Intimidated by Liam's sheer presence, the royal guards of the Bourgeois Kingdom unconsciously obeyed his words and boarded the pirate ship to search for the "little girl who can draw," just as he had instructed.
In truth, Liam had been speaking to B.I.B., but since someone else volunteered, he saw no reason to stop them.
With Koala still perched on his shoulder, Liam strolled along the blood-soaked shore, casually flipping over pirate corpses one by one. Robin followed, observing how he paid particular attention to the strange graffiti scrawled on the backs of the fallen pirates.
"Do you think these marks were made by the little girl you mentioned?" Robin asked.
Liam replied, "Don't you find it odd? These pirates were ruthless when fighting the Kingdom's guards, but the moment they saw us, they turned into whimpering dogs, too terrified to even stand, desperate to flee."
Robin fell silent, considering his words.
"These markings... they're a conduit for suggestion. Like a hypnotic seal," Liam muttered, nudging a corpse with his boot to expose more of the strange design painted across the pirate's back. "My guess? The real effect of this symbol is to instill overwhelming fear and self-preservation when facing someone stronger. Whoever drew this was likely someone fragile, maybe a child. Someone who needed these monsters to act cautiously in the face of unbeatable threats."
The first part of Liam's explanation was grounded in observation. The second? He was simply thinking aloud.
He had only ever seen this type of pattern-based hypnosis once before, in a manga about pirates. A peculiar character named Goldenweek, who worked with the crime syndicate Baroque Works under the infamous Sand Crocodile.
A girl obsessed with rules, order… and the idea of "legal lolis." Her hypnotic powers were no joke, every brushstroke could twist your emotions: joy, sorrow, even despair. One of her infamous patterns, Leisure Green, could pacify even the most determined warrior.
Faced with it, you'd sit down cross-legged and sip imaginary tea like a Zen monk, forgetting you had a mission at all.
As Liam spoke, Robin knelt down beside one of the fallen pirates. She extended a slender finger and gently traced the edge of the painted symbol.
Her mind flashed back to Ohara, that frozen moment in time, that ocean of fire...
The wound Liam had worked so hard to heal tore open again. The memories surged up like a crashing wave, and her face turned deathly pale.
Liam immediately grabbed her hand and pulled it away from the graffiti.
"Careful," he said.
Robin inhaled sharply, chest rising and falling as she struggled for breath. "That mark…" she whispered, shaken to the core.
Liam wiped the sweat from her forehead with a broad hand, then casually cleaned it off on her sleeve before helping her to her feet. "So? Works like a charm, doesn't it?"
Robin composed herself and nodded. "More potent than your suggestion techniques… and that's saying something."
Liam smirked. "Which is exactly why I'm curious about the one who created it."
"I challenge you!" A voice rang out suddenly.
Liam turned to see Cavendish, staggering forward, bloodied from head to toe, standing amidst the fallen pirates. His sword was raised, his handsome face twisted with fury and humiliation.
"You still want to fight?" Liam sighed, clearly unimpressed. "Haven't you been tossed around enough for one day?"
He refrained from adding that Cavendish had already spent the better part of the afternoon getting clobbered, first by that red-haired gorilla, and now dragging himself back for another beating. The kid had stamina, at least.
"That doesn't matter!" Cavendish growled, gritting his teeth. "The moment I laid eyes on your detestable face, I felt an unending surge of power boiling inside me!"
Shuā Shuā Shuā!
His blade sliced through the air in rapid succession, as though he wanted to turn Liam into a human colander.
Liam narrowed his eyes and said flatly, "You've lost your mind, haven't you, kid?"
Cavendish's sword lunged straight for Liam's face, but Liam casually tilted his head to the side, the blade missing by inches.
Cavendish struck again and again, his attacks fierce and fast, but Liam dodged effortlessly, grinning as he said, "You don't need to hold back just because there's a little girl on my shoulder. If you're aiming for me, then come at me for real."
Shuā Shuā Shuā!
Cavendish roared, "Enough talk! Fight me properly, damn you!"
In a reckless swing, his sword inadvertently swept toward the brown-haired girl perched on Liam's shoulder. What shocked him was, there was no resistance at all. His ornate blade, the famed Durandel, passed through her body as if she were nothing but mist…
Koala blinked at him, unbothered, then offered a cheerful, childlike smile. "Don't worry~ I'm not scared of swords."
"Guh!" Cavendish nearly coughed up blood from frustration, trembling with rage.
First, that red-haired gorilla outclassed his swordsmanship. Then there was Giorno, who hogged all the attention. And now even this delicate-looking girl treated his sacred blade like a harmless stick…
Was today cursed for the prince?
"If you're that eager to get your face slammed into the dirt, fine," Liam said, still smiling. "You're the prince of this land, right? After you lose, you'll treat us with respect and do what we say until we leave."
Before Liam could finish, Cavendish lunged again. "I'll win first, then we'll talk!"
Robin had stepped aside to avoid the chaos. She watched with faint amusement and nodded to herself, thinking this island trip might actually turn out quite entertaining.
"I wonder what kind of bookshops or antique stores are here?" she mused aloud. "And we'll definitely need to buy clothes. Liam's gotten taller recently… He's going to need a new wardrobe. Is it just him, or are all Kano Country men this absurdly tall?"
Then she added, casually, "Also, someone will need to handle turning in these pirates for the bounty…"
"Don't act like you've already won! That's just arrogant!"
"Face reality, brat!"
Liam deflected Cavendish's attacks with ease, all while tossing out demands as casually as one might call out lunch orders.
Meanwhile, the guards had entered the pirate ship, scouring the cabins one by one for the "little girl who can draw," as the strange and overpowering man had instructed.
Though they hadn't found the girl yet, they did stumble upon medical supplies and bandages. Without delay, they brought over water and alcohol, tending to their wounded comrades with practiced efficiency.
Elsewhere, B.I.B. had also boarded the ship.
Upon stepping inside, B.I.B. activated his Kenbunshoku Haki, and in a flash, "sensed" every soul aboard. In one dim corner of a sealed cabin, he picked up a faint but unusual presence.
"Commander!" shouted a guard from the corridor, pointing toward a specific cabin.
The commander sprinted over, his head still bandaged, and found the cabin door, along with the doorknob, coated in strange, swirling graffiti.
"What's the problem? Why haven't you opened it yet?"
He reached for the doorknob, but as soon as his fingers brushed against it, he recoiled, confused.
A question mark practically floated above his head as he stared at the door in befuddlement.
Ignoring the odd feeling, he tried again to open it.
But the second he touched the graffiti-covered handle, a strange sense of "leisurely melancholy" swept over him. His muscles slackened, and he instinctively let go.
The other injured guards watching from the hallway tilted their heads at the same time, identical question marks metaphorically popping up over their heads. Every one of them wore the same puzzled, blank expression.
They all tried, again and again, but not a single one could manage to turn the handle.
Gū lū...
They swallowed nervously in unison, glancing at each other, foreheads slick with cold sweat. It was beyond bizarre.
After watching for a few moments, B.I.B. calmly stepped forward, then, with a BOOM!, kicked the door clean off its hinges, shattering the lock with a single strike.
(End of Chapter)
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