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In the ruins of the royal palace, watching those two great pirates casually dust off their clothes and walk away, the Minister of the Prosperous Kingdom let out a long, weary sigh, part relief that the violence was over, part utter despair.
The citizens had attacked the palace… The King had been crushed to death by falling debris in the chaos… The royal treasury had been plundered, and half the palace had been reduced to rubble… The Haiqi Chamber of Commerce people had been slaughtered by pirates…
Too much had happened in a single night.
The minister gazed blankly at the enormous golden pillar that now stood proudly before him. Those two were pirates, yet they had discarded such an unimaginable treasure as if it were worthless scrap.
Did they even understand how much this golden pillar was worth?!
It was worth more than both their heads combined! Together, their bounties barely exceeded 700 million Berries, but this pure gold pillar, weighing one to two tons at least, was worth well over 10 to 20 billion Berries…
A number so staggering it could drive anyone insane, yet those two pirates? They'd just left it behind, muttering something about it "not fitting in."
The minister stared blankly toward the horizon. "There are actually pirates like that in this world… No..." he murmured, "...there are actually people like that…"
"Chopper-na Giorno…"
The minister turned sharply at the sound of the hoarse voice.
There, sitting amid the rubble, was the black-haired youth who could transform into a leopard, the one Giorno had beaten to a pulp like a rag doll. He was awake.
I'm still alive…
Rob Lucci, his face covered in dried blood, his eyes shrouded in deep shadow, muttered hoarsely, "Where is he?"
He had fought with everything he had, with full killing intent, and yet his opponent had remained utterly, infuriatingly calm… Lucci had gone all out, and that man hadn't even deemed him worthy of matching his killing intent!
Lucci felt a burning surge of failure, rage, and profound humiliation boil up from his heart.
"The two pirates… they've already left," the minister said blankly.
😭 The Lost Face
"You're saying… you forgot?"
Standing before Liam, Ross froze at his simple question.
The girl forced a sharp, nervous laugh, waving her hands awkwardly. "H-heh heh heh… come on, don't joke like that, okay? If even you forget what I used to look like, then I'll never be able to change back! I'll be doomed! Haha… ha…"
But her laughter soon faltered, her expression stiffening bit by bit, because Liam (Giorno) was standing there, rubbing his chin, brow furrowed in genuine, contemplative thought. He didn't look like he was joking at all.
"Ross, even if you say that," Robin said gently, "if he can't remember, then he just can't remember."
Ross's eyes welled up. "Are you trying to comfort me? …Thanks, I guess!"
"Actually, that's not so strange," Liam said with a loud laugh. "Nobody remembers another person's face that clearly! Even when you look in the mirror, sometimes your own face feels unfamiliar. Happens all the time!"
"Don't talk about other people's problems like it's nothing!!" Ross exploded, grabbing Liam's collar with teary eyes and bared teeth. "This is really important to me! Hurry up and remember! Please, try to remember!"
Her voice broke mid-yell, and she clutched his collar tighter, bursting into uncontrollable tears. "If I have to stay… like this… forever… then how, how am I supposed to go back…?"
Ross sobbed before Liam, her shoulders trembling. When she finally lifted her tear-stained face, she saw Robin watching her with a gentle, slightly teasing smile.
"You seem a lot livelier now," Robin said cheerfully. "Before, you barely even dared to raise your voice."
"..." Ross shuddered all over, her lips quivering, on the verge of another sob.
Then she heard Liam's calm voice above her: "I may not remember… and yet, at the same time, I do remember."
Ross blinked up through her tears.
Liam snapped his fingers.
B.I.B. immediately understood, the black armor disassembled in an instant. Helmet, visor, pauldrons, chestplate, armguards, greaves… each piece flew outward and began to attach itself, one by one, onto Ross's body.
Ross blinked in confusion, unaware of what was happening, until she heard Liam say: "Don't resist. Let your instincts move for you."
Liam truly didn't remember Ross's former appearance, not in any clear detail. But B.I.B. never forgot anything. It didn't even have a "forget" function.
Ross was still sniffling, wondering what Liam meant by "instinct"…
And then, in the next instant, she felt her body begin to move on its own.
B.I.B.'s armor system allowed its wearer to use its power, but it could also move on its own, taking control of the host's body like an automatic pilot.
Although B.I.B. was currently copying the Gold-Gold Fruit's ability, it still retained the experience and memory of having once used the Munch-Munch Fruit to consume and modify itself. Because of that, it was more than familiar with how to apply the Munch-Munch Fruit's powers.
Once Ross relaxed her body as instructed, B.I.B. easily took over her motor control. Her dainty lips parted...and then her small, delicate mouth suddenly expanded, stretching wide beyond all reason, her jaw flipping up over her head as she began to devour herself piece by piece.
Gance, still covered in wounds, was completely petrified on the spot.
He had just gone through a storm of emotional turmoil. Based on what the girl, who claimed to be Princess Ross, had said to Robin and Liam, it did seem possible she was the real Princess Ross, merely transformed in appearance.
But before Gance could fully believe it, the girl's mouth warped monstrously wide and she started swallowing herself, until, unbelievably, only a dainty, cherry-pink mouth remained lying on the ground…
The most horrifying thing was that this tiny mouth kept wriggling, as if still chewing something.
Even with Gance's long years as a royal guard commander, the scene made his heart seize with primal fear; every hair on his body stood on end.
"N-no way…" he muttered, shaking his head again and again. "The Princess is the Pipe-Pipe Fruit user, she could never do something like this…"
But even as he denied it, the little cherry mouth finished chewing, then…
"Hua-la!"
...it suddenly gaped open wide again, and a human figure emerged from within.
Without even a trace of saliva or residue, the one who stepped back out from the tiny mouth was no longer the unfamiliar girl—
... it was Princess Ross herself.
Not only her face, but even her height had returned!
Gance's pupils quaked in disbelief. If this were merely a disguise, no one could have possibly accounted for the Princess's growth over the past two years since she'd gone missing.
The Princess before him didn't look exactly like she had in his memory, but that very difference made it feel real. The Ross he remembered was from two years ago. The Ross before him was what she had become, after two years of hardship and isolation in the outside world.
"Princess… Ross…" Gance's tiger-like eyes brimmed with tears as he dropped to one knee, wounded and trembling.
Ross didn't understand what Liam had done to her, but seeing her true self restored, she covered her mouth, weeping in overwhelming relief.
"Gance…"
The two embraced each other, crying uncontrollably.
(To Be Continued…)