As the barrier shrunk, an aura of despair enveloped the entire capital city.
Countless people had already broken down or were on the verge of collapse. They watched helplessly as death approached them step by step.
Attempts to resist, attempts to escape, all proved futile.
Slaughter ensued.
When humanity crumbles, darkness breeds within the heart, rapidly consuming one's entire being, driving people to commit acts they would normally contemplate but dare not execute.
But now, facing imminent death, who would still care about such things?
Thus, chaos began.
Ranzuki hovered in the sky, silently observing the chaos below.
He didn't actually enjoy killing.
But many things could only be achieved through killing.
He had once had a long, heartfelt conversation with Minato, learning much about the Sage Shinobi Nation from him.
During that conversation, he learned about the two greatest threats currently facing the Sage Shinobi Nation.
The first came from the unknown starry sky, from the Ōtsutsuki Clan or other extraterrestrial races.
The second came from within the Sage Shinobi Nation itself.
Because if the Sage Shinobi Nation wanted to resist the Ōtsutsuki Clan and venture into the stars, it would definitely need to undergo significant development.
And this development included population growth.
Once the population increased explosively as it is now, the resources consumed daily would become an enormous figure.
But the resources of the entire Sage Shinobi Nation were limited.
No matter how much they conserved or developed new sources, there would come a day when supply couldn't meet demand.
Conflicts would inevitably arise at that time.
Potentially shattering the hard-won peace.
Ranzuki cherished this hard-won unity, cherished this dream-come-true Sage Shinobi Nation. He would never allow such beauty to be destroyed.
Therefore, he set his sights on this world.
His mission in coming to this world was to become an emperor among pirates and to build an impregnable base, establishing a passage between the Sage Shinobi Nation and the world of pirates.
But he didn't plan to accomplish this mission through conventional means.
The reason for building a base was due to the fear that the natives of the pirate world, upon discovering the secret, would unite and destroy the passage.
After all, the indigenous forces of this world were not weak.
And there was no knowing what else was hidden in this world.
Therefore, a base needed to be established and protected to allow people from the Sage Shinobi Nation to continuously come over, turning this world into one of the Sage Shinobi Nation's resource storehouses.
However, Ranzuki thought differently.
Since he feared the combined might of this world, he would simply destroy all the powerful forces in this world.
That's why he set this trap.
He wanted the Marines and the pirates to engage in a great war, leaving both sides severely weakened in the process.
Time passed, the barrier grew smaller, and Steaming Danger Tyranny continued to explode.
The death toll mounted.
Out of the more than one hundred thousand people in the entire city, only twenty to thirty thousand remained within the barrier, desperately clinging to life.
And this number of deaths continued to increase with time.
At the edge of the barrier, Jack, Vista, and Charlotte Perospero were still trying to escape.
They had joined forces, focusing their attacks on a single point on the barrier, hoping to break through it from that point.
In fact, their idea was quite good.
The combined attack of the three caused ripples to spread across the surface of the barrier like waves on water.
But unfortunately, the strength of the three of them was still insufficient to break through this barrier.
If Akainu and the dozen or so deceased pirates with bounties over 500 million were added, then the barrier would indeed not hold.
Especially Akainu, with his Logia fruit, escaping from this barrier wouldn't be difficult.
But, there were no ifs.
From the moment they entered this capital city, their fate was sealed.
Akainu, the only powerful Logia user in this capital, was besieged and killed by pirates, and the remaining powerful pirates were also dead under Ranzuki's plan.
Now, this barrier was invincible, a death trap for those trapped inside!
"Damn it!!!"
Another attack failed, and Charlotte Perospero gasped for breath, cursing in despair.
He had also realized that with the combined strength of him, Jack, and Vista, they couldn't break this barrier.
In other words, they would eventually die here, he would eventually die here.
"Argh! Ranzuki, you bastard! Come out if you dare, I'll beat you to death!!" Jack roared at the sky. He never imagined that he would fall in a place like this.
To be culled like a mere vermin.
Even Vista, at this moment, gripped his swords tightly, his expression grim.
Very few people could remain calm in the face of death.
"If all the pirates attack together, could we break this barrier?"
Vista pondered, but as he looked behind him, the thought faded.
Those pirates had already gone mad.
Some, to survive for a few more seconds, frantically rushed towards the center of the barrier, killing anyone who blocked their path.
Others were still venting, hysterically releasing the darkness in their hearts.
They were no longer rational.
And even if he could subdue them and make them cooperate to attack the barrier, with their strength...
Despair, unprecedented despair.
Slowly, Charlotte Perospero stopped attacking.
He didn't have much strength left.
And... despair, was draining his strength bit by bit, making his body weak, causing him to collapse.
Beside him, Vista was still trying, while Jack cursed at Ranzuki, his rage like thunder.
In the sky, Ranzuki looked down once more. The barrier was now only a hundred meters in diameter.
This hundred-meter area was densely packed with people, thousands crammed inside.
"I don't want to die, I don't want to die!"
Someone screamed at the edge of the barrier, but the scream was immediately drowned out by an explosion.
It was Steaming Danger Tyranny as the jutsu was still in effect.
At the very center were Jack, Vista, and Charlotte Perospero.
They had also given up struggling, becoming like those who carved a bloody path just to survive for a few more seconds.
In the second layer, more than a dozen pirates wanted to squeeze in but didn't dare.
They frantically killed the crowds surging towards them, the corpses piling up beneath their feet, forming a several-meter-high mountain of bodies.
Because people kept rushing towards them.
And if they didn't kill those who rushed at them, they would die.
They would be torn to shreds by the surging crowd.
Even a kind-hearted person, in such a situation, would have no time for kindness.
Because they had to kill every moment, just to stay alive.
The barrier continued to shrink, the number of people decreasing with each passing moment.
There was more than one hundred thousand lives in the capital, countless beings, now... only a few dozen remained.
And this number was still decreasing, one by one, dying in the terrifying explosions, leaving no bones behind.
And whether it was deliberate control or something else, Steaming Danger Tyranny kept exploding at the edge of the crowd, never entering the central area.
"Hozuki Ranzuki!!!"
Jack roared, his mentality completely shattered.
"Oh my, are there only so few people left?" A calm voice sounded, and then Ranzuki appeared above everyone.
"Hozuki Ranzuki, please, please don't kill me, I'll be your slave!"
Seeing Ranzuki appear, someone knelt down and pleaded loudly, their voice filled with tears.
"I'll give you money, I'll give you all my wealth, my treasure, all to you, please spare me!"
"Please, stop it, please, spare my life!"
More people knelt down and begged. They didn't want to die. In this desperate situation, they abandoned their dignity as powerful pirates; they just wanted to live.
"I'll kill you, I'll kill you!"
"Bastard, come down and fight if you dare!"
Of course, some lost their minds and roared furiously, wishing they could devour Ranzuki's flesh and drink his blood.
But Ranzuki just looked down at everything coldly, allowing the barrier to continue shrinking.
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