In mid-air, Karin and Jashin remained in a stalemate, locked in a struggle.
Jashin's breaking force showed no signs of diminishing.
In contrast, Karin's physical stamina consumption was real.
Especially the repeatedly broken and recreated [Purifying Lock] chains not only drained her physical strength but also fatigued her mentally.
The golden light's suppression on Jashin was weakening over time.
Now, she was starting to feel stabbing pains in her head and faint whispers.
'No, I couldn't stay deadlocked like this.'
Karin could sense that strange thing opposite wasn't alive… trying to outlast it with her own strength was almost impossible.
"Wuwuwu..."
"Scary..."
"Mommy!"
Trouble never comes singly.
Right at this moment, some children among those previously obediently covering their eyes started crying out of fear.
Anyone who's been a kindergarten teacher might have experienced this.
Children's minds are relatively simpler, easily influenced by their surroundings.
When one child cries, it's often not long before everyone joins in.
Even if among these children, there were a few bold, courageous ones.
But under the quadruple blows of being away from home, separated from family, suffering from pain (experiments), and sudden danger, they couldn't hold on for long.
It could be said that crying only now meant their will was already quite resilient.
"Hey! Leopard! Giraffe! And Sheep! Can you three hear me?"
Karin directly addressed the CP0 trio using animals.
Hearing this, Lucci, with his back turned, stiffened.
"What is it?"
Kaku instinctively wanted to respond and turn around.
Fortunately, Lucci stopped him in time.
He hadn't forgotten that not far from them, those guys in protective suits just took one look opposite and fell unconscious.
Kalifa also reacted, not turning around, but muttering quietly.
"...Really, I'm not a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user."
Can't blame Karin for that, though.
After all, one of Kalifa's combat moves involved wrapping herself in bubbles, turning into a sheep-like [Soap Sheep] state. Calling her that wasn't exactly wrong.
Though unwilling deep down, they still chose to obediently follow Karin's words.
Couldn't be helped… the illusory chains on their necks had reappeared, the threat quite obvious.
"You three, take those children onto the ship, leave directly! The farther, the better!"
Surprisingly, Karin didn't ask for their help but still remembered those children even now.
Lucci didn't speak, as he knew he couldn't refuse.
But Kaku proactively asked, which was rare for him.
"What about you?"
"Don't worry about me, hurry and leave! Don't stay here getting in the way!"
Saying this, Karin pushed her mind further, materializing more transparent chains to pull back Jashin, which had already begun breaking free.
"Don't misunderstand… we're just worried if you die, this thing on our necks might take our lives with it."
Lucci never hesitated to speculate about others with the worst intentions.
If he had such an ability, he'd definitely think about dragging more people down with him upon death.
But Karin only felt the whispers in her mind growing louder, and she couldn't respond properly anymore.
"Get lost now!"
As she spoke, Karin slightly tightened the Life Lock on their necks as a warning.
If it were only Kaku and Kalifa without Lucci, Karin might have chosen to release their shackles now.
But Lucci was different.
Karin didn't trust his character.
Feeling the sensation on his neck, Lucci stubbornly coated his palm with Haki, trying to touch the chain.
But the result was the same, he simply couldn't touch it.
Although Haki was also a manifestation of spiritual will, just Armament Haki couldn't reach things on a soul level.
Perhaps Big Mom could undo it with her Devil Fruit ability.
"Kids, stop crying! All of you, close your eyes!"
Lucci, having been frustrated by Karin, didn't sound pleasant, commanding the children even taller than him.
But these children weren't easy to handle. Unlike adults, they couldn't assess situations, especially under these circumstances, making calm thinking impossible.
As Lucci spoke, the crying among the children grew louder.
"Hey! You—"
Lucci abruptly transformed into leopard form, his intended threat cut off as he felt a sudden tightness on his neck, then a gradual loosening.
Karin warned him again.
Kalifa, having more sense, knew now wasn't the time to delay and decisively used her Devil Fruit ability.
"Soap Sheep Cloud: Great Tsunami!"
Countless bubbles surged from her body, then erected a tall soap bubble wall between them and Karin.
Though it couldn't block attacks, it could block line of sight.
Seeing this, Kaku also knew they couldn't delay, quickly walking among the children, gently persuading them.
"Kids, get on the ship first. We'll take you home."
"Re... really?"
A girl over two meters tall asked between sobs.
"Of course. Oh, do you know about giraffes? Look—"
Saying this, Kaku transformed into his full giraffe Zoan form.
Compared to a leopard, a giraffe was definitely more acceptable to children.
"Come on, follow me onto the ship."
Saying this, he walked ahead, softly guiding the children.
After he turned into a giraffe, some children forgot why they were crying, looking curiously at the giraffe.
That little girl who first spoke to Kaku hesitated for a few seconds, then chose to follow this talking strange animal onto the ship.
—Perhaps she also knew the other might not really take her home, but what other choice did she have?
With one child following Kaku, other children gradually stopped crying, following one after another.
This made Lucci, who had grabbed two children ready to forcibly throw them onto the deck, curl his lip, ultimately putting them down, letting them follow.
"Kaku will definitely become a good father in the future."
Kalifa covered her mouth, gently teasing Kaku, then also joined in guiding the children.
"Tch..."
Lucci curled his lip, then looked toward Karin's direction again.
But now, besides bubbles, he couldn't see anything… Observation Haki could only sense Karin's presence.
Standing still briefly, Lucci leaped up, directly boarding the cargo ship Caesar and others prepared for escape.
Because events happened too suddenly, many experimental instruments hadn't been loaded.
But this conveniently accommodated the children. They didn't need to squeeze into cramped cabin cells as Caesar, the experiment fanatic, planned, but could freely choose guest rooms to stay in.
After the last child boarded, Lucci directly raised the anchor, then he and Kalifa lowered the sails.
"Let's go."
...
Sensing the large ship gradually moving away in the opposite direction through Observation Haki, Karin finally relaxed a bit.
It's just that the crew she just 'recruited' couldn't be saved… they had turned into mindless, murderous snake-people.
And Naomi—
'Right!'
'Where's Naomi?'
Perhaps due to Jashin's influence, Karin's thinking slowed down, only now belatedly remembering her loyal deputy.