Under the bright moonlight, within the silent, deserted jungle, a dark shadow was sprinting at an exaggerated, breakneck speed, as if some monstrous beast were hot on his heels.
Whoosh—! As the gale whistled, countless pebbles, sand, and leaves were swept into the air, trailing behind him like a long dragon.
(Strange, those three actually didn't chase after us?)
A flicker of doubt rose in Rovick's heart, and he gradually deactivated the powers of the Gust-Gust Fruit. Although this ability to use the wind to boost his running speed was extremely practical, maintaining full power for such a long time was still a bit too much for the blue-haired traveler to handle.
"Whew... huff... that's exhausting. Chairman, just how did you manage to provoke those three monsters?"
Rovick wiped the fine sweat from his forehead and smiled bitterly. "Wait, you're basically a monster yourself now. You destroyed an entire town just like that. Your Devil Fruit ability is way too overpowered..."
"..." Slumped across his back, the still-unconscious Sherlock—the Sorcerer—was naturally unable to answer.
Indeed, the person who had rescued Sherlock right from under the noses of Blackbeard, the Heavenly Yaksha (Doflamingo), and the Enemy of Nature was Rovick. Although all three of them had no real intention of stopping him—and luckily, a certain stupid dog had unintentionally provided a bit of teamwork—the fact remained that this "heroic feat" was enough for Rovick to brag about for the rest of his life.
"I remember the Chairman's partners saying their next stop was Skypiea..."
Rovick pondered for a moment. Earlier in Mock Town, besides asking about news regarding the Crying Blood Moon, he had also inquired about the Sky Island in passing. Though the inquiry process had been somewhat unpleasant, with the help of Juexi's sharp blade, Rovick had successfully obtained intelligence regarding Mont Blanc Cricket, the "Dream-madman."
"Luffy and the others should have gone to find that Cricket guy. So the question is... where does that dream-madman live?"
In the dense jungle, which looked somewhat eerie in the night, the "blue-algae head" carrying a man in glasses looked completely bewildered.
While he was significantly better than Zoro, the ultimate personification of being directionally challenged, Rovick's sense of direction was indeed poor. Furthermore, after that desperate sprint just now, he no longer had any idea where he was.
(Maybe I should throw a shoe to determine a direction.)
Just as Rovick was about to perform his usual "shoe-toss navigation," his Observation Haki sensed a life force rapidly approaching!
"Are the Marines catching up?"
The blue-haired traveler's expression shifted. He gently laid Sherlock on the ground and rested his hand on the hilt of Juexi, focusing his mind and entering a state of high tension as he prepared for battle.
Rustle, rustle—
A sudden movement came from a thicket to his right, and a figure burst out immediately after.
(Tear them apart... wait? This is...)
Rovick, who had been about to launch a slash, caught sight of the visitor's familiar straw hat. He hurriedly checked his urge to draw his sword and exclaimed:
"Luffy?!"
"Oh? It's you, Blue-hair."
Upon seeing Rovick, the dimwitted captain immediately broke into an extremely joyful grin. "Haha! It's great to run into you here! I got lost in this jungle. Can you take me to find my crew?"
"That's exactly what I wanted to ask you! Don't steal my lines, okay...?"
Rovick facepalmed, thinking to himself that Sherlock's captain was truly far too unreliable.
"Shishishi! So it turns out you're a lost cause just like Zoro, Blue-hair!"
Ignoring the traveler's darkening expression, Luffy grinned lightheartedly. But when his gaze shifted downward and he saw the still-unconscious Sherlock on the ground, the smile on the captain's face instantly froze.
"Sher—Sherlock? Hey, what happened to you...?"
On the shores of Mock Town, Blackbeard's crew was preparing to depart.
"Captain, I still don't get it. Why didn't you just kill that Sorcerer back there?"
Jesus Burgess was extremely perplexed. In his mind, Blackbeard was absolutely no saint; he shouldn't be the type to let a potential threat live.
"That man in the glasses is truly terrifying. If we don't get rid of him now, I'm afraid that in the future..."
"You were just scared witless by that rookie Sherlock, weren't you, Burgess?"
The sniper, who was looking around as if searching for something, spoke in a flat tone. "I saw that look on your face when you were staring death in the eye through my scope. It was quite pathetic."
"Van Augur! You bastard...!"
The Champion, his sore spot poked, flared up in rage. He walked toward Van Augur with a grimace, intending to do something unfriendly, but he was stopped by a massive hand.
"Zehahaha! There's nothing to be ashamed of, Burgess. A loss is a loss."
Blackbeard laughed boisterously. That gap-toothed smile was certainly ugly, yet it carried an indescribable, unique charisma.
"While that Sorcerer's overall strength isn't as high as yours, and his physical toughness is practically non-existent, his Devil Fruit power is indeed a bit sinister. There's no shame in your defeat."
(The Mirror-Mirror Fruit? What a miraculous fruit.)
Thinking back to the other demonic power that had emanated from Gungnir earlier, Marshall D. Teach sighed with a hint of regret.
"It really is a headache. I didn't expect this little island to be so 'lively' tonight. Otherwise, even if he didn't become our comrade, I never would have let him leave!"
"However, while this ocean is vast, it is also small. As long as he is still in the Grand Line, we will definitely meet again!"
"True."
Van Augur nodded calmly. "In this world, as long as you are willing, paths will cross. A reunion is like the turning of gears..."
"Zehahaha! That's exactly what I mean!"
(You two... well, I personally never want to run into that Sorcerer again!)
Burgess looked at the two of them playing off each other with a pained expression, letting out a long, helpless sigh. Then, the Champion subconsciously recalled that slender figure under the blood-red light and the demon-like, wicked smile at the corner of his mouth...
Murderous intent! Rampage! Fear! Despair! Death!
(That guy is absolutely a demon in human skin!)
Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Burgess thought to himself, his face turning slightly pale.
"This town has been leveled, and a bunch of Marines have arrived. Let's head to another island and wait for Lafitte. He has my Vivre Card, anyway."
Blackbeard didn't notice his helmsman's strange expression at all. He glanced at his bizarrely designed pirate ship and then asked his sniper:
"Augur, have you seen Doc Q? Honestly, he and that beat-up horse of his couldn't have been crushed by a building, could they?"
As soon as he finished speaking, as if answering Captain Blackbeard's call, a figure slumped over a horse's back slowly appeared in the sniper's field of vision. By the time the terminally ill-looking doctor drew near, all three of the Blackbeard crew were shocked by his wretched appearance.
"What happened? Did you and your horse get bitten by some kind of animal?"
Teach stared at the numerous bite marks covering Doc Q and his mount, feeling utterly confused.
"Cough, cough... don't even mention it, Captain. It's the first time I've ever encountered such a formidable dog..."
Doc Q coughed violently. Combined with his current miserable appearance, he looked tragic enough to move heaven and earth.
Then, the sickly ship doctor gave his comrades a brief account of what had happened.
First, while he was handing out explosive apples in Mock Town, he encountered a "stupid dog" and felt like having some fun → fed it an apple → BOOM! Shakalaka!
Then, he and his horse were nearly bitten to death by this "stupid dog" whose combat power was off the charts...
"..."
After hearing their doctor's miserable encounter, Blackbeard and Van Augur were both dumbfounded. The image of a derpy Husky slowly surfaced in their minds...
"Wihahaha! You sickly ghost, you can't even beat a dog? You're completely useless!"
Burgess, who loved building his happiness on the pain of others, let out a laugh like a clanging barbell. Finally finding someone even more pathetic than himself, the Champion felt wonderful.
After a long silence, Teach scratched his hair, his mouth twitching slightly as he spoke in an odd tone:
"From what you're saying... the one you fed couldn't have been that particularly stupid-looking Husky, could it?"
"Eh? Captain! Cough, cough, cough... how—how did you know?!"
"Sigh..."
Van Augur let out a long sigh and then remarked with a straight face:
"I suppose this, too, is the will of the heavens..."
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