Rosé snuck onto the ship of these two powerful pirates. She had imagined all sorts of possible outcomes, but she could never have expected the situation before her eyes.
Suddenly, a circular hole appeared in the cabin floor, and the head of a young girl popped out partially visible. Rosé quietly peered through the hole, observing.
Outside, waves crashed in rhythmic pulses. Inside the cabin, however, it was eerily silent.
The place was completely empty.
And the two pirates?
The head that had peeked through the floor shifted, and suddenly, an enormous Den Den Mushi came into view. Rosé was so startled that she nearly screamed and hastily covered her mouth.
"It's a Den Den Mushi..."
She calmed herself. It was a green Den Den Mushi. It had crawled too close to her face, making her think it was a monster.
"Boru boru..." It made a few calls. Rosé quickly raised a finger and whispered, "Shh."
She passed through the circular hole, leaving the lower hold, and climbed up while holding the green Den Den Mushi. She gently petted it while carefully moving through the cabin.
Rather than going through the main entrance, Rosé used her Gomu Gomu no Mi powers to open a hole. First, she observed the situation, and then she passed her entire body through the wall.
This wasn't a particularly large pirate ship. Rosé soon explored every corner, inside and out.
It was truly empty. Not a single person.
"How strange," the girl said, her face pale with fright at the bizarre scene. "Where are those two pirates?"
She suddenly looked up at the sky. Giorno, the pirate, could fly, but when he did, there should have been a snapping sound in the air as he pushed off: "Pop, pop." Yet, high above, there was no sign of anyone, and not a single unusual sound reached her ears.
Just as she gazed upward, the cabin creaked. Rosé shuddered and turned around, startled, to see the ship's wheel turning.
"The ship's wheel..." She sighed with relief, but her face suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. Her eyes seemed to lose all color. "Why is the ship's wheel moving by itself?"
Gathering her courage, she entered the cabin and approached the unmanned wheel, clutching the green Den Den Mushi.
The wheel spun another round by itself with a creak.
Rosé trembled, frozen in place with a racing heart. She closed her eyes and reached around the air near the wheel, but she touched nothing.
"..."
Seeing that it wasn't a transparent person steering did little to ease her nerves.
She could clearly see a Log Pose sitting on the circular table in front of the wheel.
The ship's course followed that Log Pose, meaning this seemingly abandoned ship wasn't drifting aimlessly; it was sailing with purpose!
Could the true forms of those two pirates actually be ghosts?
When they returned to their ship, would they resume their true forms and control it as spirits?
Having never seen Liam extract the ship from Little Green before, Rosé sank weakly against the wooden wall.
Holding the green Den Den Mushi, she pinched its blank face and smiled wryly.
"Your two masters...they've abandoned this ship and you too..."
"Boru?" Little Green tilted its head in confusion, looking from this human woman to the dark, armored figure steering the wheel.
This human's eyes seem a little off.
There are clearly people on the ship! Why would she say otherwise?
She seems a bit foolish.
"I'm so hungry..." Exhausted from the shock, Rosé nibbled on some dried rations. She peeked at the endless sea outside, then silently ate a little more.
Noticing the green Den Den Mushi staring at her intently from her lap, Rosé broke off a piece of food and held it to its mouth. "Do you want some?"
Little Green opened its mouth and swallowed the crumbs.
"I didn't bring much food. What am I going to do now?" Rosé muttered. Where is this ship even headed?"
She took an Eternal Pose from her chest and stared at the country name engraved on the wooden frame.
"Xikear."
A pair of narrow eyes glowed white as they closely watched the Eternal Pose in her hands.
Rosé didn't react, but Little Green flinched at the nearby masked armor.
Enveloped in dark Stand energy, the mask floated quietly in front of the girl while the rest of B.I.B. remained at the wheel, holding course.
A pen traced the route on paper.
Robin drew two thick, intersecting lines on her hand-drawn map: a solid line for the Red Line and a hollow line for the Grand Line.
The intersecting lines divided the seas into four regions: East, South, West, and North. Robin started in West Blue, passed through Lasgap Island into Reverse Mountain, paused at Gemini Cape, then continued onto the Grand Line.
Next came Karakuri Island, the Lulucia Kingdom, Momoiro Island, the Boin Archipelago, the Flower Boat at Sea, Kujai Island, the Ice Cream Kingdom, Baterilla Island, the Burujoa Kingdom, Momoiro Island, Foolshout Island, and Resort Island.
The journey finally set off from Drum Island, heading deeper into the Grand Line.
"What are you drawing?" Liam's voice suddenly came from above Robin with creaks accompanying it: "Creak, creak..."
"I'm thinking about how far we still are from the Sabaody Archipelago," Robin said. She put down her pen, leaned on the sofa, and sipped hot tea. On the table were two notes, one old and one new, from Red Hair and Crocus. They were for Liam to deliver to Pluton Rayleigh at the Sabaody Archipelago.
"We can't wait until Shanks's note ages too while we're still on our way to Sabaody, right?" she teased.
Liam laughed, though his voice sounded strange, mixed with creaks.
Robin looked up and saw him chewing on something again.
Since gaining the Munch-Munch Fruit, Liam had felt compelled to taste everything first. What he was now chewing on was a metal rod.
It was his own weapon.
Robin watched in embarrassment as Liam chewed the iron rod — the same one that had once clashed with the great sword of Hero Hawk Eyes — as casually as if it were a chocolate stick. He swallowed it all with a gulp.
"We don't have much food," Liam said casually. Strange rumbling sounds came from his stomach. "So we'll definitely have to resupply a few times along the way. Let me show you a magic trick. Look! Swallowing a longsword."
With that, he lifted his head, reached into his mouth, and astonishingly pulled the iron rod out of his throat.
Robin shook her head helplessly.
The rod had clearly shrunk compared to before Liam chewed and swallowed it. Its metallic sheen had almost entirely disappeared, leaving it plain and unassuming.
Liam held it in his hand. It now felt heavier than before, having been refined and reshaped by his Munch-Munch Fruit powers.
With a casual flick, he swung the rod, creating a gust of wind that slapped against the walls of City Castle.
"Boru!"
A white fluid surged from the castle walls and formed the shape of a Den Den Mushi. It called out to Liam in apparent displeasure.
Seeing this, Robin sipped her tea and asked, "Aren't you going to deal with her?"
"She didn't ask for help, so why should I?" Liam said, putting the rod aside. He sprawled lazily on the sofa with his long legs on the coffee table and his long arms around Robin. "Am I that kindhearted?"
Robin smiled. "I never asked for your help before, either."
"I'll show you another magic trick!"
Liam changed the subject seamlessly. Robin smiled silently and sipped her tea while watching him perform.
He snapped his fingers and said, "This trick is called 'Eating Yourself.' Never seen it before, right?"
Then, he opened his enormous mouth. His jaw stretched downward, swallowing his head, neck, and upper body.
The Liam reclining on the sofa was completely consumed, leaving only an isolated, wriggling mouth behind.
Robin held her tea, stunned.
Soon, however, the mouth on the sofa opened and, with a shuā, spat out a full figure. Liam had reappeared, but his appearance had changed drastically.
His limbs and body had become more muscular. Robin quickly measured him mentally and realized that his height had shrunk from over 2.4 meters to about 1.9 meters—just half a head taller than her.
Compressed vertically, his body expanded horizontally. Liam's skeleton seemed reshaped, with adjusted muscle density and distribution.
(To Be Continued…)
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