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Chapter Serial・Monstrous Blade I・Drifting with the Waves
On the sea, the wreckage of a battleship burns endlessly. Amid the flames, on the scalding sea surface, the unconscious Svor floats up and down on shattered planks…
…
"Huff… Huff…"
Old Boss was panting heavily with excitement. What had happened today was full of twists and turns, too sudden, too surreal.
First, Koala, who had gone missing years ago and was rumored to have been kidnapped and sold as a slave, suddenly reappeared before him. And right after that, a formidable and unstoppable pirate came chasing right behind her...
This pirate was incredibly powerful. Even someone as experienced as Old Boss feared the village might face utter disaster. But then things took a turn for the unexpected: not only did Koala survive, she had actually gained the power of a legendary Devil Fruit, and, together with everyone, managed to drive that terrifying pirate away.
Everyone was relieved, but then noticed Koala standing off to the side, not turning back for a long while.
Old Boss walked over to stand next to Koala. Turning his head to glance at the young girl, he suddenly froze, his cloudy old eyes understood something.
"Grandpa Grelore, Koala's mom is awake," one of the villagers called out, noticing the two standing still. Smiling, they added, "That pirate didn't stand a chance against Koala. He probably won't come back any time soon…"
Old Boss gently patted Koala on the head and rasped, "Child, never forget this kindness."
Facing the direction Liam had disappeared into, Koala already had her mouth wide open, tears and snot streaming down her face as she silently cried herself into a mess.
"Just like he said… there'll be a day we meet again."
Consoled by Old Boss, Koala wiped her tears and walked back into the crowd. Her mother, who had collapsed earlier, still didn't have the strength to get up, and just sat there weeping as her daughter approached step by step.
"Mom…"
Koala threw herself into her mother's arms.
"Koala, my child, my sweet daughter…" Koala's mother sobbed softly, "I thought you… just like they said, had been… had been…"
The mother and daughter held each other and wept bitterly.
The rest of the villagers, most of whom were injured to some degree, showed relieved smiles. But Old Boss sighed deeply in his heart. Rumors said Koala had been sold to the Celestial Dragons as a slave. Now she had escaped and come back… would the Marines come one day to capture her? To drag her back into the Celestial Dragons' cage?
What had the world come to?
The one who brought Koala home unharmed was a pirate. And not even a pirate who waited around to be thanked, he was willing to be driven off like a villain just to protect her.
But the ones who might suddenly appear one day in the future… to drag Koala away again… the ones that filled people's hearts with unease…
Were the Marines, and the World Government, who claimed to stand for "Justice."
Sigh…
Yikes!
Liam, resting a metal staff across his shoulders, walked briskly toward the shore after leaving Koala's hometown village.
Along the way? Forget seeing Marines lying in ambush like in the comics, waiting to trap Tiger, he didn't even spot a single bird feather.
Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) is an active skill and requires a calm state of mind to use. This was shown most clearly in Luffy's battles against Enel and Katakuri.
Enel had his "Mantra" (Heart Network) Observation Haki activated, using it to predict movements and even read minds. Against him, Luffy's attacks were utterly useless. But once Enel realized his lightning didn't work on the rubber man Luffy, he freaked out, making ridiculous expressions, and lost his cool. Only then did Luffy get a sliver of a chance to win…
And Katakuri? To maintain his future-sight-level Observation Haki advantage, he stayed eerily calm during their duel, barely moving, waiting for Luffy to attack first, and then countering one by one…
When Liam first arrived on Foolshout Island, he only used Observation Haki briefly, to locate the nearest village right after landing ashore.
After sending Koala off, Liam didn't use Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) at all along the way.
He walked the whole journey, nearly back to the boat by the shore, and didn't even run into a single Marine trying to jump out and show off. He was actually a bit disappointed.
Liam looked back.
Thanks to his intervention, it seemed there was no longer anyone in Koala's village acting as an informant, secretly coordinating with the Marines.
With no deal between the villagers and the Marines anymore, who knows if the Marines will still send someone to recapture Koala, the girl once enslaved by the Celestial Dragons?
Liam shook his head and kept walking for a bit. In the distance, he spotted the sail of a small boat at the shoreline, marked with the JOJO Pirate Crew emblem.
A headless mech stood on the deck, arms crossed like a bodyguard.
Whish, whish, whish…
Liam casually tossed his iron staff forward. B.I.B. (the mech) didn't move an inch as the staff clanged, nearly piercing through its torso, then slammed down onto the deck. Liam quickly stabilized it midair using his Magnet-Magnet Fruit ability, causing it to hover in place.
Only then did the slow-to-react B.I.B. reach out and grab the staff that had just been lodged halfway through its own body.
"Idiot."
Liam walked over and stepped onto the bow of the boat.
But even though the jab was said up close, B.I.B. couldn't hear it… because its head wasn't currently on its neck.
Shaking his head, Liam pressed his foot down hard, and suddenly stomped.
Whiz, !
The JOJO Pirate ship shot forward like an arrow released from a bowstring. With just a single kick from Liam, the ship surged dozens of meters across the sea.
Liam leapt after it, stepping mid-air a few times before catching up.
Marineford, Marine Headquarters,
Admiral Sengoku rubbed his temples and set the report down.
The JOJO Pirate Crew's Giorno had returned escaped Celestial Dragon slave Koala to her hometown...
If it were any other time…
If it were any other pirate crew, not the JOJO Pirates…
Even Sengoku himself wasn't sure whether he would've already dispatched a battleship to Foolshout Island, to recapture the girl who was once property of the Celestial Dragons...
"With those two pirates' strength, an ordinary Headquarters Vice Admiral wouldn't be able to handle them. It would require Admiral-level force, or at the very least, one of the Admiral candidates." Sengoku estimated silently.
"But Aokiji is in the New World, Akainu has another mission, and the fastest, Kizaru, isn't even at HQ…"
What Sengoku had to admit, deep down, was that those two from the JOJO Pirate Crew weren't truly evil or monstrous criminals.
They were already difficult to deal with, but considering Giorno and Jolyne's code of conduct, it was still within tolerable limits. Far more palatable than the sort of pirates who slaughter everywhere they go...
Naturally, Sengoku preferred not to go out of his way to provoke this odd pirate crew unnecessarily. Even if it only had two members, their mysterious ties to Amazon Lily in the Calm Belt were enough to give even him pause.
Sengoku suddenly realized that the way they were treating this JOJO Pirate Crew… felt familiar.
Of course, it was exactly how the Marines treated the Four Emperors of the sea, with caution.
Though the JOJO Pirates were small in scale, they had somehow landed themselves a position eerily similar to the Emperors on Marine HQ's radar.
Sengoku's winding thoughts were, unsurprisingly, met with unfiltered ridicule from his old comrade Garp once he found out.
Garp laughed uproariously: "Capture an escaped slave for those pig-headed Celestial Dragons? Don't make me laugh! What, you want the Marines to look even more shameful than they already do?"
"If you're really gonna do something that disgusting, you might as well tear off the 'Justice' on your cloak and stitch on the word 'Shameless' instead!"
At the front end of the Grand Line, the JOJO Pirate Crew's ship sailed boldly through the waves.
Inside the Den Den Mushi City Fortress...
(To be continued)