Chapter 22: Prince Ilya
The sound of water flowed beside his ears as Rorschach used his hands and feet in a clumsy dog-paddle style, floundering frantically in the sea thirty meters from the shore.
"Is it over? Will I be the first one to get hit?"
Rorschach had thought that with his physical strength, he shouldn't be the last one.
But the reality was clear: including Lieutenant Richard, all thirty-one branch officers were swimming at astonishing speeds.
Only delayed by a few seconds, he found himself far behind everyone, at the back of the group.
After desperately dog-paddling for a few minutes, he had to admit one fact:
He couldn't swim.
Yes.
Although Red Leaf Island was an isolated island surrounded by the sea, Rorschach's body had always been severely depleted by uncontrolled life-return.
His physical strength barely allowed him to manage daily activities, let alone swim.
Old John and his wife wouldn't trust him to go into the sea.
So, despite living in this sea-filled world for twelve years, Rorschach never learned to swim.
Fortunately, his body had now recovered.
His physical strength was now at an astounding level.
Although he hadn't mastered the swimming techniques like Richard and the others, his ample strength and remarkable physical talent allowed him to quickly adjust his movements, and his speed gradually increased!
At that moment, a loud roar erupted from the nearby sea, causing Rorschach's heart to tremble.
Before he could react, a basketball-sized gray rubber bullet splashed into the sea two or three meters away from him.
Boom!
The water churned violently, disrupting Rorschach's movements and pushing his body toward the shallow area.
Meanwhile, the soldiers squatting on the beach raised their long muskets, aiming at the shallow area, ready to fire at any moment.
A strong sense of crisis made Rorschach's muscles tense, and he moved his hands and feet faster in the water.
"They actually fired! If the shell's impact pushes me to the shallow area, won't I be subjected to a barrage of bullets from hundreds of guns?"
"No, no way!"
Rorschach roared inwardly.
Bang, bang, bang!
As if responding to his cries, a series of muffled explosions resounded rapidly.
The soldiers operating the ship's cannons were obviously extremely skilled.
After the initial shells missed, they promptly adjusted the cannon's direction.
Thus, after the next three shells fell beside Rorschach, he finally experienced the sensation of being hit by rubber cannonballs.
With a "boom," a basketball-sized gray cannonball slammed into his left abdomen.
The massive impact and shock lifted Rorschach's body from the water, sending him flying horizontally in an arc of tens of meters before crashing into the shallow area.
"Ah!"
Despite his formidable physique, Rorschach felt intense pain when struck by the rubber cannonball.
His skin on the left side of his waist immediately turned bright red.
It felt as if his ribs had been shattered, causing him to gasp for air.
Dazed from the cannonball hit, Rorschach staggered to his feet, only to hear the sound of dense gunfire around him.
In the next second, a hail of bullets rained down on him.
Most of the bullets missed, splashing into the sea.
But a few hit his body, making Rorschach let out a howl of pain.
"Ow!"
Though the bullets were hollow, the immense kinetic energy from the gunpowder was real.
Each bullet felt like a big man swinging a sledgehammer at his body.
Rorschach tensed his muscles, protecting his head, and leaped back into the water, quickly leaving the shallow area, heading towards Richard and the others, who were almost out of sight.
Five minutes later.
Bang, bang, bang!
The sound of cannon fire rang out again, occasionally mixed with the screams of the young man, making the branch officers in the lead shiver.
"Fortunately, we have Rorschach as a buffer. It seems today's training will be easy. Ah, it's usually tough. Well, after it's over, I'll take him to the tavern for a drink as a thank you."
Richard looked back sympathetically at Rorschach, who had fallen five or six hundred meters behind, a relieved smile gradually appearing on his face.
At the branch base, Skye lay bored on the soft bed, burying herself in a large, fluffy teddy bear.
"So boring. Dad and Uncle Adira went out. Dawes and Uncle Deno are busy buying medicine and food. Rorschach started his training too. I'm all alone at the base, so annoying."
The girl lazily rolled on the soft bed, then suddenly sat up.
"That's right, after Rorschach finishes training, he'll definitely be starving. Why don't I go to the kitchen and make him some food? Dad always praises my cooking skills. Yes, that's what I'll do!"
The girl's fair face lit up with determination as she rushed out of the room, heading toward the kitchen.
"Rorschach will be so happy."
In the royal palace hall of Prince's capital, Admiral Adira, wearing a white justice cloak, stood with his hands behind his back, coldly staring at the pale-faced royal youth in front of him.
"Prince Ilya, how do you explain your collusion with the revolutionary army, illegally sending large quantities of grain to those criminals?"
In the grand, luxurious, and spacious royal palace hall, only Admiral Adira and the royal youth were present.
Standing before Adira, with a delicate yet tall figure, was Prince Ilya of Prince Kingdom.
A few days ago, Adira and Akainu left Rock Island and headed to Prince's capital to question Ilya under the pretext of pursuing revolutionary army criminals.
Typically, naval officers don't have the authority to interfere in the internal affairs of kingdoms.
Even the highest-ranking admirals of the four seas must speak politely with the leaders of large kingdoms.
However, the current situation was different.
Firstly, Adira's rank far exceeded that of branch admirals, being a high-ranking officer of the Navy Headquarters.
Secondly, Ilya himself was in the wrong, caught in contact with the revolutionary army by the intelligence personnel of Branch 177.
The world government adopts a zero-tolerance policy towards the revolutionary army.
The activities and ideologies of the revolutionary army threaten the stability of the world government.
Hence, although the revolutionary army's overall power might be comparable to one of the Four Emperors in the New World, its threat level is considered the highest by the world government.
The leader of the revolutionary army, Dragon, is deemed the world's most dangerous criminal.
This is why Adira dared to question Prince Ilya without mercy.
Upon hearing Adira's question, a look of pain appeared on Prince Ilya's face as he bitterly gazed at Adira.
"Admiral, you don't know. The revolutionary army took the grain from me by force; I had no choice."
"You don't understand how ruthless Dragon is. If I didn't comply with his demands, he would have killed all the citizens of the capital."
"Our Prince Kingdom is small and can't resist a world-class criminal like Dragon."
"I was forced to do it to protect the people of my kingdom."
"If the navy wants to hold me accountable, I won't evade responsibility. As long as you have an arrest warrant from the world government, I, Prince Ilya, will willingly bind my hands and go with you to Branch 177."
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