Chapter Forty-Seven: Falling into Darkness

The stain of the Holy Land, Mary Geoise! Its name... the Sixth District!

As Hancock spoke in her gentle, flowing voice, the so-called "human hell"—the Sixth District—gradually revealed its mysterious veil before the eyes of Chu Yi and Lucci.

Though Mary Geoise was revered by the world as the most sacred of places, beneath its sanctified surface it was nourished by a bed of bones.

Most of the Celestial Dragons shared a morbid pastime: the enslavement of others, which served only to further elevate their perceived status above all others. With their insatiable appetite for slaves, it was inevitable that countless would be discarded once they no longer amused their masters. Thus was born the Sixth District.

As Hancock recounted, the origin of the Sixth District lay with several Celestial Dragons whose minds were twisted beyond repair. Unwilling to squander their wealth by giving away slaves who had ceased to entertain them, nor to reward their servants with such "gifts," they instead petitioned the Navy to set aside a place—a dumping ground for these forsaken wretches.

Within its confines, abandoned slaves were left with nothing: no food, no water, no means of survival. At first, these castaways managed to support each other, bound by their shared misfortune and the memory of their servitude under the Celestial Dragons. They found comfort in mutual pity, in whispered laments.

But soon enough...

The primal urge of starvation stripped them of their humanity.

Among the first batch, one elderly slave, weakened by hunger and age, eventually succumbed and died. His corpse, however, did not rot slowly in the darkness; instead, it was torn apart and consumed by the others.

Those who devoured the old man's flesh became the first demons of the Sixth District.

Or rather... the first hungry ghosts.

The appearance of these ghouls did not go unnoticed by the Navy guards stationed there. Troubled, they reported the matter up the chain of command, wondering if perhaps the existence of the Sixth District should be reconsidered—some shred of humanity lingering in their hearts.

But what was the outcome?

The so-called "hell on earth" was not abolished. On the contrary, the Celestial Dragons, upon hearing tales of hungry ghosts prowling the district, found the notion amusing in their perverse worldview. The spectacle of humans turning on one another for survival thrilled them.

Thus, more and more discarded slaves were thrown into the Sixth District. Broken, maimed, diseased, beyond hope of recovery, they were nonetheless driven by the desperate will to live. Each day in the Sixth District was a new chapter in a saga of horror. Over time, those who survived within its boundaries transformed into the cannibalistic fiends that haunted the present day.

Tiger learned of the Sixth District because the Celestial Dragon who owned him was curious to witness what it looked like for humans to eat fishmen—and for fishmen to devour humans. Yet, Tiger’s formidable strength did not wane, even after days of starvation. He slew those who tried to prey upon him, maintaining the dignity of his race even as his body teetered on the brink of collapse.

Eventually, seeing that Tiger failed to satisfy his grotesque curiosity, the Celestial Dragon had him removed by the Navy, intending to use his strength in gladiatorial combat with other slaves before finally casting him back into the Sixth District, once he was suitably broken.

Hancock’s knowledge of the Sixth District came from being brought there personally by the Celestial Dragons, who delighted in showing her the pitiless spectacle. She could never forget the mocking expressions on their faces as they watched humans gnawing on one another. Nor could she erase the memory of seeing a fellow captive—someone who had once shared her cell—reduced to a meal for others, all to the applause of their masters.

With each new revelation about the filth within the Holy Land, Chu Yi took a deep, shuddering breath, his heart unable to calm. Even Lucci was shaken. At this moment, doubt flickered in Lucci’s eyes, as though he suspected Tiger and Hancock were fabricating the tale of the Sixth District to slander the Celestial Dragons.

While Chu Yi and Lucci kept their silence, each for their own reasons...

Suddenly!

A man, his body covered in wounds, burst from the shadows. Taking advantage of the group’s distraction as they discussed the Sixth District, he rushed to Chu Yi's side and bit down viciously on his arm!

"Hungry... I'm hungry!"

"Food! I want food!"

Gnawing furiously at Chu Yi’s arm, the deranged man’s teeth scraped against his skin, the sound echoing harshly down the noisy street, grating on Chu Yi’s nerves.

Yet Chu Yi paid no heed to the madman chewing at his flesh. Instead, he gazed calmly at him, then shifted his gaze to Lucci.

"Do you see?" he asked.

"See what?" Lucci replied in confusion.

"I asked—do you see him?"

Raising his arm, Chu Yi effortlessly lifted the crazed man, who clung to him like a wild dog refusing to surrender its bone, and shoved him in front of Lucci.

That image...

It was the very embodiment of a beast, refusing to let go.

Lucci lowered his head, understanding at last what Chu Yi was trying to say.

These are the people protected by your Navy—the Celestial Dragons.

And those within the Sixth District? Every single one is a victim of the Celestial Dragons’ cruelty. No matter what they have become, they were once human—turned into monsters by the hands of their so-called masters.

Chu Yi’s silent accusation battered Lucci’s conviction, making him question, for the first time, whether the Navy’s "justice" was truly justice at all.

Yet Chu Yi had no time to concern himself with Lucci’s inner turmoil.

Now, there was only one thing he wished to do...

To cleanse this vile street.

To make it vanish forever.

With a powerful flick, Chu Yi hurled the deranged man from his arm—a man whose teeth, no matter how desperately he bit, could not pierce Chu Yi’s skin. As the man flew through the air, Chu Yi calmly extended his right hand.

Shinra Tensei!

With a thunderous crash, the man's body, crushed by an overwhelming repulsive force, exploded into a gruesome bloom of blood, scattering over Chu Yi.

Yet as the stench of blood wafted through the air, Chu Yi realized for the first time that the blood of these ghouls—so foul and rotten—could, upon meeting the open air, emit a strange aura of sanctity.

If that was the case...

Eyes sharpening, Chu Yi tore himself free from Tiger’s restraining grasp and vanished from the filthy street of the Sixth District.

As his figure disappeared from before Tiger, Hancock, and the others, slipping deeper into the sordid heart of the district, Chu Yi suddenly understood a simple truth.

The one who could "purify" the Holy Land, Mary Geoise, was no god or saint.

It was a demon.

A demon of carnage.