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Chapter Opening Serial ・"Longing" Arc Temporarily Paused 16 ・Another Reunion
A small boat drifted away into the distance…
On the massive ship of the Handsome Knights, a pair of idiotic parents were sobbing with joy, clinging tightly to their long-lost daughter Marianne. Caught in their crushing embrace, Marianne, nearly suffocating from their excitement, reached for her sketch pen, hesitating whether to doodle something silly on each of their foreheads to calm them down.
Cavendish shook his finger at her with a "don't you dare" gesture.
On the other side, Annie and her daughter Amorin were deeply moved as they watched the family reunion. Elsewhere, some of the guards were discreetly wiping away tears of happiness…
…
Back in the Restaurant…
Everyone froze.
Then, in the very next second, WHOOSH!, someone jumped up from their seat.
Chopsticks, knives, forks clattered to the floor as people bolted for the windows, scrambling to escape in full panic.
BANG!
The restaurant erupted into chaos. No one dared leave through the main entrance, where Liam and Robin stood. Everyone fled out the windows, or, for those familiar with the layout, slipped into the kitchen and exited through the back.
In seconds, the bustling dining hall was completely empty.
"Ah… much better," Liam said with satisfaction. He casually picked a table and sat down, gesturing confidently to the pretty young waitress, who looked pale as a ghost.
Robin took it in stride, smiling as she accepted the menu from the trembling girl.
She calmly ordered numerous dishes, all tailored to Liam's tastes, each in servings of ten or more.
"T-T-Ten servings each?!" The waitress stammered, unsure if she'd heard correctly.
Robin turned to Liam, asking: "Will that be enough?"
"Didn't get much exercise this morning… guess it'll do." Liam rubbed his abs, then suddenly remembered something. "Oh right, Black's been putting a lot of effort into training these past few days. Gotta eat more to show some gratitude."
Robin let out a stifled laugh.
The waitress left for the kitchen, looking deeply confused as she carried off an order for fifteen servings of food.
Soon, It Was Afternoon!
Inside and outside the arena, as well as in front of broadcast screens all over the world, spectators returned from lunch and packed the venues again.
Excitement surged through the crowds, all eager for the next two matches to begin.
Now, the number of remaining contestants in the stadium had clearly dwindled.
Hawk Eyes wasn't here. Looking around, Liam noted that only six fighters remained: Himself, Robin, the Charlotte sisters, and Shiryu with his upcoming opponent.
"You feel anything?" Liam asked casually.
From behind his neck, a black head slowly emerged, eyes narrow and glowing slightly.
It was B.I.B., who replied:
"No trace of anyone like Crocodile…"
Liam had never met Crocodile in person, but as a former Shichibukai, Crocodile's aura would stand out among normal people, like a firefly in the dark. If Sand Crocodile had been watching from somewhere in the crowd, Liam and B.I.B.'s Observation Haki would have picked him up instantly.
"Hmph… A top-eight fighter not even showing up? What a lazy bastard." Liam crossed his arms with a scowl. "Being a Shichibukai must make him feel really important, huh?"
The announcer's droning voice echoed through the arena, projected dozens of times louder through Den Den Mushi loudspeakers, completely drowning out the noise of the crowd.
He rambled about the relationship between the Swordsman Tournament and Shichibukai Sand Crocodile, the sponsors from the World Economic News Agency, and gave a long recap of the two exciting matches from this morning…
Liam didn't pay much attention. Until he heard one name, "Shiryu of the Rain."
That snapped him back to the present.
"One fighter hails from the fierce battlefield of the New World! The other, a great Swordsman from the World Government military system! What kind of sparks will fly between them? Let's find out together! Please welcome, Bai Tour! And, Shiryu of the Rain!"
As the announcer's voice faded, the crowd erupted in cheers like crashing waves.
Shiryu of the Rain, wearing his Marine uniform, slowly stepped onto the stage, a smirk curling beneath his cigar.
His opponent, the New World Swordsman Bai Tour, ascended from the opposite side, face solemn and focused.
"Hope you manage to stay alive," Shiryu said with a twisted grin, drawing his famed blade, Thunderain, from his waist.
Bai Tour said nothing, drawing both of his twin swords.
"Dual-wielding, huh? Interesting." Shiryu's blade hovered just above the ground.
…
Robin's match had long since ended, so she wasn't paying much attention to the duel between Shiryu of the Rain and that New World Swordsman on the stage.
Most of her attention, in fact, was inside her backpack...
Or more precisely, inside the miniature City Castle housed within the backpack, created by Little Green. There, her flower clone was lounging peacefully and reading a book.
And what she was leaning against wasn't a soft chair or a couch, it was a clone of Liam, created through her Hana Hana no Mi (Flower-Flower Fruit) powers. Using her ability, Robin arranged her flower limbs into a relaxed posture, curled up like a kitten in Liam's arms, reading in serene comfort.
For Robin, there was nothing more delightful in the world than this.
Meanwhile, Liam was intently watching the fight between Shiryu of the Rain and his opponent. After all, the man was a Swordsman from the New World, he wasn't exactly weak. At the very least, he wasn't someone Shiryu could defeat in a single strike.
The two clashed on stage, blades ringing, ding ding dang dang, as Liam kept his gaze fixed on Shiryu's blade…
In his past life, many "Ocean Scholars" speculated that Shiryu might be connected to Wano Country. Judging by his nickname, Shiryu of the Rain, it was suspected that he possessed a sword technique akin to Kin'emon's Foxfire Style, something involving "rain."
Kind of like using Haki to create fire or wind, maybe Shiryu could use Haki to create rain or mist?
But after watching for a while, even after dozens of strikes, when Shiryu finally ended the fight with a throat-piercing slash, cutting halfway through his opponent's neck, Liam still didn't see any "rain" being unleashed from the man's blade.
Seriously, what's the point of a "Rain" technique on a sword? Splashing water in your opponent's face?
THUD.
Bai Tour dropped to his knees, his fingers slowly loosening. His swords clattered to the ground. The light faded from his eyes, and from beneath his jaw, a fountain of blood sprayed upward, sounding like wind rushing past his ears...
"Third match of the quarterfinals, Shiryu of the Rain is victorious!"
With a flick of his blade, Shiryu shook the blood off Thunderain and slid it smoothly back into its sheath.
Next up, the final quarterfinal match: Charlotte Monde versus Chopperna Giorno.
Monde pressed down the brim of her hat. Beside her, Amande said coolly: "Elder sister… be careful."
"Yeah, I know." Chubby Monde stepped onto the stage, casting a distant glance toward Giorno.
The moment she heard Giorno's name, Robin's attention snapped away from her backpack. The flower clones inside City Castle, including the Liam clone, vanished immediately.
"If it gets tough, just surrender," Robin said with a smile. "I won't laugh at you."
"Got it." Liam waved casually as he walked toward the arena.
All the spectators, Amande, Shiryu, and others, watched as Monde and Giorno stepped into position, standing opposite each other on the stage.
Their tense face-off was shown on the giant broadcast screen.
In the middle of the image, members of the Red Hair Pirates were drinking and watching the match playfully, but suddenly, Shanks turned to look at a nearby rooftop behind them.
Standing on that rooftop was a man with a massive black blade slung across his back like a crucifix. He had also looked up, meeting Shanks's gaze.
Their eyes locked.
(End Of This Chapter)