Chapter Serial: Monstrous Blade II – How Ugly, Swuo
Reflected in the firelight, a small boat slowly approached.
A tall figure drew the Longblade from his waist, lifting the unconscious Swuo from the floating debris on the sea onto the deck…
…
Inside the fortress of Den Den Mushi City, there wasn't a soul.
B.I.B. hoisted the sails and steered the ship from within the cabin. After all this time, B.I.B.'s helmsmanship had nearly reached perfection.
After all, it possessed a powerful ability copied from its original body, especially its extraordinary level of self-control over its own power, which was the result of reaching an advanced stage of Training: Life Return.
Adding on to that was the innate ability of its Stand Armor, what it saw, heard, or sensed, as long as it or the original had experienced it, would be perfectly stored in its memory and could be recalled and studied again and again.
You could say that whether it was Liam or B.I.B., as long as they wanted to learn something and were willing to put in time and effort, they could absolutely master it.
Steering a ship? Liam didn't feel like practicing that himself, so he left it to B.I.B. It made no difference anyway. Once his "brother" learned and became proficient, reclaiming B.I.B. meant that he also had learned and mastered it.
Now, he stood next to Robin on the edge of the small boat's deck, gazing out at the receding sea.
The sea stretched endlessly. Using the word "receding" sounded strange.
But the reason for it was, they both knew that in the direction they were looking, not too far from here, something lay ahead.
"Reverse Mountain." Liam leaned on the deck railing, letting the sea breeze blow past him. "It's been more than five years. After going around and around, we're almost back at the entrance to the Grand Line."
Robin smiled gently. "I wonder if Crocus is still at the lighthouse on Reverse Mountain… Are you really not going to visit him?"
"No, no, no!" Liam shook his head rapidly. He took from his chest a letter that had been preserved for years. It had yellowed considerably, and the creases had worn away some of the writing, Crocus's handwritten letter of introduction.
"This thing I begged him to write over five years ago, and I still haven't made it to the Sabaody Archipelago… Haven't even met Rayleigh. If I use this letter now and go back to Reverse Mountain, it just feels kinda… lame!"
What kind of logic was that?
Robin couldn't help but chuckle at his childishly stubborn reasoning.
"Anyway, we're not heading to Sabaody right now, we're going to a resort island, to check out the excitement of the World's Greatest Sword Hero Tournament, right? Who knows, maybe something else will happen during the tournament and your trip to Sabaody will get delayed again…"
"And that's totally fine, isn't it?" Liam clapped Robin on the shoulder and laughed heartily. "The Sabaody Archipelago isn't going anywhere! Rayleigh, an old retired guy like him, isn't going anywhere either! I'm seventeen, you're fifteen, we're not in any rush.
"Y'know? The most important thing in sailing… is to have fun.
"Dreams, goals, the places we want to visit, the people we want to meet, those things exist for our happiness! As long as we keep sailing happily, all of that will happen eventually. Let's not lose sight of that, okay?"
Robin: "Liam…"
Liam: "Hm?"
Robin: "My shoulder… really hurts from your slapping…"
Liam half-raised his hands: "Then let me give you a massage."
Robin glanced at him, then walked forward and leaned back against him with ease.
Compared to Liam's towering figure of over 2.3 meters, Robin, at about 1.8 meters with her mature form, looked as if she were 5 or 6 years younger again, leaning in his embrace.
Liam skillfully massaged Robin's shoulders.
Robin closed her eyes in comfort, leaning back into the solid chest of the man behind her. A deep sense of peace filled her heart.
A natural smile played at the corners of her lips as she asked, "Liam, what's your dream?"
"Me?" Liam's hands didn't stop moving.
Robin, eyes still closed, asked softly, "Yeah, you. Is your dream to become the strongest in the world?"
"That kind of thing's impossible!" Liam chuckled heartily, his big hands continuing to knead. "So many powerful guys are already long dead. Like that Pirate King Roger guy, or the Overlord Rocks from the era before Roger…
If your dream is to become the strongest in the world, but when you finally reach the peak of this era, you realize you'll never get the chance to measure yourself against those legends, wouldn't that feel kind of empty?
"So yeah, 'strongest in the world', that's a super boring goal.
"Sure, I do love the feeling of constantly growing stronger, but that's all there is to it. I'm interested in fighting strong people too, but… again, that's all."
"Oh my," Robin opened her eyes with a smile, resting the back of her head on Liam's strong chest and giving it a small shake, "That's quite the philosophical take."
Liam looked out over the undulating sea, his expression thoughtful. "If I had to say I had a goal…"
"What would it be?" Robin prompted.
"I told you before, I've read a book of prophecies, right?"
"You did," Robin said softly. "You told me, back when we met, that the part about me had already become kind of useless… That prophecy book, it mentioned Ohara, didn't it?"
"Hey now," Liam grumbled as he tousled her long, faintly floral-scented hair, "Are we talking about you or me here?"
Robin pulled back from her thoughts, tilting her face up to gaze at Liam's chiseled jawline. She smiled, "Then go on, tell me."
With stubble on his face and a faraway look in his eyes, Liam said with a sigh, "That prophecy book… it was amazing. It's just a shame that, damn thing was a cliffhanger!"
"A cliffhanger?" Robin blinked, confused. She knew the word in the court eunuch sense, but what did that have to do with a book of prophecies?
"I mean it ended prematurely! There was nothing after a certain point, no follow-up, no conclusion…"
Liam sighed in frustration.
Of course, the One Piece manga would never have ended in a cliffhanger. But he'd crossed over into this world, he naturally had no way of seeing how the original story concluded.
Even with B.I.B.'s incredible abilities, it couldn't replay a memory that had never existed.
"So if I had to name a wish… It'd be to witness, with my own eyes, that destined final chapter."
He'd never get to see the ending of the One Piece manga.
But the final adventure of Pirate King Luffy and his Straw Hat crew, the real conclusion, that, he still had a very real chance of seeing with his own eyes.
Robin listened in silence, slightly stunned.
Liam smiled.
"When the revolution foretold in prophecy finally comes… maybe history itself will come knocking at your door.
"So, just be patient. When the lost history returns… You might be the only one able to read it. So don't rush it, alright?"
Robin stayed quiet for a long time. Then finally, she softly said,
"…Mm."
She turned around, wrapped her arms around Liam's waist, and pressed her cheek to his chest.
After a while, she pulled back. Brushing a lock of hair behind her ear, she looked up with a bright smile.
"Are you hungry? I'll make something for you."
(End Of This Chapter)
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