When Zoro and Luffy arrived, they only saw Nojiko bleeding and Bellemere in a panic. She looked at her adopted daughter with some pain.
Suddenly, she cut a bloody gash on her other hand with her fingernails. Blood immediately flowed out, and the scarlet blood entered Nojiko's mouth.
"Hey, aren't you turning Nojiko into a demon too by doing this?" Zoro frowned.
Bellemere, while transfusing blood to Nojiko, said with some breakdown, "I can't watch Nojiko die like this. I'd rather die myself!"
"Your blood can also turn people into demons?" Zoro asked again.
"No, only Kibutsuji Muzan's blood can turn people into demons. But he just gave me his blood not long ago, and my body hasn't completely fused with his blood. I want to try turning Nojiko into a demon this way."
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"...Into a man-eating demon?" Luffy suddenly asked.
"..." Bellemere froze for a moment, then said sadly, "Perhaps Nojiko is different."
As she spoke, she quickly said, as if to confirm her guess, "Because Nojiko didn't drink Kibutsuji Muzan's true blood, but both my blood and Kibutsuji Muzan's blood. Nojiko might not be controlled by Kibutsuji Muzan like me!"
The more she spoke, the more convinced she became. Demons confirm their connection through blood. All demons are turned by Muzan's blood, so demons cannot defy Muzan's commands. However, Bellemere's body now contains blood that hasn't fully fused yet.
Not fully fused means that some part has already fused, which means the blood in her body is both Kibutsuji Muzan's and Bellemere's own.
So Bellemere fantasized that demons created from this blood would be different.
However, the source of a demon's power is also its blood. Bellemere was transferring Muzan's blood, so her own power was also rapidly weakening.
"What about that Muzan guy? Is he still on this island?!" Luffy asked loudly.
"I don't know..." Bellemere's eyes showed a bit of urgency because Nojiko hadn't woken up yet. Hearing Luffy's words, she could only reply, "I think he must have already left. After all, he wouldn't appear rashly without understanding the details of that sword."
Her words made Zoro understand immediately. He had stimulated Muzan with the Dark Moon sword earlier, causing Muzan to withdraw his attention from Bellemere. Therefore, he didn't know what had happened at that time, nor did he know about their conversation with Bellemere.
That's why he came to Cocoyasi Village without showing himself, but only gave Bellemere more blood, intending for a stronger Bellemere to test them. Ironically, it was Luffy who stepped in at that time, so Kibutsuji Muzan never saw his strength.
Under these circumstances, Kibutsuji Muzan should be cautiously hiding in the darkness.
"Mom... Mom...?"
Not long after Zoro fell into thought, Nojiko, who had received a large amount of blood transfusion from Bellemere, actually woke up. She looked at Bellemere, who was anxiously distressed, and softly called out "Mom" with a groan.
At this moment, she no longer called Bellemere "Auntie" but "Mom."
Tears streamed from Bellemere's eyes. She immediately hugged her adopted daughter and looked at the wounds on her body that were healing rapidly. Bellemere knew she had succeeded.
"Nojiko!"
What followed was a heavy heart. She had undoubtedly succeeded in transforming Nojiko into a demon, but she didn't know if Nojiko could escape Kibutsuji Muzan's control.
Thinking of this, her expression became resolute as she looked at Zoro and Luffy. "Thank you both very much. If you two are going to fight Muzan, please take me with you!"
Zoro and Luffy exchanged a glance. The former couldn't help but ask suspiciously, "You? Aren't you being controlled by Muzan?"
"...So, to prevent Nojiko from being controlled too, I have to kill him no matter what!"
Bellemere said in a deep voice, "Since I saw you, Mr. Zoro, use that sword, I felt the curse Muzan imposed on me tending to loosen. Muzan appeared earlier and gave me new blood, partly to make me test Mr. Zoro, and partly to re-impose his curse on me."
"But because Mr. Luffy managed to wake me up in time, and I passed on the blood that hadn't fully fused to Nojiko, Muzan's control over me has greatly weakened."
"Sure." Zoro didn't reply, but Luffy readily agreed. "But I will be the one to defeat that guy Muzan!"
"He's strong. We should..." Bellemere's expression changed.
Nojiko, who had just regained some of her life signs, saw Bellemere's expression and remembered. She weakly said, "Nami..."
"Don't worry, Nojiko. I will definitely find Nami." Bellemere's expression softened slightly. She said to Luffy and Zoro, "I'm sorry, but I might not be able to travel with you for now. I have another daughter out there, and I must go find her."
"We'll keep an eye out for you too." Luffy grabbed Zoro and left. Zoro checked the time and said, "It's almost dawn. Demons should be hiding. Bellemere probably won't be able to find anyone."
Time had passed by without notice throughout the night. Zoro had been a bounty hunter for some time, but this was the first time Luffy had experienced so many things in one night.
"Then, we'll go to Gato's Orange Town while also helping Bellemere search for her daughter's whereabouts!"
Zoro leaned on the ship, saying somewhat boredly, "Don't waste time. If we cut down Muzan, all the problems will be solved."
"Speaking of which, your ship, the future Pirate King's ship, is really shabby, and it's just the two of us." Zoro complained again. "Shouldn't you find a professional navigator and a big enough ship?"
"A navigator?" Luffy nodded seriously. "Bellemere and Nojiko said Nami is good at sailing. Should we invite her to be the Pirate King's navigator after we find her?"
As he spoke, he settled the matter. He put his hands on his hips and said, "Great, let's go find our future navigator!"
"Are you an idiot? I said we have to deal with Muzan first."
"Find the navigator first!" Luffy refused to back down. "Without a navigator, we don't even know how to get to Orange Town."
"What?!" Zoro was stunned. "You're dragging me away when you don't even know how to get to Orange Town?!"
"If we find Nami and make her our navigator, then we can find it, right?" Luffy didn't realize the problem with the order of operations at all. Zoro couldn't help but pat his forehead and began to wonder if joining Luffy had been a mistake.
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