Back to the video.
The footage continued to play.
As for Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates, their time in Loguetown was reaching its conclusion—
"This world…"
"…needs to welcome a new answer!!!"
Dragon raised a hand.
Beneath his cloak, his face turned toward the distant horizon, and he spoke those words with a deep, suggestive tone.
At the same moment—
High above, the gale howled.
A ferocious wind suddenly swept in from afar.
Caught completely off guard, Smoker—and the Marine soldiers under his command—were all violently blown away, their figures sent flying as if they weighed nothing.
And that wasn't all.
As Luffy's father, Dragon even deliberately controlled the direction of the wind.
With one casual motion, he sent Luffy flying as well—blowing him to the edge of Loguetown, dropping him at the nearest landing point to the harbor.
So before Luffy could even react—
Before the blank, confused look on his face could fade—
Nami, Sanji, Zoro, and the others, who had already boarded their old pirate ship, the Going Merry, were waving nonstop from the deck!
They shouted at the top of their lungs, telling Luffy to hurry up, get on the ship, and leave Loguetown!!!
Just like that,
a predicament that should have been impossible to break—
Luffy, who had nearly lost his life twice—
ended up escaping danger because of his own dad—Dragon, the Revolutionary leader—because of that overwhelming "background" standing behind him!
It was a narrow escape.
And more importantly, from start to finish, Luffy didn't do a single thing!
He won purely by doing nothing!
Carried straight through by his own father!
Until, at last,
as the Going Merry's silhouette gradually vanished beyond the end of the sea's horizon—
the camera finally returned to Dragon.
He stood with his back to the lens!
He raised both hands high, and as if speaking to himself, he delivered a passionate, encouraging speech—
like he was seeing his son off!!!
And down below,
after Smoker finally regained his senses and looked up, furiously demanding to know why Dragon would go this far to help Luffy—
the answer he received
was a classic, famous line—
"The reason? There isn't one!"
"In this world, there is no reason that can stop a man from setting sail—carrying his dreams!!!"
When that final sentence,
broadcast through the ranking video,
reached the real world—
once again,
it caused a huge stir in both dimensions!
The entire audience instantly exploded with excitement!
Quite a few powerful figures felt something in it and began heated discussions:
"Holy crap!!!"
"What an insanely hype scene!!!"
"Sure, Straw Hat Luffy is basically a freeloader! His own dad is escorting him straight to the Grand Line! But… Revolutionary Dragon!"
"He's clearly nothing like the stereotype people have in their heads. This is seriously eye-opening!"
"After hearing what Dragon said, I kinda want to join the Revolutionary Army myself!!!"
First—
in the One Piece world,
among the ordinary civilians and young children—
most people were swept up by emotion, like they'd just listened to three speeches from a distance.
As a result,
even though their impression of the Revolutionary Army had been unfamiliar and vague before,
now, in their hearts,
a strange sense of yearning began to grow instead.
They felt an urge they couldn't suppress—
an urge to join the Revolutionary Army!!!
But—
that was only how ordinary people saw it.
In truth, most of the strong did not change their views of the Revolutionary Army—or of Dragon.
Especially the Marines!
And the Five Elders!
As they stared at Dragon's domineering, mysterious figure on the screen, their eyes were filled with deep wariness.
Without exception,
they treated that man
with the highest level of caution and fear!!!
————
Meanwhile—
over in the Bleach world,
the emotions of the strong were once again stirred into curiosity.
Revolutionary Dragon.
Those words—
because of the scene just shown—
were carved firmly into everyone's mind!
"Chad…"
"Tatsuki…"
"Orihime…"
In Karakura Town's urban district,
on the high school campus,
Ichigo Kurosaki pulled his gaze back from the screen. He turned toward his three companions and grinned, deliberately steering the conversation:
"I'm guessing you're all pretty interested in the idea of 'sailing,' right?"
"If we could cross over into the One Piece world—and build a pirate ship of our very own…"
"Just imagining it feels kind of amazing…"
Under the sunlight,
Ichigo Kurosaki's smile was dazzling.
In his dark eyes, a powerful glimmer of longing shone.
Clearly—
impulse was one thing.
But deep down, Ichigo truly wanted that dream to come true.
Even if—
with power on the level of a Soul King,
crossing into the One Piece world might come with punishment,
and his strength and spiritual power could be weakened.
Even so…
Ichigo didn't care.
He felt that taking on a brand-new identity,
and going on an adventure in a brand-new world—
there was nothing—
absolutely nothing—
more challenging than that!!!
So,
the moment Ichigo finished speaking,
Orihime Inoue and the other two practically nodded without thinking.
And they all showed the same expression—
a regretful, wistful look.
Honestly—
if they ever got the chance,
they would follow Ichigo without hesitation and cross over with him!
As for whether they'd become pirates, Marines, or Revolutionaries?
No matter which path they chose,
it would be thrilling to look forward to!!!
————
And at the same time—
over in Hueco Mundo, inside Las Noches—
the Espada, along with the other Hollows and Arrancar,
each had their own thoughts swirling inside them.
Even though,
as souls,
they had always regarded humans with nothing but slaughter
and the cruel, arrogant desire to devour souls—
still…
Dragon's words just now
carried real weight.
To a certain extent, they rewrote the Hollows' and Arrancar's mindset.
They sparked curiosity—
about the One Piece world,
and about what it might be like to become a pirate!!!
Especially the Espada.
They confidently believed that
with their individual strength,
even if they crossed into the One Piece world,
on that boundless sea,
they would massacre everything in their path.
There was no need to doubt it.
(End of Chapter)
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