When Bartolomeo slowly regained consciousness from that illusion, he opened his eyes to see Luffy digging his nose with utter disregard for others, a look of disgust on his face, his finger casually picking at his nostril.
At this moment, Luffy's wrist was tightly gripped by Bartolomeo with extreme fanaticism.
Luffy looked up at the now-conscious Bartolomeo, flicked his finger, and a booger flew straight out, landing squarely on Bartolomeo's face.
Luffy casually glanced at the necklace Bartolomeo was wearing around his neck, then nonchalantly asked, "You, do we know each other?"
Bartolomeo first blinked a few times, as if still immersed in the sudden situation, then came to his senses, realizing this was real, and quickly released Luffy's hand.
He swiftly pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and carefully wiped away the booger Luffy had flicked onto his face.
After wiping it, his eyes instantly welled up with tears, which accumulated more and more, soon flowing down his cheeks like a bursting dam, accompanied by a sobbing sound.
Luffy watched Bartolomeo carefully wrap the booger in the handkerchief, as if he were holding a unique, priceless treasure of the world.
Then he gently folded each corner of the handkerchief, every movement slow and cautious, as if a little too much force would make the booger disappear.
Once wrapped, he held it high above his head, reverently cradling it in his hands, his body slightly bowed, and shouted excitedly,
"Ah… it's Luffy-senpai's booger! I'm truly so lucky!"
Luffy saw Bartolomeo's exaggerated gesture, and his jaw dropped to the floor.
Coming to his senses, Luffy suddenly leaped up, soaring high into the air with such speed that it created a gust of wind, and with a "slap," he fiercely smacked the handkerchief Bartolomeo was holding.
The slap was so powerful that it sent the handkerchief flying, arcing through the air.
Luffy didn't stop there; he immediately followed up with a kick, a steaming kick that precisely struck the handkerchief still flying in the air.
He kicked the handkerchief far away, and with a "plop," it fell into the trough outside, splashing water.
To make the ultra-light handkerchief fly far, Luffy almost used all his strength.
At this moment, Luffy's ears were completely red; even he, who was usually so thick-skinned, found this scene utterly embarrassing.
Enraged, he roared at Bartolomeo, "Don't treat someone else's booger like a treasure!! And who exactly are you?! That necklace on your neck, isn't it mine?! Ah!"
His roar was so loud that the surrounding air seemed to tremble slightly.
Bartolomeo fell to his knees with a "plop," continuously pounding the ground with his hands, his cries so loud they could almost lift the roof, sobbing non-stop.
In his heart, the handkerchief destroyed by Luffy's own hands contained an incredibly precious treasure.
It was a "rare item" left to him by his idol, Luffy, and now it was gone, destroyed by his idol himself.
To him, it was like the sky had fallen; how could he not be heartbroken?
After hearing Luffy's series of questioning words, Bartolomeo suppressed his sobs, raised his tear-stained face, and looked at Luffy with watery eyes, his voice choked with tears as he whimpered,
"Ore wa… Bartolomeo yo, Luffy-senpai, and Orochimaru-senpai, and everyone from the straw hat Pirates, you are all my idols.
I came out to sea precisely to follow in Luffy-senpai's footsteps, Waaaaah.
This necklace around my neck was given to me by Orochimaru-senpai two years ago in Loguetown…Waaaaah… He said I could meet Luffy-senpai in Dressrosa two years later.
Orochimaru-senpai clearly said Luffy-senpai would like me…Waaaaah.
Orochimaru-senpai!!!"
The more Bartolomeo spoke, the more aggrieved he became, burying his face and crying loudly, his sobs echoing around.
Luffy first stood stunned for a while, his originally puffy shark-like face slowly returning to normal, his mouth opening and closing, closing and opening, wanting to say something but not knowing where to start.
After scratching his head, he approached Bartolomeo, squatted down, and tilted his head to look at him, a somewhat awkward and helpless expression on his face.
"Oh, don't cry, don't cry, I didn't know it was like this."
As Luffy spoke, he reached out to pat Bartolomeo's shoulder to comfort him, but his hand stopped halfway and then retracted.
Luffy frowned as he looked outside, then tilted his head back and sniffed hard, like a keen hound tracking a scent.
Then, his eyes lit up, and he muttered to himself, "Hmm, Orochimaru's scent… Since this matter involves him, I might as well throw it to the culprit to deal with."
The thought had barely crossed his mind when Luffy, without a word, reached out and grabbed Bartolomeo's iconic crested head.
He suddenly pushed off with his legs, and his entire body shot off like an arrow from a bow, sprinting towards Orochimaru's location.
Poor Bartolomeo was caught off guard and was instantly dragged forward on the ground.
His body bounced around on the ground like a rag doll being pulled haphazardly.
One moment he hit this rock, the next he bumped into that protrusion, crying out "Ouch, ouch" in pain.
However, luckily Bartolomeo hadn't been lazy in his daily life and had diligently developed his Devil Fruit ability.
At this moment, a barrier promptly formed on his body's surface, emitting a faint glow, shielding him from much of the friction and impact from the ground.
As Bartolomeo was being dragged along, he thought with lingering fear, if not for the protection of this barrier, he would have been chafed to a layer of skin by all this rough treatment—it was indeed Luffy-senpai.
Luffy, relying solely on his mysterious sixth sense, darted through the intricate underground passages, turning left and right, jumping up and down.
After an unknown amount of time, he finally found Orochimaru's extremely secret window.
Luffy didn't even think twice; he simply leaped in.
At this moment, Orochimaru, who was intimately affectionate with Sabo, heard the sudden commotion, and both the dragon and the snake turned their heads simultaneously, looking towards the source of the sound, then stared wide-eyed at Luffy.
Luffy, however, was immediately captivated by the dragon in Orochimaru's arms, his eyes instantly lighting up as if he had seen something incredible.
He casually threw Bartolomeo, whom he was still dragging, to the side; Bartolomeo was flung out, hitting the wall with a "bang" and groaning in pain.
But Luffy couldn't care less; he excitedly rushed towards Orochimaru, kneeling on his legs, his eyes eagerly fixed on the dragon in his arms.
He kept exclaiming (✧ᗜ✧) "What is this! What is this! Is it a dragon!! So cool!!!"
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