Chapter 345: Still on the Island

In the dead of night, Xiao Kai suddenly bolted upright from his bed.

"Xiao Kai, what's wrong?" A-Mei rubbed her sleepy eyes, sitting up from the neighboring cot.

"I need to go verify something, A-Mei... I have a terrible feeling about this! I think I missed something critical..." A haunted, uncertain panic flashed in Xiao Kai's eyes as he tore out the door without looking back.

A-Mei was left behind, blinking in sheer confusion.

"Hey! Xiao Kai, where are you going?!" A-Mei scrambled to her feet and rushed out after him.

Before long, the two children made their way up the hillside once more. On the open grounds beside Kaya's estate, the colossal crater remained as deep and menacing as before.

Circling around the ruins of the mansion, Xiao Kai slipped behind a massive boulder, rising onto his tiptoes to peer into the distance.

His small frame trembled faintly. Stepping forward with extreme caution, he approached a dense patch of shrubs where a narrow, pitch-black fissure opened deep into the earth.

Staring into that bottomless hole, Xiao Kai swallowed hard, his pupils contracting involuntarily. That soul-chilling nightmare surged back into his mind with terrifying clarity.

It was a horrific scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Last night, right at this spot, he had witnessed a figure completely enveloped in sinister, swirling black mist.

Her skin had been ghastly pale—utterly devoid of color or blood. He had never seen human flesh so unnaturally white. Had she stood in a winter snowdrift, an ordinary person would hardly have been able to distinguish her from the frost.

And that piercing, soul-stealing gaze... Merely catching a stray glimpse of her eyes had paralyzed his entire body with absolute dread.

Back then, driven by blind curiosity and reckless impulse, he had snuck up the back mountain alone, ignoring the warnings of Daixi and A-Mei.

Brother Hu had arrived shortly afterward. Xiao Kai had foolishly believed that with Brother Hu present, everything would be fine. Brother Hu was one of the rare Devil Fruit users across the seas—one of the few dedicated combat operatives stationed in their East Blue branch.

Yet the formidable Brother Hu had been granted no chance to fight back. Enveloped instantly by that writhing black mist, his body had been snapped in two right before Xiao Kai's eyes!

Xiao Kai had clearly seen the shape of Brother Hu's lips as he mouthed his final words before drawing his last breath:

Stay hidden... don't come out...

Even at death's door, the only thing on Brother Hu's mind had been protecting the boy concealed in the shadows!

Xiao Kai's nose stung, and hot tears streamed down his face, dissolving into silent, choking sobs.

"Xiao Kai!" A-Mei finally caught up, gasping for breath.

I'm a man. I can't cry. I am a warrior of the Dark Clan—warriors don't shed tears. Wiping the moisture from his soaked cheeks, Xiao Kai steeled his resolve.

That's right! She might still be here!

I have to track her down and avenge Brother Hu and the others! Xiao Kai fixed an unyielding stare on the dark subterranean opening.

He remembered it with absolute precision: after Brother Hu had been slain, the vast canopy of black mist that had blanketed the mountain vanished in an instant.

That dark fog had undoubtedly receded straight down into this exact fissure—there was no mistake about it!

Back then, the mist had retreated like a receding ocean tide, and when he had gathered the courage to look again, the final tendril of darkness had dissolved right here.

The presence of this narrow, deep pit was the undeniable proof.

"A-Mei!" Xiao Kai called out suddenly.

The shout startled A-Mei so badly she jumped. "What is it?! What happened?!" In her panic, she completely forgot she had been gasping for air.

"That woman is right here!"

"What?! You mean..."

"Yes!" Xiao Kai nodded heavily. "There's no mistake—she's down below!"

"I saw the black mist burrow underground right through here with my own eyes..."

"This hole is the proof!"

A-Mei's pupils shrank in terror. "We have to go tell Lao Ze and Sister Daixi right away! If they're here—"

"No!" Xiao Kai cut her off sharply, startling her with his volume.

"We can't do that..."

"That woman is far too terrifying. If Lao Ze and Sister Daixi come here, they'll just be slaughtered."

"Even our strongest fighter, Brother Hu, was killed instantly without standing a chance."

"Sending more operatives will only lead to more deaths! Unless..."

"Unless what...?" A-Mei asked, lost.

"If it's the Legendary Four Brothers... maybe... No! If it's him, it will definitely work!" Xiao Kai stated with fierce conviction.

"You mean..."

"Yes!"

"B-But Lord Drake and his crew don't know about this! The intelligence we sent up earlier reported that she had already fled Syrup Village..." A-Mei said, her voice laced with worry.

"Then we update the report right now! We have to get Lord Drake and the others here immediately. Otherwise... every single soul on this island is going to die!"

"Understood! I'll head back right now and have Sister Daixi relay the new intelligence up the chain!" A-Mei said urgently.

"Right! Go do that. I'll stay here and monitor the fissure. Hurry back and send the report!"

A-Mei gave Xiao Kai a long, searching look. "Promise me you won't do anything reckless."

"Don't worry, I have no intention of dying young," Xiao Kai waved off.

Once A-Mei had sprinted off, Xiao Kai jogged over to a large tree near the bushes, concealing his body behind the trunk while keeping his eyes glued to the dark opening.

His heart pounded against his ribs.

As the minutes dragged by, Xiao Kai found it increasingly difficult to draw breath. He knew his nerves were stretched to their absolute breaking point.

Remaining in this spot took every ounce of courage he possessed; the sheer terror Im had branded into his soul had completely overtaken him.

Yet he knew he could not retreat. A single step back, and everything bought with Brother Hu's life would be ruined.

If he ran now, he would never have the right to call himself a member of the Dark Clan again.

Suddenly!

Xiao Kai's heart seized. A faint, distant shriek drifted into his ears. He quickly scanned the surroundings, but everything remained dead and still.

Letting out a shaky breath, he tried to calm himself. Was it just an auditory hallucination...?

Just as his guard dropped, the shriek echoed once more—and this time, he heard it with crystalline clarity.

It was undeniably the voice of a woman, a cry so shrill and agonizing that it could never be a trick of the mind!

Xiao Kai pricked his ears and listened intently, desperate to pinpoint the source of the sound. Glancing at the mouth of the fissure and seeing no movement, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Stepping out from behind the tree, he crept across the terrain, following the intermittent screams with soft, careful footsteps.

He circled the perimeter three full times. Every time he felt he was closing in, the sound seemed to shift farther away. Finally, the muffled wails grew louder and clearer, and Xiao Kai's eyes snapped open.

Right here!

In the next instant, he froze dead in his tracks.

Looming right before his feet was that very same bottomless, pitch-black fissure!

A single glance down the hole sent an icy chill straight through his spine. In that horrifying moment, he remembered that within the black mist coiled around Im's hand last night... she had been holding a woman captive.

Just what on earth... is happening down there?!