A golden beam of light tore through the dark sky, landing precisely in front of Law.
"Admiral Kizaru."
Seeing who it was, Law stopped what he was doing, straightened up, and saluted Kizaru.
Kizaru waved his hand, walked over to Rorschach's side, squatted down, and reached under his nose to check for breath, letting out a long sigh of relief.
"Still breathing, not dead yet. Now I won't have to listen to those old geezers grumble."
While muttering softly, Kizaru took off his cloak from behind him and covered Rorschach's body.
In reality, as early as when he arrived above Alubarna, Kizaru had already sensed Rorschach's aura from dozens of miles away using his powerful Observation Haki, knowing his exact condition.
However, even though he wasn't dead, Rorschach's extremely weak life aura and the terrible injuries all over his body still made Kizaru's face show a look of headache.
He wondered if he should be glad that Kaido's purpose in coming here was only to capture Rorschach and take him to the New World.
Otherwise, what lay here now might just be a lifeless corpse.
Shaking his head, Kizaru stood up, glancing at Law, who was still tending to Moria's wounds. He couldn't help but scratch his cheek, wondering, "How did this guy get so badly injured?"
He had been fighting Kaido just now and didn't have the time to pay attention to the situation here.
Law manipulated his ROOM to forcibly heal the terrible wound under Moria's armpit, stopping the bleeding. Only then did he let out a sigh of relief, wiping the copious sweat from his forehead, and turned back to say, "Although he was already severely wounded by Rorschach when we arrested him yesterday, most of his current injuries appeared just now. He used his own shadow as a bridge to transfer some of Rorschach's injuries to his own body, which is why he looks like this now."
As he spoke, Law shook his head, puzzled, "I really don't know what happened before. Yesterday, this guy was still aggressively seeking revenge on us."
"Such a thing? Has the sun risen from the west? Gecko Moria actually did a good deed and helped our Marines."
Kizaru pursed his lips.
As he was speaking, a Den Den Mushi rang on him.
"Purupurupuru..."
Kizaru raised his hand, fumbling in his jacket pocket, but found no Den Den Mushi.
He then fumbled in his pants pocket, but still couldn't find it.
"Purupurupuru."
The Den Den Mushi kept ringing, making Kizaru purse his lips in confusion, "Strange, I can hear it ringing, but I can't find where the Den Den Mushi is."
Watching Kizaru search all over his body for the Den Den Mushi, Law's mouth twitched. He swallowed, then carefully pointed to Kizaru's wrist and softly said, "Admiral Kizaru, it seems to be the Den Den Mushi on your wrist that's ringing."
"Oh, it's here! No wonder I heard a sound." Kizaru looked in surprise at his left wrist, where he wore something like a watch.
He reached out and opened the watch's cover, revealing a miniature Den Den Mushi.
Pressing the answer button, Sengoku's voice immediately came through.
"Kizaru! Have you reached Alabasta? How is Rorschach? Are Eneru, Hibari, Law, Hina, and the others okay? Where's Kaido? Did you fight Kaido? What's the situation in Alubarna now?"
Sengoku's rapid-fire questions through the Den Den Mushi practically made Kizaru's CPU smoke.
He scratched his head, looking pained, "Fleet Admiral Sengoku, can you slow down? I just arrived myself. Oh, that kid Rorschach isn't dead yet, but he's not exactly alive either. Anyway, he shouldn't die anytime soon."
"What do you mean, 'shouldn't die anytime soon'? Did you even confirm properly?" Sengoku, at Marine Headquarters, was quite annoyed by Kizaru's perfunctory answer.
However, upon hearing that Rorschach was not dead, he felt a weight lift from his chest.
"Where's Kaido?"
"Kaido should have retreated."
"You forced Kaido to retreat?" Sengoku was surprised. "Good job, Borsalino, you traveled thousands of miles and single-handedly forced that tough bastard Kaido to retreat? You've been hiding your true strength well, kid."
Kizaru maintained his usual unhurried tone, sounding somewhat lethargic, "Not really. When I arrived, Kaido was fighting Dragon."
"Dragon? Which Dragon?" Sengoku paused.
Kizaru also paused, "Are there many Dragons?"
"I mean, are you sure you didn't see wrong, was it really Dragon?"
At Marine Headquarters, in the Fleet Admiral's office, after receiving Kizaru's confirmation, Sengoku's relaxed brow furrowed again.
"Why would Dragon suddenly appear in Alabasta? Is there anything there that interests him?"
People say a thief never leaves empty-handed, let alone the leader of the Revolutionary Army, who treats every single moment as if he's saving the world.
Since leaving the Marines and establishing the Revolutionary Army, which has grown increasingly powerful, the World Government and the Marines have always kept a close eye on Dragon's movements.
Every journey and every action of that man has a specific purpose; he would never waste time on meaningless things.
From this inference, Dragon's presence in Alabasta definitely had a purpose.
"Is he, like Kaido, after Rorschach, or someone else? Or is there truly intelligence about the ancient weapon Pluton in Alabasta?"
Sengoku looked at Vice Admiral Tsuru in the office and said softly, "Tsuru, have the intelligence department compile all recent information about events in Alabasta and analyze Dragon's purpose in going there."
Vice Admiral Tsuru nodded gently, a faint smile appearing on her face: "Listening to Borsalino, it seems our Marines might owe him a favor. I estimate that if he hadn't intervened and stopped Kaido, Rorschach and the others might have been taken away."
"Don't talk nonsense. The Revolutionary Army is our mortal enemy. There's no such thing as owing favors."
Sengoku said in a deep voice, then instructed Kizaru to hand the Den Den Mushi to Law.
Back in Alubarna, Hibari and the others, who had fallen unconscious for a while due to losing their shadows, finally woke up.
The moment she awoke from her daze, seeing the shattered desert land under the night sky, a deep panic rose in Hibari's heart.
Her heart pounded wildly, as if it would leap out of her throat. Her petite body transformed directly into a white cloud, rushing towards the high ground that no longer resembled a royal city.
Behind her, Marine soldiers who gradually woke up, seeing the countless people lying scattered across every visible open space, all fell into a prolonged stupor.
Hina's pupils constricted violently, her mind deeply unsettled.
What on earth happened here? Could it be that all these people... died?
"Father!"
From the crowd, Vivi's anguished cries echoed.
"Where's the Major? How is the Major?" Palmer shouted nervously.
"The Lieutenant Commander is also gone, and Eneru isn't anywhere to be seen," Bepo cried out, tears streaming down his face.
In the sky, Hibari, in her white cloud form, hurried along, finally reaching the skies above the royal city's high ground, where she saw Kizaru standing in the center of the ruined land.
Her heart settled. Just as she was about to speak, she saw Rorschach, covered by a white cloth, on the ground next to Kizaru...
In that instant, Hibari's emotional defenses completely crumbled.
Her eyes vacant, she plunged down in a daze, falling onto Rorschach, who was covered by the white cloth, tears streaming down her face like a broken string of pearls.
"Brother Rorschach! You... wake up, you promised me that... that you would never die! You liar, wake up quickly, sniffle sniffle..."
Hibari supported Rorschach's body with both hands, sitting on the dusty ground, holding him tightly in her embrace, crying loudly.
Kizaru, standing beside them, was stunned. He reached out and opened his mouth.
"Little Hibari, that kid, he..."
"Sniffle sniffle, Brother Rorschach, you can't die, didn't you say you'd protect me? Didn't you say you'd protect everyone? You liar..."
"Uh, listen to me, this kid hasn't..."
"Sniffle sniffle, damn Kaido, I'm definitely going to tell Dad to get revenge for you, I... I'll take you home, back to North Blue, back to your village..."
Kizaru's face was covered in black lines. He walked over and squatted beside the crying Hibari, a glow appearing on his fingertip, illuminating Rorschach's face. "Little Hibari, stop crying. I told you, this kid isn't dead yet."
"Not... not dead?"
Hibari froze, staring blankly at Rorschach, who lay motionless with his eyes closed.
"If you don't believe me, you can listen to his heartbeat. Dead people's hearts don't beat, you know."
Upon hearing this, Hibari quickly pressed her ear to Rorschach's chest.
Thump, thump...
Though faint, Rorschach's heart was indeed still beating.
More tears streamed from Hibari's eyes. She hugged Rorschach tightly, sobbing, "That's great, Brother Rorschach isn't dead, that's great, it's really..."
Before she could finish, her eyes rolled back, and her body slumped softly onto Rorschach, falling unconscious again.
Seeing Hibari suddenly faint, Kizaru broke into a cold sweat, his hands flailing as he called out to Law, "Oh, no, Doctor, quickly come and see what's wrong with little Hibari. She can't be hurt, otherwise, Akainu will kill me."
Law, holding the Den Den Mushi and speaking with Sengoku, watched the entire scene unfold with a blank expression.
"Admiral, please rest assured. Major Hibari merely fainted from extreme emotion, from great joy and great sorrow. This is actually the body's instinctive regulation in response to crisis, which is a good thing; it's better than her having a mental breakdown from being overly agitated."
"Now, I think we need to find another place to settle them."
About an hour later, as the crowds that filled the open spaces gradually woke up, the pervasive panic slowly subsided.
The conscious Cobra stood straight, looking around at the shattered desert land under the moonlight, his expression somewhat numb.
"Father..." Vivi, standing beside him and supporting him, showed a worried expression.
Cobra at this moment looked as if he had aged considerably in an instant.
Vivi's worried voice slightly eased the numbness on Cobra's face. He smiled bitterly, turning back to pat his daughter's hand, comforting her in return: "Don't worry, Vivi, at least there weren't too many casualties. As long as the people are here, the capital can be rebuilt at any time. Oh, right..."
Cobra turned to look at the Marine warship Kirin, where lights were flickering in the distance, and asked in a low voice, "How is Major Rorschach?"
Hearing Rorschach's name, Vivi's eyes reddened, and she bit her lip, shaking her head gently.
"He's still unconscious, not awake."
In Vivi's heart, Rorschach was so powerful, confident, and gentle.
But now, everyone else who had been unconscious had woken up, yet he alone remained in slumber.
Recalling his resolute departure and solitary stand against Kaido earlier that afternoon, Vivi felt an immense weight in her heart, an indescribable pain.
She silently prayed for Rorschach in her heart.
Hearing that Rorschach was still unconscious, Cobra breathed a sigh of relief.
Their opponent was Kaido, a Yonko who dominated the New World. Surviving such an intense battle was already Rorschach's good fortune.
However, seeing his daughter's distressed look, he still offered comfort: "Don't worry too much. Admiral Kizaru has arrived, and good things happen to good people. Rorschach will surely overcome this danger."
After speaking, Cobra turned to the bewildered citizens of the capital behind him, and couldn't help but raise his hand, shouting, "The desert nights are very cold. Everyone, follow me into the city to gather some wood and light bonfires to help keep warm. The crisis has passed, and dawn will surely come. We cannot lose anyone else beside us."
Aboard the Kirin.
Fist-sized clusters of light floated above the deck, illuminating the entire ship brightly.
In the ship's cabin, in the infirmary specially prepared for Law, the ship's doctor, a naked Rorschach lay face up on the operating table.
Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi were busy, using medical alcohol to clean the gruesome, terrifying wounds on Rorschach's body.
Even after Moria had used his ability to transfer some of the injuries, Rorschach's body still showed very few unblemished spots.
Large areas of skin were torn by Kaido's club, and along with them, significant portions of the underlying muscle tissue and blood vessels were missing.
Although Kaido admired talent, his attacks were utterly merciless.
It could be said that apart from his skeletal structure, which remained undamaged, all other parts of Rorschach's body, including his internal organs, had suffered extremely severe shock and damage.
What was even more devastating for Bepo and the others was discovering that a small section of Rorschach's tongue was missing.
It was truly difficult to imagine how he had endured such inhumane injuries.
Any other person would likely have died long ago.
Even with large amounts of alcohol washing over his wounds, Rorschach showed no signs of regaining consciousness.
And Bepo, who was cleaning Rorschach's wounds, already had tears welling up in his eyes.
"Major, you must wake up! We still have to go catch pirates."
(End of Chapter)
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