The moment Mihawk's slash collided with the golden dragon, a massive blast of air pressure erupted.
The surge sent the waves crashing in every direction, and in the midst of it, Mihawk drove the tip of his black blade into the deck beneath his feet.
Strangely, the waves heading toward Mihawk were cleaved apart around his black blade as if sliced by a sword.
The deck under Mihawk's feet remained perfectly still, and through the mist of spray stirred by the waves, he caught sight of a figure.
"Not bad, kid."
"This bastard...!"
It was Luffy, his entire body wreathed in [Armament Haki], standing with his arms stained black and crossed.
Luffy's blackened arms returned to their normal color, and the [Armament Haki] surrounding him vanished.
Blood trickled down along Luffy's jawline from his eyes, and seeing this, Mihawk spoke.
"Not a single scratch... No, you ought to be able to handle that much."
"Considering the responsibility you bear, this is exactly what you should be capable of."
"Damn it...!"
"I acknowledged you, and you just keep spewing curses..."
"You're something else, too..."
Trembling, Luffy turned his head away from Mihawk and spoke.
"Jeff... that damn old geezer...!!!"
"My apologies."
Jeff, standing behind Luffy with arms folded, pressed his blackened prosthetic leg against Luffy's waist.
His other leg, from the ankle down, was also stained black, extending across the first floor of the Baratie where they stood.
"But... I almost managed to block it...!"
"This ship is my treasure, you see, so I couldn't leave it to a mere slim chance of stopping it."
"Still, you held up well. Thank you so much."
"My back nearly snapped... So don't look at me with those warm eyes!!!"
Puhwacch!
At the very moment Luffy cried out, blood spurted from his eyes and mouth as he collapsed to the floor.
Jeff then withdrew his leg, and both of his legs—darkened along with the floor—returned to their original color.
Seeing this, Sanji rushed over, knelt beside him, and cradled Luffy's upper body.
"Luffy, are you okay? Are you even alive?!"
"Sanji... what did that thing around me look like earlier...?"
"What?"
"Like what... did it look like some kind of animal...? Say something."
"If I had to say... a dragon...?"
"Damn... you never change."
'It wasn't like this before... this is why I hate fighting at full power.'
While Luffy thought that, Mihawk appeared on the deck of the Baratie and looked down at him as he spoke.
"Monkey D. Luffy, what is your goal?"
"The Pirate King... and as a bonus, scumbags like you who hurt everyone around you to feel superior."
"Including wiping you all out... cough!"
"Both you and Roronoa are taking a tough path."
"Okay, enough talk, Luffy!"
"Sanji..."
"Move this one to the third floor as well, Sanji. By now, the others should have found the medicine he needs."
"Understood, old man!"
As soon as Luffy was hoisted onto Sanji's back, Mihawk spoke again.
"Oh, and while I'm at it... with you gone, the Warlords of the Sea meeting has become unbearably noisy."
"What are you talking about...?"
"What do you mean, I wonder how many times the 'Pirate Empress' has caused chaos at every meeting trying to find you?"
"...What?"
At those words, sweat broke out on Luffy's battered, pale face.
"I don't attend the meetings often, but the one time I went after you left, she turned the place into an uproar."
"I heard she came to every meeting and caused that chaos, and Grandpa suffered the most."
"She's his granddaughter-in-law, so complaining about not seeing you makes sense... No, I shouldn't have said that, not when you're hurt."
"Now take him away, Curly-Brow, before you die."
"Ah, got it!"
Sanji heard Mihawk's words and headed into the restaurant, still carrying Luffy on his back.
And Mihawk spoke to Jeff, who was standing nearby.
"I can't recall, do you know how old that kid is this year?"
"He's seventeen, two years younger than that blond carrying him."
"For someone that age to have that much strength... he'll truly become someone great."
"Likely so, and beyond that, he may even be called a legend."
While Luffy was being carried up the stairs from the first floor, he saw the content expressions on their faces and thought:
'Those two guys just wrecked my body, so why are they laughing together and carrying on like this?'
"No, that's not the important part... I forgot something really important...!"
'But I feel dizzy... and my consciousness...'
*****
"Old man, am I the only one who can't understand this kid?"
"What?"
In a room filled with multiple beds lay Luffy and Zoro on separate ones.
Zoro had bandages wrapped around his chest, but Luffy was covered in bandages from head to toe except for his eyes, nose, and mouth.
Sanji sat in a chair between the two beds, and Jeff sat beside Zoro on the side without Sanji.
"This guy nearly died under different circumstances than Luffy did."
"I understand it was to keep an important promise, but the outcome was already decided."
"But does it make sense to go to your death?"
"Sanji, a pirate's life at sea doesn't just end by starving to death from lack of food or drink."
"There are plenty of times you have to fight in all sorts of situations."
"What's more, there may be times when you face overwhelming numbers, or you have to fight someone overwhelmingly powerful."
"In such situations, even a moment's hesitation can decide life or death."
"In those moments, it's not someone like Clik with hundreds of guns on his body and ship who survives, but someone like Roronoa, who carries a single sword in his heart."
"To survive... you have to be ready to die?"
"It isn't useful in every situation, but a moment ago, Roronoa needed it."
"When you're placed in that kind of situation at sea, you absolutely must have that."
"The conviction to fear no death."
"Conviction..."
After hearing Jeff's words, Sanji mumbled something, and silence hung for a while.
Then Sanji suddenly blinked in surprise and turned around,
"Luffy...?"
"...Sanji?"
"You're awake!"
Luffy opened his eyes in the bed and turned his head to look at Sanji.
"Zoro is..."
"I'm right here."
"You're right beside me."
"R-Roronoa! Since when have you been awake?!"
"Just now, I woke up from the sound of you and the old cook arguing about something."
"...You're better off not hearing it."
"Luffy, I heard from the cooks before you went to sleep that you fought Mihawk."
"Yeah, somehow both you and I survived."
"Oh, and I've decided – I'm going to kill that Mihawk bastard before you do."
"You did that with Buggy too... Are you always trying to steal my prey?"
"Let's call it healthy competition; we'll both give it our all."
"A rivalry between captain and vice-captain... that does sound worth the fun."
They both exchanged small smiles, and then Zoro spoke.
"But Luffy, why are you still using [Haki] while you're injured?"
"Ah... this?"
Zoro looked at the faint golden [Armament Haki] enveloping Luffy's body on the bed.
But compared to when Luffy fights, the aura was smaller and paler.
"When I get seriously hurt, it happens automatically even if I don't intend it; I use my stamina to boost my recovery."
"Quite a versatile ability."
Clatter!
Just as Zoro was about to respond to Luffy, the door opened and the cooks rushed in.
"Hey, you awake, Zoro?"
"Is the Straw Hat okay? I didn't get to see the fight!"
"You two were totally awesome! You were up against Hawk's Eye!"
"Quiet it! All of you!"
"Why's that, Chef?!"
"Those two need to rest, so I told you not to come in to keep this from happening!"
"But they're awake now, Chef!"
"They were so cool! We're just glad they woke up now."
"Patty, did you clean up all the things that got messed up when the ship was shaking?"
"Of course, Chef. We did everything you asked, so everyone came up."
"But I came because there's something I have to tell them."
"What is it?"
"One of their crewmates..."
"Luffyyyyy!!!"
"Usopp?"
At that moment, Usopp burst in through the gap between Patty and another cook.
He fell to the floor as Zoro looked down at him.
"Where have you been, and what have you been up to, Usopp?"
"Zoro! Nami betrayed us!"
"What?!"
"Nami put me to sleep... Yes, and she took the treasure and the escape boat...!"
"Speak clearly, Usopp!"
"No, Zoro, it's just that...!"
"Usopp."
And having said that, Luffy remained lying on his back staring at the ceiling.
"It's okay. Take your time and tell us."
"Ah, okay Luffy... well, you see..."
At Luffy's words, Usopp opened his mouth and recalled the situation back then.
****
"He-Help me, Nami... my body feels strange..."
At that time, Usopp was slumped against the wall inside the ship.
With blurred vision, he looked up at Nami nearby and said.
"Usopp, do you remember the orange juice I gave you earlier?"
"I put a fast-acting sleeping drug in it."
"...What?"
"Drugs like that don't work well on people like Luffy or Zoro, so I'm glad it was you who came along."
"We're... crewmates..."
"You may not know, but I never said from the start that I wanted to be your crewmate."
"I just stuck around because it was convenient, but I did enjoy the days I spent with you guys."
"Nami...!"
"And what I'm about to say isn't something I should say in my current position... but if you're okay with it, tell Luffy this later."
"If we meet again..."
*****
Those words were the last thing Usopp remembered at that time.
"Usopp."
"Luffy, I-I'm sorry, I..."
"It's okay, Usopp. By the way, how's the Merry?"
"The Merry?"
"She didn't steal the Merry, did she?"
"No... the Merry's still there, intact, nothing seems wrong."
'She didn't take the Merry... she did steal the ship in the original story, after all.'
"What are you going to do, Luffy? Chase after that bitch?"
"Well, Zoro... I still want to meet her and talk if possible."
"Luffy's right, Zoro! She stole a fortune, so we have to get it back!"
"Usopp, what I mean is... no, forget it."
"It's fine to lay low here for now, Straw Hat, until you heal."
"You on the other side, shut up, you damn old man."
"Now you're dropping the honorifics too."
"My back hurts more than my crushed guts."
"Speaking of injuries, first off, Roronoa's condition is better than yours."
"He didn't injure his guts, but he did take a deep cut, and none of us here can stitch up wounds."
"So we put medicine on the cut and covered it with peeled fish scales as a protective sheath."
"On top of that, like with you, we transfused matching blood using syringes and tubing, so your wound won't worsen."
"Fish scales? That's okay, right?"
"As far as I know, it's fine, Luffy."
"How is it okay, Usopp?"
"The principle is the same as putting a bandage on a small cut."
"In cases like Zoro's bigger injuries, you'd need supplies from a hospital in a major city, but if you don't have them, you can use things like fish skin instead of a bandage."
"I hear fish skin even helps with burns, since it can lower the heat of an injury, so it should be quite helpful."
"Looks like Long-Nose knows a lot. Aside from the transfusion, there was nothing we could do for you, Straw Hat."
"I heard that ability of yours boosts your recovery, so you just have to hang on and trust that."
"Oh dear~ and you can't even thank the person who tried to protect you. Instead you complain there's nothing we can do after almost breaking our backs~."
"Ahem, from what I'm hearing about the situation, it doesn't look like we can stick around here much longer."
"Well... I guess that's how it is."
"Then let me make a request."
"Jeff, when you handed over your property to the Navy, did you give them your conscience too?"
"It's a good thing for you too."
Jeff got up, grabbed the shoulder of Sanji who was sitting in the chair in front of him, and spoke.
"Take Sanji with you."
"W-Wait a minute, old man...!"
"As you wish."
"Why do neither of you ask for my opinion?!"