their homes!
The merman trembled as he handed over several pieces of black cloth, stained with dark red dirt, emitting a faint smell of blood and a cloying, putrid odor.
Robin took the fabric and examined it carefully: "The stains on it are blood, but not fresh blood; it's been there for at least a day."
"In other words, they were already killed before they assassinated the king." Sanji frowned.
"I'm afraid so," Robin said, looking at the pieces of fabric. "And judging from the way the pieces were torn, it wasn't caused by a battle; it's more like—a ritualistic cutting."
Offerings.
This word resurfaced in everyone's minds.
"Damn it—" Luffy gritted his teeth, "I absolutely have to find those guys!"
"But the problem now is that we don't know where they are."
Zoro gripped the hilt of his sword. "Fishman Island isn't particularly large, but it has many hidden places. If they're deliberately hiding, it'll be hard to find them."
"Perhaps we don't need to look for them," Kojiro suddenly said. "They will show themselves."
"You mean they're preparing something? So it's impossible for them to hide it too well," Nami asked.
"Yes."
Everyone fell into deep thought.
At that moment, Brooke suddenly spoke up: "Um—I just remembered something. Mr. Wang Hassan once said something to me."
"What did you say?"
He said that the underworld and the netherworld are two sides of the same coin. Your fruit and my concept both point to the same truth. Beware, for those who covet this truth have already arrived.
The Yellow Springs and the Underworld.
Brook's Yomi no Mi (Fruit of the Underworld), and King Hassan's concept of the Death Angel.
And the one who covets this truth is undoubtedly Azrael, the pale angel, the god of death worshipped by the Assassins.
"Azrael's target is Brook—" Robin concluded.
"But he himself must have been wary of King Hassan, so he used the power of the Blackbeard to summon Hassan and have the Hassans carry out the plan."
"What's the plan?" Usopp asked.
"I don't know, but it's definitely related to death," Robin said, looking at Brooke.
"That sounds really bad!" Franky yelled.
"So we have to stop them," Luffy said, unusually serious. "Whatever those guys are trying to do, we just have to take them down!"
"But the problem now is," Sanji exhaled a smoke ring, "we don't even know where the enemy is, how many there are, or what their specific plans are."
"Then let's split up," Zoro suggested.
"Kojiro, keep track of the wounded Hassan. We'll entrust this lead to him. We'll investigate those ritual sites and see if we can find any clues. Jinbe will stay at Ryugu Castle to prevent the enemy from using this as a diversionary tactic."
“I’ll stay and help too,” Brooke said. “Since they might be targeting me, I might be able to lure them out as bait.”
"That's too dangerous!" Chopper objected.
"Yo ho ho ho, don't worry, I've already died once, I won't die so easily again," Brooke laughed, but her tone was firm.
"Brook makes a good point," Robin thought, "but tight protection is needed. Where is Mr. Hassan?"
"The First Lord said he was going to inspect the deadly veins of this island," Brooke recalled, "and then he disappeared."
"The veins of death—" Kojiro mused, "Could it refer to the distribution of spiritual veins on Fish-Man Island?"
"Possibly." Robin nodded. "If the Hassans are preparing for a large-scale ceremony, they will definitely choose a leyline node as their base."
"What are the ley lines on Fishman Island?" Zoro asked Jinbe.
Jinbe pondered for a moment: "Spiritual veins? Hmm—Fishman Island has several ancient sites that have always been regarded as sacred places by the elders."
"First is the sea forest, the resting place of royalty throughout history. Second is the coral forest, where special corals that emit a healing light grow."
"The third is the Abyss of the Covenant, a place long since deserted."
"Noah is in the Abyss of the Promised Land, let's go check out the other two places too!" Luffy said.
The group split up and took action separately.
Kojiro remained alone, closed his eyes, and focused his mind on sensing the trajectory left by the sword energy.
Faint, but definitely present.
Like a thin thread in the darkness, it extends northwest towards Fishman Island.
That place is a coral forest.
"As expected—" he muttered to himself, his figure disappearing into the shadows once more as he quietly gave chase.
Deep within the coral forest, the purple-haired Hyakko stood quietly among a cluster of glowing corals, waiting.
Beside her, dozens of other Hassans stood silently; these were all clones.
"Tranquility failed," one of Hassans said sharply. "She was injured by that swordsman and only managed to escape using the Shadow Bottle."
"The trials left by the First Generation Master are indeed not easy," Hyakko said calmly, "but this is also part of the plan."
"The plan—" the old man Hassan chuckled hoarsely.
"I'll venture a question: have the First Lord and the Angel of Death truly made their choices?"
"It's not important." Bai Mao looked into the distance. "What's important is fulfilling the mission. When Azr comes, that's what all Assassins seek."
“But the First Lord doesn’t seem to think so,” said the old man Hassan.
"He kept us here, perhaps precisely to stop this plan."
"The First Generation Lord—" A complex emotion flashed in Hyakume's eyes.
"So you chose to betray?" the old man asked.
"It's not betrayal," Hyakko shook his head, "it's choosing a different path. Just like the First Lord said, he had his truth, and we have ours."
Just then, a dark figure stumbled out from outside the coral reef.
It is the tranquil Hassan.
Her black robe was torn in many places, and although the wound on her waist had stopped bleeding, her spiritual foundation was obviously unstable, emitting chaotic magical fluctuations.
"Hyakko—" she said weakly, "that swordsman—was very strong—"
"I know," Bai Mao walked towards her, extending her hand. "You've worked hard. The altar is ready; you need to rest now."
"No—" Jingmi shook her head, her eyes beneath the skull mask looking at Baimao. "Just now—when I was escaping—I sensed an aura—"
"What's that aura?"
"Very familiar—yet very strange—" The quiet voice carried confusion and a hint of fear. "Like—the First Lord, but not quite the same—more ancient—"
She didn't finish her sentence.
Because a pale hand reached out from the shadows behind her and gently pressed on her shoulder.
"Closer to death itself, isn't it?"
All the Hassans turned around at the same time, but the next moment, their movements froze.
Emerging from the shadows was a tall figure dressed in a tattered black robe.
The figure nodded slightly, and an invisible pressure spread out.
That wasn't the fighting spirit, but something more fundamental—a direct manifestation of the concept of death.
Just standing there, the surrounding corals seemed to dim, and the seawater appeared thicker and colder.
"Lord Azrael—" Hyakko knelt on one knee, and all the other Hassans immediately followed suit.
Only Jingmi remained standing, her body trembling slightly as she looked at the pale hand resting on her shoulder.
Azrael withdrew his hand. "How's the plan going?"
"Preparations for the Deep Sea Altar are 80% complete. On the surface, we're using assassination as a cover to fish in troubled waters, and the enemy is currently unaware of our true purpose," Bai Mao reported.
"Once the final key is in place, the ceremony can begin."
"But what about the First Lord—" the old man Hassan hesitated.
"King Hassan—" Azrael's voice turned colder.
"It's alright, I've prepared a special gift for him. I know his weaknesses better than anyone else."
He turned around and looked into the depths of the coral forest.
"Go, complete the final preparations. The ceremony will begin when the moon rises to the center of the sea."
"Over there, with that black beard—" Bai Mao asked.
"He has his own plans," Yazlar said, "but they are none of our business. We each get what we need."
As soon as he finished speaking, his figure began to become transparent, eventually turning into a wisp of pale smoke and dissipating into the seawater.
The four remaining Hassans remained silent for a long time.
"Well then," Bai Mao finally spoke.
"Proceed according to plan. Tranquility, go to the altar to rest and keep watch over the surroundings. And—Cursed Arm, go prepare the final offering."
"How many more offerings are needed?" asked the Cursed Arm, who had remained hidden in the shadows.
"Three," Bai Mao said.
"We need them alive. If the Straw Hat crew comes, that would be perfect."
"clear."
The Hassans dispersed in different directions.
The coral forest returned to silence, with only the glowing corals swaying gently, reflecting the almost invisible pale embers floating in the water.