The sudden voice surprised both Jonathan and Brook.
Jonathan's old face showed a look of pleasant surprise. He asked in astonishment:
"Rorschach?"
Hearing Rorschach's voice, he also realized that he might have been slashing the wrong person and immediately wanted to stop.
But the slash that had flown from his long sword had already left the blade. How could he possibly take it back?
Just as Brook, who was intimidated by his aura, was about to be hit by that sharp slash, a brilliant silver lightning bolt suddenly struck down from the sky.
Between the two of them, in front of Brook, a tall figure with flying silver hair appeared out of thin air. He extended his right hand toward the incoming slash. The howling winds gathered and, along with his outstretched right hand, he grabbed at the slash.
"Be careful!" Brook was startled by the figure that suddenly appeared and blocked in front of him.
Seeing the other person fearlessly blocking the terrifying flying slash for him, he couldn't help but let out a cry of surprise.
But in the next second, his cry was caught in his throat and came to an abrupt halt.
Because the huge slash that had flown from the old man's long sword was actually caught by this suddenly appearing man with an open right hand. He squeezed it and compressed the thick, curved flash of light into a ball, which he then held in his hand and tossed up and down.
At this point, not only was Brook stunned, but Jonathan was also dumbfounded.
Not to mention Zoro, Selene, and the others on the ship below, who were staring wide-eyed.
Zoro's eyes widened. Looking at Rorschach's actions, he blurted out, "You've got to be kidding me? He squeezed Jonathan's slash into a ball."
"Are you being polite? You should call him 'Sensei'!" Selene gave him a glare, then clasped her hands in front of her chest and stared adoringly at Rorschach, who was standing on top of the whale. "He... he appeared! Why did he appear when I was thinking about him? Is this what unstoppable love is?"
Zoro's lips twitched when he heard this. He glanced at the beautiful young girl with a long dress made of white clouds who had also appeared on top of Laboon's head and said flatly, "I think you're overthinking it."
"What did you say, you green-haired moss head!" Selene immediately got angry.
On top of the whale Laboon's head, Jonathan stared at the ball Rorschach was tossing up and down, looking as if he had just seen a ghost.
"How did you do that?"
He casually threw the long sword in his hand. The Wado Ichimonji then whizzed down from the top of Laboon's head and accurately slid back into the scabbard on Zoro's waist.
"I just compressed and sealed the energy of the slash with a bubble of air. Is that really so surprising?" Rorschach smiled and tossed the ball in his hand toward Jonathan.
"Hey, hey! That's dangerous!"
Jonathan was so scared that he dodged out of the way. The transparent air-enclosed ball, which contained a chaotic energy wave inside, flew off with a whoosh. Under everyone's gaze, it changed from a straight trajectory to a curve, flying around the sea once and then accurately landing on a pirate ship.
Afterward, everyone heard a crisp 'pop' sound, followed by the sound of the ship's hull being split and the tearing sound of flesh being cut.
A fierce flash of light erupted from the broken air ball, tearing the entire pirate ship into pieces and scattering them on the sea.
"Run! Run away!"
On the last remaining pirate ship, the pirates were scared out of their wits by the sight. They frantically turned the ship around, trying to escape.
Then, Brook saw Rorschach make a "flipping a table" motion toward the escaping pirate ship from a distance of several hundred meters.
The next moment, the pirates' terrified screams came from the sea in the distance.
The more than twenty-meter-long pirate ship was lifted off the sea with a bang, as if it was being lifted by a giant sea beast. It flew hundreds of meters into the sky, making a long parabolic arc, and then crashed heavily into the sea, splashing a large amount of water.
Brook was dumbfounded.
"What... what kind of power is this? Is it a Devil Fruit ability? It's... it's too terrifying." He looked at Rorschach. "Who exactly are you?"
"It's not polite to chat on top of someone else's head. I think we can go somewhere else. Also, you should first reunite with your companion." Rorschach smiled and nodded at Brook. He then walked to the other side and looked at Hawkins, who was sitting on the side of the ship below and looking up. "Hey! Hawkins, long time no see. Care to come up and chat?"
"Okay," Hawkins said with a simple nod.
Rorschach once again grabbed at the distant sea. Crocus, who was in the water, immediately felt an invisible force binding his body and lifting him out of the water.
Crocus did not struggle, allowing the force to pull him out of the sea and fly toward the lighthouse on the cliff.
Before long, everyone was on the cliff, in front of the lighthouse where Crocus usually lived.
Brook ran to a nearby cliff and was shouting at Laboon, crying and laughing with joy.
"It's rare to meet so many old acquaintances here at the same time. How can we not have a good chat? Please, have a seat."
As Rorschach spoke, he gracefully sat down, much to Zoro's surprise.
There was nothing under him, but he looked as if he was sitting on an invisible chair.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, you brat. It hasn't been that long, and you've already developed your abilities to such an effortless degree. Ah, I'm so jealous of that brat Sengoku. He found a treasure," Jonathan said with emotion. He also sat down without a second thought.
Crocus, who had seen a lot, was not bothered by Rorschach's strange ability. He also sat down next to Jonathan, took out a pair of reading glasses from his pocket, and put them on his nose, examining Rorschach from head to toe.
"Andre! What are you standing there for? Go get some wine!" Selene yelled at the giant man Andre, who was at the bottom of the cliff.
After she finished speaking, she eagerly ran toward Rorschach.
Then, she saw Hibari standing beside Rorschach.
Looking at Hibari, whose demeanor had completely changed and was no longer as delicate as she was in Queen's Spring. Her appearance had also become even more beautiful and outstanding. Selene's heart sank, and the brilliant smile on her face immediately froze.
She glanced at the full, round silhouette in front of Hibari and then looked down at her own flatness. She immediately deflated like a punctured balloon, walked to the side in a dejected manner, and squatted on the ground, drawing circles. She was muttering to herself in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz.
"Why, why, why is a fourteen-year-old girl bigger than me? Damn it!"
Rorschach looked at Selene, who was shrouded in a low-pressure aura, in confusion. He looked at Jonathan and asked, "What's wrong with your granddaughter?"
Jonathan's lips twitched. He looked at Rorschach with resentment and gave a bitter smile. "She's like this all the time. Just ignore her."
Rorschach nodded. He looked at Zoro, who had been staring at him, and a smile appeared on his lips. He scanned the people around him and asked curiously, "What's going on with all of you? How did you all end up together? Jonathan, why would you think of protecting Laboon? Do you know Crocus?"
"Hehe, of course, I know him." Jonathan looked at Crocus and said with a laugh, "Don't forget, I've been in this damn place in the Grand Line for decades. Back then, to establish branches of the Hunter's Guild in the four seas, I ran back and forth here at Reverse Mountain at least a hundred times. After a while, I became familiar with Crocus."
Rorschach raised his eyebrows and pointed at the calm and composed Crocus, saying bluntly, "Then why didn't you arrest Doctor Crocus for his bounty? He was a doctor on Roger's ship, so he should have a pretty high bounty on his head, right?"
When he said this, everyone except Jonathan—Zoro, Hawkins, and Hibari—looked at Crocus, who looked like a plain old man, in shock.
Zoro was surprised. "You were on the Pirate King's ship?"
Hibari thought for a moment and nodded. "There was indeed a person named Crocus, the doctor of the Roger Pirates."
Hawkins was also very surprised, but Rorschach couldn't see much of a shocked expression on his face.
This guy's expression rarely changed much, whether he was happy or surprised. He was like a man with facial paralysis.
Jonathan shook his head and laughed. "I knew Crocus even before he got on Roger's ship. That was in the era when Rocks dominated the New World.
As for why I didn't arrest him, neither you Marines nor the World Government have ever thought about arresting him, so why would I?
In any case, he was just a doctor invited by Roger to treat his illness. If he had cured Roger's terminal illness, then I think the Marines and the World Government would have arrested him even without me.
But Roger still died within two years. I don't know what the Marines were thinking, but I know that in the eyes of some people, after Crocus got on Roger's ship, he was not a criminal but a good man who might have hastened Roger's death. Who knows, maybe he was the one who made Roger die early..."
"Bang!"
Jonathan hadn't finished speaking when a slipper hit his face.
Crocus gritted his teeth in anger and went to take off his other shoe, cursing continuously, "Jonathan! You old scoundrel! Are you questioning my medical skills? Fine, that's great! In that case, don't come to me for treatment anymore!"
"No! Can't I just say I was wrong? I apologize," Jonathan said, raising his hands in surrender.
"Get lost! Don't ever come to the Twin Capes again. You're not welcome here!"
Listening to their argument, Rorschach shook his head and looked at Hawkins, who was sitting next to him, and asked curiously, "Hawkins, what have you been up to since we parted in the North Blue? How did you end up with Brook?"
Looking at Zoro and Brook, who was sobbing and hugging the whale Laboon in the distance, Rorschach's mind was filled with many jumbled thoughts.
He was wondering if he had changed the main plot of the Straw Hat crew.
Now Brook didn't need to travel around the world once. He just turned around from the Thriller Bark and returned to Reverse Mountain to see Laboon, fulfilling his dream.
And Zoro was kidnapped by Jonathan to the Grand Line. It seemed like he had become a member of the Hunter's Guild.
What would the Straw Hat Pirates look like in the future?
And Robin, he had sent her to the Revolutionary Army. The Alabasta arc happened three years early, and Crocodile was already gone.
Without these places to level up, could Luffy still grow into the Sun God so quickly?
He had suggested to Garp last time to tie Luffy up and bring him to Marineford. He wondered if Garp would do it.
While he was thinking, he heard Hawkins say, "After staying in the North Blue for a while, I entered the Grand Line. Then I ran into the Shichibukai, Gecko Moria, and he took my shadow..."
"Huh? Moria took your shadow?"
End of Chapter)
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