Cover Story: The Days of the Kuja Eastern Route · ??? If You Could Start Over Again
Liam was having the time of his life dancing with his little sister, Sandersonia. Suddenly, the music blasting from Stand's faceplate changed into an absurdly catchy tune:
"Could this be your excuse~ for breaking up with me..."
Sandersonia and Marigold stopped dancing and looked to one side, giggling. Meanwhile, Liam suddenly found himself seeing through one, then two, then three additional viewpoints.
Through all three of those extra perspectives, he saw Robin sitting up across from him.
It turned out that she had snapped her fingers two or three times in succession. Using her Hana Hana no Mi ability, she had summoned three identical Liams, who swayed smoothly to the rhythm in the snow:
"If~ you~ could~ start over again, would~ you~ still~ fall~ in~ love~ with~ me~..."
...
The blind swordsman, whose real name was Issho, and who would one day bear the Admiral codename Fujitora, spoke his first sentence.
It immediately made Liam want to complain.
'You really make me look at a blind man in a whole new light…'
"We don't really know each other, do we?" Liam continued devouring his food. "Or are you here to arrest me?"
The blind swordsman chuckled.
"That is hardly the case. I am not a member of the Marines. While traveling on business, one naturally comes to greet an old acquaintance upon meeting one."
Liam said, "Well, you've greeted me now."
The swordsman sighed leisurely.
"To contend against Whitebeard and withdraw unharmed... Your strength has already entered the ranks of the world's greatest."
'Keep flattering me,' Liam thought speechlessly.
If I hadn't read the manga, I might actually have been carried away by your praise.
With his current strength, defeating a Sweet Commander or one of the Three Disasters should not be a problem.
But as for true top-tier fighters like Admirals and Yonko from the manga, Liam felt they had never fully displayed everything they possessed. At the very least, he couldn't believe Marine Admirals wouldn't have awakened their Devil Fruits.
Yet neither Aokiji, Akainu, nor Kizaru had ever demonstrated such a thing even once.
Liam enjoyed flipping through the manga while wearing his armor, but he didn't treat everything in it as the absolute truth. When estimating the power of Admiral- and Yonko-level combatants, he always preferred to assume the highest possibility.
Besides...
He couldn't determine whether this blind man was actually working for the World Government.
Although in the story, two years later, this man would become a Marine Admiral through the World Military Draft, the Marines weren't so carefree that they would let a wandering civilian hero parachute directly into one of the highest seats of Marine authority.
A future Marine Admiral, and currently a top-tier expert who was possibly connected to the World Government...
Liam had no desire to deal with him any more than necessary.
After all, the people who most desperately wanted Robin dead were not the Marines.
The Marines came second.
The World Government was the real culprit.
Robin, meanwhile, casually scooped up tomato soup with a spoon while secretly observing the blind swordsman from the corner of her eye.
Suddenly, the swordsman let out a soft sound of surprise and reached behind himself, catching a tiny flower petal drifting down through the air.
At that instant, Robin's heart skipped a beat.
She turned her head and met Liam's eyes.
From them came the same hypnotic signal he had used during the period when he trained her to overcome her "Aokiji PTSD."
Robin blinked.
Her expression remained perfectly normal as she continued drinking her soup.
The blind swordsman never noticed their exchange of glances. Flicking away the petal, he smiled.
"Dressrosa is filled with the fragrance of flowers. Unfortunately, this old man can only smell their scent and has no chance to admire the scenery."
"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm."
Liam kept eating while casually nodding in response.
Seeing that Liam had no interest in conversation, the swordsman said nothing further. However, before leaving, he suddenly turned back.
"Someone should be coming to seek you out very soon."
He smiled.
"It may not be a bad thing. It would be best if you did not avoid them."
After saying that, he departed the restaurant, his wooden staff tapping against the floor.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
As soon as the blind swordsman left, Robin let out a sigh of relief.
Blinking, she said in surprise, "His Observation Haki is incredible..."
Liam nodded.
"Yeah. Every falling flower and drifting leaf enters his perception. This blind man is terrifying."
Could someone who casually pulled meteors from the sky as a minor technique possibly have weak Observation Haki?
Robin gazed out at the bustling street beyond the restaurant entrance.
"But... he said someone would come looking for you. Who could it be?"
Liam had nearly finished eating and stood up.
"Who cares? If they've got the guts, they can send a Marine Admiral."
Robin went to pay the bill.
Soon, the two of them left the restaurant and merged into the lively crowd outside, once again appearing to be nothing more than an ordinary young couple strolling through the streets of lovers.
Corrida Colosseum
Even from outside, the massive structure resembled a Roman arena.
Its sheer size and grandeur were enough to leave anyone impressed.
Liam and Robin stood before the grand entrance, looking up in admiration.
This trip was purely for sightseeing, so naturally they weren't going to miss Dressrosa's most iconic landmark.
The streets were crowded with tourists just like them. Some were even traveling with their families, taking commemorative photos in front of the Corrida Colosseum using Camera Den Den Mushi.
Camera Den Den Mushi had one great advantage: they were living creatures, so there was no need for delayed-timer photography. You simply struck a pose and told the Den Den Mushi when to take the picture.
A truly hardcore smart camera.
Faint cheers echoed from within the enormous arena. Liam casually swept the area with his Observation Haki and detected countless ordinary presences inside.
A match was apparently underway.
"Finding entertainment in people fighting each other to the death... what a barbaric game."
A voice sounded beside Liam and Robin.
The voice was cool and serious, though there wasn't much criticism in it. It seemed more like a simple observation.
They turned toward the speaker.
The speaker turned toward them as well.
The young man carrying a giant axe immediately recognized them.
After taking a closer look, he exclaimed in surprise,
"It's you two?!"
Liam laughed.
"Heh, Little Fatty. Long time no see. Did you finish breaking that tree yet?"
Sentomaru snorted.
"I am Sentomaru, the man with the tightest lips in the world! Don't even think about extracting classified information from me! I only spent two years completing that basic training. That's my personal business—it doesn't count."
Your lips are still as loose as ever...
Smiling, Robin asked,
"So there really is classified information, then?"
While Robin teased the self-proclaimed man with the world's tightest lips, Liam looked to the other side.
Just then, a young girl's clear and innocent voice rang out.
"Wow, it's so huge... Daddy, did you used to work here?"
Liam lowered his head.
A tiny pink-haired girl wearing a hood stood there, staring at the Colosseum with wide-eyed amazement.
In her hand was a skewer of snacks.
Beside the adorable pink-haired child stood a man and a woman.
The woman's long braided hair was the same pink color as the girl's, and their faces strongly resembled each other.
The man, on the other hand, looked much fiercer.
He was covered in muscles, tall and powerfully built, clearly not someone ordinary people would want to provoke.
Yet in front of his daughter, this intimidating man appeared unusually awkward.
Embarrassed, he said,
"Rebecca, don't come to places like this. Daddy will keep taking you and Mommy shopping instead..."
Kyros suddenly noticed that his daughter had raised her little head and was staring at the tall young man beside her.
After Liam looked at her for a few moments, little Rebecca blinked her big adorable eyes and revealed a puzzled expression.
So cute...
Both Kyros and his wife—Scarlett, the former princess of Dressrosa—felt as though their hearts had been struck by an arrow upon seeing their daughter's expression.
After hesitating briefly, Rebecca raised the remaining portion of her snack skewer.
"Big Brother, do you want some?"
Apparently having no concept of being polite to little girls, Liam casually accepted it and ate the remaining snack in a single bite.
Rebecca clapped her hands.
"That's amazing..."
Liam bit down on the wooden skewer and pointed at the massive arena before them.
"Want to go inside and take a look?"
"Hm?"
Rebecca blinked innocently.
Kyros immediately frowned.
"Hey, what are you talking about?"
At that moment, a conflict erupted between Robin and Sentomaru.
Gripping his enormous axe, Sentomaru shouted sternly,
"You dared to trick classified information out of me, Jolyne Cujoh! I can't just let this go!"
Robin chuckled.
"Didn't you tell me yourself?"
Sentomaru's giant axe swung straight toward her.
A hand suddenly reached out from behind Robin and caught the axe barehanded.
Kyros' pupils contracted.
He caught it with his bare hand?!
Rebecca simply clapped and laughed foolishly.
"Big Brother is amazing!"
Liam gave her a thumbs-up.
Then, using Sentomaru's own axe as leverage, he lifted the loincloth-wearing fat man completely off the ground.
"Hey! What are you doing—?!"
With both feet off the ground, Sentomaru couldn't exert any force.
At that moment, Liam kicked him in the stomach.
Whoosh!
Sentomaru and his axe were launched straight toward the Corrida Colosseum.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
He smashed through wall after wall, only stopping after crashing into the contestants' waiting room and cracking that wall as well.
Outside, a massive tunnel now stretched from the entrance all the way into the interior of the arena.
Rebecca was still too young to understand right from wrong.
She simply thought this Big Brother was incredibly cool.
Liam extended an arm.
Without thinking, Rebecca grabbed onto it.
Just like that, she dangled from Liam's arm as he carried her through the giant hole and into the Colosseum.
"Hey! Put down my daughter!!"
Kyros immediately chased after them.
Scarlett's face filled with worry.
Robin shook her head.
"Don't worry. It'll be fine."
As she spoke, she followed Scarlett into the Corrida Colosseum through the newly created opening.
(End Of This Chapter)
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