[The Beast's Debt: Main Deck – Dawn]
The air was thick with the scent of ozone and iron. The EDEN Captain stood over Ato, his saber glowing with military-grade energy. "You defeated the Vice-Commanders, but you are nothing against the full might of the EDEN Hierarchy. From the Soldiers to the General... we are absolute."
Ato didn't flinch. He cracked his neck, his muscles bulging as a white, hissing aura erupted from his skin like steam from a boiling kettle. His eyes were no longer human; they were the eyes of a predator who had finally been pushed too far.
Ato: "Absolute? I've never liked that word."
In a flash of white light, the hunt began. Ato didn't fight—he erased. He didn't take them one by one; he swung his fist, and the air itself shattered, sending ten soldiers flying into the sea. The Captain who had held the sword to his throat didn't even have time to scream before Ato's fist connected, beating him into a pulp in a single second.
Another Captain, watching from a nearby ship, felt cold sweat running down his neck as he counted the carnage. "One captain down... two captains down... third... now fourth... fifth!"
Ato was a blur of violence. He was fighting six thousand soldiers and twenty captains across twenty warships. He was exhausted, his lungs burning and his knuckles bleeding, but every time his vision blurred, he looked at the ship where his friends were tied up. That was all the fuel he needed.
Ten EDEN Captains were gone. Ato leaped toward the next ship, his eyes locked on the crew.
The Captain of that ship, a man named Nino, looked at the monster approaching and turned pale. "What should I do? You guys go ahead! I'm coming!" Nino shouted bravely to the other captains, but his legs were shaking. He was one mission away from being a Vice-Commander, and he didn't want to die here.
The nine remaining captains scrambled, leaving Nino alone.
Nino: "Oi, Ato Dragonaid! I'm Nino! If you treasure your life, then go away!"
Ato, landing on a distant ship with a crash: "Huh?"
Nino: "Just go away!" He hissed to his helmsman, "Get us out of here! I'll tell the Supremes I captured the crew!"
But as Nino started to turn the ship, a body came flying through the air, slamming into the soldier at the helm. It was one of Nino's own men.
Nino: "Huh?! Who did that?!"
Ato, standing on the railing of the fleeing ship: "I!"
Nino panicked. He shoved the dead soldier aside and grabbed the wheel himself, driving the ship wildly into the thick 4:00 AM fog. Behind him, Ato took control of another ship, steering it like a madman, crashing through the waves in pursuit.
CRUNCH.
Through the fog, Nino's ship slammed into the rocky shore of a hidden island. Ato's ship grounded right behind him.
Nino: "Soldiers! Drag his crew onto this island! We're going to hide and put him in a trap!"
The crew—Kojo, Manjo, Lemon, Faramis, and Poison—were dragged onto the grass, their heads lolling from the sleeping darts EDEN had used. Nino looked up and saw a massive building looming through the mist. As the fog cleared, he saw the sign.
Nino: "What is that? Pirate School? Oh my god... this school is run by the King of the Pirates himself! Why did I come here?!"
Ato stumbled onto the beach, his white aura flickering. "Give... my friends... back."
Nino's fear turned into desperation. "It's because of you we're stuck here! Shoot him! Now!"
A volley of sleeping darts hissed through the air. One caught Ato in the shoulder. He didn't feel it at first, but slowly, the world began to tilt. His knees felt like lead.
Nino: "That's what happens when someone messes with me! Fall, you beast!"
Ato didn't fall. He forced his eyes open, his mind screaming at his body to stay awake for the sake of his crew.
Nino: "He didn't fall?! Everyone, attack!"
Ato raised his fist one last time, his voice a whisper: "Earth... Shaker."
High above on a balcony, a man watched. He had striking red hair and a brave, wild smile—the same man who had laughed at the news of the Kogane no tori.
????: "Ok... I see he has potential."
Ato caught a glimpse of the man's silhouette before his eyes finally closed and he hit the dirt.
[EDEN Headquarters: The Chamber of the Supreme Four]
A heavy knock echoed through the stone chamber.
Supreme 1: "Come in."
General Ryoto stepped into the light, his white cape flowing behind him.
Ryoto: "You called me, sir?"
Supreme 3: "We were looking at the new wanted posters. A name caught our eyes. Ato Dragonaid. Ninety-three million e-coins. Ryoto... is he perhaps familiar with Lito Dragonaid?"
Ryoto: "Yes."
Supreme 2: "Then he is also—"
Ryoto: "Yes. He is the son of Ayaka Dragonaid."
The room went cold. The name Ayaka was a curse to the EDEN hierarchy.
Supreme 4: "We sent twenty captains to handle a child. But wait... Ryoto, you are also familiar with Ato Dragonaid, aren't you?"
Ryoto's eyes narrowed. "Ummmm—"
[The Pirate School: The Master's Room]
Ato's eyes snapped open. He was in a large, airy room. The red-haired man was standing by the window, looking at a wanted poster.
????: "Ato Dragonaid. Ninety-three million. That's too much for a new pirate. What is that old man Ryoto thinking, giving a brat this much bounty?"
Ato sat up, his head throbbing. "Excuse me... where are my friends?"
????: "Huh? Why should I tell you?"
Ato's voice shook with a mix of fear and rage. "Please... don't tell me they took my friends."
????: "I'm sorry... Just kidding. They didn't take them. I'm shocked you're awake before them, actually, because all of you guys have been—"
Ato interrupted, his "Beast" aura beginning to hiss again. "Just tell me! Are they okay?!"
????: "What if I don't?"
Ato stood up, his fists clenching. "Then you know the consequences."
The man turned. His smile didn't fade, but his eyes became sharp as diamonds. Suddenly, a colossal, invisible pressure slammed into the room. It wasn't magic or lightning; it was raw Spirit Aura.
BOOM.
Ato's knees hit the floorboards so hard they cracked. His head was forced down, his body refusing to obey him. He was being crushed by the mere presence of the man standing before him.
????: "You know... I don't like brats."
Ato gasped for air, his teeth gritted as he tried to look up. The man walked closer, the floor shaking with every step.
????: "Especially brats who don't know their place in the world. You're at the Pirate School now, Dragonaid. And here... I am the only law."
Ato struggled, his white aura trying to fight back, but it was like a candle trying to push back the darkness of the entire ocean. He looked up into the man's fierce eyes, realizing for the first time that there were heights of power he hadn't even dreamed of.