'[Cover Story: Chopper and the Quack Doctor 15 - "I'm still angry after all!"]'
'Moved by the quack doctor's story, Chopper began assisting with his research...'
'They conducted experiments together in a cave. Whenever something was about to explode, Chopper would grab Hiriluk and run for his life. They searched snowy mountains for new ingredients, angered wild beasts, and ended up chased by an entire pack of Lapahns. Hiriluk tripped Chopper with a sweeping leg strike and escaped while the furious reindeer shouted curses behind him. Later, Hiriluk once again pretended to understand medicine and tried to treat a patient by force, only to be launched into the air by Chopper's antlers. Chopper angrily scolded him...'
---
"So you're the one they call... the disgrace of the Sweet Commanders?"
Liam climbed in through the shattered window, brushing glass shards off his clothes as he sized up the man before him.
The man was dressed like an oversized piece of tempura, wrapped in a thick scarf that concealed half his face. His hair was tied into a gourd-shaped topknot with a hairpin.
One of the Big Mom Pirates' Four Sweet Commanders…
'Charlotte Snack.'
In the original story, before the Straw Hat Pirates entered Totto Land, several members of the Eleven Supernovas had ventured into Yonko Big Mom's territory. Kid, Apoo, Bege, and Urouge had all made the attempt.
Kid and Apoo retreated without accomplishing anything, never even meeting Big Mom herself. Bege, possessing the Castle-Castle Fruit, wisely chose to join Big Mom's crew. Only Urouge managed to defeat Charlotte Snack, who was then still one of the Sweet Commanders, and escaped with that achievement before retreating to a Sky Island to recover. Later, he would encounter Kaido during the Yonko's famous suicide attempt, but that was another story.
Among Big Mom's highest-ranking fighters, there had originally been 'four Sweet Commanders'. After Snack lost to Urouge, he was stripped of his title. Thus, the Four Sweet Commanders became the Three Sweet Commanders.
Katakuri was considered the strongest Sweet Commander. Snack, meanwhile, was often considered the greatest embarrassment among them. That had always been Liam's impression.
Yet seeing him in person, Liam was surprised. Judging from his presence alone, Snack was actually quite formidable. Maybe he wasn't the complete fraud Liam had imagined.
---
"..."
The people in the cabin were stunned.
They had been happily eating fried food when this man suddenly smashed through the window and strolled inside. Several pirates stared blankly at him, pieces of tempura still hanging from their mouths.
"Giorno Giovanna... how did you get here?" Charlotte Snack rose to his feet.
Most of his face remained hidden behind his scarf, revealing only a pair of gloomy eyes fixed firmly on Liam. At the same time, he grabbed his weapon, a several-meter-long 'Ō Wazamono-grade sword'.
More importantly... why hadn't the ship itself warned them? Why hadn't any of the Homies raised the alarm? Had they somehow failed to notice him?
Impossible.
"I was just passing by," Liam said. He interlocked his fingers and stretched, producing a series of crackling sounds from his joints before grinning. "But then I overheard that you lot were planning to go after my captain."
"I can't exactly pretend I didn't hear that, friend."
"Who's your friend?!"
"Your woman captain probably won't even survive until we get there, idiot!"
"Hahaha! What a fool!"
"We hadn't even gone looking for you yet, and you delivered yourself right to us!"
The pirates laughed uproariously.
"Do you even know who you're facing?"
"That's Lord Snack, one of the Four Sweet Commanders!"
As for the reports of Giorno fighting Whitebeard... not everyone followed the newspapers closely. And even among those who had heard the story, many didn't believe it. Some thought the papers had exaggerated wildly, assuming Giorno had merely harassed Whitebeard briefly and then claimed it was an even battle to gain fame.
After all, the Marines hadn't increased his bounty. That was Whitebeard! If the report were true, how could Giorno's bounty remain unchanged? Obviously fake news.
---
Liam normally wouldn't bother with such insignificant trash. But insulting him was one thing; insulting Robin was another.
He casually slashed his fingers through the air. Several miniature 'Rankyaku' blades shot out toward the pirates.
'Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!'
Sword flashes erupted. Every flying slash was intercepted.
The pirates who had been laughing moments earlier turned pale with fright. This Giorno didn't follow the rules! Shouldn't he fight Lord Snack first?!
Holding his sword in one hand, Snack said coldly, "It seems fighting is unavoidable."
"Yeah," Liam agreed. "The only option is killing all of you."
---
Snack's blade was already in front of him.
Liam raised a pitch-black hand and caught the razor-sharp edge.
Snack's eyes narrowed. Armament Haki instantly coated his enormous katana, turning it into a black blade. With a shout, he pushed downward with all his strength.
'BOOM!'
Liam kicked him squarely in the chest.
Snack flew backward, smashing through multiple wooden walls of the ship. Yet the black blade remained in Liam's hand, its Haki coating slowly fading away.
"How is this possible..." The pirates standing near the shattered wall were dumbfounded. How could Sweet Commander Snack be sent flying so easily?
Liam flipped the sword around and casually swung it. A slash of light swept across the room.
---
"But it's useless!"
"Lord Snack's true strength is his invincible Devil Fruit ability!"
"Giorno Giovanna!"
"You'll regret taking away Lord Snack's weapon!"
"You have no idea! He uses a sword specifically to avoid relying on his ability!"
"That's why he wraps himself up so completely!"
The pirates shouted desperately.
Liam nodded appreciatively. "Providing intelligence even after death. That's very considerate of you."
"...Death?" The pirates looked confused.
Then they turned toward Snack, who was emerging from the hole in the wall.
Suddenly... Snack appeared to rise into the air.
No, it wasn't Snack rising. It was 'their heads falling'.
'Thud. Thud. Thud.'
Several heads slipped from their necks and rolled across the floor.
---
Snack clutched his chest and looked at Liam with even colder eyes. Meanwhile, Liam played with the large sword in his hand.
"I'm curious," Liam said. "They hyped it up so much. What Devil Fruit power do you actually have?"
"You'll regret finding out!" Snack roared.
He tore off his thick scarf, removed both gloves, and charged straight at Giorno.
---
Liam raised the sword horizontally and blocked Snack's hands. To his surprise, Snack's hands weren't coated in Armament Haki. Seizing that instant of confusion, Snack immediately reached for Liam's sword hand.
The moment contact was made, Liam felt as though he had been struck by lightning. His entire body froze in place.
"The outcome has already been decided," Snack said calmly, withdrawing his hand. "Anything that comes into contact with my body suffers pain beyond imagination... the ultimate torment."
At that moment, hurried and disorganized footsteps echoed from outside the cabin. The rest of the ship's crew was rushing toward the commotion.
Snack turned around, picked up his scarf, and wrapped it around his face again. "Mother hates the two of you very much," he spoke indifferently. "And your woman captain will end up the same way."
But then the pirates who had arrived outside the shattered wall suddenly pointed behind him in horror.
What?!
Snack spun around. A huge hand seized his face.
'CRACK!'
Liam's fingers dug mercilessly into his skull. Bloodshot veins filled Liam's eyes as he grinned fiercely.
"It really does hurt, my friend. It's like being dropped into a vat of boiling oil..."
"You..." Snack's face creaked under the crushing grip, his voice coming out in broken fragments. "How... is it possible... to adapt... so quickly..."
Liam ground his teeth. "I've experienced pain far worse than this. So that's it... You planned to do something this disgusting to my captain. Then don't blame me for what happens next."
For the first time in his life, genuine terror appeared in Snack's eyes.
Giorno had been gripping his face the entire time. His skin had been in direct contact with Snack's. By all rights, he should have been enduring the Torture-Torture Fruit's agony. So why was he still moving? Why could he still fight? What kind of monster was this man...?
Even in his final moments, Snack couldn't understand. He couldn't understand how someone could endure pain comparable to being boiled alive in hell, and still continue slaughtering everyone aboard a pirate ship.
Snack's eyes remained wide open. Confusion, fear, and disbelief frozen on his face.
His head rolled across the floor. A boot stepped down on it.
Blood flooded the cabin, seeping through the cracks in the wooden planks. Liam dipped his fingers into the blood and wrote a line of characters across the wall:
"Killed by Liam."
Only then did he finally release a long breath. He felt much better.
"Though to be fair..." Liam mumbled, "that really freaking hurt."
Liam casually walked through the ship using Moonwalk. The battle had already reduced much of the vessel to ruins, and the night air was thick with the smell of blood.
As he moved through the ship, he extracted the fragments of Homies' souls implanted into everything around him. Teacups, chairs, tables, wardrobes, mirrors, ceilings, floors, anything containing a Homie's soul was stripped clean by his Stand's power.
Eventually, he even removed the soul embedded within the pirate ship itself. That soul had originally come from someone's lifespan tax paid to Big Mom somewhere in Totto Land. Liam crushed it, scattering it into nothingness.
Only then did he return to the cabin where Snack's corpse lay. He stared at the bloody words "Killed by Liam" for a while and sighed.
After all... he wasn't alone anymore.
Stretching out his hand, he ignited a ball of flame. With a soft whoosh, he pressed it against the bloody writing. The wooden wall immediately caught fire. Flames spread rapidly through the cabin and then throughout the ship.
Amid waves of scorching heat, Liam strode out of the inferno. He looked back reluctantly.
"What a great joke that would've been. What a pity..."
Behind him, the pirate ship burned upon the dark sea, slowly breaking apart and sinking beneath the waves. Using Geppo, Liam departed through the night sky. Yet he kept looking back.
Again and again.
"Sigh..."
"Sigh..."
"Sigh..."
....................................…
Drip... drip...
Hot water poured from the showerhead as steam filled the bathroom. Liam stood with one hand braced against the slick wall, letting the water run over his head.
Robin wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, her warm cheek resting against his trembling back. Gently stroking him, she asked softly, "Feeling better?"
"I'm fine now..." Liam exhaled. "But you're permitted to keep hugging me."
Splash!
Robin scooped up some water and tossed it at his face. Then she bumped her forehead lightly against his back. Even so, she didn't let go. Instead, she hugged him even tighter.
A mass of black shadow suddenly flew out of Liam's body. The dark armored Stand's narrow eyes glowed faintly. Having copied Liam's latest memories, it now knew everything that had happened since he left with Aokiji.
The Stand suddenly remarked: '"No wonder Urouge defeated him."'
Liam laughed. "Yeah. I thought he was genuinely weak. Turns out it was just a terrible matchup."
Robin, her long hair wet and clinging to her shoulders, glanced at the black armor whose eyes flickered with white light. Once again, Liam seemed to be speaking in riddles with himself.
B.I.B. quickly searched through its memories of the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia and located the relevant entry: 'Paramecia - Torture-Torture Fruit.'
"Doesn't matter anymore. He's dead." After reabsorbing the Stand and receiving its memories, Liam's expression darkened. "What really annoys me is Doflamingo. I already warned him, and he's still going 'fufufufu' right in front of me. That bastard doesn't take me seriously at all."
Robin understood immediately. He was referring to what B.I.B. had witnessed on Interest Island when it secretly infiltrated the underground chamber and observed Doflamingo communicating with the Loan Shark King via Den Den Mushi projection.
"He wasn't talking to you, though," Robin said with a sigh. "He couldn't possibly detect B.I.B.'s presence through a communication signal."
"I don't care." Liam turned around and snorted. "He said it. So I'm going to North Blue and beating him up."
Robin couldn't help laughing. "Honestly..." She raised a hand and traced her fingertips gently across his face, over his eyebrows, and across his eyes. Then she leaned into his chest.
Gathering a handful of water droplets, she sprinkled them onto his face and smiled. "In that case... alright."
(End of Chapter)
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