Half an hour later, inside the underground prison, Rorschach and the other two walked away, leaving behind the now-charred remains of Wagner and a group of prisoners paralyzed by fear.
"Swish!"
A piece of white paper covered in writing was casually tossed onto the desk in front of Jonathan by the expressionless Rorschach.
He shot a cold glance at the silent Jonathan and waved at Hibari, Law, and the others. "We're leaving. Back to Water 7."
"Huh? Why?" Hibari asked, confused.
"Since Jonathan says this is an internal matter of their guild, then let them handle it themselves. I'm not getting involved in this mess, risking the lives of my soldiers for it."
Rorschach said this flatly, then turned and walked toward the hall's exit.
Hibari, still unclear on what was happening, followed along. He and Law, along with Lucci, exited together.
"Hey! Why are you leaving all of a sudden? Didn't you say you wanted to investigate the explosives? And that you'd help us fight Glover…"
Sierra jumped up from the couch and chased after them, running to the hall entrance and spreading her arms to block Rorschach's path.
"We're Marines, not saviors!" Rorschach turned his head, coldly glaring at Jonathan, who had picked up the paper.
"You're supposed to be the so-called King of Hunters, but you're acting like a damn stray dog. Right under your nose, they've assembled a fleet of twenty thousand, and what were you doing? Flirting with street thugs in a bar? Where do you get the confidence, huh? Or do you just not care about the lives of the hundreds of thousands living in this city?"
"Do you seriously believe Mr. Issho can save everyone? If Morishita Ichiro hadn't been caught by pure chance, that guy alone could've gone underground and blown this island to the sky with those explosives!"
"Twenty… twenty thousand in a fleet? You're joking, right? Where would Glover even find that many people?" Sierra's eyes widened in disbelief.
Rorschach didn't answer.
At that moment, he was burning with fury, with nowhere to vent it.
Under the intense interrogation from him and Law, Wagner had confessed everything he knew without holding back.
It turned out that several years ago, Glover had already begun planning in secret. His aim was to overthrow the Hunter Guild and take control for himself, becoming the leader of a new dominant force.
But because of Jonathan's massive influence in the guild, he had delayed his plans for several years.
Now, Glover couldn't wait any longer. He was ready to unleash all his preparations in one decisive strike to eliminate Jonathan and the Hunter Guild headquarters.
To do this, he even contacted Wang Zhi, the great pirate of the New World, spending an enormous sum to acquire fifty explosive stones.
At the same time, he had gathered forces including Baroque Works, Moriah's zombie army, and many pirate crews from within the Paradise seas—forming a massive fleet of over twenty thousand.
These vicious pirates from all corners of Paradise were now converging on Gourmet City, Puki.
Glover himself possessed combat power no less than Jonathan's. Coupled with his many subordinates, pirate allies, and the deadly explosive stones, this premeditated war had escalated to a level that even Rorschach found unsettling.
At the very least, he didn't believe he could survive the explosion of forty explosive stones.
Just ten could wipe out a small island.
Forty at once? Not even a Marine Admiral could take that.
That was why Rorschach was so furious.
He couldn't understand where Jonathan's confidence came from.
Relying on fewer than a thousand bounty hunters in Spring Queen City?
Relying on a washed-up Hunter King who was so weak he couldn't even beat himself?
Earlier that morning, Rorschach had found out that Issho had indeed been invited by Glover.
But Issho had only agreed to protect the innocent civilians of Spring Queen City—and unless it was absolutely necessary, he would not intervene in any widespread slaughter.
There was one more thing Rorschach couldn't figure out.
What exactly was Glover after?
There was no way he would go to such lengths just to destroy a fading Hunter Guild.
With how old and worn Jonathan appeared, he might not live much longer even without Glover attacking.
So there had to be something Jonathan possessed—something Glover desperately wanted.
Seeing Rorschach brush past her and keep walking, Sierra's eyes filled with tears.
"Grandpa! Say something! If… if Glover really has assembled a twenty-thousand-man pirate fleet, then with the manpower we have, there's no way we can hold them off. We need Rear Admiral Rorschach!"
On the sofa, Jonathan, still holding the piece of paper, had remained silent all this time.
It wasn't until Rorschach and the others were almost out of sight from the hall that the old man with the deeply wrinkled face finally stood up with a long sigh.
Under the stunned gazes of Issho, Sierra, Andre, and the others…
He walked to the entrance of the hall—and with a thud, knelt down.
He supported himself with both hands on the ground, pressing his few remaining strands of white hair onto the floor.
"I, Jonathan Barnett, President of the Bounty Hunter Guild, earnestly plead with the Marines to stay and help this city withstand the impending catastrophe!"
"Grandpa!"
"President!"
The hunters cried out in alarm and rushed forward, trying to help Jonathan up, but were stopped by the look in his eyes.
"It was my lack of foresight and arrogance that put this city in danger. I am the sinner of the Hunter Guild! Rorschach! Please stay and help me! Help this beautiful city!"
Rorschach's brisk steps came to a sudden halt.
Hibari looked back with a conflicted expression, seeing the elderly man—older than even Sengoku or Garp—kneeling on the ground, his forehead pressed to the floor.
The group turned around and returned to the hall.
Rorschach sat down on the sofa, holding the piece of paper full of intelligence, and looked at Jonathan, who was being helped into a seat by Sierra.
"So, what are you counting on? Don't tell me it's Mr. Issho. A fleet of twenty thousand surrounding from the sea—no matter how strong Mr. Issho is, he can't protect everyone from every direction."
Jonathan's face was filled with bitterness. He took a deep breath and pulled out a glass vial containing a transparent liquid from his chest, placing it on the table.
Rorschach's eyes narrowed as he focused on the seemingly ordinary bottle.
"What is this?"
"This is Hao Water," Jonathan replied with a bitter smile, patting the two soft-bladed swords at his waist. "A potion capable of unlocking the full potential of the human body, allowing a person to unleash power beyond their limits for a brief period. An ancient elixir from the Kingdom of Alabasta."
Rorschach furrowed his brow, picked up the vial, and stared at Jonathan's bitterly smiling face. "You're not planning to drink this and take on the enemy alone, are you? At your age, taking a life-force-draining potion like this—there's no way you could last even a minute before dying."
Sierra's face went pale upon hearing this. Her eyes turned red, and tears began to pour down as she clutched Jonathan's frail arm.
"Grandpa! How could you do something so foolish? Let us deal with Glover and his band of traitors! We won't let those who've betrayed the hunter's creed take even one step into Spring Queen City!"
"President!" Many of the hunters in the hall were crying.
Most of them had grown up under Jonathan's care.
Many were once orphans from all across Paradise, rescued and raised like children by Jonathan.
"President Jonathan! Leave that bastard Glover to me! I swear I'll kill him for you! Please give that life-draining potion to me!"
Andre, his towering frame over six meters tall, dropped to his knees with a thud, tears streaming from his eyes.
He, too, had been raised by Jonathan.
To him, Jonathan was like a father.
"If I can regain the power I had at my peak, I'm confident I can kill Glover within a minute!"
Jonathan looked down at his withered, frail hands.
Once upon a time, these hands were strong and powerful.
Back then, Jonathan Barnett was a rising Marine star who could go toe-to-toe with Steel Bone Kong!
If he hadn't left the Marines, he would've undoubtedly become a Marine Admiral.
At some point, the once-dreaded master of the Ghost Blade Dual Sword Style, the man known to the world as "Oni" Jonathan Barnett, had grown old and faded into obscurity.
"What if he doesn't fight you head-on? What if he just runs? If he stalls for even a minute…"
"He won't escape!" Jonathan clenched his shriveled fists, his eyes radiating unshakable confidence. "Once I drink the Hao Water, I'll kill him in three strikes!"
"If Brother Jonathan returned to his peak state, he could definitely do it. I saw it myself when I was still young," said Issho, who had remained silent until now, suddenly speaking up and leaving Rorschach speechless.
"Seventeen years ago, Glover came from the New World to challenge him. The President just made two strikes in front of him, and Glover swore on the spot that as long as the President lived, he would never betray the guild!" Andre looked at Jonathan with reverence. "Those two strikes split the sea into four parts!"
"Seventeen years ago?"
Rorschach's heart shook.
Seventeen years ago, Jonathan must have already been around seventy years old.To still possess such terrifying strength at seventy… his youth must have been unimaginably powerful.
It seemed he had truly underestimated this so-called King of Hunters who once slew Captain John.
Time spares no one.
After a moment of silence in the hall, Rorschach asked again, "Glover coming here with such a fanfare—what is he really after? Don't tell me it's just you."
"Of course not," Jonathan shook his head and sighed, pointing to the floor beneath him. "He's after the Hunter Guild's headquarters."
"The headquarters?"
"Yes. Because beneath it lies the accumulated wealth of the Bounty Hunter Guild over the past 33 years—
—an amount so vast, it would drive any force in the world to madness."
(End of Chapter)
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