One Piece: From Picking Up Red Hair's Broken Arm

Chapter 319 Aokiji's Travelogue

He walked with his head down and eyes downcast through the dark corridor.

The surrounding environment was becoming increasingly serene and beautiful, with various exotic floral fragrances wafting into the air.

There were even beautiful butterflies fluttering among the flowers.

But the deeper he went, the more stiff his steps became, and the heavier his breathing became.

at last.

He stepped into the flowers.

Upon looking up and seeing that tall, slender figure in black, he hurriedly stopped, knelt down, pressed his forehead against the cold ground, and stammered:
"Owner."

There was no response for a long time, only an unsettling silence.

After a long time.

The shadow on the half-void throne finally spoke.

The voice was cold and ethereal, as if it came from the depths of an abyss:
"You're injured."

Garin Sheng's body stiffened, realizing that his master already knew everything, and cold sweat poured down his back.

"Yes...it was my recklessness. I only wanted to clean house because I couldn't tolerate the damage to the family's reputation. I didn't expect Xia Nuo to come, and I certainly didn't expect his strength to have grown to such a level..."

"Ah."

A soft laugh only made the atmosphere more somber.

"Garin."

Im slowly rose from the Void Throne, her skirt flowing like clouds, and she herself drifted like smoke, instantly appearing in front of Garin.

He looked down at the kneeling figure and shook his head slightly:

"Hmm, I'm very disappointed."

Garin Sheng trembled all over and dared not raise his head.

"Your subordinate begs, Master, to give us another chance! Your subordinate is willing to personally lead the charge, commanding the Knights of God, and also dispatching a naval admiral to launch a surprise attack and completely annihilate Shano's group..."

"Shhh."

Im raised his hand, lifted his fingertips, and gently pressed them in the air.

Garin Sheng's voice immediately stopped, as if he had been choked, his face turned red, and he couldn't say a word.

"You don't understand why M is disappointed at all."

"We've given you so much time to integrate the central government, but to this day, you still haven't resolved the rift between yourself and people like Nasujiro."

"If we had their help, how could this battle have ended so miserably?"

"Remember, what Mu needs is a clenched fist that can be used at any time when placing a piece on the chessboard, not knuckles that are separated by internal strife due to personal desires."

"M's world will be completed soon."

"Until then, let the storms on the chessboard rage on; Mu doesn't need you to take matters into your own hands and charge into battle."

Im casually flicked his index finger, and Garin's suffocating feeling vanished instantly.

He coughed violently, barely managing to support his trembling arms, and heard the last words from above:
"This is the only point that absolutely cannot be wrong. Do you understand?"

"My subordinate understands."

Garin quickly buried his head even deeper into the ground.

"But that kid is getting more and more interesting. He's clearly not from David's family, nor is he Joe... so how did he..."

"Heh, if there's a chance next time, I wouldn't mind playing with him for a bit."

Im's voice faded into the distance, his figure vanishing like mist amidst the sea of ​​flowers, leaving only a lingering, chilling echo:
"Go back."

Once the oppressive feeling completely disappeared, Garin Sheng dared to stand up, wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, his face full of relief at surviving a disaster.

After a short while, Garin Sheng walked out of the corridor, lost in thought.

What the master needs is to gather his strength.

But even if he and those old men could truly work together, their fists wouldn't be enough anymore, would they?
Including Junko and Somaz, who were lost in the Sabaody Archipelago incident, a total of eight God Knights have been lost. And this time, Shamrock is likely to be in grave danger as well...

There is only one solution left.

—It's time to recruit new forces.

Garin turned his head and looked down at the distant horizon below the Holy Land.

That direction leads to the New World, and to the world's most powerful nation, a country called "Elbaf"...

Garin Sheng's gaze was deep and his thoughts were churning.

Elbaf, the land of giants, possesses the most powerful racial talent on this sea.

Even the most ordinary adult warriors possess terrifying strength enough to serve as a vice admiral in the navy.

If they could gain their support, the World Government would be able to exert absolute pressure on Shano and the Fallen Ones.

However, the giants have always been arrogant and have a long-standing feud with the Holy Land, so it will not be easy to win them over.

"Perhaps we should start with 'that one' who is imprisoned?"

Garin Sheng narrowed his eyes, a plan forming in his mind.

…………

"Faster, faster!"

The New Red Fosse sailed at full speed, cutting through the waves, and finally arrived at the waters of Thunder Isle as night deepened.

Wow!
It is still raining heavily.

Beckman grabbed an umbrella and led the group off the ship in a hurry, where they immediately noticed the shocking marks.

Cracked, scorched earth, collapsed black rock mountains, and corpses scattered everywhere...

It is clear from the surface that a tremendous battle had recently taken place here.

"The boss is over there!"

Raki Lu shouted suddenly, raising his torch high and pointing it at a figure beside the reef.

Everyone turned to look.

Their captain sat motionless in the pit, head bowed, letting the rain wash over him.

Hearing the shout, he blankly looked up, revealing empty eyes and a face as pale as paper.

"It's everyone, you've finally arrived..."

Shanks barely managed to come to his senses, smiled, and murmured, "It's good that everyone's here. It's over. Everything should be over."

"What do you mean it's over? You're talking weird, Shanks!"

Beckman frowned, reached out to help him up, and Lucky Roux also helped hold up an umbrella and checked Shanks' injuries.

"The injury is that serious?! Hey, hurry up and get the first-aid kit!"

"Damn it, are we too late?!"

"Boss, where's that damned old man Garin? And that Shano guy, is he here too? Did they start fighting? Who won and who lost?"

Shanks paused slightly: "You...don't know what happened after that?"

"Duh! That's why I asked you, you damn Shanks!"

From behind the crowd came a furious shout.

The next moment, Bucky forcefully pushed through the crowd, grabbed Shanks by the collar, and angrily questioned him:
"Where are my ears?! I'm asking you, where did you put the ears I entrusted to you?!!"

Shanks was increasingly bewildered, while Beckman quickly pulled Bucky aside and explained:

"We started heading this way as soon as the enemy's ambush was exposed, and we were also listening to the situation through Pakistan's ears. But at the most critical moment, when everyone was anxious, the signal was suddenly cut off."

Yasopp nodded as well:

“Yeah, boss. All we heard was that Shano arrived, and then suddenly Bucky couldn’t hear anything anymore, and he couldn’t even sense anything with his own ears.”

Is there such a thing?
Under Bucky's murderous gaze, Shanks blankly touched his chest.

He was being very careful the whole time, as if he were handling his own heart, carefully listening to what his dearest friend had said.

result……

After searching for a long time, I found nothing.

Ok?
Shanks' eyes widened.

Where are my ears?
…………

[You sacrificed Bucky's left ear, gaining 5500 points]

You sacrificed Garin's scepter, gaining 4500 points.

On a speedboat hundreds of nautical miles away.

"Oh!" Xia Nuo looked at the newly refreshed information stream on the system panel, clenched his fist, and showed a look of sudden realization.

He was wondering why that red-haired guy had an ear tucked into his pocket.

This casual sacrifice made it clear: it was Bucky's!
Is it because places like Raijin Island have no Den Den Mushi signal, so they're used as listening devices?

That's something I can understand.

But when did Buggy inexplicably join the Red-Haired Pirates? Wasn't that guy always thinking about finding treasure and dismissive of Shanks's offers of recruitment?
That's impossible to know.

Xia Nuo pondered for a while, but couldn't guess the answer, so she put it aside and didn't bother to think about it anymore.

After all, the last time I heard news about Pakistan was back in the East China Sea.

So many years have passed in the blink of an eye. This world has been changed so much by this butterfly that nothing is surprising anymore.

Talk about it.

This teleportation and summoning of Angewomon cost a total of four thousand points.

After his last purchase, he had 6485 points left, which should have meant he was almost out of points.

As it turned out, not only did they not lose a single point, but they actually made a net profit of 6,000 points, bringing their remaining points to 12495.

As expected of the great Buggy, good luck always comes when you get involved with him.

However, there was still some time before the next market refresh, so Xia Nuo casually closed the panel. He should focus all his energy on further consolidating and mastering the two major fist techniques.

In that battle just now.

Having mastered the "Booming Void Split Fist" technique, the old man Garin became hesitant to fight and immediately activated the teleportation array to escape.

Once these two boxing techniques are fully mastered, how powerful will they be?
I'm getting more and more excited!

Xia Nuo chuckled and grinned.

In terms of strength alone, it is absolutely no exaggeration to say that I am the strongest of the Four Emperors.

Even if Whitebeard's physical condition suddenly returned to its peak, he would have full confidence in fighting him!
After fully mastering these two extremely powerful fist techniques.

Against powerful enemies of equal strength, there are now ample means to break through their defenses, eliminating the need for battles that often last a day and a night, as was the case during the Great War of Nations.

Their overall strength should be able to take another step forward, getting infinitely close to the level of Rocks, right?

------

Jingle bell bell~
"Excuse me, Mr. Green-skinned Sea Duck."

"Gah?!"

The other party was too dull and slow-witted, and was eventually knocked away. Aokiji gave an apologetic hat-tipping bow, and then continued riding his old bicycle, slowly gliding across the sea.

The ice tracks under the wheels spread silently and melted away behind him, as if his arrival and departure had left no trace on this sea.

Sunlight streamed down, making the sea sparkle.

Occasionally, flying fish would leap out of the water, and occasionally a few seagulls would skim low overhead, curiously observing the lone man before quickly flapping their wings and flying away.

He slightly raised his head, his deep, calm eyes behind his sunglasses gazing in the direction the seagulls had flown away.

"It's so peacefully quiet..."

Aokiji muttered to himself.

After leaving the navy, the tranquility of solitude brought him a long-lost sense of comfort and relaxation.

There was no urgent military intelligence, no unreasonable demands from the Celestial Dragons, and no need to remain silent after struggling for a long time in response to orders that went against his principles of justice.

But as I kept riding aimlessly, I felt like something was missing.

and so……

In order to find that answer, he decided to make some plans and changes to his completely blank travel itinerary.

His first stop was the Western Sea, a place formerly known as Ohara.

Aokiji stood on the scorched earth, with desolation beneath his feet.

Nearly twenty years ago, it was here that he witnessed everything here turn into a raging fire, the refugee ship being shelled, Sauro frozen in ice, and the weeping black-haired girl...

It was from that time that his beliefs began to waver violently for the first time.

"Passionate justice" has since become "lazy justice".

"Ok?"

Aokiji suddenly seemed to notice something, squatted down, and gently touched the scorched soil with his fingertips.

More than twenty years have passed, and on the ruins that were razed to the ground, a few tender shoots have sprung up, swaying stubbornly in the wind.

Life is truly tenacious.

Gently stroking the tender green leaves, after a long while, the blue pheasant murmured softly:

“Sauro, you are right... Some flames cannot be extinguished.”

Talk about it.

That true spark of Ohara, that crybaby who finally found his companions, it's been over a year since we last met.

With the current strength of the fallen hero, he should be happier living there than I am now, right?
Standing up, Aokiji remounted his bicycle and continued on his way.

…………

The second stop was the windmill village in Donghai.

This is the hometown of his master, Garp.

This is the first time in so many years that Aokiji has had time to come.

When he left the navy, he heard that although the old man did not resign out of consideration for his feelings, it was no different from resigning. He had taken a long vacation and seemed to be living in seclusion here.
Aokiji rode his bicycle slowly along the coastline through the windmill village.

This tranquil little village by the East China Sea has windmills turning gently, and the scenery is quite beautiful.

Following the familiar aura he vaguely sensed with his Observation Haki, he arrived at the forest behind Windmill Village.

As soon as they entered, they heard a series of dull thuds and shrill screams coming from not far away.

"drink!"

"Again, perk up! Did you hear me? Open your eyes, you brat!"

"Ouch! It hurts so much, Grandpa! How about we stop here for today? Waaah, I'm so hungry."

"Stop talking nonsense. Pain? That's good! You pampered brat, do you think domineering power is so easy to master? Without a strong belief, without arduous training without fear of pain, and without a desire to become stronger, how can a teenager like you possibly dream of such power!"

"You're exaggerating. Pshaw... What's so great about it? I remember Brother Xia Nuo knew it many, many years ago, when he wasn't even as old as me."

"You dare compare yourself to Xia Nuo! You still have the nerve to mention it, you brat. If you had even half... no, a tenth of his ambition and success, I'd be laughing in my sleep!"

"what!"

An even more piercing scream rang out, and Aokiji's eyelids twitched. He circled around a dense thicket of trees, and the scene before him finally opened up.

Look intently.

A clearing in the woods that had been specially cleared out.

Luffy was being held by one leg by Garp and slammed repeatedly into a huge, cracked, hard rock in the center of the open space, like a sack being torn apart!

boom! boom! boom!
Each impact produced a dull, deafening roar, and the cracks on the rock surface expanded and spread at a visible speed, with dust constantly falling.

Luffy was hit so hard that he saw stars, his head was bleeding, and he was on the verge of death.

But at the moment of impact, the arms, shackled with sea stone, desperately tried to be covered with an extremely thin, intermittently visible black substance.

That was clearly the rudimentary form of Armament Haki awakening, but it was obviously far from enough and extremely fragile.

Under the terrifying power of Kapna and the reaction force of the rocks, it was almost instantly shattered.

"Powerful! Powerful! It needs to be concentrated! It needs to be focused! It's not just about making your skin darker! Feel the power within you! Imagine it as flowing molten iron!"

Garp, his face contorted in rage, roared and instructed as he swung the weapon, completely ignoring his grandson's cries of pain:
"Keep going! This is only ten thousand times, there are still twenty thousand more to go. Let's stay up all night tonight! Before you've even begun to master the domineering aura, you won't get a single piece of meat!"

"No, Grandpa!!!"

Upon hearing this, Luffy despaired and let out a scream ten times more shrill than before.

"Ala……"

Aokiji finally couldn't bear to watch any longer. He pushed up his sunglasses, rubbed his forehead, and said quietly, "It can't be that bad, Mr. Garp. If you had trained me this harshly back then, I might have already become the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces."

His voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear at the foot of the open mountain.

"Ok?"

Garp finally noticed, turned around, and when he saw Aokiji, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, followed by a wide grin:

"Pfft, hahaha! Hey, isn't this Kuzan? What's wrong, kid? You finally couldn't stand that awful place anymore and came out for a walk like this old man?"

Finally saved!
Luffy sat on the ground, tears streaming down his face and panting heavily, looking at the tall, unfamiliar man with a hint of gratitude.

He recognized the face; he'd seen it in the newspaper his grandfather brought back. It was that... the admiral who had left the navy?
Uh, what was it called again?

Akainu... Akainu?
(End of this chapter)