Grandport, Iceland.

The weather in the New World is even more unpredictable than in the park. While you can feel the weather in the park once you enter a certain sea area, you might not be able to feel it in the New World even after entering the sea area. You can only find out the specific weather changes when you get close to an island.

As for the sea area, the weather may be even more intense.

"Ouch, it's a bit cold."

As the Golden Lion entered the sea, Lida, on the deck, hugged herself tightly, her body trembling.

Ahead of the Golden Lion, a huge ice and snow island came into view.

On the icy island, amidst the swirling wind and snow, hexagonal snowflakes and ice crystals fell into a palm.

Wear more clothes.

Kuro looked at the melting snowflakes in his palm, waved, and a Douglas Marine came over.

"Go and get a few thick cloaks; it's really cold in this shabby place."

Soon, the navy officer took the thick cloak and draped it over Kuro and the others' shoulders.

The Golden Lion was also docked at the port of Grande at this time.

This island, as a town, has only one port city, so it is named after Port Grand, not an island.

There are other villages on the island, but the meeting point is in this city.

It falls under the jurisdiction of the Navy, but according to the intelligence obtained by Kro, this place is actually not easy to manage.

Because the local people are known for their fierce and unruly nature.

It is said that as early as a hundred years ago, this place was a famous 'pirate production site' in the New World.

Because the way this island survives is by 'plundering'.

The way to choose a leader is through battle.

Whoever wins is the boss.

As for wisdom...

A person with high intelligence can become a 'prophet,' but can never become a 'leader.'

It easily reminds Kuro of the 'Viking barbarians' from his previous life.

They were the most valiant pirates, and even after the Navy came under their jurisdiction, there were still quite a few people from this island who went out to sea to become pirates.

On the contrary, G-3 Fortress also has many brave and reckless naval officers.

Especially in recent decades, this trend has intensified since Karp joined G-3.

This was also part of the reason why Kuro decided to bring Cass along.

It would be such a waste to destroy such a good source of soldiers so rashly.

It's better to use a more tactful approach.

A staircase descended from the side of the ship, and a large naval force of three thousand men appeared in the harbor. This time, they had mobilized their entire force and quickly filled the harbor to capacity.

The port was deserted...

It was deserted and quiet.

Kuro glanced around. This place wasn't much different from G-3; it was also a ship that hadn't been used in a long time, with dusty fishing nets, fishing gear, and harpoons.

This place hasn't been used for a while.

and...

Kuro frowned as he looked at the large amount of life force clustered together in the town ahead.

"Walk."

Kuro went first into the town.

Of course, there were shops in the town, and Kuro could faintly smell a fishy odor, but it was too faint.

The empty stalls on both sides of the street used to be selling fish from the sea, but now there's not a trace of blood to be seen, only a faint fishy smell lingers.

Besides that, there were only a few stalls with some berries and wild vegetables, but not many.

In the square ahead, a group of people were gathered, kneeling on the ground with their hands on their thighs, forming a circle, with their eyes closed and heads bowed.

I don't know what they're doing.

Most of these people were barely clothed, but of course, they weren't poor.

It is a custom of Grand Harbor. They are naturally cold-resistant and are a race of 'warriors' known for their bravery. Their way of keeping warm is to hunt an animal themselves and use it as a cloak or scarf. The women wear very thin cloth clothes, while the men are basically naked from the waist up, or they only wear a leather belt to carry their weapons.

This level of cold resistance is comparable to that of the children from the Greater China region in my previous life.

Hearing the footsteps of the advancing crowd, some of the kneeling people opened their eyes, glanced in that direction, and then closed their eyes again as if nothing had happened.

Kuro led his men to these people, stopped, and glanced around. Among the crowd, he noticed some people wearing naval uniforms who were also kneeling with their eyes closed.

"Hey, get up."

Kuro walked over and kicked the first navy officer wearing a cloak.

"Shhh."

The naval voice said, "Do not interrupt my confession and atonement."

"Atony? Aton for what?" Kuro asked, squinting.

"I repent for my sins of indiscriminately killing living beings because of my own lack of desire, and slaughtering lives because of my own narrow-mindedness." The navy officer said calmly without even opening his eyes.

Kuro didn't say anything, but waved his hand, "Cass."

"yes!"

Cass stepped forward, stood at attention, and said, "Mr. Kuro!"

"You handle it."

As expected, everyone here was 'assimilated,' including his colleagues.

Upon hearing this, Cass nodded, then walked to the navy officer's side and asked solemnly, "Why do you consider this a crime?"

“Because killing is a sin, and no one has the right to take another’s life, no matter what their stance is.” The navy officer kept his eyes closed and said calmly, “The Holy Maiden is right. We are born with sin, so we need to repent. Only in this way can we find true peace.”

Repentance, atonement, and the saint...

have to.

Kuro clicked his tongue and said, "Your abilities are becoming more and more refined..."

From peace, to comfort, and now to things like repentance...

This is a three-stage leap in ability, which means that the user of this ability must be becoming more and more proficient in it.

But where did such a person come from? He had never heard of him before.

"madness!!"

Just as Kuro was thinking this, Cass suddenly shouted out, his voice carrying a strange sense of justice, which made the Marine open his eyes.

Some of the people near him also opened their eyes and stared silently at Cass.

"Peace cannot be obtained through repentance alone!"

Cass shouted, "What we need to repent for is why we couldn't protect civilians more promptly! What we need to repent for is why we can't become stronger, why we can't fight pirates better! Every time a colleague dies, every civilian dies, every time we see a village destroyed, that's when we should repent! The Navy's duty is to fight pirates and protect civilians! Your self-serving repentance won't protect anything; it will only embolden those evil forces that don't want to repent!"

Standing in front of the three thousand-strong Greg Navy squadron, facing the people who had formed a circle, Cass glared, and white mist swirled within it, mingling with the three thousand people to form a thick white fog that spread outwards.

"Wake up!!"